Garth Brooks jump-started country music at the beginning of the decade, raising its
worldwide visibility and prestige to an unprecedented level, and going on to become the biggest selling solo artist in
U.S. music history, with over 62 million in sales. He's also the fastest selling album artist in RIAA history and one of the
industry's most awarded, the latest nod coming from the Country Music Association when the organization named him
its 1997 Entertainer of the Year.
This year, he infused new energy into country when he played to the largest crowd ever to attend a concert in New
York's Central Park, a performance viewed by an additional 14.6 million television audience. His 1997 tour has
attracted well over 3 million fans since Garth hit the road last March. What those statistics mean is that enormous
numbers of people are touched by what Garth Brooks loves to do: make music.
"Garth has always impressed me with his passion for music -- for life itself -- his uncompromising values and his ear
for songs," says producer Allen Reynolds. "And Sevens is as fine a representation of those qualities as I could have
ever hoped for in my heart. Each time I listen to it, I'm moved. This is clearly an artist in his prime."
It's clearly an example of how records should be made, too, where songs and performances are the first priority, and
time frame is a distant second, where hurriedly finding ten tunes and booking studio time is not even a consideration.
Sevens was recorded over more than a year, giving Garth time to road test the material, to add the musical nuances
that make these tracks so uniquely tasty, and find the songs so representative of the artist's persona.
"This is a very personal album," Garth adds. "I only wrote six of the songs, but there are many that are so 'me' that
people I work with every day thought I wrote them." In addition to the personal nature of the album, there is an exciting
variety to Sevens, a diversity that expresses a myriad of sounds, emotions and stories. The songs range from stone
country honky tonkers to shimmering ballads to dark reflections to lighthearted beach-flavored revelry.
The tracks are spare and the trademark GB vocals right out front. "At it's best, music has space," explains Reynolds. "I
love to hear musicians and writers who can say a lot, sparingly. This album is full, but it still has the space that allows
Garth to connect with the audience."
There are some intriguing musical surprises on the album. For example, "I Don't Have To Wonder" seems to call for
the big electric guitar sound of a "Shameless," yet Garth heard something different. "Chris Leuzinger is one of the
greatest guitarists anywhere, and he fully expected to go to work on that part. You should have seen his face when I
said I heard a haunting steel part," Garth laughs. "Chris said, 'Well, I'll be home by the phone if it doesn't work.' But
Bruce Bouton came in with this dark steel and just nailed it."
Later, Chris Leuzinger did the same on an equally unexpected guitar part on another song. "'Fit For A King' is a
bluegrass gospel song, and the last thing you'd expect to hear is a fuzzed out late '70s rock and roll part," Garth says.
"But we had Chris play the meanest, thickest sound that just laid right up in there to give an inspirational, clean, angelic
song the gritty street element we needed." Garth also added to the track several of the players who had been on the
original version of "Fit For A King," which he'd heard on a project by writer Carl Jackson. The mournful fiddle by Randy
Howard is a standout among many standouts on this album. And the harmony work done by Jackson and Lona Heid is
nothing short of stunning.
The tracks are innovative throughout Sevens. Another shining performance is provided by Steve Wariner's guitar solo
and scat singing on the album's first single, a little slice of honky tonk heaven penned by Steve and Rick Carnes: "Long
Neck Bottle." The band rocks out on "Take The Keys To My Heart," a jazz song Garth found on friend Benita Hill's
multi-genre album, then transports you in spirit if not body to the islands on "Two Pina Coladas," penned by Sandy
Mason, Benita Hill and Shawn Camp. World renowned bassist Edgar Meyer added the poignant arco bass on "Belleau
Wood" as he did on "Wolves" from No Fences.
On Pat Flynn's "Do What You Gotta Do," Garth spotlights guitarist Flynn as well as other New Grass Revival
members: Sam Bush on mandolin, Bela Fleck on banjo, with Sam Bush and John Cowan singing harmony. Sam
Bush also contributed the lilting mandolin on "When There's No One Around."
Garth wrote six of the fourteen cuts, including the inspirational, introspective "How You Ever Gonna Know" (with Kent
Blazy), where you'll hear harmonies by a new vocal "group" in Nashville: The Ordinaires. "Garth, [keyboardist] Bobby
Wood and I were just messing around with some harmonies one night after the session," Reynolds explains. "But we
decided the feel was right, and kept them. I don't think we'll be any threat to the Jordanaires, but we had fun."
The chart-topping duet with friend Trisha Yearwood, "In Another's Eyes" was written with Bobby Wood and John
Peppard. Garth penned "A Friend To Me" with longtime collaborator and Central Park opening act, Victoria Shaw. His
trademark tip of the hat to the West and "...love song to a truck," "Cowboy Cadillac," was written with his 1997 tour
opening act, Bryan Kennedy.
