Almost 50 million records after his initial successes, B. J. Thomas' versatility is still as much of his approach as his wonderfully expressive voice.

"I love singing all of it," B.J. Thomas says with the same enthusiasm he brings to his high-voltage stage show. "I've always enjoyed singing Country- my first hit was Country Gospel and old hymns mean a lot to me, and I still really enjoy doing Rock and Roll. I really don't think it's that important what kind of song you sing as long as the attitude that comes through is good."

In fact, B.J. Thomas has always chosen to present positive, uplifting material, no matter what genre he's been working in.

"As a singer," he says, "you've got the chance to make people's spirits, and their lives, a little better."

It's an attitude people have noticed. Fans and concertgoers frequently approach B.J. Thomas to thank him for the impact of songs ranging from his megahit "Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head" to Country smashes like "New Looks From An Old Lover."

That fact is testimony not only to B.J. Thomas' talent and believability, but also to the fact that he is a survivor, someone who has overcome adversity and addiction, who has weathered personal and professional storms to emerge, if anything, stronger than ever both personally and musically. B.J Thomas is still recording records at a time when most of his contemporaries have long since passed from the scene, and his newest release, "B.J. Thomas... Still Standing Here," featuring the self-penned "Back Against The Wall," is yet another strong addition to his recorded legacy.

Billy Joe Thomas (he chose B.J. at 10 because there were five Billys on his Little League baseball team) was born in Hugo, Oklahoma, and grew up in Houston. Thomas moved with his family to Rosenberg, Texas, at 15 and was, according to friends, a "charming, energetic cut-up." B.J. Thomas picked up an interest in Country Music from his father and developed a passion for R&B on his own. Thomas was influenced by artists ranging from Ernest Tubb to Jackie Wilson and Little Richard, and though he was a member of both his high school and church choirs as a teenager, he'd also sneak into night clubs to hear blues great Bobby "Blue" Bland.

One major turning point came at a concert B.J. Thomas attended as boy. "I remember seeing Hank Williams with my father," he says. "He was unbelievable that night.

I decided I was going to communicate with my daddy through the music he loved. It was the only way I could communicate with him."

Indeed, his relationship with his father was always a stormy one, leaving scars that would haunt B.J. Thomas for many years. Music became a highly important outlet.

B.J. Thomas made his biggest local splash as lead singer for the Triumphs, a six-piece Rock and Roll band that started out playing dances and a Saturday morning radio show, and wound up becoming one of the biggest acts in Texas. Opening at the Houston Coliseum for headliners like Roy Orbison, the Dave Clark Five and the Four Tops.

The group released a couple of well-received local singles and then, in 1965, went into the studio to record an album of vintage Rock and Roll. The band needed one song to finish the project, and Thomas, whose father had told him, "Don't come back unless you record something country," suggested Hank Williams' "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry." It was recorded at 5 a.m. after an all-night session.

The band took the album to Houston DJ's, who picked up on "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry" and made it a regional hit. The record's producer leased the master tape of the single to New York's Scepter Records, which had success with acts like The Shirelles and the Isley Brothers. It went to number four on the national Pop Charts and sold more than a million copies, something none of the other four or five dozen covers of the song have ever done.

Several of the other band members were married or in college, and unable to begin touring, so B.J. Thomas took off by himself, doing the grueling "Dick Clark Caravan of Stars" bus tour and signing with Scepter.

By 1968, he'd had four gold records; "The Eyes Of A New York Woman," "Hooked On A Feeling," and "It's Only Love" being the other three; and label-mate Dionne Warwick, who'd been working with the Burt Bacharach/Hal David songwriting team, recommended him for "Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head" which was written for the motion picture Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid.

"I was in the right place at the right time," B.J. Thomas says, "and probably got their best song ever." "Raindrops" was Bacharach/David's first million seller; it won an Academy Award and Thomas sang the song on the 1970 Academy Awards telecast.

B.J. Thomas would go on during the early '70's to record hits like; "I Just Can't Help Believin'," "No Love At All" and "Rock and Roll Lullaby," scoring a dozen gold records. Throughout this period, B.J Thomas sold tens of millions of records and appeared regularly on TV programs like the Ed Sullivan Show and in top nightclubs and concert halls. The period was a rough one for Thomas, though, on a personal level. An open, spirited young man whose abusive upbringing left him plagued by good measures of self-doubt, he reacted to fame and success with a self-destructive spiral of drugs and fiscal and personal problems.

"It was stressful and very tense," B.J. Thomas says, "to come out of working a dance in the country for a bunch of kids to playing the Copacabana in New York. It's real hard to keep your roots down and your foundation steady when you get out into the fast lane. All of sudden you've got a lot of money, a lot of people wanting to advise you - people you admire. So if you don't have a real strong foundation, you make decisions that are wrong for you."

In 1976, B.J. Thomas released the first of several Gospel albums, "Home Where I Belong," which went platinum, making him the biggest contemporary Christian artist of the period.

B.J. Thomas then went to the friendlier confines of Country Music, where he hit the Top 40 ten times with hits like, "What Ever Happened to Old Fashioned Love," "New Looks From An Old Lover," and "The Whole World's In Love When You're Lonely."

B.J. thomas' Country success led him to become, on his 39th birthday, the 60th member of the Grand Ole Opry.

B.J. Thomas has also been active in work for various causes. In particular, his song, "Broken Toys," written by his wife Gloria and Nashville writers Martin and Gary Harrison, has been adopted by child abuse agencies throughout the country as their theme song.

As the tours and records keep coming, B.J. Thomas maintains his reputation as a singer at the peak of his craft- "one of the greatest all time singers of today," according to Nashville songwriter, Mark James, who wrote "Hooked On A Feeling" and Elvis' "Suspicious Minds," among others.

B.J. Thomas has always given a great deal of the credit to the writers he's worked with.

"B.J.'s songs still stand up," he says. "That's a sign of a great writer, like the mailman, I deliver what the guys write and hope it has a lasting effect when I get it there."

As a man who has seen both the good and the bad that life and career have to offer, B.J. Thomas places more importance than ever on his marriage of 25 years and his family life.

"The real answer for me," B.J. Thomas says, "lies in trying to be a good husband to my wife and a good father to my kids (he has three daughters - Paige, Nora and Erin) and live up to my responsibilities. That's the bottom line right there. I really believe that just being a regular guy and tryin' to do the best you can is the essence of having peace of mind in this life." It's an attitude that helps him keep his storied career in perspective.

"Singing has always been something I do," Thomas says. "It's not who I arm. I realized a long time ago that I was a guy who loved his wife and his kids, so it's not always been real important for me to be number one.

And yet he's never far from that drive that has helped pull him from one bit of success to the next.

life is her business, "Crystal's For Fine Gifts and Jewelry," which is located in Nashville. It all adds up to one of the most diverse individuals in the entertainment industry. Crystal Gayle is truly one of a kind.