Sons of the Desert (band)
Encyclopedia
Sons of the Desert was an American country music
band founded in 1989 in Waco, Texas
by brothers Drew Womack (lead vocals, rhythm guitar
) and Tim Womack (lead guitar
, background vocals
), along with Scott Saunders (keyboards
), Doug Virden (bass guitar
, background vocals) and Brian Westrum (drums
). The band released Whatever Comes First
for Epic Records
Nashville in 1997, and recorded a second album for Epic which was not released. Change
followed in 2000. Counting two singles from the unreleased album, Sons of the Desert charted eight times on the Billboard
Hot Country Songs
charts, including the top ten hit "Whatever Comes First
".
film Sons of the Desert, was founded in 1989 by a group of students attending McLennan Community College
in Waco, Texas
. Drew Womack assumed the role of lead singer; his brother, Tim, played lead guitar and sang backup vocals. Completing the band's lineup were drummer Brian Westrum, keyboardist Scott Saunders, and bass guitarist/vocalist Doug Virden. The quintet toured throughout Texas for several years.
, a record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment
. The band's debut album, Whatever Comes First
, was released that year. Its title track served as the lead-off single, reaching a peak of number 10 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks charts. The album's second and third singles, "Hand of Fate" and "Leaving October" (which Drew Womack wrote about his third-grade teacher), also reached top 40 on the same chart. Drew Womack and Virden also appeared as studio backing vocalist
s for other Epic Records artists, including Ty Herndon
's 1996 album Living in a Moment
and 1998 album Big Hopes
, as well as Joe Diffie
's 1997 album Twice Upon a Time.
", which they began to perform in concert. Written by Dennis Linde
, "Goodbye Earl" told of a domestic abuse victim who enlisted a friend's help to kill her abusive husband. The group then recorded the song for a planned second album on Epic. At the same time, the Dixie Chicks
(who were signed to Monument Records
, another division of Sony Music Entertainment), had also recorded the song, and they were planning to include it on their next album as well. Although both bands had planned to release their versions as singles, the Dixie Chicks claimed the song as their own. Their version was recorded on their 1999 album Fly, and released as a single in 2000.
Sons of the Desert then entered a dispute with Sony over "Goodbye Earl", resulting in the band's departure from the label. Their second album for Epic was not released, and Sony acquired the rights to all of that album's songs (including the single "What About You", which had been released and peaked at number 45 on the country charts). Also included on this unreleased album was a recording of "Bless the Broken Road
", a song which was previously a number 42 country single in 1997 for Melodie Crittenden
, and would later became a Number One country hit when the group Rascal Flatts
recorded it for their 2004 album Feels Like Today
. "Albuquerque" was issued as the unreleased album's second single, peaking at 58. "Albuquerque" was later re-recorded the band's MCA album in 2000.
, was released a year later. The label also shifted the band's focus to just the Womack brothers and Virden. Saunders and Westrum still performed with the band, but were no longer considered official members; further, Westrum did not perform on Change. The title track served as the first single from Change, followed by "Everybody's Gotta Grow Up Sometime." These songs peaked outside the country top 40.
Following "Everybody's Gotta Grow Up Sometime," Sons of the Desert appeared as guest vocalists on Lee Ann Womack
's 2000 single "I Hope You Dance
." (Lee Ann is not related to the Womack brothers.)
The band's final chart single, titled "What I Did Right", was released after "I Hope You Dance," and it reached a peak of 22 on the country charts in 2001. At the end of the year, Virden left the group, reducing Sons of the Desert to a duo with the Womack brothers in the lineup.
Sons of the Desert subsequently exited the label, and by 2004, the duo went their separate ways. Drew Womack recorded a solo album for Smith Music Group in 2003. This album featured several contributions from the band's other members, and a re-recording of "Leaving October".
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
band founded in 1989 in Waco, Texas
Waco, Texas
Waco is a city in and the county seat of McLennan County, Texas. Situated along the Brazos River and on the I-35 corridor, halfway between Dallas and Austin, it is the economic, cultural, and academic center of the 'Heart of Texas' region....
by brothers Drew Womack (lead vocals, rhythm guitar
Rhythm guitar
Rhythm guitar is a technique and rôle that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with singers or other instruments; and to provide all or part of the harmony, ie. the chords, where a chord is a group of notes played together...
