"Leavin's Been a Long Time Comin'" is a song recorded 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, o ...

group Shenandoah. It was released in November 1992 as the third and final single from their album ''

Long Time Comin' ''Long Time Comin is the fourth studio album by the American country music band Shenandoah. Released in May 1992 (see 1992 in country music), it was their first album for the RCA Nashville label. The album includes three singles: "Rock My Baby ...

''. It peaked at number 15 in the United States, and number 24 in Canada. This song was written by Charlie Craig, Stowe Dailey and Mike McGuire.

Critical reception

Deborah Evans Price, of ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' magazine reviewed the song unfavorably, saying that Shenandoah is a "terrifically musical vocal group, but this song fails to knock the lights out." She goes on to say that production isn't "especially inventive either."''

'', November 14, 1992

Music video

The music video was directed by Marcus Penczner and premiered in late 1992. Filmed in black-and-white, the production was filmed at the Bedford County Courthouse in

Shelbyville, Tennessee Shelbyville is a city in and the county seat of Bedford County, Tennessee, United States. The town was laid out in 1810 and incorporated in 1819. Shelbyville had a population of 20,335 residents at the 2010 census. The town is a hub of the Tennes ...

. The video features former

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divis ...

quarterback,

Troy Aikman Troy Kenneth Aikman (born November 21, 1966) is an American former football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 12 seasons with the Dallas Cowboys. After transferring from Oklahoma, he played college football at UC ...

, who plays Cowboy Joe, the new gentleman friend of the woman playing the wife of Shenandoah lead singer

Marty Raybon Marty Raybon (born December 8, 1959) is an American country music artist. He is known primarily for his role as the lead singer of the country band Shenandoah, a role which he held from 1985 to 1997, until he rejoined the band in 2014. He reco ...

in a takeoff on a 1940s-vintage divorce trial. The judge is portrayed by

Eddy Arnold Richard Edward Arnold (May 15, 1918 – May 8, 2008) was an American country music singer who performed for six decades. He was a Nashville sound (country/popular music) innovator of the late 1950s, and scored 147 songs on the '' Billboard'' c ...

. The wife of Shenandoah was played by Tanda Fields. The story of this video is interspersed with scenes of Shenandoah performing this song in the courtroom (separate from the trial).

Chart performance

"Leavin's Been a Long Time Comin'" debuted at number 62 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot Country Singles & Tracks for the week of November 28, 1992.

References

{{authority control Shenandoah (band) songs 1992 singles Song recordings produced by Keith Stegall Songs written by Charlie Craig RCA Records singles Black-and-white music videos 1992 songs