Randy Thomas (musician)

Last updated
Randy Thomas
Born (1954-11-15) November 15, 1954 (age 69)
Origin Denison, Texas, United States
Genres Contemporary Christian music
Occupation(s) Songwriter, record producer
Instrument(s) Guitar
Labels Universal Records

Randy Thomas (born November 15, 1954) is an American Christian rock musician best known for being a member of the Sweet Comfort Band and Allies and co-writing "Butterfly Kisses". [1]

Contents

Thomas performed with Sam Scott and Bob Carlisle in Psalm 150, then joined the Sweet Comfort Band in 1975. Sweet Comfort was the band's debut recording for Maranatha! Music in 1977. Switching to Light Records, Sweet Comfort Band produced five more records, the last titled Perfect Timing. A best-of compilation, Prime Time, followed.

In 1984 Thomas formed the band Allies with Scott and Carlisle. They spent nine years between 1984 and 1993 doing concerts and recording six albums. The band's debut was self-titled. The most successful Allies recording was Long way from Paradise with two No. 1 singles: "Devil Is a Liar" and "Take Me Back." During this period, Thomas and Carlisle became a well-known songwriting team. The first country song they penned was the 1989 Dolly Parton No. 1 song "Why'd You Come In Here Lookin' Like That?" [2] [3]

PolyGram Music, now Universal Music, signed Thomas as a staff writer in 1995. He wrote material for artists such as Bob Carlisle, Cliff Richard, Raybon Brothers, and Jeff Carson as well as for Dolly Parton, Hank Williams Jr., Highway 101, Colin Raye, Ty England, Lila McCann, and Engelbert Humperdinck.

Former Allies drummer Brian Fullen introduced Thomas to Robert John "Mutt" Lange and his wife, Shania Twain. Lange and Twain hired Thomas as a guitarist / vocalist for live international performances to debut the Mercury Records release The Woman In Me. Thomas performed some of the Woman In Me performances throughout 1995 and 1996 which also featured former RCA recording artist/guitarist/songwriter Dan Schafer. [4]

Thomas also played with Canadian artist Paul Brandt, [5] and later SHeDAISY.

He shared the 1997 Grammy Award for Best Country Song with Bob Carlisle for writing the song "Butterfly Kisses". [1] "Butterfly Kisses" sold over three million units and was awarded a Platinum Single Award.

Thomas was producer, co-writer and co-artist on Identical Strangers (Damascus Road Records) with Andy Denton in 1996. Identical Strangers was a critically acclaimed CD yielding two top-5 singles. Thomas retired in 1997, coming out of retirement in 2007.

His various awards include: Grammy, Dove, ASCAP, NSAI, and Nashville Music awards. Thomas and his wife, Lori currently reside in Fort Myers, FL. They have three children, all of whom Randy has co-written songs for: Crystal ("Butterfly Kisses"), Randall ("A Father's Love"), and Sarah ("I Wish I Could").

Awards and nominations

YearAssociationCategoryResult
1998 40th Grammy Awards Best Country Song - "Butterfly Kisses" [6] Won
Dove Awards of 1998 Southern Gospel Recorded Song of the Year - "Butterfly Kisses"Won

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dolly Parton</span> American country singer (born 1946)

Dolly Rebecca Parton is an American singer-songwriter, actress, and philanthropist, known primarily for her decades-long career in country music. After achieving success as a songwriter for others, Parton made her album debut in 1967 with Hello, I'm Dolly, which led to success during the remainder of the 1960s, before her sales and chart peak came during the 1970s and continued into the 1980s. Some of Parton's albums in the 1990s did not sell as well, but she achieved commercial success again in the new millennium and has released albums on various independent labels since 2000, including her own label, Dolly Records.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joan Osborne</span> American musician (born 1962)

Joan Elizabeth Osborne is an American singer, songwriter, and interpreter of music, having recorded and performed in various popular American musical genres including rock, pop, soul, R&B, blues, and country. She is best known for her recording of the Eric Bazilian-penned song "One of Us" from her debut album, Relish (1995). Both the single and the album became worldwide hits and garnered a combined seven Grammy Award nominations. Osborne has toured with Motown sidemen the Funk Brothers and was featured in the documentary film about them, Standing in the Shadows of Motown (2002).

The Grammy Award for Best Country Song has been awarded since 1965. The award is given to the songwriter(s) of the song, not to the artist, except if the artist is also the songwriter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">42nd Annual Grammy Awards</span> Award ceremony

The 42nd Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 23, 2000, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. They recognized accomplishments by musicians from the year 1999. Nominations were announced on January 4, 2000. Santana was the main recipient with eight Grammys, tying Michael Jackson's record for most awards won in a single night. Santana's album Supernatural was awarded a total of nine awards. Former Mouseketeers and American teen singers, Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera, were both nominated for Best New Artist, ultimately won by Aguilera.

