Shenandoah (band)
Encyclopedia
Shenandoah is an American country music
group founded in Muscle Shoals, Alabama
in 1984 by Marty Raybon
(lead vocals, acoustic guitar
), Ralph Ezell (bass guitar
, backing vocals), Stan Thorn (keyboards
), Jim Seales (lead guitar
, backing vocals), and Mike McGuire (drums
, background vocals). Thorn and Ezell left the band in the mid-1990s, with Rocky Thacker taking over on bass guitar; Keyboardist, Stan Munsey joined the line up in 1995. The band split up in 1997 after Raybon left. Seals, Munsey and McGuire reformed the band in 2000 with lead singer Brent Lamb, who was in turn replaced by Curtis Wright and then by Jimmy Yeary. Ezell rejoined in the early 2000s, and after his 2007 death, he was replaced by Mike Folsom.
Shenandoah has released nine studio album
s, of which two have been certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America
. The band has also charted twenty-six singles
on the Billboard
Hot Country Songs
charts, including the Number One hits "The Church on Cumberland Road
," "Sunday in the South
" and "Two Dozen Roses
" from 1989, "Next to You, Next to Me
" from 1990, and "If Bubba Can Dance (I Can Too)
" from 1994. The late 1994-early 1995 single "Somewhere in the Vicinity of the Heart
," which featured guest vocals from Alison Krauss
, won both artists a Grammy Award
for Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal.
ist Jim Seales and drummer
Mike McGuire formed Shenandoah in 1984 as a house band in Muscle Shoals, Alabama
, with bass guitar
ist Ralph Ezell and keyboardist
Stan Thorn, as well as lead singer Marty Raybon
, who had been in his father's bluegrass
band since childhood. McGuire invited songwriting friend Robert Byrne to one of the session band's shows. Byrne then invited them into his recording studio to record a demo
, which he then pitched to Columbia Records
' CBS Records division. The band first wanted to assume the name The MGM Band, a name which was rejected for legal reasons. CBS suggested Rhythm Rangers and Shenandoah as possible names, and Raybon chose the latter because he thought that the name Rhythm Rangers "sounded like an amateur band."
debut studio album
, which Byrne and Rick Hall produced. This album accounted for the band's first two charting singles
in "They Don't Make Love Like We Used To" and "Stop the Rain". The latter was the band's first Top 40 country hit, peaking at number 28 on the Billboard
Hot Country Singles (now Hot Country Songs
) charts. John Bush of Allmusic wrote that this album "leaned a little close to the pop
-schmaltz they later rebelled against."
The Road Not Taken
was the band's second album, released in 1988. This album's first two singles — "She Doesn't Cry Anymore
", previously found on Shenandoah, and "Mama Knows
" — brought the band to the Top Ten for the first time. After these singles came three consecutive Billboard number-one hits: "The Church on Cumberland Road
", "Sunday in the South
" and "Two Dozen Roses
". "The Church on Cumberland Road," with its two-week run at Number One, marked the first time in country music history that a country music band's first number-one single spent more than one week at the top. This song was originally recorded by its one of its three writers, former Rockets
and Billy Hill member Dennis Robbins
as the B-side to his 1987 single "Two of a Kind, Workin' on a Full House
"; Garth Brooks
would later reach number one in 1991 with a rendition of the latter song. Byrne co-wrote "Two Dozen Roses" with Mac McAnally
, a veteran songwriter and session musician who has recorded both as a solo singer and as a member of Jimmy Buffett
's Coral Reefer Band. The last single from The Road Not Taken, "See If I Care
", reached number 6 on Billboard and number one on Gavin Report
. On January 22, 1991, The Road Not Taken earned a gold certification
from the Recording Industry Association of America
(RIAA) for shipments of 500,000 copies in the United States. Tom Roland of Allmusic gave The Road Not Taken four-and-a-half stars out of five, with his review saying, "The songs mix the day-to-day struggles of everyday-Joe with a steady respect for love, personal roots, and family." In the wake of The Road Not Takens success, the band played 300 shows in 1989.
." Written by then-solo singers Robert Ellis Orrall
and Curtis Wright
, this was the first of five singles from Shenandoah's third album, Extra Mile
. "Ghost in This House
," "I Got You
" (co-written by Teddy Gentry of the band Alabama
) and "The Moon Over Georgia
" all peaked in the Billboard top ten between late 1990 and mid-1991, with the latter two reaching number one on Gavin Report; "When You Were Mine," the fifth single, stopped at number 38 on Billboard in 1991. Also that year, the band won the Academy of Country Music
's Vocal Group of the Year award.
Alanna Nash
of Entertainment Weekly
gave Extra Mile a B rating, saying that it was "unflinchingly commercial" but adding that "the band goes beyond Alabama's jingoistic
flag-waving and Restless Heart
's vapid mood-brighteners to showcase intelligent ballads and jaunty rhythm numbers." An uncredited review in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
said that the band "proved that no matter how overcrowded the field is, there's always room for quality." Extra Mile earned a gold certification in the United States.
Following the release of Extra Mile, a band from Tennessee
threatened to sue Shenandoah over the use of the name Shenandoah. After a financial settlement was made with the Tennessee band, four other bands all filed lawsuits over Shenandoah's name. The lawsuits depleted the money earned by the band on the road, which led to Raybon asking the label to pay one-third of their legal costs. The label refused, and Shenandoah filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in early 1991 after paying more than $200,000 on court settlements. Although the lawsuits allowed Shenandoah to keep its name, the bankruptcy filing terminated the contract with Columbia after a 1992 Greatest Hits
package. The label's officials then filed a lawsuit against the band, claiming that it had tried to void its agreement with the label. After Shenandoah's departure, there were no other bands on Columbia's Nashville division; as a result, producer Larry Strickland assembled three musicians to create a new band called Matthews, Wright & King
in an attempt to keep a commercially successful band on the label.
Nashville, releasing Long Time Comin'
on it that year. This album was produced by Byrne and Keith Stegall
, a former solo singer best known for producing Alan Jackson
's albums. "Rock My Baby
" (another Curtis Wright co-write) led off the single releases, reaching number 2 on Billboard and Radio & Records
and number 1 on Gavin Report. After it came the top 30 hits "Hey Mister (I Need This Job)" and "Leavin's Been a Long Time Comin'
", whose music video
featured a guest appearance by Eddy Arnold
. The band was nominated as Vocal Group of the Year at the Academy of Country Music again in 1992. Long Time Comin received a three-and-a-half star rating from the Chicago Tribune
, whose Jack Hurst said that it was "an excellent brand of rural-toned blue-collar music." Nash gave a B- rating in Entertainment Weekly, where she said that the album had a more country pop
-oriented sound than its predecessors, but commended the "sincerity" of Raybon's voice and the themes of "family and friendship."
Under the Kudzu
, Shenandoah's second RCA album, followed in 1993. It was produced by Don Cook
, who was also Brooks & Dunn
's producer at the time. "Janie Baker's Love Slave
", written by "Burning Love
" writer Dennis Linde
, was a top 15 Billboard hit from the album early that year. Next came "I Want to Be Loved Like That
", which peaked at number three on Billboard, number two on Gavin Report and number one on Radio & Records. The album also included the band's fifth and final Billboard number-one hit, "If Bubba Can Dance (I Can Too)
", which Raybon and McGuire wrote with veteran Nashville songwriter Bob McDill
after seeing a television commercial for line dancing instructions. "I'll Go Down Loving You," the last single from the album, spent eleven weeks on the Billboard charts and peaked at number 46, thus becoming the band's first single to miss the Top 40 since "They Don't Make Love Like We Used To" in 1987. Michael Corcoran of The Dallas Morning News
called Under the Kudzu "their strongest album to date", and Jack Hurst gave it three stars, saying, "Shenandoah carries most of this album with impassioned vocals rather than superior song content."
released ten of the band's Columbia songs in a Super Hits
compilation in May 1994, which was certified gold in 2002. Shenandoah also collaborated with country and bluegrass singer Ricky Skaggs
on a 1994 tribute album
to Keith Whitley
, recording a cover version
of Whitley's "All I Ever Loved Was You".
