By Michael Butler

Ronnie McDowell produced 20 Top 40 hits in the 1980s. A dozen of those were Top 10s. “Older Women” and “You’re Gonna Ruin My Bad Reputation” reached No. 1 on the Billboard charts.

McDowell is bringing his music catalog to Tallassee on Saturday, April 25 with special guests Paulette Carlson and Jeff Bates for the “Red, White and Blue” tour at the Mount Vernon Performing Arts Center.

“I love coming to these old theaters,” said McDowell. “To me it’s Americana. Everywhere we go, we’re going to have fun.”

McDowell broke into the business in 1977 with his first single, “The King is Gone,” a tribute record to Elvis Presley. The record surpassed six million in sales. McDowell also sang on the soundtrack for the film “Elvis” in 1979.

“I did 38 songs in that movie being Elvis Presley’s voice, the biggest star that has ever been on planet Earth. I’m like George Bailey. I’ve had the most wonderful life, and that’s the truth.”

McDowell’s signature tune is “Older Women” which featured backing vocals from the Jordanaires who popularly backed Elvis.

“We did that in one take,” McDowell remembered. “(Producer) Buddy Killen goes what else do we need to do? Number one record.”

Paulette Carlson will perform with McDowell on Saturday. She is best known as the lead singer of Highway 101. The country group had ten straight Top Ten releases from 1987-90.

“I had been in Nashville writing for the Oak Ridge Boys,” she said. “My mother came up with the name for Highway 101. She said, ‘Call the Band Highway 101. Your dad and I used to go cruising on Highway 101 in his convertible.’ I called into Warner Brothers, and they loved it.”

The band had three straight chart toppers from 1987-88 with “Somewhere Tonight,” “Cry, Cry, Cry,” and “(Do You Love Me) Just Say Yes.”

“Radio was so good to us. We had a little different sound than the normal fare. The guys were such great musicians. The time was right. The music was right. God blessed us.”

Jeff Bates will also join the star-studded cast on Saturday. He put out seven Top 100 songs on the Billboard Country charts from 2002-06. His biggest hit was “The Love Song,” which peaked at No. 8.

“My first concert was George Jones, Merle Haggard and Conway Twitty when I was 17,” Bates said. “My mama loved Conway. He walked out in the dark with 30,000 women in the venue. It was way more women than men. When Conway said, ‘Hello Darlin’,’ it erupted. It scared me.”

Bates has a sound that is very similar to Twitty.

“I sit in the back at every show,” McDowell noted. “I close my eyes and go, Lord, my little buddy Jeff sounds more like Conway than Conway.”

For reserved tickets, go to www.theredwhiteandbluetour.com. Doors open at 6 p.m. The concert begins at 7.