Album Notes

A few months ago, Johnny Gray recorded "Bama Walk of Fame," and it became the title track on his fourth CD. Gray said the song has been receiving airplay on several radio stations around Alabama. It will be coming out on a single in Aug 2008. Locally,copies of the CD are available through Gray and WIXI 1360-AM in Jasper. The Album contains 12 tracks and includes Gray's cover versions of several popular country music songs, including "The Fireman" an "The Race is On." The Bryant tribute is one of five songs on the album written by Gray.

One of the original songs, "My Life and Love For You," was recorded by Gray in 1982 and marked his professional recording debut. Gray was working at a factory in Chicago when he wrote the song. "I told all the people around Chicago that knew me,"I'm going to go to Nashville and sing this to George Jones. If he doesn't like it, I'll quit," Gray said.

Gray went to Nashville and waited six hours to get into Jones' office. When Jones heard him sing "My Life and Love For You,"he insisted that Gray record it with his own band, the Jones Boys. In 1983, Gray also adapted the lyrics of a gospel music song written about Hank Williams. Gray's revised lyrics became a country song called "One of God's Chosen Ones." The song's lyrics and a photo of Williams appear on a plaque hanging in the Hank Williams Museum in Montgomery.

In his two-decade career, Gray has worked with such country music stars as Faron Young,Tanya Tucker and Jack Greene. Gray's nest goal is to take his career to Branson, Mo., a popular vacation spot for country music fans because of its many live shows "On one of my records, I had a song called "Take It On Home to Branson," and I got a lot of radio play out there. I just never got out there to work," Gray said.