Robert Mason "Bob" Carlisle is an American Contemporary Christian singer and songwriter. He performed with several bands, most notably Allies and Billy Thermal, before launching a solo career where he received a Grammy Award and four Dove Awards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Jordanaires</span> American vocal group; back-up singers for Elvis Presley and other artists

The Jordanaires were an American vocal quartet that formed as a gospel group in 1948. Over the years, they recorded both sacred and secular music for recording companies such as Capitol Records, RCA Victor, Columbia Records, Decca Records, Vocalion Records, Stop Records, and many other smaller independent labels.

Allies was a Christian rock band. They released six albums during the late 1980s and early 1990s.

Sweet Comfort Band was an American Christian rock band that first performed in 1973 in Riverside, California, and were active until 1984. The band was initially composed of keyboardist/lead vocalist, Bryan Duncan, and brothers Kevin and Rick (drums/vocals) Thomson. The band was the brainchild of the Thomson brothers. Randy Thomas, guitarist/vocalist joined the group around 1976. After their second album, Sweet Comfort Band also became well known for their highly detailed, airbrushed album cover art by Kerne Erickson, a trend that had previously been considered too costly for Christian groups who did not produce the high-volume album sales of mainstream bands such as Kansas. The Sweet Comfort Band logo was created by Rick Griffin.

<i>Touch Your Woman</i> 1972 studio album by Dolly Parton

Touch Your Woman is the ninth solo studio album by American singer-songwriter Dolly Parton. It was released on March 6, 1972, by RCA Victor. The album's title song and single, "Touch Your Woman", was nominated for a Grammy.

<i>Little Sparrow</i> 2001 studio album by Dolly Parton

Little Sparrow is the thirty-eighth solo studio album by American singer-songwriter Dolly Parton. It was released on January 23, 2001, by Sugar Hill and Blue Eye Records. The album received a Grammy nomination for Best Bluegrass Album and "Shine" won Best Female Country Vocal Performance. The album is dedicated to Parton's father, Lee Parton, who died in November 2000.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jolene (song)</span> 1973 single by Dolly Parton

"Jolene" is a song written and recorded by American country music artist Dolly Parton. It was produced by Bob Ferguson and recorded at RCA Studio B in Nashville, Tennessee, on May 22, 1973. It was released on October 15, 1973, by RCA Victor, as the first single and title track from her album of the same name.

Chris Rodriguez is an American guitarist, who got his big break in contemporary Christian music, then moving on to play for various secular artists. He is also a singer/songwriter.

Carl Eugene Jackson is an American country and bluegrass musician. Jackson's first Grammy was awarded in 1992 for his duet album with John Starling titled "Spring Training." In 2003 Jackson produced the Grammy Award-winning CD titled Livin', Lovin', Losin': Songs of the Louvin Brothers – a tribute to Ira and Charlie Louvin. He also recorded one of the songs on the CD, a collection of duets featuring such artists as James Taylor, Alison Krauss, Dolly Parton, Johnny Cash, Emmylou Harris, and others.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Butterfly Kisses (song)</span> 1997 single by Bob Carlisle

"Butterfly Kisses" is a song written by Bob Carlisle and Randy Thomas from Carlisle's third studio album Butterfly Kisses . The song was written for Carlisle's daughter Brooke's 16th birthday. Carlisle also wrote a journal, Butterfly Kisses for Fathers and Their Daughters. The last track of the Butterfly Kisses is a country remix of the song, where instruments like the Pedal Steel Guitar and Fiddle are added as instruments. There have been many cover versions of the song including Raybon Brothers, Jeff Carson, Westlife and Cliff Richard.

David Paul Briggs is an American keyboardist, record producer, arranger, composer, and studio owner. Briggs is one of an elite core of Nashville studio musicians known as "the Nashville Cats" and has been featured in a major exhibition by the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2015. He played his first recording session at the age of 14 and has gone on to add keyboards to a plethora of pop, rock, and country artists, as well as recording hundreds of corporate commercials.

Stephen Craig Buckingham is an American record producer and musician working in Nashville, Tennessee.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Todd Cerney</span> Musical artist

Todd David Cerney was an American songwriter and musician.

James Kevin Salestrom was an American singer-songwriter. Salestrom was the lead singer of the band Timberline from 1971 to 1977. Salestrom performed in Dolly Parton's band from 1979 to 1991. As a solo artist, he performed in shows around the world.

References

  1. 1 2 "1700581ED - Butterfly Kisses & Other Contemporary Christian Favorites - Piano (Piano/Vocal/Guitar)". Pianospot.com. Retrieved 2012-01-29.
  2. "Dolly Parton: Live & Well at IMDb". Imdb.com. 2009-05-01. Retrieved 2012-01-29.
  3. "Song Lyrics". Dollyon-line.com. Retrieved 2012-01-29.
  4. "Dan Schafer Artist performances". Timashley.tripod.com. Retrieved 2012-02-05.
  5. "Artist profile". Shoutlife.com. Retrieved 2012-01-29.
  6. "allmusic ((( Bob Carlisle > Charts & Awards > Grammy Awards )))". Allmusic . Retrieved October 2, 2010.