Mel Street - Borrowed Angel

Song written by Mel Street and recorded by it, the first recording is from 1969 for the label, Tandem Records .In 1972, he signed, for the label, metromedia country, where he would record his first album, which would carry the title of his first recording, Borrowed angel (Metromedia Country 1972), in May 1972 he would re-release the single the borrowed angel, reaching top ten of the country lists, to number 7.

There was a time when a totally unknown singer could come to Nashville, cut a song backed by the best musicians in the city and make it a success. This was the case of Mel Street and his 1972 hit, “Borrowed Angel,” one of the best cheating songs in the history of country music. However, it did not happen overnight. The road to the success of Mel Street was long and rocky: to be able to support his family, he had to combine singing in nightclubs with several different jobs as an electrician and car repairman. Before coming to Nashville, he lived with his family in places like Ohio, West Virginia and New York State (for a while he was employed by the Niagara Energy Project), singing on radio stations and television shows.

It was through the help of businessman Jim Prater, who captured one of his television broadcasts from Bluefield, WV, that Mel managed to record “Borrowed Angel,” one of his own compositions. The album, imbued with the country-pop-cum-honky-tonk tradition of

George Jones and Billy Sherrill, reached the Top Ten in 1972. It not only showed Mel’s gift for songwriting, but also his very personal style of music singing. That it was perfect to deliver all the pathos of a deceptive song.

Mel was another great songwriter and singer, with great talent, recording several hits such as “You make me feel more like a man”, “Forbidden Angel”, “Today I met a friend of yours”, “If I had a cheat heart, “and” Smokey Mountain Memories. ” He signed with Mercury Records in 1978, but suffering from clinical depression and alcoholism, committed suicide with a self-inflicted bullet wound on October 21, 1978, his 43rd birthday. He also had a record debut on the country charts on October 21, called “Just Hangin ‘On,” and later featured four posthumous songs. The street idol George Jones sang at his funeral.

 Some Versions :

Mel Tillis 1973 ( MGM Records )

Johnny Bush 1973 ( RCA Victor )

George Jones 1974 ( Epic )

Charlie Albertson 1974 ( Hilltop Records )

Ronnie Milsap 1975 ( RCA Victor )

Ivory Jack 1980 ( NSD Records )

Wesley Dennis 1995 ( Mercury )

Ricky Van Shelton 1997 ( Vanguard )

Moe Bandy 1997 ( Intersound )

Honky Tonk Team 2002 ( HTM )

Lorrie Morgan 2009 ( Country Crossing Records )

….and many more …………