Saturday, August 30, 2014

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Neal McCoy

Artist:Neal McCoy
Song:Wink
Album:Greatest Hits





Neal McCoy had two number one country music hits in the mid-90s including Wink. He also had a few top ten hits. He's still around but obviously not as popular today as he was in the 90s. He was born Hubert Neal McGaughey Jr. July 30, 1958 in Jacksonville, TX which is near Tyler in East Texas. He grew up singing in church before leading an R & B group and then performing country music in local clubs. McCoy's big break came when he won a 1981 talent contest hosted by country music star Janie Fricke. She got him a gig opening for Charley Pride. McCoy remained with Pride through the 80s. He released a couple of singles as Neal McGoy. When he signed with Atlantic Records in 1990, his name was changed to Neal McCoy. There were no hit singles from his first two albums. But things really picked up for McCoy when he hooked up with legendary Muscle Shoals session pianist and producer Barry Beckett. The 1994 album No Doubt About It was certified Platinum. No Doubt About It and Wink both topped the Country Singles chart. Wink was written by veteran Nashville songwriters Bob DiPiero and Tom Shapiro. Both guys have written many hit songs. The fiddle solo is by Canadian Donny Parenteau who was in McCoy's band. The guitar solo is by John Conlee guitarist Brent Rowan. Beckett produced a total of three albums for McCoy which spawned several top ten country hits. McCoy's final top ten hit for Atlantic was Shake in 1997. It was produced by Kyle Lehning and released on this Greatest Hits CD which is now available as a budget CD. Things started to go south for McCoy when Warner Music closed Atlantic's Nashville office in 2000. McCoy's next CD 24-7-365 was released on Giant Records. Then Giant was closed and McCoy was moved to Warner Bros. McCoy recorded the album The Luckiest Man In The World and the title song was released as a single. But the album release was cancelled and McCoy left Warners. McCoy started his own label and scored a top ten hit in 2005 with Billy's Got His Beer Goggles On. McCoy's latest CD Pride: A Tribute To Charley Pride was released in 2013 and includes guest appearances by Darius Rucker, Raul Malo, Trace Adkins and Pride himself. McCoy is currently touring with Blake Shelton. Here's the video for Wink by Neal McCoy. Unfortunately, this altered version of the video is the only copy that is online.

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