Songoftheday 5/26/12 - Then my wild, beautiful bird, you will have flown...

Ronnie Milsap - "Any Day Now" 

from the album Inside (1982)

Billboard Hot 100 peak: #14 (two weeks)

weeks in the top-40: 9

Today's Song of the Day is by country singer Ronnie Milsap, with his remake of the soul standard "Any Day Now". Milsap was born in North Carolina, and blind since birth due to congenital disorder, losing both his eyes. His career began as an R&B artist, even having a top-20 hit in 1965 with "Never Had It So Good", an Ashford & Simpson-written song. An accomplished piano player, he would work with many pop and soul legends of the time, including Elvis Presley, with whom he worked with in his country-leaning period entering the 70s. After moving over to RCA records in the early 70s, Milsap's new country focus found a home, and in 1974 he had his first #1 with "Pure Love", the first of his 35 charttoppers on Billboard's country list (the fourth most behind George Strait, Conway Twitty, and Merle Haggard).

"Any Day Now", subtitled "(My Wild Beautiful Bird)", was written by writing legend Burt Bacharach along with lyricist Bob Hilliard in 1962. It was originally popularized by the soul singer Chuck Jackson, who had a #2 R&B hit and #23 pop hit with the song.

Elvis Presley would also record the tune for his Elvis In Memphis album, and it was the B-side to his classic "In The Ghetto" single...

For Ronnie's 14th studio album, Inside, he took a cue from his former collaborator and released "Any Day Now" as the first single. It reached the top of the country and adult contemporary charts, and was Billboard's top Adult Contemporary single of 1982.

"Any Day Now" was one of three #1 country hits from the Inside album. The same year, he would win a Grammy award for best vocal country performance for "(There's) No Gettin' Over Me". Milsap would continue to dominate country radio until the early 90s, when the slick pop-influenced country sound gave way to more traditional acts.

Up tomorrow: Arena rockers named for a prairie state.