Songoftheday 4/29/22 - He was driving home one evening In his beat up Pontiac, when an old lady flagged him down her Mercedes had a flat...
"Chain Of Love" - Clay Walker
from the album Live, Laugh, Love (1999)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #40 (one week)
Weeks in the Top-40: 1
Today's song comes from singer Clay Walker, who had racked up a string of country radio hits through the 1990's before finally landing his first top-40 crossover single with "You're Beginning To Get To Me" from his Greatest Hits collection at the close of 1998. The following year, Clay released his fifth studio album on the Giant Nashville label, Live, Laugh, Love. The lead single from the set was "She's Always Right", which was co-written by Richie McDonald and produced by label head Doug Johnson. Despite the push from Giant, the underrated song stopped at #16 on Billboard magazine's Country Singles chart, and peaked down at #74 on the crossover pop Hot 100. That was followed by title track "Live, Laugh, Love", which did a little better, almost making the country radio top 10 at #11 while getting to the same #74 mark on the Hot 100.
For the third release from the record, Walker went with the pay it forward parable of "Chain Of Love". Written by Rory Feek, who would go on to record under the husband and wife duo Joey & Rory, and Jonnie Barnett, who was an opening act for Cheech & Chong and appeared in their movie, the song tells the story of someone helping an older woman stranded on the road and refuses payment, and followed the circle to a sweet conclusion. It's a simple, powerful message built from a short story in the inspirational book Chicken Soup for The Country Soul, but it is built around morality without having to bring religion into it. Walker's quiveringly emotional but on pitch delivery helps this from becoming just another Christian Pop drivel...
"Chain Of Love" became Walker's second, and so far last, top-40 crossover hit on Billboard's Hot 100 in June of 2000. The song spent four weeks at #3 on Billboard's Country Airplay chart as well. Internationally, the single made it to #6 on the Canadian Country chart. The Live, Laugh, Love album, originally released in August of 1999, reached a high of #55 on the Billboard 200 sales tally, and #5 on the Country Albums list, going on to sell over a half million copies.
A fourth single from the Live Laugh Love album was "Once In A Lifetime Love", a ballad that Clay co-wrote. It initially spent a week on the Country Airplay chart from unsolicited radio airplay in July of 1999, then the following year rose to #50.
In 2001, Walker returned with his sixth effort, Say No More. Unfortunately, Giant was in the midst of closing shop, and the lack of promotion aided in the two singles stalling in the lower part of the country radio top-40, with "If You Ever Feel Like Loving Me Again" stopping at #27, under the parent company Warner Brothers imprint. After a contract-settling Christmas album the next year, Walker moved over to the RCA Nashville label.
Clay returned in 2003 with A Few Questions. The title track "A Few Questions" was another try at the moral story-song that made "Chain Of Love" a hit, but this time actually invoking God into the mix. The track did return him to the country radio top ten at #9 (Hot 100 #55), along with follow-up "I Can't Sleep", which matched that rank (Hot 100 #61). The album gave Walker a career high on the Country Albums chart at #3, and his second top-40 placing on the Billboard 200 at #23.
Despite the success, Walker moved yet again, this time to Asylum-Curb Records, where he released Fall in 2007. The set was his best showing on the Billboard 200 at #15, and second single "Fall" climbed to #5 on the Country Singles chart and #55 on the Hot 100. A second disc for the label, She Won't Be Lonely Long in 2010, also made the top-20 on the Billboard 200 at #16, and #5 on the Country Albums list, his most recent showing on both. The title track "She Won't Be Lonely Long" rose to #4 on Billboard's Country radio chart, his best showing in a decade. Its followup "Where Do I Go From You" scored Clay the most recent of his 28 top-40 country radio hits at #26.
Since then, Clay has released two more albums independently, with Texas To Tennessee arriving in 2021 on Show Dog Records. The set even spun off two minor country radio hits, with "Catching Up With An Old Memory" making it to #60 last month. He has also been fighting multiple sclerosis since 1996, and has done much with fundraising and spreading information and positivity about the disease.
(8/10)
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Here's Clay performing "Chain Of Love" in concert in Las Vegas...
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