Rodney Crowell

Rodney Crowell at the 1990 Grammy Awards

Rodney Crowell (* 7. August 1950 in Houston , Texas ) is an American country - singer , songwriter and producer .

Beginnings

Rodney Crowell comes from a family with a long musical tradition. He himself began as a drummer in his father's band at the age of 11. In high school, he started his own group, the Arbitrators . In 1972 he dropped out of college and moved to Nashville . With appearances in local clubs he made a poor than fair living. One day Jerry Reed was in the audience and took a liking to You Can't Keep Me Here in Tennessee , a song that Crowell wrote himself. Reed recorded the song and offered the young musician a job in his music publisher.

Career

His dry spell continued at first. In 1975 he met Emmylou Harris's husband . Crowell moved to Los Angeles and joined the country singer's backing band as a guitarist. During this time his career as a songwriter began. Harris took over several of his compositions. The collaboration lasted almost two years. In 1977 he formed his own band, the Cherry Bombs . An album was recorded a year later, which, like two singles, was not very successful.

In the same year he worked as a producer with Rosanne Cash , the daughter of country legend Johnny Cash . After finishing the recording of the album Right Or Wrong , the two married. Rodney Crowell was soon overshadowed by his wife, who made her breakthrough with her next album, Seven Year Ache . He was especially successful as a songwriter. Several performers, including the Oak Ridge Boys and Crystal Gayle , achieved number 1 hits with his songs. His own records were less in demand and when they were, mostly in the rock and pop scene. He lost his record deal, but was taken over by the Columbia label, which also included his wife and father-in-law.

While Rosanne hurried from success to success, it took Rodney several years before the commercial breakthrough came. His musical versatility made it difficult for him to be recognized by the followers of country music. In 1988 the album Diamonds and Dirt was produced, from which five consecutive number 1 hits were taken. After All This Time was awarded the Grammy "Country Song of the Year". Diamonds And Dirt was gold plated and voted CMA album of the year. The next LP, Keys to the Highway , also sold quite well, but that ended his streak of success.

His marriage failed in 1991. Like Rosanne (with Interiours ), he processed his experiences in an album (with the telling title Life Is Messy ). In 1994 he switched to the MCA label, for which he continued to produce high quality albums at intervals. In 1999 he married the country singer Claudia Church .

Discography

Studio albums

year	title	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)		Remarks
		US	Country
1980	But What Will the Neighbors Think	US155 (10 weeks) US	Country64 (7 weeks) Country
1981	Rodney Crowell	US105 (8 weeks) US	Country47 (26 weeks) Country
1986	Street Language	US177 (5 weeks) US	Country38 (28 weeks) Country
1988	Diamonds & Dirt	US- gold US	Country8 (112 weeks) Country
1989	Keys to the Highway	US180 (2 weeks) US	Country15 (53 weeks) Country
1992	Life is messy	US155 (9 weeks) US	Country30 (24 weeks) Country
2001	The Houston Kid	-	Country32 (10 weeks) Country
2003	Fate Right's hand	-	Country29 (16 weeks) Country
2005	The Outsider	-	Country37 (5 weeks) Country
2008	Sex and Gasoline	-	Country38 (5 weeks) Country
2012	Kin: Songs by Mary Karr & Rodney Crowell	-	Country32 (7 weeks) Country
2013	Old Yellow Moon	US29 (7 weeks) US	Country4 (29 weeks) Country	with Emmylou Harris
2014	Tarpaper Sky	US168 (1 week) US	Country25 (3 weeks) Country
2015	The Traveling Child	US78 (1 week) US	Country8 (10 weeks) Country	with Emmylou Harris
2017	Close ties	US138 (1 week) US	Country28 (1 week) Country

More studio albums

• 1978: Ain't Living Long Like This
• 1994: Let the Picture Paint Itself
• 1995: Jewel of the South
• 2018: Acoustic Classics
• 2018: Christmas Everywhere
• 2019: Texas

Compilations

year	title	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)		Remarks
		US	Country
1989	The Rodney Crowell Collection	-	Country65 (7 weeks) Country

