Producer, Manager, Promoter and Music Publisher Huey Meaux was born in Louisiana to Cajun sharecropper parents and was named for the infamous Huey P. Long of Louisiana. At the age of 12, the family moved to Winnie, Texas.  He played the drums in a band with his father playing the accordion.  He went to barber school and worked that trade during the day and was a disc jockey at night.   He formed his own label called Crazy Cajun.   B.J. enjoyed his first real taste of success when he recorded the Hank Williams standard,  I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry with producer Huey P. Meaux. Released by Scepter Records in early 1966, the single became an immediate hit, catapulting to number eight on the billboard pop chart.  Meaux bought Sugar Hill Studios where he produced hundreds of songs.  He revived the career of Freddy Fender in 1975 with the hit Before the Next Teardrop Falls and also produced gold records Wasted Days and Wasted Nights and  Secret Love for Fender as well as gold records for Archie Bell and the Drells, Tighten Up and Leaving It All Up to You for Dale and Grace.  B.J. even had a cat that was named "Meaux".

MARK CHARRON,  B.J.'s Texas buddy and a member of The Triumphs Band, wrote many of the songs that B.J. Thomas has recorded and most of them were produced by Crazy Cajun records.  The B.J. Thomas & The Triumphs album on the Pacemaker label included 7 songs written by Mark Charron.   Billy and Sue was a popular tune around the Houston area but never became a big hit elsewhere.  On the Bright Nights album that B.J. recorded in 1982, 8 of the 10 songs on the album were written by Mark (Bring Back the Time, Mama, Daddy, Wendy, Luckiest Man In This Wide World, How Many Tears Will It Take, Bobbie, She’s Ridin’ High).  On the Pretty Country Girl LP, also recorded in 1982, songs again came from Mark Charron (Walking Back, I’d Rather Be Lonely, Plain Jane, How Many Tears Will It Take, Garner State Park, Pretty Country Girl, Lovin’ You, Ashes of Dreams You Let Die, and  Didn’t It Rain (co-written with Huey P. Meaux).  Other songs that Charron has written that were recorded by B.J. Thomas are Your Tears Leave Me Cold, Candy Baby, Hey Girl, I Wonder, Keep It Up, Comedy of Love, Come Home To Me, My Home Town,  VietNam, Never Tell, Wishful Thinking, Plain Jane , A Got A Feeling and Chains of Love.

(Unfortunately, I do not have a photo of Mark)

BUDDY BUIE is a songwriter and producer who formed the Atlanta Rhythm Section with music publisher, Bill Lowery and songwriter/guitarist, J.R. Cobb.  Buie and Cobb left the Classics IV to form ARS  and it became know as “the” southern rock band.  Buie has had many chart songs by such artists as Wynonna Judd, The Lettermen, Classics IV , Sandy Posey and the Atlanta Rhythm Section. The Atlanta Rhythm Section was inducted into the Georgia Music Hall of Fame in 1996.   B. J. Thomas recorded two of his songs in 1971, Most of All and Might Clouds of Joy, which is the first gospel recording B.J. did and remains one of my favorite gospel songs he has performed.  Robert Nix, Buddy Buie, and Barry Bailey co-wrote Jesus Hearted People, which B.J. recorded.  
 Burnin' A Hole In My Mind was co-written by Buie and J.R. Cobb and performed by B.J.

  Buie received the 1997 Music Creator’s Award from the Alabama Music Hall of Fame. 

AARON WILBURN is a Christian musician, comedian and professional speaker who co-wrote with Gloria Thomas The Great American Dream and Teach Me To See.  Pray For Me was co-written with B.J. Thomas. Back Home was co-written by Wilburn with Gloria Thomas and Lathan Hudson.   Aaron has had numerous #1 songs, nominations for Songwriter Of The Year as well as Dove and Grammy nominations.  His comedy tapes are a delight!