Later in 1994, the band left RCA for Liberty Records
, then the name for the Nashville division of Capitol Records
. RCA gave Liberty the master recording
s for a nearly-completed album, to which Liberty added "Somewhere in the Vicinity of the Heart
", a song featuring guest vocals from bluegrass musician Alison Krauss
. Liberty released the album in November 1994 as In the Vicinity of the Heart
, with the number seven-peaking title track also serving as the first single release. This song was also Krauss' first top 40 country hit, and its success helped boost sales of her album Now That I've Found You: A Collection
.
Vicinity became the band's fastest-selling album, and the first 175,000 copies were distributed with prepaid telephone card
s which included an 800 number that could be called to receive a greeting from the band members. The album also produced the band's last Top Ten hit in "Darned If I Don't (Danged If I Do)
." Originally the B-side to "Somewhere in the Vicinity of the Heart," this song was co-written by Ronnie Dunn
(of Brooks & Dunn) and songwriter Dean Dillon
, best known for co-writing several of George Strait
's singles. "Heaven Bound (I'm Ready)" (another Dennis Linde song) and "Always Have, Always Will," peaking at numbers 24 and 40, were the last two releases from the album. Jim Ridley gave the album a two-and-a-half star rating in New Country magazine, citing the vocal performances on the title track and "I Wouldn't Know" as standouts, but saying that the rest of the album did not take any risks.
Raybon released a solo gospel music
album for Sparrow Records
in July 1995, and in October of the same year, that label released a multi-artist country-gospel album entitled Amazing Grace — A Country Salute to Gospel, to which the band contributed a rendition of "Beulah Land
." Shenandoah also covered The Beatles
' "Can't Buy Me Love
" on the mid-1995 album Come Together: America Salutes The Beatles
. "Somewhere in the Vicinity of the Heart" won Shenandoah and Krauss won the 1995 Grammy Award
for Best Country Vocal Collaboration and the Country Music Association
award for Vocal Event, and "Darned If I Don't" was nominated for Grammy Award for Best Country Vocal by a Duo or Group the same year.
Nash gave this album an A- rating in Entertainment Weekly, saying that Raybon's voice "beautifully capture[s] the rites of passage
in Small Town, USA." Larry Stephens of Country Standard Time
also reviewed the album favorably, saying, "The familiar hits on this album have all been re-recorded, but they've lost none of their familiar and loved sound," while Allmusic critic William Ruhlmann gave it two stars out of five and referred to it as a "stopgap."
Shenandoah's first Christmas music
album, Shenandoah Christmas, was released in September 1996, also on Capitol. Except for the original song "There's a Way in the Manger," it comprised acoustic
renditions of popular Christmas songs. It received a two-and-a-half star rating from Allmusic, whose critic Thom Owens said that none of the renditions were "particularly noteworthy."
charts with a rendition of the Bob Carlisle
song "Butterfly Kisses
," followed by the number 64 country release "The Way She's Lookin'." Marty continued to tour with Shenandoah until the end of the year, when the remaining members disbanded and he sold the naming rights. In 2000, he released a second solo album and charted his only solo country chart hit, the number 63 "Cracker Jack Diamond." Raybon has remained a solo artist, while Thorn self-released a solo jazz
album titled In a Curious Way in 2001.
in the 1980s, then a solo artist and one-half of the duo Orrall & Wright
with Robert Ellis Orrall. Wright also wrote "Next to You, Next to Me" and "Rock My Baby", collaborating with Orrall on the former. In 2000, the new lineup recorded the band's next album, Shenandoah 2000, under the Free Falls label. It produced the band's last chart single in the number 65 "What Children Believe." Jolene Downs of About.com
gave this album a positive review, saying that it was a "very strong country album" and "a slightly different sound from the original group, but not bad at all." The band toured small venues in 2001 to promote it.
Lamb left in 2002, with Wright succeeding him on lead vocals and original bassist Ralph Ezell later re-joining. In 2006, Shenandoah released the album Journeys on the Cumberland Road label. Ezell died of a heart attack on November 30, 2007, and Mike Folsom succeeded him on bass guitar. Also, Wright left the band to join a re-established Pure Prairie League
, and songwriter Jimmy Yeary took over as lead singer. In April 2009, the lineup of Yeary, Folsom, McGuire, Munsey and Seales performed a benefit concert in Muscle Shoals, in which Wright and Raybon also participated.
Yeary and McGuire co-wrote a song entitled "You Never Know" as a tribute to Ezell. Darryl Worley
recorded this song on his 2009 album Sounds Like Life
, saying that he considered it "dead-on" for him. Shenandoah has continued to tour in 2009 and 2010 with Yeary on lead vocals, mostly playing at community festivals and county fair
s. Yeary engaged country-gospel singer Sonya Isaacs
(of The Isaacs
) in November 2009. He has also written songs for other artists, including "Why Wait
" by Rascal Flatts
, "Summer Thing" by Troy Olsen
and "I'm Gonna Love You Through It
" by Martina McBride
.
image of the '80s and lead the way to the new traditionalism of the '90s." Marty Raybon's vocals have been described as "blend[ing] the soulfulness of rhythm and blues
with the lonely intensity of great country music." Alanna Nash wrote that the band's work relies on "sentimental lyrics revolving around the Southern experience," and said that Shenandoah "forged its very commercial reputation on a soulful gospel
-and-bluegrass
blend, with lead singer Marty Raybon's searing sincerity making even the tritest songs about small-town Southern values and attitudes memorable." Logan Smith of the St. Petersburg Times
said that the band has "woven together a highly polished sound built around precision musicianship and pristine harmonies, very much a hybrid of Raybon's bluegrass roots." Writing for the Associated Press
, Joe Edwards cited the variety of sounds on the band's second album, referring to "The Church on Cumberland Road" as a "spirited up-tempo," also making note of the Southern imagery in "Sunday in the South" and the "truest country music tradition" of the ballad "She Doesn't Cry Anymore."
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
group founded in Muscle Shoals, Alabama
Muscle Shoals, Alabama
Muscle Shoals is a city in Colbert County, Alabama, United States. As of 2007, the United States Census Bureau estimated the population of the city to be 12,846. The city is included in The Shoals MSA. It is famous for its contributions to American popular music.-Geography:Muscle Shoals is located...
in 1984 by Marty Raybon
Marty Raybon
Marty Raybon Marty Raybon Marty Raybon (born December 8, 1959 is an Award Winning American country music artist. He is known primarily for his role as the lead singer of the band Shenandoah, a role which he held from 1985 to 1996. He recorded his first solo album, Marty Raybon, in 1995 on Sparrow...
(lead vocals, 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...
), Ralph Ezell (bass guitar
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
, backing vocals), Stan Thorn (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...
), Jim Seales (lead guitar
Lead guitar
Lead guitar is a guitar part which plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs within a song structure...
, backing vocals), and Mike McGuire (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 ....
, background vocals). Thorn and Ezell left the band in the mid-1990s, with Rocky Thacker taking over on bass guitar; Keyboardist, Stan Munsey joined the line up in 1995. The band split up in 1997 after Raybon left. Seals, Munsey and McGuire reformed the band in 2000 with lead singer Brent Lamb, who was in turn replaced by Curtis Wright and then by Jimmy Yeary. Ezell rejoined in the early 2000s, and after his 2007 death, he was replaced by Mike Folsom.
Shenandoah has released nine studio album
Studio album
A studio album is an album made up of tracks recorded in the controlled environment of a recording studio. A studio album contains newly written and recorded or previously unreleased or remixed material, distinguishing itself from a compilation or reissue album of previously recorded material, or...
s, of which two have been certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America
Recording Industry Association of America
The Recording Industry Association of America is a trade organization that represents the recording industry distributors in the United States...
