''I Will Stand'' is the fourth 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
Kenny Chesney
Kenneth Arnold Chesney (born March 26, 1968) is an American country singer. With 30 million albums sold worldwide, he released his debut, '' In My Wildest Dreams'', in 1994, and has since released 19 follow-ups. His albums spawned 27 singles tha ...
. It was released on July 15, 1997, on
BNA Records
BNA Records, formerly known as BNA Entertainment, was a label group that shared ties with Arista Nashville and RCA Nashville from parent company Sony Music Nashville, which itself is a subsidiary of Sony Music Entertainment. Based in Nashville, ...
. "She's Got It All" was the album's first single, as well as Chesney's first number 1 single on the ''Billboard'' country music charts. "A Chance", "That's Why I'm Here" and "I Will Stand" were all released as singles as well, peaking on the country charts at number 11, number 2, and number 27, respectively. Also included is an acoustic rendition of Chesney's 1996 single "When I Close My Eyes".
''I Will Stand'' became Chesney's first certified Gold album. It was his last album to have a
neotraditional country
Neotraditional country (also known as new traditional country, hardcore country, or traditional country) is a country music style that emphasizes the instrumental background and a traditional country vocal style, as well as often dressing in the f ...
sound before he developed a more crossover-friendly
country-pop
Country pop (also known as urban cowboy or even urban country) 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 g ...
sound.
The track "Lonely, Needin' Lovin'" was previously recorded and released by
Woody Lee on his 1995
Atlantic
The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for se ...
album, ''Get Over It''.
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 ...
rated the album four-and-a-half stars out of five on
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 ...
, opining that Chesney began to find his musical personality on the album.
[
]
Track listing
Personnel
As listed in liner notes.
*Eddie Bayers
Eddie Bayers (born January 28, 1949) is an American session drummer who has played on 300 gold and platinum albums. He received the Academy of Country Music 'Drummer of the Year Award' for fourteen years, has three times won the Nashville Music ...
– drums
*Kenny Bell – acoustic guitar
*Shannon Brown
Shannon Brown (born November 29, 1985) is an American former professional basketball player. He attended Proviso East High School in Maywood, Illinois, was named Illinois Mr. Basketball in 2003, and played college basketball for Michigan State ...
– background vocals
A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are u ...
*Larry Byrom
Larry Clifton Byrom (born December 27, 1948 in Huntsville, Alabama) is an American guitarist. Byrom performed in a band called the Precious Few in the 1960s, then joined T.I.M.E.; in 1970, he joined Steppenwolf. He left Steppenwolf in 1972 and ...
– acoustic guitar
*Melonie Cannon
Melonie Cannon is an American singer, blending country and bluegrass on her solo albums and session work. Willie Nelson said, "Melonie Cannon is one of the best singers I know."
Biography Early years
Cannon was born in Jackson, Tennessee, but he ...
– background vocals
*Kenny Chesney – lead vocals
*Glen Duncan – fiddle
A fiddle is a Bow (music), bowed String instrument, string musical instrument, most often a violin or a bass. It is a colloquial term for the violin, used by players in all genres, including European classical music, classical music. Althou ...
, mandolin
A mandolin (, ; literally "small mandola") is a Chordophone, stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally Plucked string instrument, plucked with a plectrum, pick. It most commonly has four Course (music), courses of doubled St ...
*Sonny Garrish – Dobro
Dobro () is an American brand of resonator guitars owned by Gibson and manufactured by its subsidiary Epiphone. The term "dobro" is also used as a generic term for any wood-bodied, single-cone resonator guitar.
The Dobro was originally a gui ...
, steel guitar
A steel guitar () is any guitar played while moving a steel bar or similar hard object against plucked strings. The bar itself is called a "steel" and is the source of the name "steel guitar". The instrument differs from a conventional guitar i ...
*Steve Gibson – electric guitar
*Rob Hajacos – fiddle
*Randy Howard – fiddle
* Roy Huskey, Jr. – upright bass
The double bass (), also known as the upright bass, the acoustic bass, the bull fiddle, or simply the bass, is the largest and lowest-pitched string instrument, chordophone in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding rare additions ...
*Kirk "Jellyroll" Johnson – harmonica
*George Jones
George Glenn Jones (September 12, 1931 – April 26, 2013) was an American Country music, country musician, singer, and songwriter. He achieved international fame for a long list of hit records, and is well known for his distinctive voice an ...
– vocals on track 7
*Tracy Lawrence
Tracy Lee Lawrence (born January 27, 1968) is an American country music singer, songwriter, and record producer. Born in Atlanta, Texas, and raised in Foreman, Arkansas, Lawrence began performing at age 15 and moved to Nashville, Tennessee in 19 ...
– vocals on track 7
*Brent Mason
Brent Mason (born July 13, 1959) is an American country music guitarist, songwriter and session musician.
''Guitar World'' magazine listed Mason as one of the "Top Ten Session Guitarists of All Time". Discovered and mentored by Chet Atkins, Maso ...
– electric guitar
*Rodger Morris – piano, synthesizer
*Farrell Morris – percussion
*Steve Nathan
Steven Jay Nathan (born April 20, 1951) is an American keyboardist. He is known for his session work in Muscle Shoals and Nashville studios.
Biography
Nathan was born and raised in Buffalo, New York. In 1977, Nathan moved to Muscle Shoals, A ...
– synthesizer, vibraphone
The vibraphone (also called the vibraharp) is a percussion instrument in the metallophone family. It consists of tuned metal bars and is typically played by using Percussion mallet, mallets to strike the bars. A person who plays the vibraphone ...
*William "Ozzy" Osment – fiddle
*Larry Paxton – bass guitar
*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. Rollings won the 'Best Traditional Pop ...
– piano, Hammond B-3 organ
The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert, first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, sound was created from rotat ...
*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 art ...
– background vocals
*Pete Wade
Herman Bland "Pete" Wade (December 16, 1934 – August 27, 2024) was an American guitarist. Wade worked as a session musician in Nashville, playing on numerous hits including "Crazy Arms" by Ray Price, "He Stopped Loving Her Today" by George Jo ...
– gut string guitar
*Cindy Richardson-Walker – background vocals
*Biff Watson
Fletcher Bangs "Biff" Watson (born 1952) 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 ...
– acoustic guitar
*Dennis Wilson – background vocals
*Lonnie Wilson
Lonnie Wilson is an American drummer, songwriter, and record producer, known primarily for his work in country music. Life and career
Born in Monroe, Louisiana, Wilson was originally the lead singer of the band Bandana, which charted ten single ...
– drums
*Norro Wilson
Norris Denton "Norro" Wilson (April 4, 1938 – June 8, 2017) was an American country music singer-songwriter, producer, and member of the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame.
Wilson wrote or co-wrote numerous hit songs during more than 40 yea ...
– percussion
*Curtis Young – background vocals
*Reggie Young
Reggie Grimes Young Jr. (December 12, 1936 – January 17, 2019) was an American musician who was lead guitarist in the American Sound Studio house band, The Memphis Boys, and was a leading session musician.
He played on various recordings with ...
– electric guitar
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Singles
Certifications
References
{{Authority control
1997 albums
Kenny Chesney albums
BNA Records albums
Albums produced by Norro Wilson
Albums produced by Buddy Cannon