If There Was a Way is the fourth album by Dwight Yoakam

Dwight Yoakam

Dwight David Yoakam is an American singer-songwriter, actor and film director, most famous for his pioneering country music...

. Five of its tracks would rise into the Top 40 of the Billboard

Billboard (magazine)

Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...

 Hot Country Singles

Hot Country Songs

Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States.This 60-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly mostly by airplay and occasionally commercial sales...

 chart in 1991 and 1992. They were "Turn It On, Turn It Up, Turn Me Loose" at No. 11, "You're the One" at No. 5, "Nothing's Changed Here" at No. 15, "It Only Hurts When I Cry" at No. 7 "Send a Message to My Heart", (a duet with fellow Pikeville, Kentucky

Pikeville, Kentucky

Pikeville is a city in Pike County, Kentucky. The population was 6,903 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Pike County.-History:On March 25, 1822, the county's government officials decided to build a new county seat named Liberty, one and one-half mile below the mouth of the Russell Fork...

 native Patty Loveless

Patty Loveless

Patty Loveless , is an American country music singer.Since her emergence on the country music scene in late 1986 with her first album, Loveless has been one of the most popular female singers of the Neotraditional country movement, although she has also recorded albums in the Country pop and...

) at No. 47, and finally the No. 18 "The Heart That You Own". "Takes a Lot to Rock You" was also made into a music video

Music video

A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...

. The album rose to No. 7 on the Country Albums chart.

Track listing

All songs written by Dwight Yoakam except where noted.

1. "The Distance Between You and Me" – 2:41
2. "The Heart That You Own
   The Heart That You Own
   "The Heart That You Own" is the title of a song written and recorded by country music artist Dwight Yoakam. It was released in April 1992 as the fifth single from his album If There Was a Way. This song peaked at number 18 in the United States and at number 13 in Canada.-Chart performance:"The...
   
   " – 3:08
3. "Takes a Lot to Rock You" – 2:59
4. "Nothing's Changed Here
   Nothing's Changed Here
   "Nothing's Changed Here" is the title of a song co-written and recorded by country music artist Dwight Yoakam. It was co-written with the well known country songwriter Kostas. It was released in July 1991 as the third single from his album If There Was a Way...
   
   " (Dwight Yoakam, Kostas
   Kostas
   Kostas Lazarides is a Greek-born American country music songwriter, known professionally as Kostas. He has written for several country music artists, including Dwight Yoakam, Patty Loveless, and Travis Tritt, and has won eleven awards from Broadcast Music Incorporated...
   
   ) – 2:56
5. "Sad, Sad Music" – 3:53
6. "Since I Started Drinkin' Again" – 3:52
7. "If There Was a Way" – 2:54
8. "Turn It On, Turn It Up, Turn Me Loose
   Turn It On, Turn It Up, Turn Me Loose
   "Turn It On, Turn It Up, Turn Me Loose" is a song recorded by country music artist Dwight Yoakam. It is the lead-off single to his 1990 album If There Was a Way...
   
   " (Kostas, Wayland Patton) – 3:23
9. "It Only Hurts When I Cry
   It Only Hurts When I Cry
   "It Only Hurts When I Cry" is a song co-written by country music artists Dwight Yoakam and Roger Miller, and recorded by Yoakam. It is the fourth single from his 1990 album If There Was a Way. It peaked at #7 in the United States, and at #4 in Canada...
   
   " (Yoakam, Roger Miller
   Roger Miller
   Roger Dean Miller was an American singer, songwriter, musician and actor, best known for his honky tonk-influenced novelty songs...
   
   ) – 2:33
10. "Send a Message to My Heart" (Kostas, Kathy Louvin) – 3:15
    • duet with Patty Loveless
      Patty Loveless
      Patty Loveless , is an American country music singer.Since her emergence on the country music scene in late 1986 with her first album, Loveless has been one of the most popular female singers of the Neotraditional country movement, although she has also recorded albums in the Country pop and...
      
