''Thank God for Believers'' is the seventh 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 ...

artist

Mark Chesnutt Mark Nelson Chesnutt (born September 6, 1963) is an American country music singer and songwriter. Between 1990 and 1999, he had his greatest chart success recording for Universal Music Group Nashville's MCA and Decca branches, with a total of ei ...

. His third album for

Decca Records Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis (Decca), Edward Lewis after his acquisition of a gramophone manufacturer, The Decca Gramophone Company. It set up an American subsidiary under the Decca name, which bec ...

, it produced four singles on the ''

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 ...

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 between 1997 and 1998: the title track (number 2), "It's Not Over" (number 34), "I Might Even Quit Lovin' You" (number 18), and "Wherever You Are" (number 45). "Wherever You Are" was the first single of Chesnutt's career to miss the Top 40 on the country charts. With this album, Chesnutt is also reunited with producer Mark Wright, who produced Chesnutt's first four

MCA Nashville Music Corporation of America, formerly known as Universal Music Group Nashville, is Universal Music Group's country music subsidiary. It was officially opened in 1945 as MCA Nashville and Mercury Nashville which opened on New Year's Day 1950 a ...

albums. "It's Not Over" was previously recorded by Chesnutt on his third album, 1992's '' Longnecks & Short Stories'', and before that by

Reba McEntire Reba Nell McEntire ( ; born March 28, 1955), or simply Reba, is an American country music, country singer and actress. Dubbed "Honorific nicknames in popular music, The Queen of Country", she has sold more than 75 million records worldwide. Sin ...

on her 1984 album '' My Kind of Country''. The version included on this album is the same as on ''Longnecks & Short Stories''. Chesnutt chose to include it because he felt that it should have been released as a single from the original album, and suggested that it be included to replace another song that he felt did not fit thematically with the rest of the album.

Track listing

Personnel

As listed in liner notes. *

– lead vocals *

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 ...

– acoustic piano (1-9), synthesizers (1-9),

Hammond B3 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, drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, sound was created ...

(1-9) *

Hargus "Pig" Robbins Hargus Melvin Robbins (January 18, 1938 – January 30, 2022), known by his nickname "Pig", was an American session keyboard player. He played on records for many artists, including Patsy Cline, Dolly Parton, Connie Smith, Patti Page, Loretta Ly ...

– acoustic piano (10) * Pat Flynn – acoustic guitar (1-6, 8-10) * B. James Lowry – acoustic guitar (1-6, 8, 9) *

Brent Rowan Brent Rowan (born May 28, 1956, in Waxahachie, Texas) is an American session musician and record producer who works primarily in country music. Active since the 1970s, Rowan began working with John Conlee through the recommendation of record produ ...

– electric guitars *

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 (7, 10) *

Buddy Emmons Buddy Gene Emmons (January 27, 1937 – July 21, 2015) was an American musician who is widely regarded as the world's foremost pedal steel guitarist of his day. He was inducted into the Steel Guitar Hall of Fame in 1981. Affectionately known ...

–

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 ...

(1-6, 8, 9) * Paul Franklin – steel guitar (7, 10) * Michael Rhodes – bass (1-6, 8, 9) *

Mike Brignardello Giant is an American melodic rock band that was formed in 1987. The band originally consisted of founding members Dann Huff (lead vocals and guitar) and Alan Pasqua (keyboard), and had Dann's brother David Huff on drums and Mike Brignardello o ...

– bass (7) * Bob Wray – bass (10) *

Owen Hale Owen Hale (Born July 15, 1948) is an American musician best known for playing drums with Lynyrd Skynyrd, on their album '' Twenty'' and the Lyve from Steel Town DVD concert. Hale left the group in 1998. He was also a busy studio drummer in Nas ...

– drums (1-9) *

Paul Leim Paul William Leim (born December 29, 1950) is an American drummer and recording session musician based in Nashville. Biography Leim was born in Port Huron, Michigan and raised in Troup, Texas. He was inspired to take up drumming as a child a ...

– drums (10) *

Larry Franklin The Lawrence Franklin espionage scandal involved Lawrence Franklin, a former United States Department of Defense employee, passing classified documents regarding United States policy towards Iran to Israel. Franklin pleaded guilty to several es ...

–

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 ...

(1-9) * Hank Singer – fiddle (8) * Rob Hajacos – fiddle (10) *

Nashville String Machine Nashville String Machine is a musical collective comprising session musicians, based in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Members of the group have been credited on records dating from 1972 to the present, although the group was formally formed ...

– strings * Bergen White – string arrangements, additional backing vocals (1, 5) * Carl Gorodetzky – string conductor * Liana Manis – backing vocals (1-9) * Louis Nunley – backing vocals (1-9) *

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 ...

– backing vocals (1-9) * Curtis Young – backing vocals (1-9) * Jana King Evans – additional backing vocals (1, 5) * Lisa Silver – additional backing vocals (1, 5) *

Vince Gill Vincent Grant Gill (born April 12, 1957) is an American singer, songwriter, and musician. He played in a number of local bluegrass music, bluegrass bands in the 1970s, and from 1978 to 1982, he achieved his first mainstream attention after ta ...

– harmony vocals (10) *

Alison Krauss Alison Maria Krauss (born July 23, 1971) is an American bluegrass-country singer, fiddler and music producer. She entered the music industry at an early age, competing in local contests by the age of eight and recording for the first time at ...

– harmony vocals (10)

Production

* Mark Wright – producer * Steve Marcantonio – recording * Greg Droman – overdub recording, mixing * Tim Coyle – second engineer * Joe Hayden – second engineer * Hank Williams – mastering * Ronnie Thomas – mastering * MasterMix (Nashville, Tennessee) – mastering location * Virginia Team – art direction, additional photography * Chris Ferrara – design * Jim "Señor" McGuire – photography * The BDM Company – management

Chart performance

References

{{Authority control 1997 albums Mark Chesnutt albums Decca Records albums Albums produced by Mark Wright (record producer)