Burnin' the Roadhouse Down

Burnin' the Roadhouse Down
Studio album by Steve Wariner
Released	April 21, 1998 (1998-04-21)
Recorded	1997-8 at Masterfonics, The Tracking Room, Big Javelina, And Loud Studio, Nashville, TN
Genre	Country
Length	43:50
Label	Capitol Nashville
Producer	Steve Wariner (tracks 1-11) Anita Cochran, Ed Norman (track 12)
Professional reviews
Allmusic – link
Steve Wariner chronology
No More Mr. Nice Guy (1996) Burnin' the Roadhouse Down (1998) Two Teardrops (1999)

Burnin' the Roadhouse Down is the title of an album released in 1998 (see 1998 in country music) by American country music artist Steve Wariner. It was the first of three albums that he recorded for the Capitol Records Nashville label after having been dropped from Arista Records' roster in 1996. It was the second album of Wariner's career to achieve RIAA gold certification for U.S. sales of 500,000 copies, and it produced four Top 40 hit singles for Wariner on the Billboard country charts.

History

Despite having not charted a Top 40 country single since 1994, Steve Wariner had been finding success in the late 1990s as a songwriter, including the Number One hits "Longneck Bottle" for Garth Brooks and "Nothin' but the Taillights" for Clint Black, as well as Bryan White's Top 20 country hit "One Small Miracle".^[1] The success of the songs that he had written led to Wariner's signing with Capitol Records Nashville in late 1997. He also sang duet vocals on Anita Cochran's late 1997-early 1998 Number One hit "What If I Said". "Longneck Bottle", "Nothin' but the Taillights", "One Small Miracle", and this song were sometimes played on radio in dedicated "Steve Wariner blocks".^[1]

"What If I Said" was the second single from Cochran's debut album Back to You, released on Warner Bros. Records shortly before Burnin' the Roadhouse Down was issued. This song was not only Cochran's only Number One country hit, but also her only Top 40 country hit, and Wariner's first Number One since 1989's "I Got Dreams". This duet is also included on this album as a bonus track.

Four of Wariner's own singles were released from this album after "What If I Said" peaked, starting with the ballad "Holes in the Floor of Heaven", which peaked at #2 on the country charts. Following it was the title track (a duet with Garth Brooks which peaked at #26), "Road Trippin'" at #55, and finally, "Every Little Whisper" at #36. Also included on this album is a song entitled "Love Me Like You Love Me", which Clay Walker previously recorded on his 1996 album Hypnotize the Moon.

Track listing

1. "Burnin' the Roadhouse Down" (Rick Carnes, Steve Wariner) – 2:07
   • duet with Garth Brooks
2. "Holes in the Floor of Heaven" (Billy Kirsch, Wariner) – 4:47
3. "Every Little Whisper" (Kirsch, Wariner) – 3:02
4. "A Six Pack Ago" (Jim Rushing, Wariner) – 3:40
5. "Road Trippin'" (Marcus Hummon, Wariner) – 3:32
6. "Love Me Like You Love Me" (Bill LaBounty, Wariner) – 4:06
7. "Smoke from an Old Flame" (Jim Weatherly, Wariner) – 3:30
8. "I Don't Know How to Fix It" (Bill Anderson, Wariner) – 3:49
9. "Big Ol' Empty House" (Mac McAnally, Wariner) – 3:26
10. "Closer I Get to You" (Keith Sewell, Wariner) – 3:17
11. "Big Tops" (Hummon, Wariner) – 3:29
12. "What If I Said" (Anita Cochran) – 4:52
    • duet with Anita Cochran

Personnel

As listed in liner notes.^[2]

• Bill Cuomo – synthesizer
• Stuart Duncan – fiddle
• Buddy Emmons – steel guitar
• Paul Franklin – steel guitar
• Ron Gannaway – drums
• John Gardner – drums
• Sonny Garrish – steel guitar
• Hoot Hester – fiddle, mandolin
• John Jarvis – piano, keyboards
• Paul Leim – drums
• Woody Lingle – bass guitar
• Brent Mason – electric guitar
• Steve Nathan – piano, Hammond B-3 organ
• Hargus "Pig" Robbins – piano
• Harry Stinson – background vocals
• Steve Wariner – lead vocals, background vocals, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, Dobro
• Glenn Worf – bass guitar
• Trisha Yearwood – background vocals
• Reggie Young – electric guitar
• Andrea Zonn – background vocals

Strings performed by the Nashville String Machine; conducted by Carl Gorodetzky and arranged by Bergen White.

References