Scarecrow (Garth Brooks album)

Scarecrow
Studio album by
Garth Brooks
ReleasedNovember 13, 2001
StudioJack's Tracks Recording Studio
GenreCountry
Length48:21
LabelCapitol Nashville
ProducerAllen Reynolds
Garth Brooks chronology
Sevens
(1997) 		Scarecrow
(2001) 		The Limited Series
(2005)
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic(77/100)[1]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic4/5 stars[2]
BBC Music(favorable)[3]
Billboard(favorable)[4]
E! OnlineB[1]
Entertainment WeeklyB[5]
Plugged In(mixed)[6]
Q4/5 stars[1]
Robert Christgau(1-star Honorable Mention)[7]
Rolling Stone4/5 stars[1][8]
The Village Voice(mixed)[9]

Scarecrow is the eighth studio album by American country music artist Garth Brooks. It was released on November 13, 2001, and debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200 chart, and the Top Country Albums chart. It has been certified 5× platinum RIAA and was named Best Selling Album at the 2002 Canadian Country Music Association Awards. It was the last album by Brooks before his thirteen-year hiatus.

Background

Brooks commented on the album saying:

"At the end of last year I made a commitment to Capitol (Records) that I would try to bring them one more album. This is the result of that effort, a real labor of love, that I'm proud to hold up next to all of our previous releases. For the first time in my life I think I made a happy album. It's heavy on steel guitars, but you're not aware of it in some places because the musicians are so good at what they do."

Content

Singles released from this album include "Beer Run (B Double E Double Are You In?)" (a duet with George Jones, also found on Jones's 2001 album The Rock: Stone Cold Country 2001), "Wrapped Up in You", "Squeeze Me In" (a duet with Trisha Yearwood), "Thicker Than Blood", and "Why Ain't I Running". Of these, "Wrapped Up in You" was the highest peaking, reaching #5 on the Hot Country Songs charts. Prior to the album's release, "When You Come Back to Me Again" had charted on the country charts as a selection from the soundtrack to the film Frequency.

Several of the tracks on this album were originally recorded by other artists. "Pushing Up Daisies" was originally recorded by Kevin Welch on his 1995 album Life Down Here on Earth, while "Big Money" was originally recorded under the title "It Pays Big Money" by Mark Chesnutt on his 2000 album Lost in the Feeling. Additionally, "Don't Cross the River" was previously recorded by America on their 1972 album Homecoming. "Squeeze Me In" was previously recorded by Lee Roy Parnell on his 1995 album We All Get Lucky Sometimes.

Track listing

  1. "Why Ain't I Running" (Kent Blazy, Tony Arata, Garth Brooks) – 4:32
  2. "Beer Run (B Double E Double Are You In?)" (Kim Williams, Amanda Williams, Keith Anderson, George Ducas, Blazy) – 2:28
  3. "Wrapped Up in You" (Wayne Kirkpatrick) – 4:42
  4. "The Storm" (Blazy, K. Williams, Brooks) – 4:37
  5. "Thicker Than Blood" (Jenny Yates, Brooks) – 2:53
  6. "Big Money" (Shawn Camp, Randy Hardison, Wynn Varble) – 3:59
  7. "Squeeze Me In" (Delbert McClinton, Gary Nicholson) – 3:30
  8. "Mr. Midnight" (J.R. Cobb, Buddy Buie, Tom Douglas) – 4:03
  9. "Pushing Up Daisies" (John Hadley, Kevin Welch, Gary Scruggs) – 4:18
  10. "Rodeo or Mexico" (Bryan Kennedy, Paul Kennerley, Brooks) – 4:22
  11. "Don't Cross the River" (Dan Peek) – 4:05
  12. "When You Come Back to Me Again" (theme from the movie Frequency) (Yates, Brooks) – 4:44

Alternate track listing from 2014 re-release

  1. "Why Ain't I Running" (Kent Blazy, Tony Arata, Garth Brooks) – 4:32
  2. "Beer Run (B Double E Double Are You In?)" (Kim Williams, Amanda Williams, Keith Anderson, George Ducas, Blazy) – 2:28
  3. "More Than a Memory" (Lee Brice, Billy Montana, Kyle Jacobs) – 3:25
  4. "Thicker Than Blood" (Jenny Yates, Brooks) – 2:53
  5. "Wrapped Up in You" (Wayne Kirkpatrick) – 4:42
  6. "The Storm" (Blazy, K. Williams, Brooks) – 4:37
  7. "Big Money" (Shawn Camp, Randy Hardison, Wynn Varble) – 3:59
  8. "Squeeze Me In" (Delbert McClinton, Gary Nicholson) – 3:30
  9. "Mr. Midnight" (J.R. Cobb, Buddy Buie, Tom Douglas) – 4:03
  10. "Good Ride Cowboy" (Jerrod Niemann, Bryan Kennedy, Richie Brown, Bob Doyle) – 3:26
  11. "Pushing Up Daisies" (John Hadley, Kevin Welch, Gary Scruggs) – 4:18
  12. "Rodeo or Mexico" (Bryan Kennedy, Paul Kennerley, Brooks) – 4:22
  13. "Don't Cross the River" (Dan Peek) – 4:05
  14. "When You Come Back to Me Again" (theme from the movie Frequency) (Yates, Brooks) – 4:44

Charts and sales performance

In the United States, Scarecrow debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, becoming his eighth No. 1 album on the chart, and No. 1 on the Top Country Albums, becoming his eleventh No. 1 Country album. In January 2006, Scarecrow was certified 5× Platinum by the RIAA.