More compilations

• 1993: Greatest Hits
• 1995: Soul Searchin '
• 1995: great hits
• 2004: The Essential Rodney Crowell
• 2006: The Platinum Collection
• 2012: Playlist: The Very Best of Rodney Crowell

Singles

year	Title album	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes)		Remarks
		US	Country
1978	Elvira Ain't Living Long Like This	-	Country95 (3 weeks) Country
1979	(Now and Then There's) A Fool Such as I Ain't Living Long Like This	-	Country90 (3 weeks) Country
1980	Ashes by Now But What Will the Neighbors Think	US37 (11 weeks) US	Country78 (6 weeks) Country
1981	Stars on the Water Rodney Crowell	-	Country30 (11 weeks) Country
	Victim or a Fool Rodney Crowell	-	Country34 (11 weeks) Country
1986	When I'm Free Again Street Language	-	Country38 (12 weeks) Country
1987	She Loves the Jerk Street Language	-	Country71 (7 weeks) Country
	Looking for You Street Language	-	Country59 (8 weeks) Country
1988	It's Such a Small World Diamonds & Dirt	-	Country1 (23 weeks) Country	with Rosanne Cash
	I Couldn't Leave You If I Tried Diamonds & Dirt	-	Country1 (21 weeks) Country
	She's Crazy for Leavin ' Diamonds & Dirt	-	Country1 (19 weeks) Country
1989	After All This Time Diamonds & Dirt	-	Country1 (21 weeks) Country
	Above and Beyond Diamonds & Dirt	-	Country1 (20 weeks) Country
	Many a Long and Lonesome Highway Keys to the Highway	-	Country3 (20 weeks) Country
1990	If Looks Could Kill Keys to the Highway	-	Country6 (26 weeks) Country
	My Past Is Present Keys to the Highway	-	Country22 (15 weeks) Country
	Now That We're Alone Keys to the Highway	-	Country17 (20 weeks) Country
1991	Things I Wish I'd Said Keys to the Highway	-	Country72 (5 weeks) Country
1992	Lovin 'All Night Life Is Messy	-	Country10 (20 weeks) Country
	What Kind of Love Life Is Messy	-	Country11 (20 weeks) Country
1994	Let the Picture Paint Itself Let the Picture Paint Itself	-	Country60 (7 weeks) Country
	Big Heart Let the Picture Paint Itself	-	Country75 (1 week) Country
1995	Please Remember Me Jewel of the South	-	Country69 (9 weeks) Country
1995	I Walk the Line Revisited The Houston Kid	-	Country61 (6 weeks) Country	with Johnny Cash
2003	Earthbound Fate’s Right Hand	-	Country60 (1 week) Country

More singles

• 1978: Don't Need No Other Now
• 1978: Baby Better Start Turnin 'Em Down
• 1980: Ain't No Money
• 1980: Here Comes the 80’s
• 1986: Let Freedom Ring
• 1992: It's Not for Me to Judge
• 1992: Let's Make Trouble
• 1993: Even Cowgirls Get the Blues
• 1994: I Don't Fall in Love So Easy
• 2001: Why Don't We Talk About It
• 2003: Fate's Right Hand
• 2005: The Obscenity Prayer (Give It to Me)
• 2006: Say You Love Me
• 2008: Sex and Gasoline
• 2012: I'm a mess
• 2017: It Ain't Over Yet (feat.Rosanne Cash & John Paul White)
• 2017: Tobacco Road
• 2018: Shake Your Money Maker
• 2019: Flatland Hillbillies (with Randy Rogers Band & Lee Ann Womack )

The most important awards

year	Org.	Award	title
1988	ACM	Top New Male Vocalist
1989	grammy	Best Country Song	After all this time
2014	grammy	Best Americana Album	Old Yellow Moon (with Emmylou Harris )

2003	Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame

Web links

Commons : Rodney Crowell  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

• http://www.rodneycrowell.com/
• Rodney Crowell in the Internet Movie Database (English)

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1. ↑ ^{a b c} Chart sources: US
2. ↑ Music Sales Awards: US