      
11. "I Don't Need It Done" (John Sieger) – 4:44
12. "You're the One
    You're the One (Dwight Yoakam song)
    "You're the One" is a song written and recorded by country music artist Dwight Yoakam. It is the second single released from his 1990 album If There Was a Way...
    
    " – 3:57
13. "Dangerous Man" – 4:15^*
14. "Let's Work Together
    Let's Work Together
    "Let's Stick Together" or "Let's Work Together" as it was subsequently titled, is a blues song written by Wilbert Harrison, which was released in 1962...
    
    " (Wilbert Harrison
    Wilbert Harrison
    Wilbert Harrison was an American rhythm and blues singer, pianist, guitarist and harmonica player.Born in Charlotte, North Carolina, United States, Harrison had a Billboard #1 record in 1959 with the song "Kansas City". The song was written in 1952 and was one of the first credited collaborations...
    
    ) – 3:33^*

^*Tracks omitted from cassette version.

Personnel

As listed in liner notes.

• Pete Anderson
  Pete Anderson
  Pete Anderson is an American guitarist and music producer.Anderson is most known for his guitar work with, and critically acclaimed production of, country music star Dwight Yoakam from 1984 through 2002...
  
   – electric guitar
  Electric guitar
  An electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...
  
  , acoustic guitar
  Acoustic guitar
  An acoustic guitar is a guitar that uses only an acoustic sound board. The air in this cavity resonates with the vibrational modes of the string and at low frequencies, which depend on the size of the box, the chamber acts like a Helmholtz resonator, increasing or decreasing the volume of the sound...
  
  , baritone guitar
  Baritone guitar
  The baritone guitar is a variation on the standard guitar, with a longer scale length that allows it to be tuned to a lower range. It first appeared in the classical music realm...
  
  
• Tom Brumley
  Tom Brumley
  Tom Brumley was an American steel guitarist who played with Buck Owens and the Buckaroos in the 1960s, contributing to the group's "Bakersfield sound", and later spent a decade with Rick Nelson.-Biography:...
  
   – steel guitar
  Steel guitar
  Steel guitar is a type of guitar or the method of playing the instrument. Developed in Hawaii in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, a steel guitar is usually positioned horizontally; strings are plucked with one hand, while the other hand changes the pitch of one or more strings with the use...
  
  
• Lenny Castro
  Lenny Castro
  Lenny Castro is an American freelancing percussionist in the studio recording industry in the Los Angeles area.-Early life:Castro is a percussionist of Puerto Rican descent and was born and raised in New York City. His father, Hector Castro, played the keyboard in a Latin style and gave his son...
  
   – percussion
  Percussion instrument
  A percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration...
  
  
• Jeff Donavan – drums
  Drum kit
  A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
  
  
• Skip Edwards – keyboards
  Keyboard instrument
  A keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
  
  
• Tommy Funderburk – background vocals
• Scott Joss – fiddle
  Fiddle
  The term fiddle may refer to any bowed string musical instrument, most often the violin. It is also a colloquial term for the instrument used by players in all genres, including classical music...
  
  , mandolin
  Mandolin
  A mandolin is a musical instrument in the lute family . It descends from the mandore, a soprano member of the lute family. The mandolin soundboard comes in many shapes—but generally round or teardrop-shaped, sometimes with scrolls or other projections. A mandolin may have f-holes, or a single...
  
  
• Jim Lauderdale
  Jim Lauderdale
  Jim Lauderdale is a musician & singer-songwriter who performs bluegrass and country music. He has recorded since 1986 and has released nineteen studio albums. Artists who have recorded his material include George Strait and Patty Loveless.-Biography:...
  
   – background vocals
• Roger Miller
  Roger Miller
  Roger Dean Miller was an American singer, songwriter, musician and actor, best known for his honky tonk-influenced novelty songs...
  
   – background vocals
• Tim O'Brien
  Tim O'Brien (musician)
  Tim O'Brien is an American country and bluegrass musician. In addition to singing, he plays guitar, fiddle, mandolin, banjo, bouzouki and mandocello...
  