) and Tim Womack (lead guitar
Lead guitar
Lead guitar is a guitar part which plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs within a song structure...
, background vocals
Backing vocalist
A backing vocalist or backing singer is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists...
), along with Scott Saunders (keyboards
Keyboard instrument
A keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
), Doug Virden (bass guitar
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
, background vocals) and Brian Westrum (drums
Drum kit
A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
). The band released Whatever Comes First
Whatever Comes First
Whatever Comes First is the debut album of the American country music band Sons of the Desert. The album was released in 1997 on Epic Records...
for Epic Records
Epic Records
Epic Records is an American record label, owned by Sony Music Entertainment. Though it was originally conceived as a jazz imprint, it has since expanded to represent various genres. L.A...
Nashville in 1997, and recorded a second album for Epic which was not released. Change
Change (Sons of the Desert album)
Change is the second and final album released by American country music band Sons of the Desert. It was released in 2000 on MCA Nashville Records, and contains the singles "Change", "Everybody's Gotta Grow up Sometime" and "What I Did Right"...
followed in 2000. Counting two singles from the unreleased album, Sons of the Desert charted eight times on the Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
Hot Country Songs
Hot Country Songs
Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States.This 60-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly mostly by airplay and occasionally commercial sales...
charts, including the top ten hit "Whatever Comes First
Whatever Comes First (song)
"Whatever Comes First" is the debut single by American country music group Sons of the Desert. It was released in February 1997 as the first single and title track from the album Whatever Comes First. The song reached #10 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart.-Chart...
".
Biography
The band, deriving its name from the 1933 Laurel and HardyLaurel and Hardy
Laurel and Hardy were one of the most popular and critically acclaimed comedy double acts of the early Classical Hollywood era of American cinema...
film Sons of the Desert, was founded in 1989 by a group of students attending McLennan Community College
McLennan Community College
McLennan Community College is a community college partially funded by the taxpayers of McLennan County, Texas. Located in Waco, Texas, it opened in 1965. MCC now serves about 9,000 students and has more than 700 employees. It is governed by a Board of Trustees elected from single-member...
in Waco, Texas
Waco, Texas
Waco is a city in and the county seat of McLennan County, Texas. Situated along the Brazos River and on the I-35 corridor, halfway between Dallas and Austin, it is the economic, cultural, and academic center of the 'Heart of Texas' region....
. Drew Womack assumed the role of lead singer; his brother, Tim, played lead guitar and sang backup vocals. Completing the band's lineup were drummer Brian Westrum, keyboardist Scott Saunders, and bass guitarist/vocalist Doug Virden. The quintet toured throughout Texas for several years.
First album
In 1997, Sons of the Desert signed to Epic RecordsEpic Records
Epic Records is an American record label, owned by Sony Music Entertainment. Though it was originally conceived as a jazz imprint, it has since expanded to represent various genres. L.A...
, a record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment
Sony Music Entertainment
Sony Music Entertainment ' is the second-largest global recorded music company of the "big four" record companies and is controlled by Sony Corporation of America, the United States subsidiary of Japan's Sony Corporation....
. The band's debut album, Whatever Comes First
Whatever Comes First
Whatever Comes First is the debut album of the American country music band Sons of the Desert. The album was released in 1997 on Epic Records...
, was released that year. Its title track served as the lead-off single, reaching a peak of number 10 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks charts. The album's second and third singles, "Hand of Fate" and "Leaving October" (which Drew Womack wrote about his third-grade teacher), also reached top 40 on the same chart. Drew Womack and Virden also appeared as studio backing vocalist
Backing vocalist
A backing vocalist or backing singer is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists...
s for other Epic Records artists, including Ty Herndon
Ty Herndon
Boyd Tyrone "Ty" Herndon is an American country music and Christian singer. Signed to Epic Records in 1995, Herndon made his debut that year with the Number One single "What Mattered Most", followed by the release of his first album, also entitled What Mattered Most...
