What Kind of Love

"What Kind of Love"
Single by Rodney Crowell
from the album Life Is Messy
B-side	"Nobody's Going to Tear My Playhouse Down"
Released	June 29, 1992
Genre	Country
Length	3:56
Label	Columbia
Songwriter(s)	Rodney Crowell, Roy Orbison, Will Jennings
Producer(s)	Larry Klein
Rodney Crowell singles chronology
"Lovin' All Night" (1992) "What Kind of Love" (1992) "Let's Make Trouble" (1992)

"What Kind of Love" is a song co-written and recorded by American country music artist Rodney Crowell. It was released in June 1992 as the second single from the album Life Is Messy . The song reached number 11 on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart and peaked at number 2 on the RPM Country Tracks in Canada. ^[1]

History

Crowell and co-writer Will Jennings wrote the lyrics to a recording of a melody that Roy Orbison had made before his death. ^[2] The song features backing vocals from Don Henley and Linda Ronstadt. ^[3]

Critical reception

Deborah Evans Price, of Billboard magazine reviewed the song favorably, calling it the "first step in a major effort to immerse this rock-influenced country star into the pop and AC realm. She goes on to say that "twangy instrumentation a la Tom Petty and the late Roy Orbison (with whom this song was penned), combined with an appealing vocal, makes a strong argument for play at these and album rock formats." ^[4]

Personnel

From Life Is Messy liner notes. ^[3]

Musicians

• Mickey Curry - drums
• Don Henley - background vocals
• Booker T. Jones - Hammond organ
• Larry Klein - bass guitar, keyboards
• Linda Ronstadt - background vocals
• Steuart Smith - guitars

Technical

• Larry Klein - producer
• Dan Marnien - engineering, mixing

Chart performance

"What Kind of Love" debuted at number 75 on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks for the week of June 27, 1992.

Chart (1992)	Peak position
Canada Top Singles ( RPM ) [5]	47
Canada Adult Contemporary ( RPM ) [6]	5
Canada Country Tracks ( RPM ) [7]	2
US Adult Contemporary ( Billboard ) [8]	9
US Hot Country Songs ( Billboard ) [9]	11

Year-end charts

Chart (1992)	Position
Canada Adult Contemporary Tracks ( RPM ) [10]	42
Canada Country Tracks ( RPM ) [11]	30

Other versions

Mike Walker covered the song on his 2002 album for DreamWorks Records. It was the B-side to the album's first single, "Honey Do".

Willie Nelson covered the song for his 2025 album of Crowell covers, Oh What A Beautiful World .

References

1. Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book Of Top 40 Country Hits: 1944-2006, Second edition. Record Research. p. 93.
2. Waddell, Ray (9 September 2000). "Lucky Dog offers 'pick of the litter' reissues". Billboard. pp. 10, 107.
3. Life Is Messy (CD booklet). Rodney Crowell. Columbia Records. 1992. CK 47985.
4. Billboard , July 11, 1992 - Vol. 104, No. 28, Page 66.
5. "Top RPM Singles: Issue 1973." RPM . Library and Archives Canada. August 22, 1992. Retrieved August 15, 2013.
6. "Top RPM Adult Contemporary: Issue 1932." RPM . Library and Archives Canada. October 3, 1992. Retrieved August 15, 2013.
7. "Top RPM Country Tracks: Issue 1950." RPM . Library and Archives Canada. October 3, 1992. Retrieved August 15, 2013.
8. "Rodney Crowell Chart History (Adult Contemporary)". Billboard.
9. "Rodney Crowell Chart History (Hot Country Songs)". Billboard.
10. "RPM Top 100 Adult Contemporary Tracks of 1992". RPM . December 19, 1992. Retrieved August 15, 2013.
11. "RPM Top 100 Country Tracks of 1992". RPM . December 19, 1992. Retrieved August 15, 2013.