''Evolution'' is the fourth studio album by American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

artist

Martina McBride Martina Mariea McBride (née Schiff, born July 29, 1966) is an American country music singer-songwriter and record producer. She is known for her soprano singing range and her country pop material. McBride was born in Sharon, Kansas, and reloc ...

. It was released in August 1997 by

RCA Nashville RCA Nashville is an American country music record label based in Nashville, Tennessee. It is distributed by Sony Music Nashville which is part of Sony Music. Current artists *Kane Brown *Andrew Jannakos *Miranda Lambert * Niko Moon (RCA/River Ho ...

. The album produced six singles, all of which have charted on the US '' Billboard'' Hot Country Songs chart. The first single, " Still Holding On", is a duet with

Clint Black Clint Patrick Black (born February 4, 1962) is an American country music singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. Signed to RCA Nashville in 1989, Black's debut album '' Killin' Time'' produced four straight number one singles on the ...

and was originally recorded by Black on his 1997 album '' Nothin' but the Taillights''. "Still Holding On" peaked at number 11. The second and fifth singles, "

A Broken Wing "A Broken Wing" is a song written by James House, Sam Hogin and Phil Barnhart, and recorded by American country music singer Martina McBride. It was released in September 1997 as the second single from McBride's album ''Evolution''. In January ...

" and "

Wrong Again ''Wrong Again'' is a 1929 American two-reel silent comedy film directed by Leo McCarey and starring Laurel and Hardy. It was filmed in October and November 1928, and released February 23, 1929, by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Although a silent film, i ...

", both reached number one. "A Broken Wing" was also McBride's first single to chart on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and was her first major crossover hit. The album's third single, "Valentine", a duet with

Jim Brickman James Merrill Brickman (born November 20, 1961) is an American pop songwriter, pianist and radio host. Brickman has earned two Grammy nominations for his albums ''Peace'' (2003) for Best Instrumental, and ''Faith'' (2009) for Best New Age Album. ...

", is a re-recording of a song which Brickman and McBride previously released from his 1997 album ''Picture This''. The original ''Picture This'' version charted at #3 on the AC charts and #68 on the country charts, while the re-recording featured on the ''Evolution'' album was a Top 10 country hit, with a peak at number 9. The fourth and six singles, "

Happy Girl "Happy Girl" is a song written by Beth Nielsen Chapman and Annie Roboff, and recorded by American country music singer Martina McBride. It was released in April 1998 as the third single from McBride’s album ''Evolution''. It reached a peak of #2 ...

" and " Whatever You Say", both peaked at number 2. The album was certified 3× Platinum by the RIAA. "I'm Little But I'm Loud" is a recording of McBride when she was seven years old. This was McBride's first album to have a crossover-friendly

country-pop Country pop (also known as pop country or urban cowboy) is a fusion genre of country music and pop music that was developed by members of the country genre out of a desire to reach a larger, mainstream audience. Country pop music blends genres ...

sound, which was a departure from her earlier neotraditional country albums.

Track listing

Personnel

* Martina McBride – vocal (1), lead vocals (2-13),

tambourine The tambourine is a musical instrument in the percussion family consisting of a frame, often of wood or plastic, with pairs of small metal jingles, called "zills". Classically the term tambourine denotes an instrument with a drumhead, though ...

(4, 6, 9, 10, 12), backing vocals (6, 9, 12, 13), all vocals (14) * John Hobbs – acoustic piano (2, 4, 5, 8, 10, 11, 13), Hammond B3 organ (6, 12) * Tim Lauer – accordion (2, 9),

harmonium The pump organ is a type of free-reed organ that generates sound as air flows past a vibrating piece of thin metal in a frame. The piece of metal is called a reed. Specific types of pump organ include the reed organ, harmonium, and melodeon. Th ...

(9) *

Matt Rollings Matt Rollings is a Grammy Award-winning American composer, keyboard player and record producer. Known mainly for playing in Lyle Lovett's Large Band, Rollings has worked with many artists, not all country. Matt won the 'Best Traditional Pop Voc ...

– Hammond B3 organ (3) * Robbie Buchanan – acoustic piano (7) *

– acoustic piano (14) * Dan Shea – synthesizers (14), rhythm programming (14) * Daryl Schiff – acoustic guitar (1) *

Billy Joe Walker Jr. Billy Joe Walker Jr. (February 29, 1952 – July 25, 2017) was an American songwriter, record producer and recording artist. He composed singles for Eddie Rabbitt, including " I Wanna Dance with You", " That's Why I Fell in Love with You" and " ...

– acoustic guitar (2-5, 8, 10, 11), electric guitar (6, 13) *

Biff Watson Fletcher Bangs "Biff" Watson is an American guitarist, songwriter, and producer. His musicianship has been a part of recording sessions for many artists. Biography Early years Raised in Chatham, Virginia, Watson learned how to play guitar at a ...

– acoustic guitar (2, 4, 8, 9, 11, 12) *

Paul Worley Paul Worley (born February 16, 1950 in Nashville, Tennessee) is an American record producer and session guitarist, known primarily for his work in country music. Formerly a vice president at Sony BMG, he later joined the staff of Warner Bros. Re ...