's 1996 album Living in a Moment
Living in a Moment
Living in a Moment is the second album from American country music artist Ty Herndon. The album was released in 1996 via Epic Records. Like his debut album What Mattered Most, the album has been certified gold by the RIAA...
and 1998 album Big Hopes
Big Hopes
Big Hopes is the third studio album recorded by country music artist Ty Herndon. It features the singles "A Man Holding On ", "It Must Be Love", and "Hands of a Working Man". These songs peaked at #5, #1, and #5, respectively, on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks charts...
, as well as Joe Diffie
Joe Diffie
Joe Logan Diffie is an American country music singer known for his ballads and novelty songs. Between 1990 and 2004, Diffie charted 35 cuts on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart, including five number one singles: his debut release "Home", "If the Devil Danced ", "Third Rock from the Sun",...
's 1997 album Twice Upon a Time.
"Goodbye Earl"
Following the release of its first album, Sons of the Desert discovered a song called "Goodbye EarlGoodbye Earl
"Goodbye Earl", written by Dennis Linde, is a country music song. Initially recorded by the band Sons of the Desert for an unreleased album in the late 1990s, the song gained fame when it was recorded by the Dixie Chicks on their second studio album featuring Natalie Maines as lead vocalist on...
", which they began to perform in concert. Written by Dennis Linde
Dennis Linde
Dennis Linde was an American singer and songwriter whose work was primarily in country musicHe is best known for writing the 1972 Elvis Presley hit, "Burning Love"...
, "Goodbye Earl" told of a domestic abuse victim who enlisted a friend's help to kill her abusive husband. The group then recorded the song for a planned second album on Epic. At the same time, the Dixie Chicks
Dixie Chicks
The Dixie Chicks are an American country band which has also successfully crossed over into other genres. The band is composed of founding members Martie Erwin Maguire and Emily Erwin Robison, and lead singer Natalie Maines...
(who were signed to Monument Records
Monument Records
Monument Records was an American record label, Washington, D.C. named for the Washington Monument, founded in 1958, by Fred Foster and Buddy Deane . Buddy Deane soon left the company, and in the early 60's bought KOTN in Pine Bluff, Arkansas where he retired to until his death...
, another division of Sony Music Entertainment), had also recorded the song, and they were planning to include it on their next album as well. Although both bands had planned to release their versions as singles, the Dixie Chicks claimed the song as their own. Their version was recorded on their 1999 album Fly, and released as a single in 2000.
Sons of the Desert then entered a dispute with Sony over "Goodbye Earl", resulting in the band's departure from the label. Their second album for Epic was not released, and Sony acquired the rights to all of that album's songs (including the single "What About You", which had been released and peaked at number 45 on the country charts). Also included on this unreleased album was a recording of "Bless the Broken Road
Bless the Broken Road
"Bless the Broken Road" is a song that has been recorded by several American country music artists. It was co-written by Marcus Hummon and members of the country music group Nitty Gritty Dirt Band in 1994, and recorded by Hummon a year later...
", a song which was previously a number 42 country single in 1997 for Melodie Crittenden
Melodie Crittenden
Melodie Crittenden is an American country and Christian music artist. She initially recorded a self-titled debut album for Asylum/Elektra Records in 1998, the same year that she charted with her rendition of "Bless the Broken Road" ; she would later record the song a second time as a member of the...
, and would later became a Number One country hit when the group Rascal Flatts
Rascal Flatts
Rascal Flatts is an American country music band that originated in Columbus, Ohio, United States of America. Since its inception, Rascal Flatts has been composed of three members: Gary LeVox , Jay DeMarcus and Joe Don Rooney...
recorded it for their 2004 album Feels Like Today
Feels Like Today
Feels Like Today is the third album from the American country music group Rascal Flatts. It was released in September 2004 on Lyric Street Records , has sold 5,149,000 copies in the United States as of October 18, 2009, and has been certified 5× Multi-Platinum by the RIAA...
. "Albuquerque" was issued as the unreleased album's second single, peaking at 58. "Albuquerque" was later re-recorded the band's MCA album in 2000.
Switch to MCA Nashville
Sons of the Desert signed to MCA Nashville Records in October 1999. The band's first album for MCA, titled ChangeChange (Sons of the Desert album)
Change is the second and final album released by American country music band Sons of the Desert. It was released in 2000 on MCA Nashville Records, and contains the singles "Change", "Everybody's Gotta Grow up Sometime" and "What I Did Right"...
