1997 compilation album by LeAnn Rimes
Unchained Melody: The Early Years
Released February 11, 1997 Recorded 1994–1996 Studio Norman Petty (Clovis, N.M.), Rosewood (Tyler, Tex.), Masterfonics (Nashville)
Genre
Country Length 32 :36
Label
Curb Records
Producer Greg Walker, Johnny Mulhair, Wilbur C. Rimes
Unchained Melody: The Early Years or simply The Early Years
[1]
[2]
[3]
[4] is a
compilation album by American country singer
LeAnn Rimes , released in the United States on February 11, 1997 (see
1997 in music ) by
Curb Records . Due to high sales of her debut album,
Blue , the album consists of tracks recorded previously to Blue (tracks one, two and five through nine were taken from Rimes's independent album, under Nor Va Jak label,
All That (1994)). "
Unchained Melody " (originally by
The Righteous Brothers ) was released on a single as a
B-side track with "Put a Little Holiday in Your Heart" at
Target stores during the 1996 Christmas season alongside Rimes's debut album. The album contains
cover versions of "
I Want to Be a Cowboy's Sweetheart " by
Patsy Montana , "
Blue Moon of Kentucky " by
Bill Monroe , "
I Will Always Love You " by
Dolly Parton , "
Yesterday " by
The Beatles . The album has been certified
2× Platinum for shipments of two million copies in the United States. She was the fourth solo artist to chart on the
Billboard 200 under the age of 18.
[5]
Background
Due to high sales of Rimes's debut album,
Blue ,
[6]
Curb Records used several tracks recorded from Rimes' commercial album,
All That ,
[7]
[8] all of which were recorded when Rimes was eleven years old.
[9]
[8] The only songs not recorded prior to Blue is Rimes's cover of
Bill Monroe 's "
Blue Moon of Kentucky " and the song "River of Love". "
Unchained Melody " was originally released on a single as a
B-side track with "
One Way Ticket (Because I Can) " and again on the promotional CD single, "Put a Little Holiday in Your Heart", at
Target stores during the 1996 Christmas season alongside Rimes's debut album
[10]
[11] before being released as a single on its own in December 1996. The
compilation album was released on February 11, 1997, by Curb Records.
[12]
Despite Rimes also being a country singer, her cover of
Dolly Parton 's "I Will Always Love You" is done in the style of
Whitney Houston 's R&B cover.
Critical reception
Jose F. Promis of
AllMusic gave the album two and a half out of five stars stating that it's "a tad bizarre" due to the album consisting of recordings released prior to
Blue , that were recorded when Rimes was eleven years old, as a follow-up to her debut album.
[13]
Track listing
Personnel
Credits for Unchained Melody: The Early Years were adapted from liner notes of All That .
[7] Additional credits adapted from liner notes of the album.
[1]
Bob Smith —
bass guitar
Brad Billingsley —
drums
Chuck Rippey —
fiddle
Crista Carnes — background vocals
Curtis Randall — bass guitar
Fred Gleber — drums
Gary Beevers —
dobro ,
steel guitar
Gary Leach — assistant mixing, assistant recording
Glenn Meadows — mastering
Greg Hunt — mixing, recording
Greg Walker — assistant producer, assistant mixing, assistant recording
Jerry Matheny —
electric guitar
Jimmy Kelly —
keyboards
Johnny Mulhair —
acoustic guitar , co-producer, electric guitar, engineer,
mandolin , mixing, recording, steel guitar
Joy Mckay — background vocals
Kayla Powell — background vocals
Kelly Glenn — keyboards
LeAnn Rimes — lead vocals
Lisa Criss — background vocals
Mike Mclain — keyboards, recording
Milo Deering — steel guitar
Paul Goad — bass guitar, keyboards,
piano
Perry Coleman — background vocals
Ray Carl —
harmonica
Whitney Mulhair —
flute
Wilbur C. Rimes — producer, mixing
Charts
Unchained Melody: The Early Years debuted at #1 on Billboard 200 with 166,000 copies sold in the week ending of March 1, 1997,
[14] it dropped to #2 in its second week with 133,500 copies sold.
