Maps of Music

If Only My Heart Had a Voice (1993)

Where the lyrics of If Only My Heart Had a Voice take you, and where it was really made.

This album was the first Kenny Rogers studio album since 1976 to miss the charts.

Key places

Recording at Sound Stage Studios in Nashville (1993)

Recording site Sound Stage Studios — Sound Stage Studios in Nashville is credited as a recording location for this album. The source lists it with other Nashville studios and gives no track-by-track breakdown. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Recording at The Castle in Franklin (1993)

Recording site Sound Kitchen — The Castle in Franklin, Tennessee is credited as a recording location for this album. The point is placed at the city centre, not at the studio building. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Recording at Mesa Recording in Sebastopol (1993)

Recording site Mesa Recording — Mesa Recording in Sebastopol, California is credited as a recording location for this album. The point is placed at the city centre, not at the studio building. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• If Only My Heart Had a Voice: 25th studio album by country singer Kenny Rogers
• Released in 1993 by Giant Records
• Ten tracks in total
• Track order begins with "Fightin' for the Same Thing" (3:13), "Missing You" (3:14) and "She Waits" (3:10)
• Next come "Ol' Red" (3:07), "If I Were You" as a duet with Travis Tritt (3:08), and "Wanderin' Man" (3:53)
• Final tracks are "Reason to Go" (3:55), "If You Were the Friend" (3:40), the title track (3:35) and "Somebody's Wrong Somebody's Right" (3:13)
• Songwriters credited include Chuck Jones, Tom Shapiro, Rick Giles, Susan Longacre, Tom French and Tom Paden

Background

• First Kenny Rogers album not to chart since 1976
• Singles released from the album: "Missing You", "Ol' Red" and "Wanderin' Man"
• Management by Ken Kragen at Kragen & Co.; booking by C.K. Spurlock

Recording

• Producers: Larry Butler and James Stroud
• Julian King credited for recording and assistant engineering
• Lynn Peterzell credited for recording and mixing; Billy Sherrill credited for recording
• Assistant engineers: Derek Bason, Mark Capps, David Hall, John Hurley, Graham Lewis and Darren Smith
• Mastering by Glenn Meadows at Masterfonics
• Production assistants: Schanda Butler and Kelly Giedt
• Recording credited to Eleven Eleven Studio, Sound Stage Studios, Soundshop Recording Studios, Sixteenth Avenue Sound and Masterfonics in Nashville, Tennessee
• Also credited: The Castle in Franklin, Tennessee, and Mesa Recording in Sebastopol, California

Cover

• Photography by Peter Nash
• Art direction by Laura LiPuma Nash
• Design by Beth Middleworth

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · it.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Formation

• Kenneth Donald Ray Rogers was born on August 21, 1938, in Houston, Texas, and began his recording career in the late 1950s with the Houston group the Scholars.
• He was an American country singer-songwriter who moved from teenage rock and roll through psychedelic rock to become a country-pop crossover artist of the 1970s and 1980s.
• In 1967 he co-founded the First Edition with former New Christy Minstrels members, later renamed Kenny Rogers and the First Edition.

Members

• The First Edition's members included Mike Settle, Terry Williams, Thelma Camacho, and Kin Vassy.
• Rogers's backing band Bloodline has toured with him since 1976.

Career

• The First Edition scored hits including "Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In)" and "Ruby, Don't Take Your Love to Town" before the group disbanded in 1976.
• As a solo artist he charted more than 60 top-40 singles, including the number-one hits "Lady" and "Islands in the Stream".
• He recorded duets with Dottie West, Dolly Parton, and Sheena Easton, and partnered with Lionel Richie as songwriter.
• His signature song "The Gambler" won a Grammy in 1980 and was selected for the National Recording Registry in 2018.
• He sold more than 100 million records worldwide and was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2013.
• He retired from touring in 2017 and died on March 20, 2020, at age 81.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

Reappraisal

• Rob Theakston of Allmusic rated the album 2.5 out of 5 stars
• Theakston wrote that "there are some moments on here that die-hard fans will enjoy"
• He thought the production had "aged well"
• He found the songs "surprisingly consistent"
• "Ol' Red" later became a Top 20 hit in 2002 for Blake Shelton from his self-titled debut, after George Jones recorded it in 1990
• "If I Were You" was first cut by The Oak Ridge Boys on their 1991 album Unstoppable
• Chad Brock later recorded "If I Were You" as a duet with Mark Wills on his 2000 album Yes!

Records

• First Kenny Rogers album not to chart since 1976

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• "Ol' Red" was also recorded by George Jones on his 1990 album You Oughta Be Here with Me, and would later be a Top 20 hit in 2002 for Blake Shelton from his self-titled debut.
• "If I Were You" appears here as a duet with Travis Tritt.
• "If I Were You" was first cut by The Oak Ridge Boys on their 1991 album Unstoppable.
• Chad Brock later recorded "If I Were You" with Mark Wills on his 2000 album Yes!
• The album was released by Giant Records, and it was the first Rogers album not to chart since 1976.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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