Here's where I'm coming from with the Travis song - Below are the originals of two huge R&B hits, written and arranged in schmaltz/8 etc.
The core and structure of the song is there, but just needs a little more groove & punch all up under it.

Midnight Train to GA / originally called "Midnight Plane to Houston"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3_JQr6RqWs

Neither One Of Us
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKXsvdn5UD0

As we well know, Gladys Knight killed both,
and I do mean kill in the best possible way.

Now this guy has more songwriting talent than I'll ever know about, but those arrangements and the
Bobby Goldsboro vibrato thing are in my opinion the two primary reasons God gave us automatic weapons.