| Okie | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | August 23, 2019 | |||
| Recorded | 2019 | |||
| Genre | Country | |||
| Length | 49:45 | |||
| Label | MCA Nashville | |||
| Producer | Vince Gill, Justin Niebank | |||
| Vince Gill chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [1] |
| American Songwriter |  [2] |
Okie is the fifteenth studio album by American country music singer Vince Gill. The album was released on August 23, 2019, by MCA Nashville. [3] [4]
According to Gill, Merle Haggard advised him to "just tell the truth. That's the most important thing of all." A number of the songs in the album have personal elements. For example, in "Forever Changed," which talks about sexual abuse, Gill drew from the experience of running away from a gym teacher who had behaved inappropriately toward him, while "When My Amy Prays" is about his wife Amy Grant and religion. [5] Other songs deal with issues such as teenage pregnancy ("What Choice Will You Make,") and racial equality.
Gill said: "My life has never been political, I've never been out there saying endorse this candidate, or that one. But I’m not afraid to have a decent conversation about some of this stuff. We could solve so many things by being fair-minded." [6]
He also said: "All I tried to do was have these songs maybe be about subjects that were tough, but maybe tell these stories without judgment". [5]
Okie debuted at No. 9 on Billboard' Top Country Albums with 10,000 units, 9,000 of which are traditional album sales. This is Gill's 16th top 10 album on the chart. [7] The album has sold 32,500 copies in the United States as of March 2020. [8]
All tracks are written by Vince Gill except as noted
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "I Don't Wanna Ride the Rails No More" | 4:27 | |
| 2. | "The Price of Regret" | 3:50 | |
| 3. | "Forever Changed" | 3:41 | |
| 4. | "An Honest Man" | 3:40 | |
| 5. | "What Choice Will You Make" | Gill, Leslie Satcher | 4:13 |
| 6. | "Black and White" | Gill, Charlie Worsham | 3:46 |
| 7. | "The Red Words" | 4:48 | |
| 8. | "When My Amy Prays" | 3:55 | |
| 9. | "A Letter to My Mama" | Gill, Dean Dillon | 3:36 |
| 10. | "Nothin' Like a Guy Clark Song" | 5:03 | |
| 11. | "That Old Man of Mine" | 3:52 | |
| 12. | "A World Without Haggard" | 4:53 | |
| Total length: | 49:45 | ||
| Chart (2019) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade) [10] | 70 |
| US Billboard 200 [11] | 71 |
| US Top Country Albums (Billboard) [12] | 9 |
Merle Ronald Haggard was an American country music singer, songwriter, guitarist, and fiddler.
Vincent Grant Gill is an American country, bluegrass, and rock singer, songwriter, and musician. He began in a number of local bluegrass bands in the 1970s, and from 1978 to 1982, he achieved his first mainstream attention as lead singer of the soft rock band Pure Prairie League. After leaving that band, Gill served as a backing musician for Rodney Crowell before beginning a solo career in 1984. Gill recorded for RCA Records Nashville from then until 1988. A year later, he signed with MCA Nashville, where he would have his country music breakthrough with When I Call Your Name. Gill has remained with MCA for all subsequent albums.
Okie from Muskogee is the first live album by Merle Haggard and the Strangers released in October 1969 on Capitol Records.
"House of Love" is a song by American Christian music singer Amy Grant, recorded as a duet with country singer Vince Gill. It was released in November 1994 as the second single from her House of Love album in the United States and the fourth and final single from the album in the United Kingdom.
"Okie from Muskogee" is a song recorded by American country music artist Merle Haggard and The Strangers, which Haggard co-wrote with drummer Roy Edward Burris. "Okie" is a slang name for someone from Oklahoma, and Muskogee is the 11th largest city in the state. The song was released in September 1969 as first single and title track from the album Okie from Muskogee, and was one of the most famous songs of Haggard's career.
"The Fightin' Side of Me" is a song written and recorded by American country music artist Merle Haggard and The Strangers. It was released in January 1970 as the first single and title track from the album The Fightin' Side of Me. The song became one of the most famous of his career.
The discography for American country music singer Merle Haggard includes 66 studio albums, five instrumental albums featuring his backing band the Strangers, as well as several live and compilation albums. Haggard recorded for a variety of major and independent record labels through the years, with significant years spent with Capitol Records, MCA Records, Epic Records and Curb Records, as well as his own label Hag Records.
Mama Tried is the seventh studio album by American country music singer and songwriter Merle Haggard and The Strangers, released on Capitol Records in 1968. It reached number 4 on Billboard's country albums chart. The title song was one of Haggard's biggest hit singles and won the Grammy Hall of Fame Award in 1999.
The Fightin' Side of Me is the second live album by Merle Haggard and The Strangers, released in 1970. Like the song "Okie from Muskogee" led to a quickly released album, The Fightin' Side of Me was also quickly released because of the run of success of Haggard's patriotic hit single "The Fightin' Side of Me".
Let Me Tell You About a Song is the fourteenth studio album by American country singer Merle Haggard and The Strangers, released in 1972. It reached No. 7 on the Billboard Country album chart and #166 on the Pop album chart. The lead-off singles were "Grandma Harp" and "Daddy Frank " — both reached No. 1.
I Love Dixie Blues is a live album by American country singer Merle Haggard and The Strangers, released in 1973.
Keep Movin' On is the eighteenth studio album by American country music singer Merle Haggard and The Strangers released in 1975. It reached number one on the Billboard country albums chart. "Movin' On" was a full-length version of a song Haggard recorded as the theme song to the TV series Movin' On.
The Strangers were an American country band that formed in 1966 in Bakersfield, California. They mainly served as the backup band for singer-songwriter Merle Haggard, who named them after his first hit single "(My Friends Are Gonna Be) Strangers". In addition to serving as his backing band, members of the Strangers also produced many of Haggard's records, sang lead vocals on select tracks, and co-wrote many of Haggard's songs with him, including the No. 1 singles, "Okie From Muskogee" and "I Always Get Lucky with You".
16 Biggest Hits is a 1998 Merle Haggard compilation album. It is part of a series of similar 16 Biggest Hits albums released by Legacy Recordings.
I Am What I Am is the sixty-second studio album by American country music artist Merle Haggard. It was released on April 20, 2010 by Vanguard Records. The album peaked at number 18 on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart.
Bakersfield is the thirteenth studio album by American country music artist Vince Gill and steel guitar player Paul Franklin. It was released on July 30, 2013, via MCA Nashville. The album is a collaborative tribute of Merle Haggard and Buck Owens songs. It reached number 4 on Top Country Albums.
A Friend in California is the forty-first studio album by American recording artist Merle Haggard with backing by The Strangers, released in 1986.
Amber Waves of Grain is a live album by American country music artist Merle Haggard with backing by The Strangers, released in 1985. It was Haggard's third live album in four years and was recorded at the Hollywood Star Theater. It features a mix of Haggard's big hits and other, more obscure tracks. The title cut, written by Freddy Powers, is a paean to the American farmer, in keeping with the spirit of the Willie Nelson-spearheaded Farm Aid benefit, as does "Tulare Dust" and "The Farmer's Daughter." The LP peaked at number 25 on the Billboard country albums chart.
Chill Factor is the forty-fourth studio album by American country music singer Merle Haggard, with backing by the Strangers, released on the Epic label in 1987.
Tradition Lives is a 2016 studio album by American country music singer Mark Chesnutt. It was released in 2016 on Row Entertainment.