"'She's Gonna Make It' is pretty much what would happen to me if I ever got a divorce," Garth explains, with a smile.
"For the first six months I'd be out on the town. Then one day I'd wake up and say, 'What the hell am I gonna do with
the rest of my life?'"
And without taking anything away from his other compositions, Garth says "Belleau Wood" is his favorite. "Back in
1988, before I ever had a record contract, Joe Henry -- who is a Colorado writer -- mentioned to me that he'd written a
lot of poems. 'Well, I'd love to see 'em,' I said. He hesitated and told me he had about fifteen hundred of them. I told him
to bring 'em on. I read three or four hundred poems and found 'Belleau Wood.' It was the kind of song you dream of
being a part of, and I asked to add the music to it. I always put my pick as the final cut, and on Sevens, it's 'Belleau
Wood.'"
While the end result is a seamless recording that moves effortlessly through the fourteen songs, it didn't start out that
way, according to Garth. "When I started making this record, I was confused," Garth admits. "At that time I hadn't been
touring, and I came in wondering where I was going. Allen sensed that I was questioning myself and basically said,
'Okay, I'll drive.'"
They recorded over a period of a year, and although Garth soon regained his confidence, Allen continued in the driver's
seat. "That's what I love about him," Garth says. "He didn't back off what he'd started. He brought me songs that were
more 'me' than some I'd written myself. He pushed for fourteen songs and the sequence you hear now."
"That very questioning is one of the things that makes Garth a joy to work with," Allen explains. "Nothing is ever stale or
cloned. It's always fresh. Given the amazing assortment and number of songs, this is a show I'd go and see over and
over. From the first note to the last, it's like an oasis, a shelter in the storm."
Listening to Garth Brooks and Allen Reynolds talk music somehow makes the GB sales phenomenon all the more
enthralling. Ego is always checked at the door at a Garth Brooks session. It's strictly about songs, musicians and a
love for what is being created. The man has always been about the music, and the music brought the man success
as few have ever experienced.
Just look at the album statistics: His debut album, Garth Brooks, released in 1989, was the biggest selling country
album of the 1980's. His sophomore outing, No Fences, is the biggest selling country album of all time. Ropin' The
Wind was the third biggest, and the first album to debut at #1 on both the Billboard Top 200 Album chart and the
Billboard Country Album Chart. The Chase and In Pieces both entered the pop and country charts at #1. And Sevens
made history before it was even released. The debut single, "Long Neck Bottle," became the only single to be added by
every Radio & Records reporting station on the day of its release. "Long Neck Bottle" debuted in the R&R chart at #10,
the highest single debut in its history.
Garth has made 4 NBC specials, all of which were overwhelming ratings successes. The first special, This Is Garth
Brooks, was filmed at Dallas' Reunion Arena in September 1991. At the time it aired it gave NBC its highest-rated
Friday night in more than 2 years (17.3 rating/28 share), and was the #9 show in the Nielsen ratings for the week. The
second airing of This Is Garth Brooks remained powerful, receiving a 6.9 rating and a 12 share. This Is Garth Brooks,
Too! was filmed over the course of three sold-out shows at Texas Stadium in Dallas in 1993, and that show gave NBC
its first time period win among adults (18-49) since August 1992. When The Hits aired in January of 1995, it gave NBC
its best adult rating in that time slot since January 19, 1994, with an 11.8 rating and an 18 share. The
behind-the-scenes documentary, Tryin' To Rope The World, featured never-before seen footage of Garth's first
European/Australian tour in 1994, and received a 9.4 share and a 15 share in the 18-49 demographics.
In December of 1996, VH1 premiered Garth Brooks: Storytellers, as part of its critically acclaimed singer/songwriter
series. This intimate look into Garth and his music doubled the ratings of shows featuring rock stars including Sting,
Jackson Browne, Elvis Costello and Melissa Etheridge.
Garth -- Live From Central Park first aired on August 7th, 1997. The spectacular was the most watched and highest
rated original program on HBO in 1997, beating all broadcast competition in the time period as well as 3 of the 4
networks combined! New York ratings were an amazing 51.7, according to Nielsen. The 1997 Super Bowl did not do
as well. Ratings continued to rise throughout the evening of the concert, peaking at a 19.1/29 in the last 15 minutes of
the concert. Based on HBO average ratings, Garth -- Live From Central Park was the most watched special on cable
television in 1997.
Along with the sales came awards including a Grammy, 11 American Music Awards, 10 Country Music Association
Awards, 14 Academy of Country Music Awards, 5 World Music Awards, and 8 People's Choice Awards, including
Favorite Male Musical Performer for the past six years. He was named "Artist of the '90s" at the 1997 Blockbuster
Entertainment Awards.
Given the past eight years of sales, awards and concert tickets, there's no doubt that the numbers connected to Garth
Brooks are formidable. But make no mistake about this: in 1997 the one number that counts is Sevens.
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