    http://aaronwilburn.com

CHRIS CHRISTIAN started his career in music in Nashville in the 70’s and he has done just about everything in the music business including performing, song writing, producing and is now the chief operating officer of his own music company, Chris Christian Entertainment.  Chris has been nominated for 7 Dove Awards in the producer, publisher and songwriter categories and has won 5 Dove Awards.  Additionally, he has been nominated for 9 Grammy Awards as well.   Christian was instrumental in getting B.J. Thomas’s career started in the realm of gospel music.  B.J. Thomas recorded Walkin' On A Cloud, for which Christian wrote the words and music.  Chris Christian and Shannon Smith co-wrote More Of You and God Bless The Children, both of which B.J. has recorded. The Faith That Comes From You is another song written by Christian and recorded by B.J. Thomas.  Without A Doubt, recorded by B.J., was co-written by B.J. and Chris.  The words and music to the B.J. Thomas song, Starving Sinner Sleeping Saint were written by Christian.  

The Studios in Irving , Texas is owned by Chris Christian.  Home Sweet Home Music is the exclusive music publisher of hundreds of songs written by Chris from his early days producing the first “Pop” Christian records in the mid-seventies to the present, including scoring for the motion picture Dakota, and feature music for current CBS Sports telecasts and many cuts by internationally known artists such as Elvis, The Carpenters, Donnie Osmond, Sheena Easton, Dionne Warwick, Olivia Newton-John, and B.J. Thomas. 

   "My goal is to play a role in increasing television and film production in the south and bring to light the unique advantages of producing content in Texas." 
-- Chris Christian 

                                                                                                    http://www.studiosatlascolinas.com/

LATHAN HUDSON   co-wrote with Gloria Thomas I'm In Tune, which was nominated for a Grammy Award in 1985 and was on Billboard's inspirational chart as a #1 song.  He co-wrote with Gloria Thomas and Red Lane the 1983 hit performed by B.J. Thomas, New Looks From An Old Lover, which was a cross-over country-pop hit.  His 18 years spent in Nashville garnered him 4 Grammy nominations for his song-writing talent.  In addition to B.J., some of the artists who have recorded his songs are Barbra Streisand, Wayne Newton, George Jones, Elvis Costello, Dolly Parton, Emmy Lou Harris, Linda Rondstadt, Tammy Wynette, and many others.  In 1994 Lathan moved to Titusville , Florida to pursue his writing.  Thurmond-Permanently Sealed is, he says, “an alter-ego rendition of my life through stories-partially, from the strange humor I was exposed to as a songwriter in Nashville ”.  He also wrote the children’s books The Jingle Bell Monster and The Himinamis Bear.   In 2005 Lathan formed The Musical Kottage, a place where songwriters and other artists get together to work on various projects for people to enjoy.  He has set up a board of directors for the group comprised of great songwriters and musicians.  Please visit Lathan’s websites:  http://www/musicalkottage.com and http://thurmond.homestead.com/humor.html

   MARK JAMES    Another friend of B.J.’s from Houston, Mark James is the guy that persuaded B.J. Thomas and his brother, Jerry, to go to Memphis to record some music in 1967.  They cut Eyes of a New York Woman, Hooked on a Feeling (both written by Mark) and I Just Can’t Help Believing.  Of course, anyone who has known me very long knows that “Hooked” is my favorite song!  Some songs that Mark James wrote and B.J. recorded are I’ve Been Down This Road Before, We Are Happy Together,  I Get Enthused, Goodybye’s A Long, Long Time, Sunday Sunrise , Living Again, The Mask,  Talkin’ Confidentially (co-written with Gerry Goffin) and We Are Happy Together from the Help Me Make It To My Rocking Chair LP and co-written with Chips Moman, Are We Losing Touch.  On the Songs LP, Mark James sang vocals on Too Many Mondays and Early Morning Hush. Cynthis Weil and Mark James co-wrote I've Been Alone Too Long, which was recorded by B.J.   Mark James now resides in Nashville writing songs and has a long list of artists under his belt.  He co-wrote Always On My Mind with Wayne Carson and Johnny Christopher, which won Song of the Year in 1982 performed by Willie Nelson. 

