Rodney Crowell

All Music Guide:

When Rodney Crowell first gained widespread recognition as a leader of the new traditionalist movement of the mid-'80s, he was, in fact, a singer, songwriter, and producer with roots and ambitions extending far beyond the movement's parameters. Born to a musical family on August 7, 1950 in Houston, Texas, Crowell formed his first band, the Arbitrators, while in high school, and in 1972 moved to Nashville to become a professional musician. There, he struck up friendships with singer/songwriters Townes Van Zandt and Guy Clark.

Crowell's first big break came while he was performing as a lounge singer, where one of his acoustic sets was heard by Jerry Reed. Crowell's own "You Can't Keep Me Here in Tennessee" caught the ear of Reed and his manager, and two days later, Reed recorded the song after signing Crowell to his publishing company. In 1975, Crowell moved to Los Angeles to join Emmylou Harris' Hot Band as a guitarist, and soon became one of her primary songwriters; among the Crowell compositions Harris first popularized were "Till I Gain Control Again," "Ain't Livin' Long Like This," "Leaving Louisiana in the Broad Daylight," and "Bluebird Wine." In 1977, Crowell exited the Hot Band to form his own group, the Cherry Bombs, and in 1978 released his first album, Ain't Living Long Like This; surprisingly, given that he had built his growing reputation as a songwriter, his first two minor hits -- "Elvira" and "(Now and Then, There's) A Fool Such as I" -- were both covers.

Also in 1978, Crowell began producing tracks for the album Right or Wrong, the American debut from singer/songwriter Rosanne Cash; around the time of the record's 1979 release, he and Cash married. In between recording his own 1980 sophomore record, But What Will the Neighbors Think, and producing Cash's commercial breakthrough Seven Year Ache, Crowell's songwriting career took full flight when "Leavin' Louisiana in the Broad Daylight" hit number one for the Oak Ridge Boys in 1980. Among his other significant compositions were "Till I Gain Control Again" (a number one for Crystal Gayle in 1983), "Shame on the Moon" (a Top Five pop hit for Bob Seger in 1982), "Long Hard Road (The Sharecropper's Dream)" (a 1984 number one for the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band), and "Somewhere Tonight" (a number one in 1987 for Highway 101).

In 1980, Crowell issued his own first hit, "Ashes by Now," which was a Top 40 pop crossover success; the follow-up, "Stars on the Water," was popular with both pop and country listeners. In 1981, he issued his third LP, a self-titled effort which was not commercially successful; when a fourth effort was rejected by his label, he turned his energies to writing and producing, most significantly helming Cash's 1987 masterpiece King's Record Shop. At Cash's urging, Crowell reignited his performing career in 1986 with the acclaimed Street Language, an eclectic effort co-produced by Memphis soul legend Booker T. Jones.

In 1988, Crowell finally broke through commercially with Diamonds & Dirt, a record which generated an unbroken string of five number one singles with "It's Such a Small World" (a duet with Cash), "I Couldn't Leave You If I Tried," "She's Crazy for Leavin'" (co-written by Guy Clark), "After All This Time," and "Above and Beyond." Keys to the Highway was also highly successful.

Crowell and Cash divorced in 1991, prompting both artists to document their marriage's dissolution with starkly confessional albums; Crowell's 1992 Life Is Messy featured guests Steve Winwood and Linda Ronstadt. Switching to MCA Records for Let the Picture Paint Itself in 1994, he followed with Jewel of the South the next year. In 1997, he formed the Cicadas with longtime backup musicians Steuart Smith, Michael Rhodes, and Vince Santoro. He married singer Claudia Church in 1998, and in 1999 wrote her country chart debut, "What's the Matter with You Baby." Crowell issued his first album since 1995, The Houston Kid, in 2001. Continuing in the autobiographical vein of that record, he released Fate's Right Hand in 2003, followed by The Outsider in 2005, and Sex and Gasoline in 2008. In 2012, Crowell released the album Kin in collaboration with best-selling memoirist and poet Mary Karr. Produced by Joe Henry, it included musical contributions from Lucinda Williams, Norah Jones, Kris Kristofferson, Vince Gill, Lee Ann Womack, Rosanne Cash, Chely Wright, and Emmylou Harris on songs Crowell and Karr co-wrote together.

