SOUNDS FAMILIAR Tracing the history of those country songs that keep coming back time and
time again...
by Alan Cackett (Country Music International Magazine)
While playing Michelle Wright's last album, The Reasons Why, one
song, Safe In The Arms, started to bug me. It was a song I knew from
almost 10 years ago, but from where? Then, months later, while watching
CMT, on came Martina McBride's new video, and guess what? She was singing
the same song.
Safe In The Arms Of Love - to give the song it's full title - was
written by Mary Ann Kennedy, Pam Rose and Pat Bunch in1983. Kennedy and Rose had both
come to Nashville in the late '70's and started out working for pedal
steel player Pete Drake's Window Music as writers, demo singers and
song-pluggers. Pat Bunch was drafted in to work with them, more often
than not providing the lyrics to their catchy and inventive melodies.
The first version of the song I ever heard of was by Wild Choir,
a contemporary Nashville-based country/rock group formed by
singer/songwriter Gail Davies in 1985. Davies had been the first female
country artist in Nashville to produce her own recordings and, prior to
forming Wild Choir, had several Top 10 hits to her credit and had made
quite an impact with albums recorded for Lifesong/CBS, Warner Brothers
and RCA. A role model for many future female artists, Davies had a
reputation for being hard-nosed. Her attitude opened the door for many of
today's female singers and songwriters and enabled them to take control
of their music. Artists like Suzy Bogguss, Pam Tillis and Kathy Mattea
all cite Davies as being a major influence and inspiration.
During the early '80's Gail worked closely with Mary Ann Kennedy
and Pam Rose collaborating on several songs. To be fair, Wild Choir were
probably four or five years ahead of their time. Paulette Carlson, one of
Gail's backup singers, saw the potential of the band, moved to the West
Coast and subsequently formed Highway 101, a group modeled on Wild Choir
with the same upbeat aggressive sound. For proof, compare Wild Choir's
version of Safe In The Arms Of Love with it's heavy backbeat, powerful
harmonies and Davies' assertive lead vocal to Highway 101's subsequent
hits. |