Gathered outside the screening room at BMI Nashville are 

BMI's Thomas Cain and Patsy Bradley, Mark and Karen James, and BMI's Paul Corbin

RED LANE was born Hollis Rudolph DeLaughter but the name Red has stuck (he is ..was..a redhead!).  He has won at least 8 BMI Awards and received a One Million Performance Award for B.J.'s  1983 New Looks From An Old Lover, which Lane co-wrote with Gloria Thomas and Lathan Hudson.  He has co-written many other songs such as My Friend On The Right (with Faron Young in 1964), County Girl (with Dottie West in 1968), My Own Kind Of Hat (with Merle Haggard 1979), and The World Needs A Melody (with Larry Henley and Johnny Slate).  Red lives in a very unusual home....an aeroplane!!!!!    How cool is that????????????   

                                                                    Red's Aeroplane Home

ARCHIE JORDAN is a two time Grammy nominated songwriter who has earned 7 gold and 3 platinum albums and 15 ASCAP Awards.   Additionally, he has had 2 CMA Nominations for best country song and A DOVE Award Nomination.  B.J.'s Home Where I Belong Lp is one of my all-time favorites.  Archie Jordan did the music arrangement with Chris Christian on this album as well as doing vocals.  Other artists who have recorded his songs are numerous (Kenny Rogers, Barbara Mandrell, Amy Grant,  Engelbert Humperdinck, and Ronnie Milsap are just a few).  Jordan has done musical arrangements for B.J. Thomas and wrote several of the songs and  produced and arranged the music on two other of B.J.'s Grammy albums, You Gave Me Love and Happy Man. Jordan co-wrote with Claire Cloninger the songs You Gave Me Love and What Your Love Did For Me.   Archie  Jordan and Naomi Martin co-wrote I Need To Be Still (And Let God Love Me and The Word Is Love recorded by B.J.     Storybook Realities was co-written by Gloria Thomas and Archie.  I'm Gonna See Jesus was written by Jordan and recorded by B.J. as was I've Got Jesus On My Mind and What A Difference You've Made In My Life, which was a hit song for Ronnie Milsap.  Archie Jordan and Joel Rice co-wrote A Southern Girl On A Summer Night.   Hal David and Jordan co-wrote Using Things And Loving People.   Teddy Wilburn co-wrote with Jordan the B.J. Thomas recording of Lord, I'm Just A Baby.  He's Walking In My Shoes, is another B.J. recording co-written by Jordan with Hank Martin.  Archie Jordan and Hal David's song, It Was Almost Like A Song, was used in the soundtrack for the Clint Eastwood movie, Bridges of Madison County.  Incidentally, B.J. says that is his favorite movie!

STEVE DORFF  is an award winning composer for motion pictures, television and records.  He has been a winner of the NSAI Songwriter of the Year Award, 11 #1 Billboard awards, over 40 BMI awards as well as being a three-time Grammy nominee and Emmy nominee.  Steve Dorff’s big break in music began in Los Angeles when he was asked to write a song for the Clint Eastwood movie, Every Which Way But Loose.  Need I say more….it only got better from that point on for Dorff.  This song sung by Eddie Rabbit became Dorff’s first #1 song, earning him a Country Music Association Award and two Grammy nominations.   Songs that he has written and that have been  performed by B.J. Thomas include the theme song from the TV series, Growing Pains.  He has stated that he could have written a song titled the same as the series but opted for As Long As We’ve Got Each Other  instead.  The success of his endeavor with Growing Pains   led to other great deals (Murder She Wrote, Murphy Brown, Major Dad, Spenser for Hire). Dorff also wrote Shining, which B.J. performed on the album titled the same.  Steve Dorff co-produced with B.J. Thomas, Eddie Martinez and Todd Andrews  my all-time favorite B.J. Thomas albums. kcaB.FORWARD.   Another great B. J. Thomas album, Midnight Minute, was produced by Dorff.    Dorff co-wrote Midnight Minute with Larry Herbstritt and Greg Barnhill.  That album has some really great songs.  The music on Expression of Faith, which B.J. recorded, was done by Steve Dorff.   Dorff co-wrote with Cynthia Weil the B.J. Thomas song We Almost Had It All.   Steve Dorff and John Bettis co-wrote Half A Heart, recorded by B.J. Thomas, as well as the tunes One Woman and Second Chances (which is another real favorite of mine!).   Hit songs that Dorff has written include:  I Just Fall in Love Again (Anne Murray), Barroom Buddies (Merle Haggard and Clint Eastwood), Through the Years (Kenny Rogers), Take Good Care of My Heart (Whitney Houston and Jermaine Jackson) and Heartland ( George Strait ).  The later stages of Dorff’s musical career have brought him into the realm of musical theater.  Musicals he has done include Josephine (The Josephine Baker Story), Lunch, and  Say Good Night (George Burns and Gracie Allen story).

