Songoftheday 2/6/22 - When a single mom goes out on a date with somebody new, it always winds up feeling more like a job interview...

 

 

"He Didn't Have To Be" - Brad Paisley

from the album Who Needs Pictures (1999)

Billboard Hot 100 peak: #30 (one week)

Weeks in the Top-40: 4

 

Today's song comes from singer/songwriter/guitarist Brad Paisley, who grew up in West Virginia, where he began his country music career on local radio. After moving to Nashville for college, Paisley started out as a writer before getting signed to his own deal with Arista Nashville Records. It was there that Brad released his debut album Who Needs Pictures in the summer of 1999. The title track "Who Needs Pictures" was his first single, and the heartbreak ballad climbed to #12 on Billboard magazine's Country Singles chart, spending a respectable 31 weeks on the list, while going to #65 on the crossover "pop" Hot 100 chart.  

Brad's follow-up would be a little more personal in nature. "He Didn't Have To Be". Written by Paisley with friend Kelley Lovelace, the song came from Lovelace's role as a stepdad, and transposed it to the viewpoint of the woman he married. With glowing appreciation for his stepping up to be there in the kid's life, it's a slice of real America that you barely get to see in these times and Nashville's brand-centric country (Elvie Shane's "My Boy" being a notable exception). Produced by Frank Rogers, who also was making his first big break, the story-song was such a breath of fresh air in the genre even then...

"He Didn't Have To Be" climbed all the way to #1 on Billboard's Country Singles chart, and crossed over to score Brad his first top-40 hit on the Hot 100 in December of 1999. Internationally, the single went to #5 on the Canadian Country chart. The Who Needs Pictures album, released in June of that year, peaked at #102 on the Billboard 200 sales tally, and #13 on the Country Albums chart, going on to sell over a million copies. At the Grammy Awards in 2001, Paisley was nominated for Best New Artist, losing to Shelby Lynne. Brad and the album will return to the series.

(10/10)

(Click below to see the rest of the post)

 

Here's Brad performing "He Didn't Have To Be" on the Donny & Marie show...

 

 Up tomorrow: This country singer gets some air.