''Especially for You'' is the eleventh studio album 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, ...

artist Don Williams. It was released in 1981 (see

1981 in country music This is a list of notable events in country music that took place in the year 1981. Events *March 14 — The final showing of ''Live From The Grand Ole Opry'' on the Public Broadcasting System (PBS) occurs on this night. The show actually went ...

). Three singles were released from the album which all reached the top ten. These were "Miracles" (#4), "If I Needed You" (with

Emmylou Harris Emmylou Harris (born April 2, 1947) is an American singer, songwriter and musician. She has released dozens of albums and singles over the course of her career and has won 14 Grammys, the Polar Music Prize, and numerous other honors, including ...

) (#3) and "Lord, I Hope This Day Is Good" (#1). The album peaked at #5 in the U.S. and reached #109 on the ''Billboard'' 200. This album, paired with his previous album, ''I Believe in You'', were re-released on one CD in 1989.

Content

Many songs on this album are covers of earlier songs or would later be covered by other artists. "Fair-weather Friends" was released by its co-writer,

Johnny Cash John R. Cash (born J. R. Cash; February 26, 1932 – September 12, 2003) was an American country singer-songwriter. Much of Cash's music contained themes of sorrow, moral tribulation, and redemption, especially in the later stages of his ca ...

in 1982 on his album, ''

The Adventures of Johnny Cash ''The Adventures of Johnny Cash'' is an album by American country singer Johnny Cash, released on Columbia Records in 1982. The album was produced by Jack Clement. " Georgia on a Fast Train" and "We Must Believe in Magic" were both released as si ...

''. "Years from Now" was previously recorded by Bobbi Humphrey in 1977 and would later be made famous by

Dr. Hook Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show (shortened to Dr. Hook in 1975) is an American rock band, formed in Union City, New Jersey. The band had commercial success in the 1970s with hit singles "Sylvia's Mother", " The Cover of 'Rolling Stone'" (both 1972) ...

. "Lord, I Hope This Day is Good" has been covered by

Anne Murray Morna Anne Murray (born June 20, 1945) is a retired Canadian singer. Her albums, consisting primarily of pop, country, and adult contemporary music, have sold over 55 million copies worldwide during her over 40-year career. Murray was the fir ...

and by

Lee Ann Womack Lee Ann Womack Liddell (; born August 19, 1966) is an American country music singer, songwriter, and musician. Her 2000 single, "I Hope You Dance" was a major crossover music hit, reaching No. 1 on the Billboard Country Chart and the Top 15 ...

on her 2000 album, '' I Hope You Dance''. The duet with

, "If I Needed You", was first recorded by Townes Van Zandt on his 1972 album, '' The Late Great Townes Van Zandt''.

Track listing

Production

*All tracks produced by Don Williams and

Garth Fundis Garth Fundis is an American country music record producer. Active since the 1970s, Fundis has produced albums for several country artists, including Alabama, Don Williams, Trisha Yearwood, Sugarland, and Keith Whitley. He has also served as a ju ...

except for "If I Needed You", which was co-produced with Brian Ahern. *Recorded at Sound Emporium Studios by Garth Fundis and Gary Laney *Remixed by Garth Fundis and Don Williams *Mastered by Glenn Meadows at Masterfonics, Nashville

Personnel

from liner notes *Don Williams - lead and backing vocals, acoustic guitar *Joe Allen - electric and

upright bass The double bass (), also known simply as the bass () (or #Terminology, by other names), is the largest and lowest-pitched Bow (music), bowed (or plucked) string instrument in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding unorthodox addit ...

*Charles Cochran -

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

organ Organ may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a part of an organism Musical instruments * Organ (music), a family of keyboard musical instruments characterized by sustained tone ** Electronic organ, an electronic keyboard instrument ** Hammond ...

, Prophet

Synthesizer A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and ...

, string arrangements *Roger Cook -

ukulele The ukulele ( ; from haw, ukulele , approximately ), also called Uke, is a member of the lute family of instruments of Portuguese origin and popularized in Hawaii. It generally employs four nylon strings. The tone and volume of the instrumen ...

and harmony vocals on "Miracles" *

- harmony and backing vocals * Lloyd Green -

steel guitar A steel guitar ( haw, kīkākila) 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 conve ...

*David Kirby - acoustic guitar, electric guitar * Shelley Kurland -

violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

solo on "Now and Then" * Pat McLaughlin -

mandolin A mandolin ( it, mandolino ; literally "small mandola") is a stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally plucked with a pick. It most commonly has four courses of doubled strings tuned in unison, thus giving a total of 8 ...

Kenny Malone Kenny Malone (August 4, 1938 – August 26, 2021) was an American drummer and percussionist. Life and career Malone was born in Denver, Colorado. From the 1970s onwards, he was a prominent session musician in folk, country and many other acoustic ...

conga The conga, also known as tumbadora, is a tall, narrow, single-headed drum from Cuba. Congas are staved like barrels and classified into three types: quinto (lead drum, highest), tres dos or tres golpes (middle), and tumba or salidor (lowest). ...

, bongos,

tambourine The tambourine is a musical instrument in the percussion family consisting of a frame, often of wood or plastic, with pairs of small metal jingles, called "zills". Classically the term tambourine denotes an instrument with a drumhead, though ...

shakers The United Society of Believers in Christ's Second Appearing, more commonly known as the Shakers, are a Millenarianism, millenarian Restorationism, restorationist Christianity, Christian sect founded in England and then organized in the Unit ...

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

*Billy Sanford - acoustic guitar * Biff Watson - synthesizer,

gut-string guitar The classical guitar (also known as the nylon-string guitar or Spanish guitar) is a member of the guitar family used in classical music and other styles. An acoustic wooden string instrument with strings made of gut or nylon, it is a precursor of ...

* The Sheldon Kurland Strings - strings

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Sources

{{DEFAULTSORT:Especially For You (Don Williams Album) 1981 albums Don Williams albums Albums produced by Garth Fundis MCA Records albums