''Bettie James Gold Edition'' is the second studio album by American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

singer

Jimmie Allen James Edward Allen (born June 18, 1985) is an American country music singer and songwriter. He was signed to Broken Bow Records imprint Stoney Creek, for which he released the two singles " Best Shot" and " Make Me Want To" and the 2018 album '' ...

. It was released on June 25, 2021, via

BBR Music Group BBR Music Group (formerly Broken Bow Records) is an American record label based in Nashville, Tennessee, Nashville. Founded in July 1999 by Benny Brown, the label specializes in country music. The label's executive vice president is Jon Loba. C ...

. Prior to the album's release, seven songs from the album were released in 2020 as an

extended play An extended play (EP) is a Sound recording and reproduction, musical recording that contains more tracks than a Single (music), single but fewer than an album. Contemporary EPs generally contain up to eight tracks and have a playing time of 1 ...

titled ''Bettie James''. Both the extended play and full album are entirely composed of collaborations with country,

contemporary R&B Contemporary R&B (or simply R&B) is a popular music Music genre, genre, originating from African Americans, African-American musicians in the 1980s that combines rhythm and blues with elements of Pop music, pop, Soul music, soul, funk, Hip-hop, ...

, and

pop music Pop music is a genre of popular music that originated in its modern form during the mid-1950s in the United States and the United Kingdom.S. Frith, W. Straw, and J. Street, eds, ''iarchive:cambridgecompani00frit, The Cambridge Companion to Pop ...

artists. The extended play and album have accounted for two singles: "This Is Us" featuring

Noah Cyrus Noah Lindsey Cyrus (born January 8, 2000) is an American singer and actress. As a child actress, she voiced the titular character in the English dub of the film ''Ponyo'' (2008), and appeared in minor roles on shows including ''Hannah Montana'' ...

, and " Freedom Was a Highway" featuring

Brad Paisley Brad Douglas Paisley (born October 28, 1972) is an American country music singer, songwriter, and guitarist. His first success came in 1997 as the writer of David Kersh's "Another You (David Kersh song), Another You". After this, he signed with ...

Content

''Bettie James'' was originally issued as a seven-song

on July 10, 2020. The album's name comes from Allen's father, James Allen, and grandmother, Bettie Snead. Allen co-produced the EP with

Ash Bowers Ashley Walton "Ash" Bowers is an American country music singer, songwriter, record producer, and manager. Between 2003 and 2013, he was a recording artist: first as the lead singer of the band Forty5 South, then as a solo artist on Broken Bow Reco ...

, and recorded every track as a duet. Collaborators include

Tim McGraw Samuel Timothy McGraw (born May 1, 1967) is an American country singer and actor. He has released 17 studio albums (11 for Curb Records, five for Big Machine Records and one for Arista Nashville). 10 of those albums have reached number one on ...

Darius Rucker Darius Carlos Rucker (born May 13, 1966) is an American singer, musician, and songwriter. He first gained fame as the lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of rock band Hootie & the Blowfish, which he founded in 1986 at the University of South Carol ...

Mickey Guyton Candace Mycale "Mickey" Guyton (; born June 17, 1983) is an American country music artist. Raised in Texas, Guyton was exposed to various types of music at a young age, and her material incorporates elements of contemporary country, pop, and R&B ...

Charley Pride Charley Frank Pride (March 18, 1934 – December 12, 2020) was an American Country music, country singer. Beginning his career as a Negro league baseball player in the early-1950s, he later pursued a career in country music, becoming the gen ...

, and

The Oak Ridge Boys The Oak Ridge Boys are an American vocal quartet. The classic and most well-known lineup of the group, which performed together for over 40 years, consisted of William Lee Golden (baritone), Duane Allen (lead), Richard Sterban (bass), and Joe ...

. The extended play's lead single was "This Is Us", a duet with

. In June 2021, BBR Music Group released ''Bettie James Gold Edition'', which consists of all seven songs off the extended play plus nine more. Included in these was the project's second single, the

duet " Freedom Was a Highway". "Boy Gets a Truck" was previously recorded by Australian country singer

Keith Urban Keith Lionel Urban ( né Urbahn; 26 October 1967) is an Australian and American country singer, songwriter and guitarist. Recognised with four Grammy Awards, he has also received 15 Academy of Country Music Awards, including the Jim Reeves Int ...

on his 2016 album '' Ripcord''. Further collaborators in the full album include Monica,

Babyface Babyface or Baby Face can refer to: Nicknames * Lester Joseph Gillis a.k.a. Baby Face Nelson, an infamous 1930s bank robber * Roosevelt "Baby Face" Willette (1933–1971), an American hard bop and soul-jazz musician * "Baby Face", Jimmy McLarnin ...

, and

Pitbull Pit bull is an umbrella term for several types of dog believed to have descended from bull and terriers. In the United States, the term is usually considered to include the American Pit Bull Terrier, American Staffordshire Terrier, American B ...

. In collaboration with the album, Allen also began a publishing company also called Bettie James, to which his bass guitarist Tate Howell has been signed.

Critical reception

Stephen Thomas Erlewine Stephen Thomas Erlewine (; born June 18, 1973) is an American music critic and former senior editor for the online music database AllMusic. He is the author of multiple artist biographies and record reviews for AllMusic, as well as a freelance ...

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

rated the extended play version three out of five stars, writing that "there are tips of the hat to his forefathers, a slight nod to hip-hop, some partying, a lot of ballads, and it's all unified by Allen's nimble navigating of the byways separating country, pop, and R&B." Matt Bjorke of Roughstock gave the full album a positive review, writing that "It might be an unexpected turn to make for an artist making only their second full-length album, but it is an unexpected turn that actually cements what I’ve thought of Jimmie Allen since I first got a chance to hear and see him play: The man is a superstar."

''Bettie James'' (extended play) track listing

''Bettie James Gold Edition'' track listing

References

{{Authority control 2021 albums BBR Music Group albums Jimmie Allen albums Vocal duet albums