. The band has also charted twenty-six singles
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
on 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 Songs
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...
charts, including the Number One hits "The Church on Cumberland Road
The Church on Cumberland Road
"The Church on Cumberland Road" is the title of a song recorded by country music group Shenandoah. It was released in January 1989 as the third single to their 1988 album The Road Not Taken. It was their first number-one hit in both the United States and Canada. In 2001, on a live CMT special,...
," "Sunday in the South
Sunday in the South
"Sunday in the South" is the title of a song written by Jay Booker and recorded by country music group Shenandoah. It was released in May 1989 as the fourth single to their 1989 album The Road Not Taken...
" and "Two Dozen Roses
Two Dozen Roses
"Two Dozen Roses" is a song recorded by country music group Shenandoah. It was released in August 1989 as the fifth single from their 1989 album The Road Not Taken. It was their third number-one hit in both the United States and Canada...
" from 1989, "Next to You, Next to Me
Next to You, Next to Me
"Next to You, Next to Me" is the title of a song written by Robert Ellis Orrall and Curtis Wright, and recorded by country music group Shenandoah. It was released in June 1990 as the lead-off single to their 1990 album Extra Mile...
" from 1990, and "If Bubba Can Dance (I Can Too)
If Bubba Can Dance (I Can Too)
"If Bubba Can Dance " is the title of a song recorded by country music group Shenandoah. It was released in 1994 as the third single from their 1993 album Under the Kudzu. It was a Number One hit in both the United States and Canada and Shenandoah's final number one as of 2009.-Chart...
" from 1994. The late 1994-early 1995 single "Somewhere in the Vicinity of the Heart
Somewhere in the Vicinity of the Heart
"Somewhere in the Vicinity of the Heart" is the title of a song written by Bill LaBounty and Rick Chudacoff, and recorded by the American country music band Shenandoah with a guest vocal from bluegrass singer Alison Krauss. The song was the first single release from Shenandoah's late-1994 album In...
," which featured guest vocals from Alison Krauss
Alison Krauss
Alison Maria Krauss is an American bluegrass-country singer, songwriter and fiddler. She entered the music industry at an early age, winning local contests by the age of ten and recording for the first time at fourteen. She signed with Rounder Records in 1985 and released her first solo album in...
, won both artists a Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
for Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal.
History
Lead guitarLead guitar
Lead guitar is a guitar part which plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs within a song structure...
ist Jim Seales and drummer
Drummer
A drummer is a musician who is capable of playing drums, which includes but is not limited to a drum kit and accessory based hardware which includes an assortment of pedals and standing support mechanisms, marching percussion and/or any musical instrument that is struck within the context of a...
Mike McGuire formed Shenandoah in 1984 as a house band in Muscle Shoals, Alabama
Muscle Shoals, Alabama
Muscle Shoals is a city in Colbert County, Alabama, United States. As of 2007, the United States Census Bureau estimated the population of the city to be 12,846. The city is included in The Shoals MSA. It is famous for its contributions to American popular music.-Geography:Muscle Shoals is located...
, with bass guitar
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
ist Ralph Ezell and keyboardist
Keyboardist
A keyboardist is a musician who plays keyboard instruments. Until the early 1960s musicians who played keyboards were generally classified as either pianists or organists. Since the mid-1960s, a plethora of new musical instruments with keyboards have come into common usage, requiring a more...
Stan Thorn, as well as lead singer Marty Raybon
Marty Raybon
Marty Raybon Marty Raybon Marty Raybon (born December 8, 1959 is an Award Winning American country music artist. He is known primarily for his role as the lead singer of the band Shenandoah, a role which he held from 1985 to 1996. He recorded his first solo album, Marty Raybon, in 1995 on Sparrow...
, who had been in his father's bluegrass
Bluegrass music
Bluegrass music is a form of American roots music, and a sub-genre of country music. It has mixed roots in Scottish, English, Welsh and Irish traditional music...
band since childhood. McGuire invited songwriting friend Robert Byrne to one of the session band's shows. Byrne then invited them into his recording studio to record a demo
Demo (music)
A demo version or demo of a song is one recorded for reference rather than for release. A demo is a way for a musician to approximate their ideas on tape or disc, and provide an example of those ideas to record labels, producers or other artists...
, which he then pitched to Columbia Records
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
' CBS Records division. The band first wanted to assume the name The MGM Band, a name which was rejected for legal reasons. CBS suggested Rhythm Rangers and Shenandoah as possible names, and Raybon chose the latter because he thought that the name Rhythm Rangers "sounded like an amateur band."
19871990: Shenandoah and The Road Not Taken
In 1987, Shenandoah released its self-titledShenandoah (album)
Shenandoah is the self-titled debut album of the American country music band Shenandoah. Released in 1987 on Columbia Records, it includes three singles: "They Don't Make Love Like We Used To" and "Stop the Rain." "Stop the Rain" was the band's first Top 40 country hit, peaking at #28 on Billboard...
debut studio album
Studio album
A studio album is an album made up of tracks recorded in the controlled environment of a recording studio. A studio album contains newly written and recorded or previously unreleased or remixed material, distinguishing itself from a compilation or reissue album of previously recorded material, or...
, which Byrne and Rick Hall produced. This album accounted for the band's first two charting singles
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
in "They Don't Make Love Like We Used To" and "Stop the Rain". The latter was the band's first Top 40 country hit, peaking at number 28 on 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 (now Hot Country Songs
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...
) charts. John Bush of Allmusic wrote that this album "leaned a little close to the pop
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
-schmaltz they later rebelled against."
The Road Not Taken
The Road Not Taken (Shenandoah album)
The Road Not Taken was the second album released by country music group Shenandoah and their most successful album to date. Of the six singles released from 1988 to 1990, all charted within the top ten and three of those, "The Church on Cumberland Road", "Sunday in the South", and "Two Dozen Roses"...
was the band's second album, released in 1988. This album's first two singles — "She Doesn't Cry Anymore
She Doesn't Cry Anymore
"She Doesn't Cry Anymore" is the title of a song written by Robert Byrne and Will Robinson, and recorded by American country music group Shenandoah. It was released in March 1988as the third and final single from their debut album Shenandoah. The song reached #9 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles...
", previously found on Shenandoah, and "Mama Knows
Mama Knows
"Mama Knows" is the title of a song written by Tony Haselden and Tim Mensy, and recorded by American country music group Shenandoah. It was released in August 1988 as the first single from their album The Road Not Taken. The song reached #5 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart in...
" — brought the band to the Top Ten for the first time. After these singles came three consecutive Billboard number-one hits: "The Church on Cumberland Road
The Church on Cumberland Road
"The Church on Cumberland Road" is the title of a song recorded by country music group Shenandoah. It was released in January 1989 as the third single to their 1988 album The Road Not Taken. It was their first number-one hit in both the United States and Canada. In 2001, on a live CMT special,...
", "Sunday in the South
Sunday in the South
"Sunday in the South" is the title of a song written by Jay Booker and recorded by country music group Shenandoah. It was released in May 1989 as the fourth single to their 1989 album The Road Not Taken...
" and "Two Dozen Roses
Two Dozen Roses
"Two Dozen Roses" is a song recorded by country music group Shenandoah. It was released in August 1989 as the fifth single from their 1989 album The Road Not Taken. It was their third number-one hit in both the United States and Canada...
". "The Church on Cumberland Road," with its two-week run at Number One, marked the first time in country music history that a country music band's first number-one single spent more than one week at the top. This song was originally recorded by its one of its three writers, former Rockets
The Rockets (band)
The Rockets are an American rock band from Detroit, Michigan founded by guitarist Jimmy McCarty and drummer Johnny “Bee” Badanjek, both former members of the group Mitch Ryder & The Detroit Wheels....
and Billy Hill member Dennis Robbins
Dennis Robbins
Dennis Robbins is an American musician who first made himself known as a guitarist in the band The Rockets. After his departure from The Rockets, he began a career in country music, recording two major-label albums and several singles of his own, in addition to writing hit singles for Shenandoah...
as the B-side to his 1987 single "Two of a Kind, Workin' on a Full House
Two of a Kind, Workin' on a Full House
"Two of a Kind, Workin' on a Full House" is the title of a country music song co-written by Dennis Robbins, Bobby Boyd, and Warren Dale Haynes. Robbins himself originally recorded the song and charted at #71 with it on the Billboard country charts in 1987...
