The Living Room Sessions | |
---|---|
Studio album by | |
Released | April 2, 2013 |
Recorded | 2012 |
Genre | Country pop, Soft Rock |
Length | 42:32 |
Label | Wrinkled Records |
Producer | Kyle Lehning |
Singles from The Living Room Sessions | |
|
The Living Room Sessions (2013) is B.J. Thomas' first "unplugged" album, celebrating fifty years in the recording industry and forty-seven years since his first Gold record (a cover of the Hank Williams song, "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry"). The Living Room Sessions offers many of Thomas' most recognizable hits, the album was produced to instill the atmosphere of an intimate setting and includes duet performances from some of Thomas' favorite artists.[2]
Billboard has ranked B.J. Thomas in the fifty most played artists in the last fifty years.[3] Thomas became the 60th member of The Grand Ole Opry on August 7, 1981, his 39th birthday.[4] Thomas was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, Walkway of Stars in 1983.[5]
"(Hey Won't You Play) Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song" (1975), written by Larry Butler and Chips Moman, had the distinction of achieving No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and the Hot Country Songs charts. The song was also nominated Single of the Year, by the Academy of Country Music in 1975.[6]
"Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head" was featured in the 1969 film, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and won an Academy Award for Best Original Song. Written by Hal David and Burt Bacharach, the song was a No. 1 hit for Thomas and earned him an appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show.[4][7] Movie goers became re-acquainted with "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head" when it was included in the film Spider-Man 2 (2004).[3] The 1969 recording was inducted into the 2014, Grammy Hall of Fame.[8]
Two time Academy of Country Music Award nominee Kyle Lehning[6]: 79 produced The Living Room Sessions at Sound Stage Studio, Nashville, Tennessee, in 2012. Lehning and Thomas kept the pre-production details simple, realizing that the songs would naturally lend themselves to the acoustic format and trusted the musicians (Lehning and the Nashville "cats") to deliver the acoustic interpretations with minimal melodic adjustments to the songs.[3]
Lehning and the Nashville "cats"
Vince Gill first hit the Billboard Magazine charts as the front man for Pure Prairie League; the album Can't Hold Back (1979) hit No. 124 on the Billboard 200. Since that time, Gill has had a successful solo career with twenty Grammy and eleven Country Music Association awards, five of those for Male Vocalist of the Year and two for Entertainer of the Year (1993-1994).[14] Gill is the only artist to win the Male Vocalist award for five consecutive years (1991-1995).[15]
Well, that's just incredible, isn't it? What's her name? Sara? Boy, she can really sing. [...] She is so cute, how old is she? Four ... and who taught her the words? ... she knows the words to all my songs? I don't know what to say.[24]
B.J. Thomas, March 29, 1997
Track | Title[36] | Year | Hot 100 | AC | Country singles |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | "Don't Worry Baby" | 1977 | No. 17 | No. 2 | — |
2 | "I Just Can't Help Believing" | 1970 | No. 9 | No. 1 | — |
3 | "Most of All" | 1971 | No. 38 | No. 2 | — |
4 | "Eyes of a New York Woman" | 1968 | No. 28 | — | — |
5 | "(Hey Won't You Play) Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song" | 1975 | No. 1 | No. 1 | No. 1 |
6 | "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry" | 1966 | No. 8 | — | — |
7 | "Rock and Roll Lullaby" | 1972 | No. 15 | No. 1 | — |
8 | "New Looks from an Old Lover" | 1983 | — | — | No. 1 |
9 | "Whatever Happened Old Fashioned Love" | 1983 | No. 93 | No. 13 | No. 1 |
10 | "Hooked on a Feeling" | 1969 | No. 5 | — | — |
11 | "Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head" | 1969-70 | No. 1 | No. 1 | — |
12 | "Everybody's Out of Town" | 1970 | No. 26 | No. 3 | — |
Chart (2013) | Peak position |
---|---|
U.S. Billboard Top Country Albums[37] | 39 |