Gary Morris - vocals, guitar; Howard Simpers - keyboards; Jamie Friendly - lead guitar, vocals; Mike Brigham - drums; Steven Brandley - bass; Gary Hooker - guitar
Country singer Gary Morris was determined not to be your typical country balladeer, even though his original recording in 1984 of "Wind Beneath My Wings" (later a pop hit for Bette Midler) initially set him up as the new Texas answer to Randy Travis. But Morris would soon prove he was more than a guitar twangin' country star. At the height of his country popularity he took the enormously risky career move of starring opposite Linda Ronstadt in the New York Shakespeare Festival production of Puccini's opera La Boheme. The raves he received from this run led to his first Broadway offer, in which he took on the heroic role of Jean Valjean in "Les Miserables," one of the longest running plays on the Great White Way.
This was sandwiched in between his ongoing country career, which for over a period of ten years gave his audience twelve Top 10 country albums, which produced no less than 16 hit singles. This recording was originally made for the Silver Eagle Cross Country Radio Concert Series shortly after he scored a #1 country hit with "Winds Beneath My Wings."
Although Morris would score considerably more hits long after this period, there are still enough songs that represent his definitive country crooning. True back road titles such as "Mama You Can't Give Me No Whippin'" and "Ain't It Always That Way" balance against more contemporary-sounding country songs such as "I Can Tell By The Way You Dance," "Dreams Die Hard," "Heading For A Heartache / Don't Look Back," and "The Love She Found In Me." He caters to the softies in the crowd with several ballads including "Bed Of Roses" and his closer, "Wind Beneath My Wings," which had won both the CMA and ACM Song of the Year Awards.
Morris has continued for over 25 years as a popular country draw. By the 1990s he had expanded past the theater gigs to TV and films. He appeared on several television shows including Designing Women and Mike Hammer. He also produced a hunting and fishing show, which aired for years on the Nashville Network. In 2005, he created the Conservation Buck Society, a non-profit organization that promotes wildlife conservation.