Preceded by
Britney by Britney Spears 		Billboard 200 number-one album
December 1–7, 2001 		Succeeded by
Fantasies & Delusions by Billy Joel
Preceded by
The Road Less Traveled
by George Strait 		Top Country Albums number-one album
December 1, 2001 – January 18, 2002 		Succeeded by
O Brother, Where Art Thou?
by Various Artists

Credits

Compiled from liner notes.[17]

Technical

  • Recorded and mixed by Mark Miller at Jack's Tracks Recording Studio
  • Additional recording by Keith Stegall at The Sound Station
  • Engineered by John Kelton
  • Mastered by Denny Purcell at Georgetown Masters
  • Digital editing by Eric Conn and Carlos Grier

Musicians

  • Drums and percussion: Milton Sledge ("Wrapped Up in You": Sam Bacco; "Thicker Than Blood", "Squeeze Me In" and "Don't Cross the River" percussion: Sam Bacco; "Rodeo or Mexico" additional percussion: Sam Bacco)
  • Bass: Mike Chapman ("Wrapped Up in You": Jimmie Lee Sloas)
  • Acoustic guitar: Mark Casstevens ("Wrapped Up In You": Wayne Kirkpatrick, "Don't Cross the River": Pat Flynn)
  • Electric guitar: Chris Leuzinger
  • Keyboards: Bobby Wood
  • Steel and slide guitars: Bruce Bouton
  • Fiddle: Rob Hajacos ("Wrapped Up in You" and "Don't Cross the River": Jimmy Mattingly)
  • Accordion: Joey Miskulin
  • Harmonica: Terry McMillan
  • Banjo: Béla Fleck
  • Mandolin: Sam Bush
  • Dobro: Jerry Douglas
  • String arrangements: Dennis Burnside

Art

  • Production: Carlton Davis
  • Production assistant: Denise Jarvis
  • Art direction: Virginia Team
  • Design: Chris Ferra
  • Photography: Bev Parker
  • Make-up: Mary Beth Felts
  • Digital imaging: Colourworks

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 "Scarecrow by Garth Brooks". metacritic.com. Retrieved 13 April 2017.
  2. ↑ Allmusic review
  3. ↑ Jones, Chris. "BBC - Music - Review of Garth Brooks - The Scarecrow". bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 13 April 2017.
  4. ↑ "Billboard review". Billboard. Archived from the original on November 25, 2001. Retrieved 2013-04-14.{{cite magazine}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  5. ↑ "Entertainment Weekly review". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on April 21, 2009. Retrieved 2017-05-21.{{cite magazine}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  6. ↑ "Plugged In". Plugged In.
  7. ↑ "Robert Christgau: CG: garth brooks". robertchristgau.com. Retrieved 13 April 2017.
  8. ↑ "Rolling Stone review". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on October 22, 2009. Retrieved 2013-04-14.{{cite magazine}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  9. ↑ Harris, Keith (22 January 2002). "Blood on the Plow". villagevoice.com. Retrieved 13 April 2017.
  10. ↑ "The ARIA Report: Week Commencing 26 November 2001" (PDF) (613). Pandora Archive. February 21, 2002. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 21, 2002. Retrieved November 23, 2014. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 "Garth Brooks : Chart History". Billboard.com. Retrieved 2013-07-26.
  12. ↑ "Die ganze Musik im Internet: Charts, Neuerscheinungen, Tickets, Genres, Genresuche, Genrelexikon, Künstler-Suche, Musik-Suche, Track-Suche, Ticket-Suche - musicline.de". Archived from the original on 2013-12-13. Retrieved 2013-12-10.
  13. ↑ "irishcharts.com - Discography Garth Brooks". irish-charts.com.
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 "Garth Brooks - Scarecrow - hitparade.ch". www.swisscharts.com.
  15. ↑ "CRIA - Audio and Video Certification January 2009". Canadian Recording Industry Association. Archived from the original on 2013-05-23. Retrieved 2010-02-15.
  16. ↑ "Gold & Platinum - February 12, 2010". RIAA. Archived from the original on 2013-05-23. Retrieved 2010-02-15.
  17. ↑ Scarecrow (CD booklet). Garth Brooks. Capitol Records. 2001. 31330.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)

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