, was released a year later. The label also shifted the band's focus to just the Womack brothers and Virden. Saunders and Westrum still performed with the band, but were no longer considered official members; further, Westrum did not perform on Change. The title track served as the first single from Change, followed by "Everybody's Gotta Grow Up Sometime." These songs peaked outside the country top 40.
Following "Everybody's Gotta Grow Up Sometime," Sons of the Desert appeared as guest vocalists on Lee Ann Womack
Lee Ann Womack
Lee Ann Womack is an American country music singer and songwriter, who is best known for her old fashioned-styled country music songs that often discuss subjects such as cheating and lost love....
's 2000 single "I Hope You Dance
I Hope You Dance (song)
"I Hope You Dance" is a crossover country pop song written by Mark D. Sandersand Tia Sillers, and recorded by country singer Lee Ann Womack along with Sons of the Desert...
." (Lee Ann is not related to the Womack brothers.)
The band's final chart single, titled "What I Did Right", was released after "I Hope You Dance," and it reached a peak of 22 on the country charts in 2001. At the end of the year, Virden left the group, reducing Sons of the Desert to a duo with the Womack brothers in the lineup.
Sons of the Desert subsequently exited the label, and by 2004, the duo went their separate ways. Drew Womack recorded a solo album for Smith Music Group in 2003. This album featured several contributions from the band's other members, and a re-recording of "Leaving October".
Albums
| Title | Album details | Peak chart positions |
|
|---|---|---|---|
| US Country | US Heat Top Heatseekers Top Heatseekers refers to either of two separate "Breaking and Entering" music charts issued weekly by Billboard Magazine: the Heatseekers Albums chart or the Heatseekers Songs chart. They were introduced by Billboard in 1993 with the purpose of highlighting the sales by new and developing musical... |
||
| Whatever Comes First Whatever Comes First Whatever Comes First is the debut album of the American country music band Sons of the Desert. The album was released in 1997 on Epic Records... |
|
38 | 25 |
| Change Change (Sons of the Desert album) Change is the second and final album released by American country music band Sons of the Desert. It was released in 2000 on MCA Nashville Records, and contains the singles "Change", "Everybody's Gotta Grow up Sometime" and "What I Did Right"... |
|
65 | — |
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart | |||
Singles
| Year | Single | Peak chart positions | Album | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Country Hot Country Songs Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States.This 60-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly mostly by airplay and occasionally commercial sales... |
US Billboard Hot 100 The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday... |
CAN Country RPM (magazine) RPM was a Canadian music industry publication that featured song and album charts for Canada. The publication was founded by Walt Grealis in February 1964, supported through its existence by record label owner Stan Klees. RPM ceased publication in November 2000.RPM stood for "Records, Promotion,... |
|||
| 1997 | "Whatever Comes First Whatever Comes First (song) "Whatever Comes First" is the debut single by American country music group Sons of the Desert. It was released in February 1997 as the first single and title track from the album Whatever Comes First. The song reached #10 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart.-Chart... " |
10 | — | 12 | Whatever Comes First |
| "Hand of Fate" | 33 | — | 21 | ||
| 1998 | "Leaving October" | 31 | — | 41 | |
| 1999 | "What About You" | 45 | — | 61 | Sons of the Desert (unreleased) |
| "Albuquerque" | 58 | — | 54 | ||
| 2000 | "Change" | 45 | — | 57 | Change |
| "Everybody's Gotta Grow Up Sometime" | 42 | — | 63 | ||
| 2001 | "What I Did Right" | 22 | 116 | * | |
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart * denotes unknown peak positions |
|||||
Music videos
| Year | Video | Director |
|---|---|---|
| 1997 | "Whatever Comes First" | Roger Pistole |
| "Hand of Fate" | ||
| 1999 | "What About You" | Randy Spear |
| 2000 | "Change" | Trey Fanjoy Trey Fanjoy Trey Fanjoy is a country music and pop music video director. Fanjoy has directed over 150 major label music videos. Her videos have appeared on CMT, VH-1, GAC, The Nashville Network, CMT Canada, and MTV.-Music videos:... |
| "Everybody's Gotta Grow Up Sometime" |