– acoustic guitar (3, 5, 6, 9, 12), 12-string guitar (9), guitar thumping (13) *

Dean Parks Weldon Dean Parks (born December 6, 1946) is an American session guitarist and record producer from Fort Worth, Texas. Albums Parks was member of the North Texas State One O'clock Lab Band before moving to Los Angeles to work with Sonny and Cher ...

– acoustic guitar (7) *

Dann Huff Dann Lee Huff (born November 15, 1960) is an American record producer and songwriter. For his work as a producer in the country music genre, he has won several awards, including the ''Musician of the Year'' award in 2001, 2004, and 2016 at the Co ...

– electric guitar (2-14), electric guitar solo (3, 6), 12-string electric guitar (6), 6-string bass (9), gut-string guitar solo (11) *

Brent Mason Brent Mason (born July 13, 1959) is an American, Nashville, Tennessee-based recording studio guitarist and songwriter, performing primarily country music. Guitar World Magazine listed him as one of the "Top Ten Session Guitarists of All Time". ...

– electric guitar (3) *

– electric guitar (7), lead vocals (7) * Pat Bergeson – electric guitar (12) * Paul Franklin – steel guitar (3, 13) *

Dan Dugmore Dan Dugmore is an American session musician known primarily for playing the pedal steel guitar Born in 1949, Dugmore was raised in Pasadena, California. Influenced by the Flying Burrito Brothers, he learned to play steel guitar after Flying Bur ...

– steel guitar (4, 5, 6, 8–11), 12-string guitar (12) *

Joe Chemay Joe Chemay is an American bassist and background singer, known for his recording session work. Biography Chemay started out working as a session and touring support musician in Los Angeles, but moved to Nashville in 1989. Chemay has worked wi ...

– bass (2-13) * Mike Brignardello – bass (14) *

Lonnie Wilson Lonnie Wilson is an American drummer, songwriter, and record producer, known primarily for his work in country music. Born in Monroe, Louisiana, Wilson was originally the lead singer of the band Bandana, which charted ten singles on the Hot Co ...

– drums (2-6, 8–13) * John Robinson – drums (7) * Tom Roady – percussion (2, 13), congas (2), shakers (2), tambourine (2) * Chris Carmichael – fiddle (2) * Stuart Duncan – fiddle (9), mandolin (9) *

Larry Franklin The Lawrence Franklin espionage scandal involved Lawrence Franklin passing classified documents regarding United States policy towards Iran to Israel. Franklin, a former United States Department of Defense employee, pleaded guilty to several espi ...

– fiddle (13) * Jim Hoke – penny whistle (2) *

The Nashville String Machine Nashville String Machine is a musical collective comprising session musicians, based in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Members of the group have been credited on records dating from 1972 to the present, although the group was formally formed ...

– strings (14) * Ronn Huff – string arrangements and conductor (14) * Carl Gorodetzky – string contractor (14) *

Kim Richey Kimberly Richey (born December 1, 1956) is an American singer and songwriter. Career Kim Richey came onto the music scene in the 1990s and entered her first recording contract at the age of 37. Kim signed with Mercury Nashville. She spent the n ...

– backing vocals (2) * Gene Miller – backing vocals (3) *

Herb Pederson Herbert Joseph Pedersen (born April 27, 1944 in Berkeley, California) is an American musician, guitarist, banjo player, and singer-songwriter who has played a variety of musical styles over the past fifty years including country, bluegrass, p ...

– backing vocals (3) * Bob Bailey – backing vocals (4) * Kim Fleming – backing vocals (4) * Vicki Hampton – backing vocals (4) *

Sara Evans Sara Lynn Evans (; born February 5, 1971) is an American country music singer and songwriter. She is also credited as a record producer, actress, and author. She had five songs reach the number one spot on the ''Billboard'' country songs cha ...

– backing vocals (5, 8) *

Neil Thrasher Joe Neil Thrasher Jr. (born July 13, 1965) is an American country music singer and songwriter. Between 1995 and 1997, he and Kelly Shiver comprised the duo Thrasher Shiver, which recorded a studio album for Asylum Records in 1996 and charted two ...

– backing vocals (5, 8) * Danny Wilde – backing vocals (6, 9) * Steve Real – backing vocals (7) * Liana Manis – backing vocals (10) *

John Wesley Ryles John Wesley Ryles (born December 2, 1950) is an American country music artist. Ryles recorded a string of hit country songs, beginning in 1968 when he was still a teenager, and continuing through the 1980s. He no longer records as a headline ar ...

– backing vocals (10) * Susan Ashton – backing vocals (12) * Mary Ann Kennedy – backing vocals (12) *

Jason Sellers Jason Sellers (born March 4, 1971) is an American country music artist. After several years of touring the United States in his family's band, Sellers joined the road band of Ricky Skaggs. By 1997, he was signed to a recording contract with BNA Re ...

– backing vocals (13)

Production

*Produced By Paul Worley, Martina McBride, James Stroud, Dan Shea & Clint Black *Engineered By Derek Bason, Al Grassmick, Tony Green, Eric Hellerman, Brent King, Julian King, Dean Jamison, John Nelson, Eric Legg, Jeanne Schiff, Clarke Schleicher & Ed Seay *Mixed By Chuck Ainlay, Derek Bason & Mick Guzauski *Mastered By Denny Purcell

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Singles

Certifications

References

{{Authority control 1997 albums Martina McBride albums RCA Records albums Albums produced by Paul Worley