Rodney Crowell

Rodney Crowell (born August 7, 1950) is an American musician, known primarily for his work as a singer and songwriter in country music. Crowell has had five number one singles on Hot Country Songs, all from his 1988 album ''Diamonds & Dirt''. He has also written songs and produced for other artists.

He was influenced by songwriters Guy Clark and Townes Van Zandt. Crowell played guitar and sang for three years in Emmylou Harris' Hot Band.

He has won two Grammy Awards in his career, one in 1990 for Best Country Song for the song " After All This Time" and one in 2014 Best Americana Album for his album '' Old Yellow Moon''.

Early life

Crowell was born on August 7, 1950, in Houston, Texas, to James Walter Crowell and Addie Cauzette Willoughby

He came from a musical family, with one grandfather being a church choir leader and the other a bluegrass banjo player. His grandmother played guitar and his father sang semi-professionally at bars and honky tonks. At age 11, he started playing drums in his father's band. In his teen years, he played in various garage rock bands in Houston, performing hits of the day mixed with a few country numbers."Sounding Board (Rodney Crowell)", ''Spirit Lake Beacon'', September 28, 1978, p. 15-TV

Career

1972–1986: Early career

In August 1972 he moved to Nashville, Tennessee, in search of a musical career and got a job as a songwriter after being discovered by Jerry Reed. He later met and befriended fellow songwriter Guy Clark, who became a major influence on his songwriting and vice versa.Rutkoski, Rex. "Crowell Makes it in Recording Field." ''News Record'' (Warrendale, PA) July 1, 1980: B-6 While there, he said, "I got a real cold splash in the face of what real songwriting is about. I started filling my mind with as many symbols and images as I could. I started reading. I got real hungry to have something to contribute".Campbell, Mary. "Singer has adjusted to his wife's greater success." '' The Intelligencer (Doylestown, Pennsylvania)'' July 17, 1988: C-2 Emmylou Harris had recorded one of Crowell's songs, "Bluebird Wine", on her '' Pieces of the Sky'' album and made a request to meet him. After he sat in with Emmylou at her gig at the Armadillo World Headquarters in early January 1975, she asked him to play rhythm guitar in her backing band, The Hot Band. He accepted and left the following day to join Emmylou in Los Angeles."Rodney Crowell is a Nashville newcomer with solid background." '' The Galveston Daily News'' September 19, 1989: 9-A

In 1977 as a side project, he formed a musical group, The Cherry Bombs, together with Vince Gill, Tony Brown and others. One year later, he signed a solo deal with Warner Bros. Records and in late 1978, released his debut album, '' Ain't Living Long Like This''.

His debut album, as well as his following two albums, ''But What Will the Neighbors Think'' and '' Rodney Crowell'', were not commercially successful despite garnering a huge cult following. Crowell himself criticized his debut album for not translating onto vinyl the same clarity and energy he felt in the studio. His single "Ashes by Now" from "But What Will the Neighbors Think" reached No. 37 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1980.

Though he had already several country hits by artists covering his songs (including " I Ain't Living Long Like This" by Waylon Jennings, " Leaving Louisiana..." by the Oak Ridge Boys, and several covers by Johnny Cash, Rosanne Cash, Emmylou Harris, Jerry Reed and others), Crowell got his first big taste of pop songwriting success with "Shame on the Moon". "Shame on the Moon" was recorded on the 1982 album '' The Distance'' by Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band. Glenn Frey joined Seger on background harmony on the song. Appealing to a broad cross-section of listeners, the song spent four weeks at number two on the Billboard Hot 100 pop singles chart, topped the adult contemporary chart, and placed in the Top 15 of the country chart in early 1983. The song's dark, poetic and hypnotic style helped boost Crowell's cult status.

The album '' Rodney Crowell'' was released in 1981 (see 1981 in country music) by Warner Bros. Records and was his last album on that label before switching to Columbia. The first album Crowell produced by himself, it reached No. 47 on the Top Country Albums chart and No. 105 on the ''Billboard'' 200 albums chart. The songs "Stars on the Water" and "Victim or a Fool" were released as singles. "Stars on the Water" reached No. 30 on the Hot Country Songs chart, Crowell's highest charting song up to that point. It peaked at No. 21 on the Canadian country charts. "Victim or a Fool" reached No. 34 in the U.S.

In 1981, Crowell put his career on hold to produce several of his wife Rosanne Cash's albums.

In 1983, Crystal Gayle had a number one country single with his song "'Til I Gain Control Again" from her first Elektra album, '' True Love''. The song was first recorded in 1975 by Emmylou Harris and appeared on '' Elite Hotel'' that year.

In 1984, Crowell returned to working on his own music career and recorded what was to be a new album for Warner Bros., ''Street Language''. That album, a pop-sounding effort co–produced by David Malloy, was rejected by Warner Bros, and was rejected by the label and never released. Warner Bros. requested a more Nashville-friendly record, but Crowell negotiated a release from his contract and moved to Columbia Records.

1986–1995: Columbia Records and mainstream success

After producing Rosanne Cash's '' Rhythm & Romance'', Crowell signed to Columbia Records in 1986. His first album for that label was reworked ''Street Language'', co-produced with Booker T. Jones and featuring a blend of soul and country music. The album did not chart.

Although best known as a songwriter and alternative country artist, Crowell enjoyed mainstream popularity during the late 1980s and early 1990s. His critically acclaimed album 1988's ''Diamonds & Dirt'' produced five consecutive No. 1 singles during a 17-month span in 1988 and 1989: "It's Such a Small World" (a duet with Cash), "I Couldn't Leave You If I Tried," "She's Crazy For Leavin'," " After All This Time" and " Above and Beyond" (a cover of Buck Owens' 1962 hit). Crowell's "After All This Time" won the 1990 Grammy Award for Best Country Song. His follow-up album, 1989's '' Keys to the Highway'', produced two top 5 hits in 1990, which were "Many a Long and Lonesome Highway" and " If Looks Could Kill."

After 1992's ''Life Is Messy'', he left Columbia Records and signed to MCA Records where he released two more albums — ''Let the Picture Paint Itself'' and ''Jewel of the South''.

2001–2010: Songwriting success, critical acclaim

Crowell continued to enjoy success as a songwriter in the 1990s and 2000s. Crowell's songs that reached to Top Ten in the country charts in the decade included " Song for the Life" by Alan Jackson, " Making Memories of Us" by Keith Urban, " Ashes by Now" by Lee Ann Womack, and " Please Remember Me" by Tim McGraw.

In 2001, after a brief hiatus from recording, Crowell released ''The Houston Kid'' on Sugar Hill Records, his first studio album since 1995's ''Jewel of the South''. Many songs on the album were semi-autobiographical, and the album included a duet Crowell had recorded and released as a single in 1998 with his ex father-in-law Johnny Cash, "I Walk the Line Revisited". Crowell followed up this effort with ''Fate's Right Hand'' in 2003 and ''The Outsider'' in 2005, both of which appeared on Columbia Nashville, a division of Sony Music. Leading critics and Crowell consider these three albums his finest work as a solo artist.

Rodney Crowell was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2003 with fellow inductees Hal Blair, Paul Overstreet and John Prine.

2004 saw the release of '' The Notorious Cherry Bombs'', a reunion of Crowell's 1970s road band, including Vince Gill and Tony Brown. The future Keith Urban hit " Making Memories of Us" was included on this disc. In 2005, Crowell served as producer for established Irish singer-songwriter Kieran Goss on the album "Blue Sky Sunrise".

In 2007, Rodney Crowell was inducted into the Music City Walk of Fame

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