"; Garth Brooks
Garth Brooks
Troyal Garth Brooks , best known as Garth Brooks, is an American country music artist who helped make country music a worldwide phenomenon. His eponymous first album was released in 1989 and peaked at number 2 in the US country album chart while climbing to number 13 on the Billboard 200 album chart...
would later reach number one in 1991 with a rendition of the latter song. Byrne co-wrote "Two Dozen Roses" with Mac McAnally
Mac McAnally
Lyman Corbitt "Mac" McAnally, Jr. is an American country music singer-songwriter, session musician and record producer. In his career, he has recorded ten studio albums and eight singles. Two of his singles were hits on the Billboard Hot 100, and six more on the Hot Country Songs charts...
, a veteran songwriter and session musician who has recorded both as a solo singer and as a member of Jimmy Buffett
Jimmy Buffett
James William "Jimmy" Buffett is a singer-songwriter, author, entrepreneur, and film producer. He is best known for his music, which often portrays an "island escapism" lifestyle. Together with his Coral Reefer Band, Buffett's musical hits include "Margaritaville" , and "Come Monday"...
's Coral Reefer Band. The last single from The Road Not Taken, "See If I Care
See If I Care (song)
"See If I Care" is the title of a song written by Walt Aldridge and Robert Byrne, and recorded by American country music group Shenandoah. It was released in January 1990 as the fifth single from their album The Road Not Taken. The song reached #6 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart...
", reached number 6 on Billboard and number one on Gavin Report
Gavin Report
The Gavin Report was a San Francisco-based radio industry trade publication. The publication was founded by radio performer Bill Gavin in 1958. Its Top 40 listings were used for many years by programmers to decide content of programs...
. On January 22, 1991, The Road Not Taken earned a gold certification
Music recording sales certification
Music recording sales certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped or sold a certain number of copies, where the threshold quantity varies by type and by nation or territory .Almost all countries follow variations of the RIAA certification categories,...
from the Recording Industry Association of America
Recording Industry Association of America
The Recording Industry Association of America is a trade organization that represents the recording industry distributors in the United States...
(RIAA) for shipments of 500,000 copies in the United States. Tom Roland of Allmusic gave The Road Not Taken four-and-a-half stars out of five, with his review saying, "The songs mix the day-to-day struggles of everyday-Joe with a steady respect for love, personal roots, and family." In the wake of The Road Not Takens success, the band played 300 shows in 1989.
19901992: Extra Mile and lawsuits
The band achieved its biggest hit in 1990 with the three-week number-one single "Next to You, Next to MeNext to You, Next to Me
"Next to You, Next to Me" is the title of a song written by Robert Ellis Orrall and Curtis Wright, and recorded by country music group Shenandoah. It was released in June 1990 as the lead-off single to their 1990 album Extra Mile...
." Written by then-solo singers Robert Ellis Orrall
Robert Ellis Orrall
Robert Ellis Orrall is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. Signed to RCA Records in 1980, Orrall debuted that year with the album "Fixation". His first Top 40 single was "I Couldn't Say No", a duet with Carlene Carter...
and Curtis Wright
Curtis Wright
Curtis Blaine Wright is an American country music artist. He made his debut in 1989 with the single "She's Got a Man on her Mind" on a branch of MCA Records, before recording a solo album in 1992 on Liberty Records...
, this was the first of five singles from Shenandoah's third album, Extra Mile
Extra Mile (album)
Extra Mile is the third studio album by the American country music band Shenandoah. It was released May 2, 1990 on Columbia Records. Their final album for the label, it produced five chart singles on the Billboard country charts...
. "Ghost in This House
Ghost in This House
"Ghost in This House" is the title of a song written by Hugh Prestwood and recorded by American country music group Shenandoah. It was released in September 1990 as the second single from their album Extra Mile...
," "I Got You
I Got You (Shenandoah song)
"I Got You" is the title of a song recorded by American country music group Shenandoah. It was released in January 1991 as the third single from their album Extra Mile. The song reached #7 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart in March 1991. It also peaked at #4 on the Canadian RPM...
" (co-written by Teddy Gentry of the band Alabama
Alabama (band)
Alabama is a country music and southern rock band from Fort Payne, Alabama, United States. The band was founded in 1969 by Randy Owen and his cousin Teddy Gentry , soon joined by Jeff Cook...
) and "The Moon Over Georgia
The Moon Over Georgia
"The Moon Over Georgia" is the title of a song written by Mark Narmore and recorded by American country music group Shenandoah. It was released in April 1991 as the fourth single from their album Extra Mile. The song reached #9 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart in July 1991.-Chart...
" all peaked in the Billboard top ten between late 1990 and mid-1991, with the latter two reaching number one on Gavin Report; "When You Were Mine," the fifth single, stopped at number 38 on Billboard in 1991. Also that year, the band won the Academy of Country Music
Academy of Country Music
The Academy of Country Music was founded in 1964 in Los Angeles, California as the Country & Western Music Academy. Whereas the Country Music Association, founded in 1958, was based in Nashville, the Academy sought to promote country music in the western states. Among those involved in the...
's Vocal Group of the Year award.
Alanna Nash
Alanna Nash
Alanna Nash is an American journalist and biographer.Nash holds a master's degree from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and is the author of several acclaimed books...
of Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
gave Extra Mile a B rating, saying that it was "unflinchingly commercial" but adding that "the band goes beyond Alabama's jingoistic
Jingoism
Jingoism is defined in the Oxford English Dictionary as extreme patriotism in the form of aggressive foreign policy. In practice, it is a country's advocation of the use of threats or actual force against other countries in order to safeguard what it perceives as its national interests...
flag-waving and Restless Heart
Restless Heart
Restless Heart is an American country music band established in 1984. The band's original members were John Dittrich , Paul Gregg , Dave Innis , Greg Jennings , and Verlon Thompson...
's vapid mood-brighteners to showcase intelligent ballads and jaunty rhythm numbers." An uncredited review in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, also known simply as the "PG," is the largest daily newspaper serving metropolitan Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA.-Early history:...
said that the band "proved that no matter how overcrowded the field is, there's always room for quality." Extra Mile earned a gold certification in the United States.
Following the release of Extra Mile, a band from Tennessee
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
threatened to sue Shenandoah over the use of the name Shenandoah. After a financial settlement was made with the Tennessee band, four other bands all filed lawsuits over Shenandoah's name. The lawsuits depleted the money earned by the band on the road, which led to Raybon asking the label to pay one-third of their legal costs. The label refused, and Shenandoah filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in early 1991 after paying more than $200,000 on court settlements. Although the lawsuits allowed Shenandoah to keep its name, the bankruptcy filing terminated the contract with Columbia after a 1992 Greatest Hits
Greatest Hits (Shenandoah album)
Greatest Hits is the first greatest hits album by American country music band Shenandoah. It was released in 1992 on Columbia Records. The album includes five singles from their 1989 album The Road Not Taken and three from their 1990 album Extra Mile, as well as the new tracks "Any Ole Stretch of...
package. The label's officials then filed a lawsuit against the band, claiming that it had tried to void its agreement with the label. After Shenandoah's departure, there were no other bands on Columbia's Nashville division; as a result, producer Larry Strickland assembled three musicians to create a new band called Matthews, Wright & King
Matthews, Wright & King
Matthews, Wright & King was an American country music group formed in 1991. The band, Raymond Matthews , Woody Wright and Tony King , was put together by Columbia Records producer Larry Strickland after Shenandoah left the label, as an attempt to keep a viable country band on that label...
in an attempt to keep a commercially successful band on the label.
