''Pickin' on Nashville'' is the debut studio album by American

country rock Country rock is a music genre that fuses rock and country. It was developed by rock musicians who began to record country-flavored records in the late 1960s and early 1970s. These musicians recorded rock records using country themes, vocal sty ...

southern rock Southern rock is a subgenre of rock music and a genre of Americana. It developed in the Southern United States from rock and roll, country and blues, and is focused generally on electric guitars and vocals. History 1950s and 1960s: origin ...

band

the Kentucky Headhunters The Kentucky Headhunters are an American country rock and Southern rock band from Edmonton, Kentucky. The band's members are Doug Phelps (bass guitar, vocals), Greg Martin (lead guitar, vocals), and brothers Richard Young (rhythm guitar, vocals) ...

. It features the singles "Walk Softly on This Heart of Mine", "Oh Lonesome Me", "Dumas Walker", and "Rock 'n' Roll Angel", all of which charted in the Top 40 on the

Hot Country Songs Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data along with digital sales and streaming. ...

charts. "Oh Lonesome Me" was also the highest charting, at No. 8. The album won a

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...

for

Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal The Grammy Award for Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal was awarded from 1970 to 2011. The award has had several minor name changes: * In 1970 the award was known as Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group * From 1971 to ...

for the band in 1991. "Walk Softly on This Heart of Mine" is a cover of a Bill Monroe song, "Skip a Rope" a cover of a

Henson Cargill Henson Cargill (February 5, 1941 – March 24, 2007) was an American country music singer best known for the socially controversial 1968 country number-one hit " Skip a Rope". His music career began in Oklahoma in clubs around Oklahoma City and ...

song, and "Oh Lonesome Me" a cover of a Don Gibson song. After brothers Ricky Lee and Doug Phelps left the band in 1992 to form the duo

Brother Phelps Brother Phelps was an American country music duo from Edmonton, Kentucky. The duo consisted of brothers Ricky Lee Phelps and Doug Phelps, both vocalists and guitarists. Both brothers had left the Southern rock band the Kentucky Headhunters. In 19 ...

; they recorded "Ragtop" on their second album (1994's '' Any Way the Wind Blows''). Doug rejoined the band in 1997.

Critical reception

The ''

Tulsa World The ''Tulsa World'' is an American daily newspaper. It serves the city of Tulsa, Oklahoma, and is the primary newspaper for the northeastern and eastern portions of Oklahoma. The printed edition is the second-most circulated newspaper in the sta ...

'' noted that the band "have more in common with the Georgia Satellites than just a similar name—their bar-band, three- and four-chord boogie has the same loose, endearingly sappy quality."

Track listing

Personnel

;The Kentucky Headhunters *Greg Martin - lead guitar *Doug Phelps - background vocals, bass guitar *Ricky Lee Phelps - lead vocals *Fred Young - drums *Richard Young - rhythm guitar ;Additional musician *Richard Ripani -

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 ...

on "Oh Lonesome Me", "cheesy organ" on "Rock 'n' Roll Angel" ;Technical *Mike Bradley - recording, mixing *The Kentucky Headhunters - producer, arrangement *Glenn Meadows - mastering *Jim Zumwalt - executive producer

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{Authority control 1989 debut albums The Kentucky Headhunters albums Mercury Nashville albums