Brad Paisley Throws a Grand Ole Party

The Grand Ole Opry stage was the setting for a celebration yesterday (Oct. 18) for Brad Paisley and writers of his recent No. 1 songs, 'Old Alabama' and 'Remind Me.' Sharing in the celebration were the country superstar's duet partners on the tunes, legendary group Alabama -- Randy Owen, Jeff Cook and Teddy Gentry -- and Carrie Underwood. It was the first time a No. 1 party had been held on the Opry stage.

'Old Alabama' includes a verse of Alabama's 'Mountain Music' in it, which was written 30 years ago by group member Randy Owen. Brad, along with Chris DuBois and Dave Turnbull, wove a verse from Randy's song into the new tune 'Old Alabama,' and then asked country music's first major group to sing it with him.

It became Alabama's first No. 1 hit since 'Reckless' in 1993, and is Brad's 17th chart topper. 'Mountain Music' has been played over four million times on radio airwaves, and Randy received a plaque from performance rights organization BMI commemorating that accomplishment.

"The thing about these guys is they would still be singing at the Bowery in Myrtle Beach if they hadn't made it, because they love music that much. I don't know if they will ever understand the mark they made on so many lives with their music," Brad tells The Boot, adding, "They told me they'd only do this with me if it was fun. I think it was mostly fun, wasn't it guys?"

Randy recalled Brad playing him the mix of the single for the first time. "We met at some mall, and when Brad went to put the CD in the player his hand was shaking. When it finished playing he asked what I thought, and I told him it should come in at No. 1.

"I want to also take this opportunity to thank Brad for all his help when we did the benefit in Alabama for the tornado victims," Randy continued. "He let us use his equipment, and he was very pivotal in helping us help the people of Alabama who needed our help so desperately."

Publisher Chris Tomlinson of Sony/Tree remembered Alabama as the soundtrack to his life as a teenager. "Some 30 years ago, I rolled into high school one morning with 'Mountain Music' blaring on my radio, and my English teacher was standing at the door. As I walked into the building she stopped me and said, 'Mr. Tomlinson, if you spent half as much time on English as you do on that band Alabama you might graduate!'

"Well I did graduate, and in 1983 a buddy of mine stole two security T-shirts and we attended an Alabama concert as security workers. Because they thought we were security, we got to go backstage and I watched Alabama members sign autographs for fans until everyone of them had the chance to talk to them. I had liked them before, but that made me an even bigger fan.

"Five years later, I'm working for Acuff-Rose Publishing and my first assignment was to pitch songs to Alabama. I pitched to their producer, Barry Beckett, and when I played him Danny Mayo's 'If I Had You,' he looked at me and said, 'I Believe Randy will sing that one.' That was my first No. 1 song by Alabama, and I'm proud to be their publisher today."

During the celebration for 'Remind Me,' Brad recalled contacting Carrie for the first time about the song, which he co-wrote with Chris DuBois and Kelley Lovelace. "When I called her, we just had the idea and the melody. I knew I wanted to do a question and answer kind of thing, with Carrie interrupting me, sort of like it would be in real life. So I'm mumbling lyrics to her and then I say, 'Here is where you sing 'remind me,' can you do that?' And she sings it to me in this angelic voice and I knew that was it. I said, 'Are you in?' and she said, 'I guess, as long as you get it to where you are happy with it.'"

Carrie said she and Brad had been talking about doing a duet for a long time but had been waiting for the right song. Even with this one, she says she cautioned him that if he didn't feel like it would work for them, they should wait.

"I want to thank Kelly, Chris and Brad for trusting me with this part," the Oklahoma native said. "The day I flew back to Nashville to record it (Feb. 11, 2011) was the same day that my husband (hockey professional Mike Fisher) was traded to the Nashville Predators. Our schedules were just crazy in trying to get the song done, and if that hadn't happened, I was supposed to fly to Canada to be with Mike."

"As writers, we usually know when we have something special, and we felt we had it with this song," Brad said. "Of course, the key to it was having one of the best singers in country music -- me -- singing on it! Seriously, Carrie is one of the best singers in music, and she was born to sing country music on this stage on the Grand Ole Opry."

Kelly Lovelace also co-wrote 'He Didn't Have to Be," Brad's first No. 1 single. 'Remind Me' is the famed songwriter's 18th chart topping song.

"I want to thank Chris and Brad for helping me learn to write songs," Kelley said. "I live close to Brad and I'm up late, so I answer my phone later at night when no one else does. I think that's why I'm on so many of his songs! The night we did the demo, Sheryl Crow came over and sang Carrie's part."

Carrie and Brad will host the Country Music Association Awards show on November 9 on ABC.