19921994: Long Time Comin and Under the Kudzu
In 1992, the band had moved to RCA RecordsRCA Records
RCA Records is one of the flagship labels of Sony Music Entertainment. The RCA initials stand for Radio Corporation of America , which was the parent corporation from 1929 to 1985 and a partner from 1985 to 1986.RCA's Canadian unit is Sony's oldest label...
Nashville, releasing Long Time Comin'
Long Time Comin'
Long Time Comin' is the fourth studio album by the American country music band Shenandoah. Released in May 1992 , it was their first album for the RCA Records label. The album includes three singles: "Rock My Baby", "Hey Mister " and "Leavin's Been a Long Time Comin'"...
on it that year. This album was produced by Byrne and Keith Stegall
Keith Stegall
Robert Keith Stegall is an American country music recording artist and record producer. Active since 1980, Stegall has recorded two-major label studio albums: 1985's Keith Stegall and 1996's Passages...
, a former solo singer best known for producing Alan Jackson
Alan Jackson
Alan Eugene Jackson is an American country music singer, known for blending traditional honky tonk and mainstream country sounds and penning many of his own hits. He has recorded 13 studio albums, 3 Greatest Hits albums, 2 Holiday albums, 1 Gospel album and several compilations, all on the Arista...
's albums. "Rock My Baby
Rock My Baby
"Rock My Baby" is the title of a song recorded by American country music group Shenandoah. It was released in March 1992 as the first single from their album Long Time Comin. The song reached #2 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart in July 1992 and peaked at #5 in Canada.-Chart...
" (another Curtis Wright co-write) led off the single releases, reaching number 2 on Billboard and Radio & Records
Radio & Records
Radio & Records was a trade publication providing news and airplay information for the radio and music industries. It originally started out as an independent trade from 1973 to 2006 until VNU Media took over in 2006, up until its final issue in 2009.-History:The company was founded in 1973 and...
and number 1 on Gavin Report. After it came the top 30 hits "Hey Mister (I Need This Job)" and "Leavin's Been a Long Time Comin'
Leavin's Been a Long Time Comin'
"Leavin's Been a Long Time Comin" is the title of a song recorded by country music group Shenandoah. It was released in November 1992 as the third and final single from their 1992 album Long Time Comin. It peaked at #15 in the United States, and #24 in Canada...
", whose 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...
featured a guest appearance by Eddy Arnold
Eddy Arnold
Richard Edward Arnold , known professionally as Eddy Arnold, was an American country music singer who performed for six decades. He was a so-called Nashville sound innovator of the late 1950s, and scored 147 songs on the Billboard country music charts, second only to George Jones. He sold more...
. The band was nominated as Vocal Group of the Year at the Academy of Country Music again in 1992. Long Time Comin received a three-and-a-half star rating from the Chicago Tribune
Chicago Tribune
The Chicago Tribune is a major daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, and the flagship publication of the Tribune Company. Formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" , it remains the most read daily newspaper of the Chicago metropolitan area and the Great Lakes region and is...
, whose Jack Hurst said that it was "an excellent brand of rural-toned blue-collar music." Nash gave a B- rating in Entertainment Weekly, where she said that the album had a more country pop
Country pop
Country pop, with roots in both the countrypolitan sound and in soft rock, is a subgenre of country music that first emerged in the 1970s. Although the term first referred to country music songs and artists that crossed over to Top 40 radio, country pop acts are now more likely to cross over to...
-oriented sound than its predecessors, but commended the "sincerity" of Raybon's voice and the themes of "family and friendship."
Under the Kudzu
Under the Kudzu
Under The Kudzu was the fifth studio album released by country music group Shenandoah. It produced their fifth and last number one hit to date with "If Bubba Can Dance ". Other singles included "Janie Baker's Love Slave", "I Want to Be Loved Like That", and "I'll Go Down Loving You"...
, Shenandoah's second RCA album, followed in 1993. It was produced by Don Cook
Don Cook
Don Kirby Cook is an American record producer and songwriter whose work is mainly in the field of country music. Artists who recorded Cook's material include Barbara Mandrell, John Conlee, Mark Collie, Wade Hayes and Brooks & Dunn...
, who was also Brooks & Dunn
Brooks & Dunn
Brooks & Dunn was an American country music duo consisting of Kix Brooks and Ronnie Dunn, who were both vocalists and songwriters. They were paired by record producer Tim DuBois in 1990. Before the duo's foundation, both members of the duo were solo recording artists...
's producer at the time. "Janie Baker's Love Slave
Janie Baker's Love Slave
"Janie Baker's Love Slave" is the title of a song written by Dennis Linde and recorded by the American country music band Shenandoah. It was released in May 1993 as the lead single for their fifth studio album, Under the Kudzu. The song reached a peak of #15 on the U.S...
", written by "Burning Love
Burning Love
"Burning Love" is a song written by Dennis Linde, first recorded by Arthur Alexander, who included it on his self-titled 1971 album, and made famous by Elvis Presley, who took it to #2 in the United States in 1972...
" writer Dennis Linde
Dennis Linde
Dennis Linde was an American singer and songwriter whose work was primarily in country musicHe is best known for writing the 1972 Elvis Presley hit, "Burning Love"...
, was a top 15 Billboard hit from the album early that year. Next came "I Want to Be Loved Like That
I Want to Be Loved Like That
"I Want to Be Loved Like That" is the title of a song written by Phil Barnhart, Sam Hogin and Bill LaBounty. It was recorded by the American country music band Shenandoah for its fifth studio album, Under the Kudzu. It was released in September 1993 as a single and the song spent twenty weeks on...
", which peaked at number three on Billboard, number two on Gavin Report and number one on Radio & Records. The album also included the band's fifth and final Billboard number-one hit, "If Bubba Can Dance (I Can Too)
If Bubba Can Dance (I Can Too)
"If Bubba Can Dance " is the title of a song recorded by country music group Shenandoah. It was released in 1994 as the third single from their 1993 album Under the Kudzu. It was a Number One hit in both the United States and Canada and Shenandoah's final number one as of 2009.-Chart...
", which Raybon and McGuire wrote with veteran Nashville songwriter Bob McDill
Bob McDill
Robert Lee "Bob" McDill is an American country music songwriter. Active from the 1960s until 2000, he has written several songs for country music artists, including more than thirty Number One hits...
after seeing a television commercial for line dancing instructions. "I'll Go Down Loving You," the last single from the album, spent eleven weeks on the Billboard charts and peaked at number 46, thus becoming the band's first single to miss the Top 40 since "They Don't Make Love Like We Used To" in 1987. Michael Corcoran of The Dallas Morning News
The Dallas Morning News
The Dallas Morning News is the major daily newspaper serving the Dallas, Texas area, with a circulation of 264,459 subscribers, the Audit Bureau of Circulations reported in September 2010...
called Under the Kudzu "their strongest album to date", and Jack Hurst gave it three stars, saying, "Shenandoah carries most of this album with impassioned vocals rather than superior song content."
19941995: In the Vicinity of the Heart and collaborations
Columbia's parent company Sony Music EntertainmentSony Music Entertainment
Sony Music Entertainment ' is the second-largest global recorded music company of the "big four" record companies and is controlled by Sony Corporation of America, the United States subsidiary of Japan's Sony Corporation....
released ten of the band's Columbia songs in a Super Hits
Super Hits (Shenandoah album)
Super Hits is a budget priced compilation album from country music group Shenandoah. Two versions were released simultaneously with different cover designs...
compilation in May 1994, which was certified gold in 2002. Shenandoah also collaborated with country and bluegrass singer Ricky Skaggs
Ricky Skaggs
Rickie Lee "Ricky" Skaggs is a country and bluegrass singer, musician, producer, and composer. He primarily plays mandolin; however, he also plays fiddle, guitar, and banjo.-Early career:...
on a 1994 tribute album
Tribute album
A tribute album is a recorded collection of cover versions of songs or instrumental compositions. Its concept may be either various artists making a tribute to a single artist, a single artist making a tribute to various artists, or a single artist making a tribute to another single artist.There...
to Keith Whitley
Keith Whitley
Jackie Keith Whitley , known professionally as Keith Whitley, was an American country music singer. Whitley's brief career in mainstream country music lasted from 1984 until his death in 1989, but he continues to influence an entire generation of singers and songwriters...