[15]
Weekly charts
Chart (1997)
Peak position
Australian Albums Chart
[16]
4
Canadian RPM Top Albums
[17]
19
Canadian RPM Country Albums
[18]
1
US Billboard 200
[17]
1
US Billboard Top Country Albums
[17]
1
Year end-chart
Chart (1997)
Position
Australian Albums Chart
[19]
71
Canadian RPM Country Albums
5
US Billboard 200
[20]
21
US Billboard Top Country Albums
[20]
3
Chart (1998)
Position
US Billboard Top Country Albums
[21]
31
Sales
References
^
a
b Unchained Melody: The Early Years (
CD ).
LeAnn Rimes .
Curb Records . 1997. D2-77856.{{
cite AV media notes }}
: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (
link )
^ Put a Little Holiday in Your Heart (
CD single ). LeAnn Rimes. Curb Records. 1996. PRCD-6945-2.{{
cite AV media notes }}
: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (
link )
^
"Billboard - Google 도서" . 21 December 1996. Retrieved 2012-06-09 .
^
"Curb Catalog: Home" . Artists.curb.com. Retrieved 2012-06-09 .
^ Lynch, Joe.
"Solo Artists Who Scored a No. 1 Album Before Turning 18" . Billboard . Retrieved May 23, 2021 .
^ CMT Inside Fame: LeAnn Rimes CMT (2004-4-12) Retrieved 2011-10-8
^
a
b
All That (CD). LeAnn Rimes. Nor Va Jak. 1994. 98081-1234-2.{{
cite AV media notes }}
: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (
link )
^
a
b Kingsbury, Paul; Rumble, John; Cooper, Daniel C. (2004-12-16).
The Encyclopedia of Country Music: The Ultimate Guide to the Music - Paul Kingsbury, Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum - Google 도서 .
ISBN
9780195176087 . Retrieved 2012-06-02 .
^ McCall, Michael; Rumble, John; Kingsbury, Paul (February 2012).
The Encyclopedia of Country Music - Google 도서 .
ISBN
9780199920839 . Retrieved 2012-06-02 .
^
"Amazon.com: Put a Little Holiday in Your Heart: LeAnn Rimes: Music" . amazon.com . Retrieved 8 August 2011 .
^
"Billboard - Google 圖書" . 23 November 1996. Retrieved 2012-06-02 .
^
"Early Years: Unchained Melody: Leann Rimes: Music" . Amazon . Retrieved 2011-10-29 .
^
a
b Promis, Jose F. (1997-02-11).
"Unchained Melody: The Early Years - LeAnn Rimes" . AllMusic. Retrieved 2011-10-28 .
^
"Billboard - Google 도서" . March 1997. Retrieved 2011-10-07 .
^
"Billboard - Google 圖書" . 8 March 1997. Retrieved 2012-06-02 .
^ Steffen Hung.
"LeAnn Rimes - Unchained Melody - The Early Years" . australian-charts.com. Retrieved 2011-10-07 .
^
a
b
c
[1] . billboard.com . Retrieved 7 August 2011.
^
"Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada" . Collectionscanada.gc.ca. Retrieved 2011-10-07 .
^
"ARIA Charts - End of Year Charts - Top 100 Albums 1997" . Aria.com.au. Retrieved 2011-10-07 .
^
a
b
[2] . google.com . Retrieved 7 August 2011.
^
[3] . google.com . Retrieved 4 August 2011.
^
"ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 1997 Albums" (PDF) .
Australian Recording Industry Association .
^
"Canadian album certifications – LeAnn Rimes – Unchained Melody-The Early Years" .
Music Canada .
^
"American album certifications – LeAnn Rimes – The Early Years" .
Recording Industry Association of America .
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