   – mandolin, background vocals
• Dean Parks
  Dean Parks
  Dean Parks is an American session guitarist and record producer from Ft. Worth, TX.-Albums:Dean was member of The North Texas State One O'clock Lab Band before moving to Los Angeles to work with Sonny and Cher in 1970. Dean is best-known through his many contributions to albums by Steely Dan...
  
   – acoustic guitar
  Acoustic guitar
  An acoustic guitar is a guitar that uses only an acoustic sound board. The air in this cavity resonates with the vibrational modes of the string and at low frequencies, which depend on the size of the box, the chamber acts like a Helmholtz resonator, increasing or decreasing the volume of the sound...
  
  
• Al Perkins
  Al Perkins
  Al Perkins is a Texas-born American guitarist. The Gibson guitar company called Perkins "the world's most influential Dobro player", and even began producing an "Al Perkins Signature" Dobro in 2001 - designed and autographed by Perkins....
  
   – banjo
  Banjo
  In the 1830s Sweeney became the first white man to play the banjo on stage. His version of the instrument replaced the gourd with a drum-like sound box and included four full-length strings alongside a short fifth-string. There is no proof, however, that Sweeney invented either innovation. This new...
  
  , Dobro
  Dobro
  Dobro is a registered trademark, now owned by Gibson Guitar Corporation and used for a particular design of resonator guitar.The name has a long and involved history, interwoven with that of the resonator guitar...
  
  , steel guitar
• Taras Prodaniuk – bass guitar
  Bass guitar
  The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
  
  , six-string bass guitar
• Amy Ray – background vocals
• Don Reed – fiddle
• Bill Ross – strings
  String section
  The string section is the largest body of the standard orchestra and consists of bowed string instruments of the violin family.It normally comprises five sections: the first violins, the second violins, the violas, the cellos, and the double basses...
  
  
• Emily Saliers – background vocals
• Dwight Yoakam – lead vocals, acoustic guitar

Production

• Produced By Pete Anderson
• Engineers: Peter Doell, Kevin Reeves, Dusty Wakeman
• Assistant Engineers: Lori Fumar, Leslie Ann Jones, Denny Thomas
• Recording Assistants: Armando Garcia, Steve Kades, Gary White
• Mixing: David Leonard
• Mastering: Stephen Marcussen

Album

Chart (1990)	Peak position
U.S. Billboard Top Country Albums	7
U.S. Billboard 200	96

Singles

Year	Single	Chart positions
		US Country Hot Country Songs Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States.This 60-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly mostly by airplay and occasionally commercial sales...	CAN Country
1990	"Turn It On, Turn It Up, Turn Me Loose Turn It On, Turn It Up, Turn Me Loose "Turn It On, Turn It Up, Turn Me Loose" is a song recorded by country music artist Dwight Yoakam. It is the lead-off single to his 1990 album If There Was a Way... "	11	5
1991	"You're the One You're the One (Dwight Yoakam song) "You're the One" is a song written and recorded by country music artist Dwight Yoakam. It is the second single released from his 1990 album If There Was a Way... "	5	4
	"Nothing's Changed Here Nothing's Changed Here "Nothing's Changed Here" is the title of a song co-written and recorded by country music artist Dwight Yoakam. It was co-written with the well known country songwriter Kostas. It was released in July 1991 as the third single from his album If There Was a Way... "	15	2
1992	"It Only Hurts When I Cry It Only Hurts When I Cry "It Only Hurts When I Cry" is a song co-written by country music artists Dwight Yoakam and Roger Miller, and recorded by Yoakam. It is the fourth single from his 1990 album If There Was a Way. It peaked at #7 in the United States, and at #4 in Canada... "	7	4
	"The Heart That You Own"	18	13
	"Send a Message to My Heart" (with Patty Loveless Patty Loveless Patty Loveless , is an American country music singer.Since her emergence on the country music scene in late 1986 with her first album, Loveless has been one of the most popular female singers of the Neotraditional country movement, although she has also recorded albums in the Country pop and... )	47	30