A Record-Setting Trip to the Top

Tracy Lawrence Has his first Number 1 Song in 11 Years

Jun 19, 2007

With a little help from Kenny Chesney, Tim McGraw, and maybe some upset lawyers, Tracy Lawrence makes a grand entrance on his own label - Rockey Comfort Records.

Yes, 41 weeks! That’s how long it took Tracy Lawrence’s song, “Find Out Who Your Friends Are” to reach the coveted number 1 spot in Billboard magazine.

Just how abnormal is this? A typical song will peak out on the charts after 17 weeks or so. Some songs will make it to number 1 in less than 10 weeks, which could be the case with Kenny Chesney’s new song, “Never Wanted Nothing More.” Now, 41 weeks is a new record for an ascending song. So if you have been hearing this song on your radio station since August 21, 2006, you’re not alone.

Returning to number 1

One is that Tracy Lawrence scores his first Billboard number 1 song in 11 years. The last time his name was at the top, it was next to “Time Marches On,” his 1996 smash.

Lawrence's own label

Also, this is Tracy’s first song from his latest album “For The Love,” which is his first from his own record label Rocky Comfort Records. This is a trend we are seeing around country music. After Toby Keith successfully launched his own record label, others have followed in his path. This has got to make some record companies uneasy on Music Row. Musicians are beginning to figure out how to be successful without the help of a major record label.

Legal troubles

Lastly, if you have heard Lawrence’s CD, you know there are 2 versions of “Find Out Who Your Friends Are.” The second version has Tim McGraw and Kenny Chesney singing with him. This version couldn’t be a single because of rights issues across the record labels of the 3 singers. That didn’t stop radio station from cueing up the album track and playing it on their airwaves. There was an effort by one of the record labels involved to stop radio from playing the duet version. However, this might have actually encouraged radio stations to be defiant and play the song more. Whatever the reason, every week the song kept getting pushed towards the top spot, and while Tracy Lawrence is celebrating, somewhere, some Nashville record label executive is gritting his teeth.

The copyright of the article A Record-Setting Trip to the Top in Country Music is owned by Chris Sanders. Permission to republish A Record-Setting Trip to the Top in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.