Today's song of the day comes from country singer Mark Chesnutt, whose father was also a singer though only known in the eastern Texas area where Mark grew up. Taking him to Nashville where he eventually got signed by MCA Records after releasing an album independently, Mark's debut set Too Cold At Home came out in 1990 (sadly his dad died right after that). Lead single "Too Cold At Home" went up to #3 on Billboard magazine's Country Singles chart, followed by his first #1 on the list, "Brother Jukebox". "Jukebox" was a remake of a minor country hit for Don Everly of the Everly Brothers, who had ventured from their rock-n-roll roots into country in the 1970s, and their version went to #96 in 1977. All in all, five of the ten songs on Chesnutt's debut were released as singles and made the top ten at country radio. The album went to #132 on the Billboard 200 sales tally, and #12 on the Country Albums chart, and went on to sell over a million copies.
Chesnutt returned in 1992 with his sophomore effort Longnecks & Short Stories, which spun off another four top ten country hits including a second chart topper in its second single "I'll Think Of Something" (again a remake of a top ten hit for Hank Williams Jr. which went to #7 in 1974). Also, "Bubba Shot The Jukebox", which went to #4 at country radio, "bubbled under" Billboard's Hot 100 tally at #121. The album breached the Country Albums top ten at #9, and the top half of the Billboard 200 at #68, and again sold over a million.
The third album for the singer, Almost Goodbye, would go as high as he would go on the Country Albums list at #6, and just missing the top-40 on the Billboard 200 at #43. The record would produce three consecutive #1 country singles with the traditionalist twang of "It Sure Is Monday", the emotional grandeur of "Almost Goodbye", and the two-step friendly "I Just Wanted You To Know" between 1993 and 1994. Moving over to sister label Decca, Mark came back in 1994 with What A Way To Live, which had another three top ten hits with third release "Gonna Get A Life", a zydeco homage, hitting #1 for a week.
Mark's sixth record, Wings, got a more muted reception, with only one top ten success in "It Wouldn't Hurt To Have Wings" which peaked at #7 in 1996. But nevertheless the label released Chesnutt's first Greatest Hits compilation later that year, and soon he was back on top of the chart with "It's A Little Too Late", and the collection selling over a million copies. His next studio album, Thank God For Believers, saw its title track spend a week at #2 in 1997, but like Wings, it stalled under the top 20 on the Country Albums sales tally.
That let set reunited Chesnutt with his long-time producer partner Mark Wright, who had helmed everything save Wings. In 1998, Wright got Chesnutt to cover another song, but this time it would be one of the biggest pop hits of the year. "I Don't Want To Miss A Thing" was Boston blues-rock giants Aerosmith's sole #1 hit on the Hot 100, and the ballad, with its swarmy lyrics from Diane Warren, lent well to a country production. And with this "stunt" recording, Mark found himself with a comeback hit that was surprising and not so surprising at the same time. Of course to the casual non-fan of country it seemed like he was jumping on the pop train, but since his career was peppered in cover songs of country hits, it wasn't as much of a stretch as it seemed. As for the record itself, the backdrop isn't too different from Aerosmith's, with electric guitars replaced by steel guitars, and Chesnutt's softer delivery a contrast to Steven Tyler's shrieking to make it totally safe for weddings and such. Released as a CD single, Mark suddenly found himself with a bona fide mainstream hit...
Chesnutt's version of "I Don't Want To Miss A Thing" became his first and only top-40 "pop" hit, reaching the top half of that level in February of 1999. The song was his eighth and to date most recent #1 on Billboard's Country Singles chart, taking two weeks there. Internationally, his take also topped the Canadian Country Singles list. The I Don't Want To Miss A Thing album, released in February of 1999 as the single was cresting, went to #6 on Billboard's Country Albums chart, and #65 on the Billboard 200 sales tally.
Despite the big success, or maybe because of the backlash to it from the country music community, Mark's follow-up single from the record, the more traditional "This Heartache Never Sleeps", stalled at #17 on the Country Singles list, while missing the Hot 100 by a notch, "bubbling under" at #101. It did seem like a true backlash, as Chesnutt's next record, Lost In The Feeling, relatively stiffed, with both singles stalling in the 50's on the Country Singles list, and with it being his first to miss the Billboard 200 list (stopping at #53 on the Country Albums chart), Mark and MCA Records parted ways.
Chesnutt moved over to the seemingly even more high-profile label giant Columbia, releasing a self-titled tenth studio album (always a hint that they wanted their career to be reborn) in 2002. It did marginally better, but with lead single "She Was" missing the country top ten by a hair at #11, and #62 on the Hot 100, Chesnutt again found himself leaving his label.
After a pair of albums on the indie Vivaton label with the oldies tribute Savin' The Honky Tonk going to #170 on the Billboard 200, Mark released Rollin' With The Flow, a return to his trad-country roots that was critically well-received, and scored his most recent top-40 country hit with "Rollin' With The Flow" (again, a remake of a #1 country hit from Charlie Rich from 1977) that went to #25 in 2008. Since then, Chesnutt has released two more studio albums, the most recent being Tradition Lives in 2016, which made it to #22 on the Country Albums chart.
(5/10)
(Click below to see the rest of the post)
Chesnutt went on cable channel TNN to promote the single... ...And here's Mark performing his version in concert... Up tomorrow: R&B singer wants some squeezin' time.
Comments