Robbed Hit of the Week 11/4/19 - Alison Krauss and Union Station's "When You Say Nothing At All"...
from the albums Keith Whitley: A Tribute Album (1994) and Now That I've Found You: A Collection (1995)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #53
Welcome back, peeps.
This week's "robbed hit" comes from one of the most heralded names in bluegrass music, and by far the most successful in that genre, Alison Krauss. Learning the fiddle from childhood in Illinois, Alison and her brother Victor Krauss recorded her first album (billed as a solo affair), Different Strokes, that was all traditional bluegrass material. Two years later and still a teenager, she had signed to Rounder Records, and with her new band Union Station (though still uncredited) released Too Late To Cry, with the majority of the record written by band bassist John Pennell. As per her signing agreement with Rounder, her next release would be billed to "Alison Krauss and Union Station". Two Highways would go on to be nominated for Best Bluegrass Recording, even further brightening her star. In 1990, her next solo set I've Got That Old Feeling came out, and from it the song "Steel Rails" appeared on the Country Airplay chart for the first time at #73. The album went to #61 on Billboard Magazine's Country Albums list and scored Alison her first of so far 27 wins at the Grammy Awards, this time for Best Bluegrass Recording. Two years later in 1992, Krauss and Union Station released their second group album, Every Time I Say Goodbye, which nicked the country albums chart at #75 and again won the Grammy for Best Bluegrass Album. Alison guested on a song from the country band Shenandoah, "Somewhere In The Vicinity Of The Heart", which climbed to #7 on the Country Singles chart in 1995, and won another Grammy for Country Vocal Collaboration.
In 1989, country singer/songwriter Keith Whitley had tragically died from alcohol overdose, leaving behind what would have been a promising career and a handful of memorable hits. Five years later, some of the biggest stars of country at the time recorded a tribute album to Whitley that also included a few unreleased songs from the artist. One of the "tribute" covers was done by Krauss and Union Station, and that would be "When You Say Nothing At All". Whitley originally recorded the song, written by Paul Overstreet and Don Schlitz, on his second album Don't Close Your Eyes. It had been released as a single and spent two week at #1 on the Country Singles chart...
Alison's ethereal voice took the love song and made it seem angelic. It soon became a favorite of the album, and soon country stations would start playing it in regular rotations, and even some "easy-listening"-style pop stations got in on the act...
Alison and Union Station's version of "When You Say Nothing At All" became their breakthrough single, climbing to #3 on Billboard's Country Singles chart for a week. It also started to rise on the pop Hot 100, but stopped short of the halfway mark, stopping at #53 in June of 1995. Internationally, the song slipped on to the British chart for a week at #81. At the Grammy Awards in 1995, she was nominated for Best Country Duo/Group Performance, losing to Asleep At The Wheel & Lyle Lovett's "Blues For Dixie". She won the Southern/Country Gospel Album category though with I Know Who Holds Tomorrow, an album she recorded with the Cox Family and put out in 1994. Instead of a new album, Rounder released the retrospective collection Now That I Found You, which introduced millions of people to her previous work, as well as giving some unreleased material, including a cover of the 60s pop classic "Baby, Now That I Found You" which went to #49 on the Country Singles chart and earned yet another Grammy for Country Female Vocal. It also popped on the British chart at #95.
In 1996 Alison featured on Vince Gill's single "High Lonesome Sound", which rose to #12 on Billboard's Country Singles chart, and won the Grammy for Best Country Collaboration. She reunited with Union Station the following year for their next album So Long, So Wrong. The success of the record, peaking at #4 on the Country Albums chart and #45 on the main Top 200 Albums list, proved the momentum from "When You Say Nothing At All" wasn't just a one-off thing. Single "Find My Way Back To My Heart" slipped in at #73 on the Country Airplay chart, while follow-up "Looking In The Eyes Of Love" won a Grammy for Best Country Duo/Group Performance. Album track "Little Liza Jane" also won the prize for Country Instrumental Performance, while the So Long So Wrong album itself won for Best Bluegrass Album. Krauss' next solo disc in 1999, Forget About It, strayed even further into mainstream territory, with single "Stay" landing at #28 on Billboard's Adult Contemporary (or "easy listening") format list. The title track went to #67 on the Country Singles chart, and was nommed for a Grammy for Best Female Country Performance, which Shania Twain stole for "Man! I Feel Like A Woman!". The album itself was up for Best Country Album, which went to the Dixie Chicks for Fly. That same year, Krauss guested on Kenny Rogers' "comeback" single "Buy Me A Rose" with Billy Dean, which not only topped the Country Singles chart for a week, but made the pop Top-40 at #40 (Krauss' only "top-40" pop hit). In 2000, both Alison and Dan Tyminski from the band appeared on the O Brother! Where Art Thou? soundtrack, which went to #1 and won the Grammy for Album of the Year. Tyminski's sung on "Man Of Constant Sorrow", which was the most popular track on the record and ended up going to #35 on the Country chart.
New Favorite became Union Station's first top-40 album at #35 in 2001, and won the Best Bluegrass Album Grammy again, while single "The Lucky One" just missed the Country Airplay top-40 at #46, as it won Best Country Song and Best Country Duo/Group Performance trophies. A Live album followed, which won the Best Bluegrass Album Grammy again. Three years later, Krauss teamed up with country traditionalist Brad Paisley for the powerful ballad "Whiskey Lullaby" which spent three weeks at #3 on the Country Airplay chart while just missing the pop top-40 at #41. She also released another album with Union Station, Lonely Runs Both Ways, which got to #29 on the main albums list and #6 on the country albums chart. Lead single "Restless" got to #36 on the Country Singles list. In 2007, a remake of the John Waite pop hit "Missing You" done with Waite for a greatest hits set landed Alison her most recent top-40 country hit at #34. At the same time, she released a collaborative album with Led Zeppelin lead singer Robert Plant Raising Sand, that grabbed her an audience she never had before. The set won the Album of the Year Grammy, while single "Gone Gone Gone (Done Moved On)", which peaked at #2 on the Adult Alternative Rock (Triple-A) radio chart, won the award for Best Pop Collaboration, "Please Read The Letter", which went to #22 on that same list, won for Record of the Year, "Rich Woman" won for Best Pop Collaboration the following year, and "Killing The Blues" took it for Best Country Collaboration.
It would take four years (burdened by Krauss' migraines) to produce her next album (and most recent) with Union Station, Paper Airplanes. Released in 2011, the set was their first #1 country album, and won the Best Bluegrass Album for her most recent time. Her latest solo set, Windy City, arrived in 2017, also topping the country albums chart, with track "Losing You" up for Country Solo Grammy and "I Never Cared For You" up for American Roots performance.
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Here is Krauss and Union Station live in 2002...
In 1999, Irish singer Ronan Keating of the "boy-band" Westlife started his solo career with a cover of the song that topped the singles chart in Ireland, the UK, and New Zealand, and reached the top ten in Italy (#2), Sweden (#2), Iceland (#2), Australia (#3), Austria (#3), Switzerland (#4), the Netherlands (#5), Belgium (#5), Norway (#5), Finland (#5), Germany (#6), and Denmark (#6). It also appeared in the soundtrack to the Julia Roberts film Notting Hill...
Back to Alison on her CMT Most Wanted Live performance in 2004...
and finally, a clip from the White House from five years ago...
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