   http://www.stevedorff.com/

MICHAEL CHAIN is a film and tv actor and singer/songwriter.  He has done the voices on Powerglide, Red Alert, Hoist and Skids from the animated tv series, Transformers.  He was the lead singer for the original KNACK and has worked on stage with Merle Haggard and Led Zeppelin.  B.J. Thomas recorded his song, Who Broke Your Heart And Made You Write That Song.

Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil are a dynamite husband and wife songwriting team who wrote the hits B.J. Thomas has recorded I Just Can’t Help Believing, Brown-Eyed Woman,  Rock and Roll Lullaby, Here You Come Again, Roads and Sweet Cherry Wine and It's Over.   Barry Mann and Jim Sullins co-wrote the B.J. Thomas recording, Now That Love Is On Our Side Again.   Mann & Weil's  list of hit songs is phenomenal (Blame It On the Bossa Nova, Who Put The Bomp, On Broadway, I Will Come To You, Love Will Conquer All, We Gotta Get Out Of This Place, All of You, Sometimes When We Touch, Patches, Only In America, Looking Through The Eyes of Love, Make Your Own Kind Of Music,  Wrong Again, Just For Tonight, Black Butterfly, He’ So Shy, Running With The Night and MANY more!.  They were inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1987. 

GARY HARRISON is a notable songwriter from Nashville who has many awards to his credit.  He co-wrote with Gloria Thomas and J.D. Martin Broken Toys sung by B.J. Thomas.  This song about child abuse has been adopted by many agencies in the country as their theme song.  He also wrote the upbeat 80’s hit, Two Car Garage, also recorded by B.J.  He co-wrote with Matraca Berg the 1997 Song of the Year, Strawberry Wine, which was performed by Deana Carter.  Recent hits of his include Everybody Knows (Trisha Yearwood), True To His Word (Boy Howdy), I Just Wanted You To Know (Mark Chestnutt) and I Thought It Was You (Doug Stone) just to name a few.

B.J. and GLORIA THOMAS!!

B.J. and Gloria Thomas are both Lifetime Members of the Nashville Songwriters Association.  Gloria has played a bill role in B.J.'s musical career, as we all know.  She is a talented songwriter in her own right.  I know there are many she and B.J. have written together and some she has written on her own as well as with others.  These are just a few that come to mind:

I'm In Tune, written by Gloria and Lathan Hudson, was nominated in 1985 for a Grammy Award.

New Looks From An Old Lover, written by Gloria with Red Lane. 

Broken Toys, written by Gloria and two Nashville writers, J.D. Martin and Gary Harrison, has been adopted as their theme song by numerous agencies dealing with child abuse.

I Need a Miracle (This song expresses all the words that I needed to hear during a troubled time in my life and it really spoke to me.  It holds a special place in my heart.  Thank you Gloria and B.W. Stevenson for the words and, of course, B.J., for the heart and soul that you put into those words in song!)

That's Whats Wrong With the World Today,  written by Gloria with Larry Kingston and Lathan Hudson

Teach Me To See, written by Gloria and Aaron Wilburn

Pray For Me, B.J., Gloria and Aaron Wilburn penned the words

Storybook Realities,  written by Gloria and Archie P. Jordan

Born Again, co-written written by Rick Beresford and Gloria Thomas

Without A Doubt, co-written by Chris Christian and B.J. Thomas

Beautiful World, written by B.J. Thomas

Who Would I Be, written by B.J. Thomas

Hands On Me Again, written by B.J. Thomas

Back Against The Wall, written by B.J. Thomas

Newly engaged.....September 1969

Beautiful girl
You are my world

Beautiful girl
Our love will live forever
Beautiful girl

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