In this week's episode, we're featuring a fiddle and steel framed return to form for Mark Chesnutt: "Thank God For Believers" (1997). After debuting in the first half of the nineties, Chesnutt's first four albums were a resounding commercial success: with producer Mark Wright, he enjoyed three platinum and one gold album right out of the gate, steeped in this Beaumont, Texas native's keen sense of tradition. In 1995 he teamed with Tony Brown, but the resulting "Wings" was a flop in relative terms. The choice was made to reunite with Mark Wright and the rewards were almost immediate. The title track went rocketing into the Top 2 and other singles had success also - but perhaps most notable about "Thank God For Believers" was the involvement of Chesnutt himself. Having not written much for his previous work, the Texan traditionalist had a hand in five of the ten tracks here. Along with veteran Oklahoma songwriter Roger Springer, many nights were spent on the tour bus listening to classic Haggard and Jones for inspiration. One such night, the Jones weeper "When The Grass Grows Over Me" inspired a Chesnutt/Leslie/Springer co-write in "That Side Of You", which Chesnutt confesses is his personal pick of the bunch. Such a reverence for tradition, along with Buddy Emmons on steel guitar and Larry Franklin on fiddle for the majority of this project makes "Thank God For Believers" a good example of what 90s honky tonk ought to sound like.
Box o' 45s: Rem Wall & The Green Valley Boys
Ep. 602 - Hugh X. Lewis - Country Fever
Ray Pillow - Even When It's Bad It's Good!
Sean Burns - Lost Country
Red's Country Ladies
Pat Patterson - Most Requested Country Songs
Stoney Edwards - Land Of The Giants
Sonny Burns: 1959-1968
The Derailers - Full Western Dress
The Whites - Whole New World
Hoot Hester - On The Swingin' Side
I Can Almost See Houston: The Complete Howdy Glenn
BONUS: Interview with Scott B. Bomar on "The Complete Howdy Glenn"
Gene Davis: California Country King
Johnny Dollar - Down Life's Highway
Randy Kohrs & The Reel Deal - Now It's Empty
George Dearborne - Old Brown Bottle
All Request Show #2
Caution! Eddie Bond Music Is Contagious: The Hard Country Side Of A Rockabilly Star
Conway Twitty - Darling, You Know I Wouldn't Lie
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
Irish Songs with Ken Murray
Immediately Kinfolk
Turned On
Resident by Hernan Cattaneo
Markus Schulz presents Global DJ Broadcast