Wikipedia:

Rodney Crowell (born August 7, 1950) is a Grammy Award-winning American musician, known primarily for his work as a singer and songwriter in country music.

He is part of both the alternative country and the mainstream country music camps. He was influenced by songwriters Guy Clark and Townes Van Zandt. Crowell played guitar and sang for three years in Emmylou Harris' "Hot Band".

Biography [edit]

Early life [edit]

Crowell was born on August 7, 1950 in Crosby, Texas, to James Walter Crowell and Addie Cauzette Willoughby.{Chinaberry Sidewalks (New York: Knopf, 2011} He had come from a musical family, with one grandfather being a church choir leader and the other a bluegrass banjo player. His grandmother played guitar and his father sang semi-professionally at bars and honky tonks. At age 11, he starting playing drums in his father's band. In his teen years, he played in various garage rock bands in Houston, performing hits of the day mixed with a few country numbers.

1972 - 1986: Early Career [edit]

In August 1972 he moved to Nashville, Tennessee, in search of a musical career and got a job as a songwriter after being discovered by Jerry Reed. He later met and befriended fellow songwriter Guy Clark, who became a major influence on his songwriting and vice versa. While there, he said, "I got a real cold splash in the face of what real songwriting is about. I started filling my mind with as many symbols and images as I could. I started reading. I got real hungry to have something to contribute". Emmylou Harris had recorded one of Crowell's songs, "Till I Gain Control Again", on her Elite Hotel album and made a request to meet him. After he sat in with Emmylou at her gig at the Armadillo World Headquarters in early January 1975, she asked him to play rhythm guitar in her backing band, The Hot Band. He accepted and left the following day to join Emmylou in Los Angeles.

In 1977 as a side project, he formed a musical group, The Cherry Bombs, together with Vince Gill, Tony Brown and others. One year later, he signed a solo deal with Warner Bros. Records and in late 1978, released his debut album, Ain't Living Long Like This.

His debut album, as well his following two albums, But What Will the Neighbors Think and Rodney Crowell, were not commercially successful despite garnering a huge cult following. Crowell himself criticized his debut album for not translating onto vinyl the same clarity and energy he felt in the studio. His single "Ashes by Now" from "But What Will the Neighbors Think" reached No. 37 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1981.

Though he had already several country hits by artists covering his songs (including "Ain't Living Long Like This" by Waylon Jennings, "Leaving Louisiana..." by the Oak Ridge Boys, and several covers by Johnny Cash, Rosanne Cash, Emmylou Harris, Jerry Reed and others), Crowell got his first big taste of pop songwriting success with "Shame on the Moon". "Shame on the Moon" was recorded on the 1982 album "The Distance" by Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band. Glenn Frey joined Seger on background harmony on the song. Appealing to a broad cross-section of listeners, the song spent four weeks at number two on the Billboard Hot 100 pop singles chart, topped the adult contemporary chart, and placed in the Top 15 of the country chart in early 1983. The song's dark, poetic and hypnotic style helped boost Crowell's cult status.

The album Rodney Crowell was released in 1981 (see 1981 in country music) by Warner Bros. Records and was his last album on that label before switching to Columbia. The first album Crowell produced by himself, it reached No. 47 on the Top Country Albums chart and No. 105 on the Billboard 200 albums chart. The songs "Stars on the Water" and "Victim or a Fool" were released as singles. "Stars on the Water" reached No. 30 on the Hot Country Songs chart, Crowell's highest charting song up to that point. It peaked at No. 21 on the Canadian country charts. "Victim or a Fool" reached No. 34 in the U.S.

In 1981, Rodney left Warner Bros.' roster, putting his career on hold to produce several of his wife Rosanne Cash's albums.

In 1983 Crystal Gayle had a number one Country single with his song "'Til I Gain Control Again" from her first Elektra album, "True Love". The song was first recorded in 1975 by Emmylou Harris.

1986 - 1995: Columbia Records and Mainstream Success [edit]

After producing Rosanne Cash's Rhythm & Romance, Crowell signed to Columbia Records in 1986. His first album for that label, Street Language, was co-produced with Booker T. Jones and featured a blend of Soul and country music. The album did not chart.