, recording a cover version
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
of Whitley's "All I Ever Loved Was You".
Later in 1994, the band left RCA for Liberty Records
Liberty Records
Liberty Records was a United States-based record label. It was started by chairman Simon Waronker in 1955 with Al Bennett as president and Theodore Keep as chief engineer. It was reactivated in 2001 in the United Kingdom and had two previous revivals.-1950s:...
, then the name for the Nashville division of Capitol Records
Capitol Records
Capitol Records is a major United States based record label, formerly located in Los Angeles, but operating in New York City as part of Capitol Music Group. Its former headquarters building, the Capitol Tower, is a major landmark near the corner of Hollywood and Vine...
. RCA gave Liberty the master recording
Master recording
A multitrack recording master tape, disk or computer files on which productions are developed for later mixing, is known as the multi-track master, while the tape, disk or computer files holding a mix is called a mixed master.It is standard practice to make a copy of a master recording, known as...
s for a nearly-completed album, to which Liberty added "Somewhere in the Vicinity of the Heart
Somewhere in the Vicinity of the Heart
"Somewhere in the Vicinity of the Heart" is the title of a song written by Bill LaBounty and Rick Chudacoff, and recorded by the American country music band Shenandoah with a guest vocal from bluegrass singer Alison Krauss. The song was the first single release from Shenandoah's late-1994 album In...
", a song featuring guest vocals from bluegrass musician Alison Krauss
Alison Krauss
Alison Maria Krauss is an American bluegrass-country singer, songwriter and fiddler. She entered the music industry at an early age, winning local contests by the age of ten and recording for the first time at fourteen. She signed with Rounder Records in 1985 and released her first solo album in...
. Liberty released the album in November 1994 as In the Vicinity of the Heart
In the Vicinity of the Heart
In the Vicinity of the Heart is the sixth studio album by the American country music band Shenandoah. Their only studio album for Liberty Records, it was released in November 1994 . The first single from the album, "Somewhere in the Vicinity of the Heart", features duet vocals from Alison Krauss...
, with the number seven-peaking title track also serving as the first single release. This song was also Krauss' first top 40 country hit, and its success helped boost sales of her album Now That I've Found You: A Collection
Now That I've Found You: A Collection
Now That I've Found You: A Collection is an album by Alison Krauss, released February 7, 1995. It is a retrospective of the early part of Krauss' recording career. It includes songs that appeared on her solo albums, albums by Alison Krauss & Union Station, and some that appeared on an album by...
.
Vicinity became the band's fastest-selling album, and the first 175,000 copies were distributed with prepaid telephone card
Telephone card
A telephone card, calling card or phone card for short, is a small plastic card, sized and shaped like a credit card, used to pay for telephone services. It is not necessary to have the physical card except with a stored-value system; knowledge of the access telephone number to dial and the PIN is...
s which included an 800 number that could be called to receive a greeting from the band members. The album also produced the band's last Top Ten hit in "Darned If I Don't (Danged If I Do)
Darned If I Don't (Danged If I Do)
"Darned If I Don't " is the title of a song written by Dean Dillon and Ronnie Dunn, and recorded by country music group Shenandoah. It was released in April 1995 as the second single from their 1994 album In the Vicinity of the Heart. It peaked at #4 in the United States, and #7 in Canada...
." Originally the B-side to "Somewhere in the Vicinity of the Heart," this song was co-written by Ronnie Dunn
Ronnie Dunn
Ronnie Gene Dunn is an American country music singer-songwriter, known for being one half of the duo Brooks & Dunn. In 2011, Dunn began working as a solo artist following the breakup of Brooks & Dunn...
(of Brooks & Dunn) and songwriter Dean Dillon
Dean Dillon
Dean Dillon is an American country music artist. Between 1982 and 1993, Dillon recorded six studio albums on various labels, and charted several singles on the Billboard country charts. Although he has not charted since 1993, Dillon has continued to write several hit songs for other artists, most...
, best known for co-writing several of George Strait
George Strait
George Harvey Strait is an American country music singer, actor, and music producer. Strait is referred to as the "King of Country," and critics call Strait a living legend. He is known for his unique style of western swing music, bar-room ballads, honky-tonk style, and fresh yet traditional...
's singles. "Heaven Bound (I'm Ready)" (another Dennis Linde song) and "Always Have, Always Will," peaking at numbers 24 and 40, were the last two releases from the album. Jim Ridley gave the album a two-and-a-half star rating in New Country magazine, citing the vocal performances on the title track and "I Wouldn't Know" as standouts, but saying that the rest of the album did not take any risks.
Raybon released a solo gospel music
Gospel music
Gospel music is music that is written to express either personal, spiritual or a communal belief regarding Christian life, as well as to give a Christian alternative to mainstream secular music....
album for Sparrow Records
Sparrow Records
-Background:Sparrow Records was founded in 1976 by Billy Ray Hearn, then A&R director at Myrrh Records. Purchased by EMI in 1992, it is now part of the EMI Christian Music Group, and has been named by Billboard Magazine as "America's Best Christian Music Record Label"...
in July 1995, and in October of the same year, that label released a multi-artist country-gospel album entitled Amazing Grace — A Country Salute to Gospel, to which the band contributed a rendition of "Beulah Land
Beulah Land
Beulah Land is a well-known gospel hymn written by Edgar Page Stites in either 1875 or 1876. The hymn, Stites' most popular, is set to music written by John R. Sweney...
." Shenandoah also covered The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
' "Can't Buy Me Love
Can't Buy Me Love
"Can't Buy Me Love" is a song composed by Paul McCartney and released by The Beatles on the A-side of their sixth British single, "Can't Buy Me Love"/"You Can't Do That".-Interpretation:...
" on the mid-1995 album Come Together: America Salutes The Beatles
Come Together: America Salutes The Beatles
Come Together: America Salutes The Beatles is a tribute album to The Beatles. Released in 1995 on Liberty Records, the album features covers of various Beatles songs, as performed by country music artists. The album cover features artwork by John Lennon.-Track listing:-Chart performance:...
. "Somewhere in the Vicinity of the Heart" won Shenandoah and Krauss won the 1995 Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
for Best Country Vocal Collaboration and the Country Music Association
Country Music Association
The Country Music Association was founded in 1958 in Nashville, Tennessee. It originally consisted of only 233 members and was the first trade organization formed to promote a music genre...
award for Vocal Event, and "Darned If I Don't" was nominated for Grammy Award for Best Country Vocal by a Duo or Group the same year.
19951996: Now and Then and Shenandoah Christmas
Stan Thorn and Ralph Ezell left in late 1995 and early 1996, respectively, with Rocky Thacker unofficially replacing Ezell on bass guitar. During this time, Liberty Records was renamed Capitol Records Nashville. The band's first album for Capitol, 1996's Now and Then, comprised re-recordings of eight Columbia singles, the original recording of "Somewhere in the Vicinity of the Heart" and five new songs. Among these new songs was the album's only single, "All Over but the Shoutin'," which peaked at number 43 on Billboard.Nash gave this album an A- rating in Entertainment Weekly, saying that Raybon's voice "beautifully capture[s] the rites of passage
Rite of passage
A rite of passage is a ritual event that marks a person's progress from one status to another. It is a universal phenomenon which can show anthropologists what social hierarchies, values and beliefs are important in specific cultures....
in Small Town, USA." Larry Stephens of Country Standard Time
Country Standard Time
Country Standard Time is a website dedicated to country music and related genres such as Bluegrass and Rockabilly. It provides news and musical reviews pertaining to the genre. It was established in 1992 by Jeffrey B. Remz as a print magazine, which was first published only in New England but went...
also reviewed the album favorably, saying, "The familiar hits on this album have all been re-recorded, but they've lost none of their familiar and loved sound," while Allmusic critic William Ruhlmann gave it two stars out of five and referred to it as a "stopgap."
