Songoftheday 5/10/24 -The moment was custom-made to order, I was ridin' with my daughter on our way back from Monroe...

 

 

"Help Pour Out The Rain (Lacey's Song)" - Buddy Jewell

from the album Buddy Jewell (2003)

Billboard Hot 100 peak: #29 (one week)

Weeks in the Top-40: 5

 

Today's song comes from Buddy Jewell, who grew up in Arkansas, where he started learning country music at a young age. After dropping out of college, Jewell was part of a local band, then started to compete in singing competitions, winning one sponsored by the country band Alabama and doing a stint on Star Search (where LeAnn Rimes got her start). At the beginning of the 2000's, Buddy self-released two albums on his own. He also worked in Nashville as a demo singer until his big break came on the new show Nashville Star. The show patterned itself as a country music-specific mimic of American Idol, and Buddy won the first season in the spring of 2003 at the ripe age of 41, ahead of then teen Miranda Lambert (who will be in this series many times).  Shortly after, Buddy's debut single was released to capitalize on it. "Help Pour Out The Rain" was subtitled "Lacey's Song" after his daughter, and was written solely by the singer. The lyrics play out like Buddy recalling a day out with his kid, with her asking what happens when one dies. Of course it's sappy but to the point of cringe, and the religious stamp is quite heavy-handed. But Buddy's weathered voice tones it down a notch, and the production from fellow country music veteran Clint Black is peppy and organic. The music video is pretty basic and follows the plot of the song...

"Help Pour Out The Rain" landed Buddy his first hit on Billboard magazine's Hot 100, reaching the top-40 in October of 2003. On the radio, the song spent a week at #3 on Billboard's Country Airplay chart. Jewell's self-titled album on Columbia Records, which came out in July of that year, came in at #13 on the Billboard 200 sales tally, and spent a week at #1 on the Country Albums list, going on to sell over a half million copies. 

Both Buddy and his eponymous album will be back to the series.

(5/10)

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Here's Buddy performing live in concert...

and lastly from a televised appearance...

Tomorrow I'll run down my top hits from this week, then on Monday Song Of The Day will be back with a rapper getting very sweet.