Clay Walker

With his first two singles reaching number one upon their release, Clay Walker immediately established himself as a commercial success. Unlike most of his new country contemporaries of the mid-’90s, he was able to sustain that success over a couple of years, racking up no less than five number one singles in the first three years of his career.

Clay Walker (born August 19, 1969) was born and raised on a farm in Beaumont, TX, the hometown of George Jones. Walker fell in love with country music at an early age, when his father gave him a guitar when he was only nine years old. After he graduated from high school, Walker pursued a musical career full-time, playing concerts across the South, the Midwest, and Canada. For over three years, he toured and went to school, taking courses about the music business. During this time, he acted as his own manager. Eventually, he became the house singer at the Neon Armadillo bar in Beaumont. While performing at the club, producer James Stroud heard Walker and offered to work with the singer. Stroud helped Walker secure a contract with Giant Records, and the pair began working on the vocalist’s debut album.

Walker released his twenty-third single, "Say No More," for Giant in early 2001. It was the first single release from his sixth studio album, also titled Say No More. "Say No More" peaked at #33 on the country charts, and the album's only other single, the Jerry Kilgore co-write "If You Ever Feel Like Lovin' Me Again," reached #27.[1] This latter song was promoted by Giant's parent company, Warner Bros. Records Nashville, as Giant had closed in late 2001.[1] Walker co-produced the album with veteran producers Byron Gallimore and Blake Mevis, as well as session guitarist Brent Mason.[30] The album also included a song that Walker wrote in high school, as well as a cover of Ritchie Valens' "La Bamba."[31] Maria Konicki Dinoia of Allmusic rated it three stars, with her review saying that "the sensitivity on this album is so expressive that it makes you want to run right out and hug the one you love."[30] Country Standard Time critic Mike Clark considered it a transition to a more country pop-oriented sound, describing the album as being "full of bad lyrics and overwrought production clichés."[31]

In 2002, Walker wrote and recorded a song for the National Football League's newest expansion team at the time, the Houston Texans. Titled "Football Time in Houston," the song was used as the team's official fight song during its inaugural season.[32] In an interview with CMT, he said that he donated the song to the city of Houston,[33] and that he sings "The Star-Spangled Banner" at the team's opening game every season.[33]

Although he had left Warner Bros. for RCA Records' Nashville division in May 2002,[34] Warner Bros. released a Christmas music album entitled Christmas in September of the same year.[35] It included a cover of José Feliciano's "Feliz Navidad," which Walker took to #49 on the country charts in January 2003.

Walker's first single release for RCA, "A Few Questions," debuted in April 2003. The song spent twenty-seven weeks on the country charts and peaked at #9, making for his first Top Ten since "The Chain of Love" three years previous.[36] This was the first single from his only RCA album, also titled A Few Questions. Its second single, the Chely Wright co-write "I Can't Sleep,"[37] also peaked at #9 in early 2004.[1] The third and final single was the #31 "Jesus Was a Country Boy,"[1] which Walker wrote with Rivers Rutherford. A Few Questions accounted for his second-highest peak on the country albums charts, reaching #3.

Erlewine rated this album two-and-a-half stars out of five on Allmusic. He considered the album more country pop-oriented than Walker's work for Giant, saying that this change in sound made it not "feel like a Clay Walker album."[38] Dan McIntosh gave a mostly-negative review for Country Standard Time, where he wrote that "even his passionate singing cannot rise above this album's predictable lyrics and lame arrangements."[39]

Walker was signed his third record deal in July 2005, this time with the Asylum-Curb division of Curb Records.[40] His first single for the label, "'Fore She Was Mama," reached a peak of #21 in March 2007.[1] It was included on his album Fall, which was produced by Keith Stegall.[41] The album's title cut, "Fall," was written by Clay Mills along with former Mercury Records artist Shane Minor and former Exile member Sonny LeMaire.[42] It was the second single release from Fall, going to #5 on the country charts and #55 on the Hot 100.[1] The album's third and final single was "She Likes It in the Morning," with a #43 country peak.[1] Fall also included a duet with Freddy Fender, the first duet of Walker's career, on a cover of Fender's debut single "Before the Next Teardrop Falls."[43] Walker and Fender recorded this duet in early 2006; Fender died of lung cancer in October of the same year.

Erlewine gave a three-and-a-half star rating, saying that Stegall's production gave it a more traditional sound in comparison to A Few Questions, and that, despite having some "sappy" songs, it was his "most enjoyable collection in some time."[41] The 9513 reviewer Brady Vercher rated it three stars out of five, praising Walker's vocal performance but saying that the song selection "seemed to be lacking in everything but fluff."[43] Country Standard Time reviewer Jeffrey B. Remz wrote that Walker showed "a very pleasant country voice with a good sense of emotion" and that the production was more country-sounding than most mainstream acts, but said that it had several "generic" songs.

Walker's second album for Asylum-Curb was first announced in June 2009.[46] Its first single, "She Won't Be Lonely Long," was given an official release date of December 2009,[47] although it had already entered the country charts in late November.[48] Great American Country reported that the album will also include a duet with former Alabama lead singer Randy Owen on a cover of the band's 1981 single "Feels So Right."[46] In advance of his ninth album, Walker released an extended play titled She Won't Be Lonely Long.[49] The album, which will also be titled She Won't Be Lonely Long, is slated for release on June 8, 2010.

“What’s It to You” became a number one hit upon its release in August of 1993, with “Live Until I Die” following it into the pole position later that same year. Both singles were featured on his debut album, Clay Walker, which was released in the fall of 1993. “Where Do I Fit in the Picture,” the third single from the album, became a number 11 hit in early 1994. “White Palace” was a flop, failing to crack the Top 40, but “Dreaming With My Eyes Open” became his third number one hit in the summer of 1994, helping make his debut record a platinum album. If I Could Make a Living was not quite as successful as his debut, yet it still yielded the number one title track. Hypnotize the Moon, Walker’s third album, appeared in the fall of 1995, preceded by the number two single “Who Needs You Baby.” He followed with Self Portrait in 1996 and Rumor Has It in 1997. A Greatest Hits collection appeared in 1998 and a new album, Live, Laugh, Love, was released in 1999. Say No More followed two years later.