Shenandoah's first Christmas music
Christmas music
Christmas music comprises a variety of genres of music normally performed or heard around the Christmas season, which tends to begin in the months leading up the actual holiday and end in the weeks shortly thereafter.-Early:...
album, Shenandoah Christmas, was released in September 1996, also on Capitol. Except for the original song "There's a Way in the Manger," it comprised acoustic
Acoustic music
Acoustic music comprises music that solely or primarily uses instruments which produce sound through entirely acoustic means, as opposed to electric or electronic means...
renditions of popular Christmas songs. It received a two-and-a-half star rating from Allmusic, whose critic Thom Owens said that none of the renditions were "particularly noteworthy."
1997: Departure of Marty Raybon and disbanding of Shenandoah
Marty Raybon and his brother Tim recorded one album as the Raybon Brothers for MCA Nashville Records in mid-1997. They charted within the top 40 on both the country and Billboard Hot 100Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
charts with a rendition of the Bob Carlisle
Bob Carlisle
Bob Carlisle is a Grammy Award and Dove Award-winning American musician who performs Christian music. He performed with several bands, most notably Allies and Billy Thermal, before launching a solo career...
song "Butterfly Kisses
Butterfly Kisses (song)
"Butterfly Kisses" is the title of a song written by Bob Carlisle and Randy Thomas from Carlisle's third studio album Butterfly Kisses . The song was written for his daughter Brooke's 16th birthday. Carlisle also wrote a journal entitled Butterfly Kisses for fathers and their daughters...
," followed by the number 64 country release "The Way She's Lookin'." Marty continued to tour with Shenandoah until the end of the year, when the remaining members disbanded and he sold the naming rights. In 2000, he released a second solo album and charted his only solo country chart hit, the number 63 "Cracker Jack Diamond." Raybon has remained a solo artist, while Thorn self-released a solo jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
album titled In a Curious Way in 2001.
20002010: Reunion and Shenandoah 2000
Seales, McGuire and Thacker reunited as Shenandoah in 2000, with three new members: lead singer Brent Lamb, songwriter/keyboardist Stan Munsey and guitarist/vocalist Curtis Wright. Before joining Shenandoah, Wright had been a member of the Super Grit Cowboy BandSuper Grit Cowboy Band
Super Grit Cowboy Band is an American country music band formed in North Carolina. It was founded by Clyde Mattocks, Danny Vinson, Mike Kinzie, Bill Ellis and Curtis Wright...
in the 1980s, then a solo artist and one-half of the duo Orrall & Wright
Orrall & Wright
-Track listing:#"She Loves Me Like She Means It" – 2:44#"The Last Time I Loved Like That" – 3:50#"I'm Outta Here" -Track listing:#"She Loves Me Like She Means It" (Angelo Petraglia, Robert Ellis Orrall, Billy Spencer) – 2:44#"The Last Time I Loved Like That" (Orrall, Curtis Wright) – 3:50#"I'm...
with Robert Ellis Orrall. Wright also wrote "Next to You, Next to Me" and "Rock My Baby", collaborating with Orrall on the former. In 2000, the new lineup recorded the band's next album, Shenandoah 2000, under the Free Falls label. It produced the band's last chart single in the number 65 "What Children Believe." Jolene Downs of About.com
About.com
About.com is an online source for original information and advice. It is written in English, and is aimed primarily at North Americans. It is owned by The New York Times Company....
gave this album a positive review, saying that it was a "very strong country album" and "a slightly different sound from the original group, but not bad at all." The band toured small venues in 2001 to promote it.
Lamb left in 2002, with Wright succeeding him on lead vocals and original bassist Ralph Ezell later re-joining. In 2006, Shenandoah released the album Journeys on the Cumberland Road label. Ezell died of a heart attack on November 30, 2007, and Mike Folsom succeeded him on bass guitar. Also, Wright left the band to join a re-established Pure Prairie League
Pure Prairie League
Pure Prairie League, sometimes abbreviated PPL, is an American country-rock band whose roots began between 1964 and 1969 in Waverly, Ohio with Craig Fuller, George Powell, Tom McGrail, Jim Caughlan and John David Call. In 1970 McGrail named the band after a 19th century temperance union mentioned...
, and songwriter Jimmy Yeary took over as lead singer. In April 2009, the lineup of Yeary, Folsom, McGuire, Munsey and Seales performed a benefit concert in Muscle Shoals, in which Wright and Raybon also participated.
Yeary and McGuire co-wrote a song entitled "You Never Know" as a tribute to Ezell. Darryl Worley
Darryl Worley
Darryl Wade Worley is an American country music artist. Signed to DreamWorks Records Nashville in 2000, Worley released four albums for the label: Hard Rain Don't Last , I Miss My Friend , Have You Forgotten? , and Darryl Worley in 2004...
recorded this song on his 2009 album Sounds Like Life
Sounds Like Life
Sounds Like Life is American country music singer Darryl Worley's sixth studio album. It was released on June 9, 2009 by the Stroudavarious label. The first single "Tequila on Ice" peaked at #44 in 2008, and the second single "Sounds Like Life to Me" became his first Top 40 country hit since "I...
, saying that he considered it "dead-on" for him. Shenandoah has continued to tour in 2009 and 2010 with Yeary on lead vocals, mostly playing at community festivals and county fair
County Fair
"County Fair" is a song written by Brian Wilson and Gary Usher for the American rock band The Beach Boys. It was originally released as the second track on their 1962 album Surfin' Safari. On November 26th of that year, it was released as the B-side to The Beach Boys' third single, "Ten Little...
s. Yeary engaged country-gospel singer Sonya Isaacs
Sonya Isaacs
Sonya Melissa Isaacs is an American country and Christian music singer. Isaacs grew up near Morrow, Ohio, and graduated from Little Miami High School in 1992....
(of The Isaacs
The Isaacs
The Isaacs are a country and bluegrass gospel music group consisting of mother Lily Isaacs, and daughters Becky and Sonya Isaacs and son Ben Isaacs, along with John Bowman as an instrumentalist and songwriter. Joe Isaacs, formerly a singer and banjo player in the group, has left since his 1998...
) in November 2009. He has also written songs for other artists, including "Why Wait
Why Wait (song)
"Why Wait" is the title of a song written by Neil Thrasher, Tom Shapiro and Jimmy Yeary and recorded by country music band Rascal Flatts. It was released as the first single from their seventh studio album Nothing Like This, released on November 16, 2010...
" by Rascal Flatts
Rascal Flatts
Rascal Flatts is an American country music band that originated in Columbus, Ohio, United States of America. Since its inception, Rascal Flatts has been composed of three members: Gary LeVox , Jay DeMarcus and Joe Don Rooney...
, "Summer Thing" by Troy Olsen
Troy Olsen
Troy Olsen is an American country music singer-songwriter signed to EMI Nashville, a sister label to Capitol Records Nashville...
and "I'm Gonna Love You Through It
I'm Gonna Love You Through It
"I'm Gonna Love You Through It" is the title of a song written by Ben Hayslip, Sonya Isaacs and Jimmy Yeary and recorded by American country music artist Martina McBride. It was released in July 2011 as the second single from her album Eleven.-Content:...
" by Martina McBride
Martina McBride
Martina McBride is an American country music singer and songwriter. McBride has been called the "Céline Dion of Country Music" for her big-voiced ballads and soprano range....
.
Musical styles
The band's sound is defined by country, bluegrass and gospel influences. John Bush of Allmusic calls Shenandoah "one of the first groups to rebel against the urban cowboyUrban Cowboy
Released as a 2× vinyl record album, re-released on CD in 1995.Side A:#Hello Texas – Jimmy Buffett #All Night Long – Joe Walsh #Times Like These – Dan Fogelberg #Nine Tonight – Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band...
image of the '80s and lead the way to the new traditionalism of the '90s." Marty Raybon's vocals have been described as "blend[ing] the soulfulness of rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a...
with the lonely intensity of great country music." Alanna Nash wrote that the band's work relies on "sentimental lyrics revolving around the Southern experience," and said that Shenandoah "forged its very commercial reputation on a soulful gospel
Gospel music
Gospel music is music that is written to express either personal, spiritual or a communal belief regarding Christian life, as well as to give a Christian alternative to mainstream secular music....