Although best known as a songwriter and alternative country artist, Crowell enjoyed mainstream popularity during the late 1980s and early 1990s. His critically acclaimed album 1988's Diamonds & Dirt produced five consecutive No. 1 singles during a 17-month span in 1988 and 1989: "It's Such a Small World" (a duet with Cash), "I Couldn't Leave You If I Tried," "She's Crazy For Leavin'," "After All This Time" and "Above and Beyond" (a cover of Buck Owens' 1962 hit). His follow-up album, 1989's Keys to the Highway, produced two top 5 hits in 1990, which were "Many a Long and Lonesome Highway" and "If Looks Could Kill."

As Crowell's popularity in hit-radio country music faded, he continued his prolific songwriting. After 1992's Life Is Messy, he left Columbia Records and signed to MCA Records where he released two more albums.

2001 - Present [edit]

In 2001, after a brief hiatus from recording, he released The Houston Kid on Sugar Hill Records, his first studio album since 1995's Jewel of the South. Many songs on the album were semi-autobiographical, and the album included a duet Crowell had recorded and released as a single in 1998 with his ex father-in-law Johnny Cash, "I Walk the Line (Revisited)". Initially, Cash was annoyed at Crowell for changing the tune to his song, but he came to like the finished product. Crowell followed up this effort with Fate's Right Hand in 2003 and The Outsider in 2005, both of which came out on Columbia Nashville, a division of Sony Music. Leading critics and Crowell consider these three albums his finest work as a solo artist.

2004 saw the release of The Notorious Cherry Bombs, a reunion of Crowell's 1970s road band, including Vince Gill and Tony Brown. The future Keith Urban hit "Making Memories of Us" was included on this disc. In 2005, Crowell served as producer for established Irish singer/songwriter Kieran Goss on the album "Blue Sky Sunrise".

In 2008 CMT announced that Crowell's next album, Sex and Gasoline, would come out on Yep Roc Records, ending his relationship with Sony Music. This marked the first time Crowell did not produce his own CD, turning production over to Joe Henry. The album was nominated for a Grammy in the category of Best Contemporary Folk/Americana Album. Crowell figures prominently in musician-neuroscientist Daniel Levitin's book The World in Six Songs for which he was interviewed, and three Crowell songs, "Shame On The Moon," "I Know Love Is All I Need" and "I Walk the Line (Revisited)" are featured in the book.

In 2009, Crowell wrote Wynonna Judd's title track to her album Sing: Chapter 1, which also was released in 2009. The song was given several electronic dance music remixes, and sent to dance radio as Judd's second release from the album. In August 2009, the single reached No. 4 on the U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs chart.

In 2010, Chely Wright will release her seventh studio album on Vanguard Records. The album titled Lifted Off the Ground is produced by Crowell. Wright also made a cameo appearance in Crowell's 2008 music video Sex and Gasoline.

A memoir, Chinaberry Sidewalks, was published in 2011.

In 2012, KIN: Songs by Rodney Crowell and Mary Karr was released by Vanguard Records. Karr wrote the lyrics and Crowell set them to music. It was Karr's first foray into songwriting. Four tracks on the album are performed by Crowell (one as a duet with Kris Kristofferson). The rest are performed by a variety of singers: Norah Jones, Vince Gill, Lucinda Williams, Lee Ann Womack, Roseanne Cash, and Emmylou Harris.

Rodney and EmmyLou Harris will be issuing a duet album entitled "Yellow Moon" in March of 2013. It will be released on Harris' longtime label Nonesuch Records.

Personal life [edit]

He was married to Rosanne Cash (daughter of Johnny Cash), from 1979 to 1992 and they had an influence on each other's careers, with Rodney producing most of her albums during that period and her success influencing his songwriting. They collaborated on a number of duets, including 1988's "It's Such a Small World." Although Crowell and Cash are now divorced, they remain on friendly terms, performing together occasionally. Crowell and Cash have three daughters, Caitlin, Chelsea, and Carrie, and together raised Hannah, Rodney's daughter from a previous marriage. He married Claudia Church in 1998.