-and-bluegrass
Bluegrass music
Bluegrass music is a form of American roots music, and a sub-genre of country music. It has mixed roots in Scottish, English, Welsh and Irish traditional music...
blend, with lead singer Marty Raybon's searing sincerity making even the tritest songs about small-town Southern values and attitudes memorable." Logan Smith of the St. Petersburg Times
St. Petersburg Times
The St. Petersburg Times is a United States newspaper. It is one of two major publications serving the Tampa Bay Area, the other being The Tampa Tribune, which the Times tops in both circulation and readership. Based in St...
said that the band has "woven together a highly polished sound built around precision musicianship and pristine harmonies, very much a hybrid of Raybon's bluegrass roots." Writing for the Associated Press
Associated Press
The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
, Joe Edwards cited the variety of sounds on the band's second album, referring to "The Church on Cumberland Road" as a "spirited up-tempo," also making note of the Southern imagery in "Sunday in the South" and the "truest country music tradition" of the ballad "She Doesn't Cry Anymore."
Current members
- Chris Roach – bass guitarBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
, backing vocals - Mike McGuire – drumsDrum kitA 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 ....
- Stan Munsey – keyboardsKeyboard instrumentA 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...
- Jim Seales – lead guitarLead guitarLead guitar is a guitar part which plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs within a song structure...
, backing vocals - Doug Stokes – lead vocals, acoustic guitarAcoustic guitarAn 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...
Former members
- Jeff Allen -- bass guitar, backing vocals
- Ralph Ezell – bass guitar, backing vocals
- Brent Lamb – lead vocals
- Jimmy Yeary -- lead vocals, acoustic guitar
- Marty RaybonMarty RaybonMarty Raybon Marty Raybon Marty Raybon (born December 8, 1959 is an Award Winning American country music artist. He is known primarily for his role as the lead singer of the band Shenandoah, a role which he held from 1985 to 1996. He recorded his first solo album, Marty Raybon, in 1995 on Sparrow...
– lead vocals, acoustic guitar - Rocky Thacker – bass guitar, backing vocals
- Stan Thorn – keyboards
- Curtis WrightCurtis WrightCurtis Blaine Wright is an American country music artist. He made his debut in 1989 with the single "She's Got a Man on her Mind" on a branch of MCA Records, before recording a solo album in 1992 on Liberty Records...
– lead and backing vocals, acoustic guitar
Studio albums
- ShenandoahShenandoah (album)Shenandoah is the self-titled debut album of the American country music band Shenandoah. Released in 1987 on Columbia Records, it includes three singles: "They Don't Make Love Like We Used To" and "Stop the Rain." "Stop the Rain" was the band's first Top 40 country hit, peaking at #28 on Billboard...
(1987) - The Road Not TakenThe Road Not Taken (Shenandoah album)The Road Not Taken was the second album released by country music group Shenandoah and their most successful album to date. Of the six singles released from 1988 to 1990, all charted within the top ten and three of those, "The Church on Cumberland Road", "Sunday in the South", and "Two Dozen Roses"...
(1989) - Extra MileExtra Mile (album)Extra Mile is the third studio album by the American country music band Shenandoah. It was released May 2, 1990 on Columbia Records. Their final album for the label, it produced five chart singles on the Billboard country charts...
(1990) - Long Time Comin'Long Time Comin'Long Time Comin' is the fourth studio album by the American country music band Shenandoah. Released in May 1992 , it was their first album for the RCA Records label. The album includes three singles: "Rock My Baby", "Hey Mister " and "Leavin's Been a Long Time Comin'"...
(1992) - Under the KudzuUnder the KudzuUnder The Kudzu was the fifth studio album released by country music group Shenandoah. It produced their fifth and last number one hit to date with "If Bubba Can Dance ". Other singles included "Janie Baker's Love Slave", "I Want to Be Loved Like That", and "I'll Go Down Loving You"...
(1993) - In the Vicinity of the HeartIn the Vicinity of the HeartIn the Vicinity of the Heart is the sixth studio album by the American country music band Shenandoah. Their only studio album for Liberty Records, it was released in November 1994 . The first single from the album, "Somewhere in the Vicinity of the Heart", features duet vocals from Alison Krauss...
(1994) - Shenandoah Christmas (1996)
- Shenandoah 2000 (2000)
- Journeys (2006)
Billboard number-one hits
- "The Church on Cumberland RoadThe Church on Cumberland Road"The Church on Cumberland Road" is the title of a song recorded by country music group Shenandoah. It was released in January 1989 as the third single to their 1988 album The Road Not Taken. It was their first number-one hit in both the United States and Canada. In 2001, on a live CMT special,...
" (2 weeks, 1989) - "Sunday in the SouthSunday in the South"Sunday in the South" is the title of a song written by Jay Booker and recorded by country music group Shenandoah. It was released in May 1989 as the fourth single to their 1989 album The Road Not Taken...
" (1 week, 1989) - "Two Dozen RosesTwo Dozen Roses"Two Dozen Roses" is a song recorded by country music group Shenandoah. It was released in August 1989 as the fifth single from their 1989 album The Road Not Taken. It was their third number-one hit in both the United States and Canada...
" (1 week, 1989) - "Next to You, Next to MeNext to You, Next to Me"Next to You, Next to Me" is the title of a song written by Robert Ellis Orrall and Curtis Wright, and recorded by country music group Shenandoah. It was released in June 1990 as the lead-off single to their 1990 album Extra Mile...
" (3 weeks, 1990) - "If Bubba Can Dance (I Can Too)If Bubba Can Dance (I Can Too)"If Bubba Can Dance " is the title of a song recorded by country music group Shenandoah. It was released in 1994 as the third single from their 1993 album Under the Kudzu. It was a Number One hit in both the United States and Canada and Shenandoah's final number one as of 2009.-Chart...
" (1 week, 1994)
Awards
| Year | Association | Category | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1989 | Country Music Association Country Music Association The Country Music Association was founded in 1958 in Nashville, Tennessee. It originally consisted of only 233 members and was the first trade organization formed to promote a music genre... |
Horizon Award | |
| Vocal Group of the Year | |||
| 1990 | Vocal Group of the Year | ||
| 1991 | Vocal Group of the Year | ||
| Academy of Country Music Academy of Country Music The Academy of Country Music was founded in 1964 in Los Angeles, California as the Country & Western Music Academy. Whereas the Country Music Association, founded in 1958, was based in Nashville, the Academy sought to promote country music in the western states. Among those involved in the... |
Vocal Group of the Year | ||
| 1992 | Vocal Group of the Year | ||
| Country Music Association | Vocal Group of the Year | ||
| 1995 | Vocal Event of the Year— "Somewhere in the Vicinity of the Heart" (with Alison Krauss Alison Krauss Alison Maria Krauss is an American bluegrass-country singer, songwriter and fiddler. She entered the music industry at an early age, winning local contests by the age of ten and recording for the first time at fourteen. She signed with Rounder Records in 1985 and released her first solo album in... ) |
||
| Vocal Group of the Year | |||
| Grammy Awards | Best Country Collaboration with Vocals Grammy Award for Best Country Collaboration with Vocals The Grammy Award for Best Country Collaboration with Vocals was an honor presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to quality country music collaborations for artists who do not normally perform together... — "Somewhere in the Vicinity of the Heart" (with Alison Krauss) |
||
| Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal Grammy Award for Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal The Grammy Award for Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal was awarded from 1970 to 2011. The award has had several minor name changes:*In 1970 the award was known as Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group... — "Darned If I Don't (Danged If I Do)" |