''Garth Brooks'' is the debut studio album of 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

Garth Brooks Troyal Garth Brooks (born February 7, 1962) is an American country music singer and songwriter. His integration of pop and rock elements into the country genre has earned him popularity, particularly in the United States with success on the co ...

, released on April 12, 1989, through

Capitol Nashville Capitol Records Nashville is a major United States-based record label located in Nashville, Tennessee operating as part of the Universal Music Group Nashville. From 1991 to 1995, Capitol Nashville was known as Liberty Records, before returning ...

. It was both a critical and chart success, peaking at No. 13 on the ''Billboard'' 200 and at No. 2 on the

Top Country Albums Top Country Albums is a chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine in the United States. The 50-position chart lists the most popular country music albums in the country, calculated weekly by Broadcast Data Systems based on physical sales a ...

chart. The album has been certified

diamond Diamond is a Allotropes of carbon, solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. Another solid form of carbon known as graphite is the Chemical stability, chemically stable form of car ...

by the

Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

(RIAA) for shipments over ten million copies.

Background

Brooks commented on the album, saying:

Singles

This album contains Brooks' earliest hits, for instance his first ever single, " Much Too Young (To Feel This Damn Old)", which peaked at No. 8 on the Country Billboard Charts in 1989. It put the name of an independent cowboy singer, Chris LeDoux, into the mainstream due to the lyric "''A worn out tape of Chris LeDoux''" Two other strong starts include his first No. 1, "

If Tomorrow Never Comes "If Tomorrow Never Comes" is a song by American country music artist Garth Brooks. Written by Brooks and Kent Blazy, it was released in August 1989 as the second single from his album '' Garth Brooks'' and also appears on ''The Hits'', ''The Lim ...

" and the

Academy of Country Music The Academy of Country Music (ACM) was founded in 1964 in Los Angeles, California as the Country & Western Music Academy. Among the founders were Eddie Miller, Tommy Wiggins, and Mickey and Chris Christensen. They wanted to promote country music ...

's 1990 Song of the Year and Video of the Year, " The Dance" (another No. 1). It also features his first hit he wrote entirely in "Not Counting You", another top 10 success.

Notable covers

Punk rock

cover artists Cover or covers may refer to: Packaging * Another name for a lid * Cover (philately), generic term for envelope or package * Album cover, the front of the packaging * Book cover or magazine cover ** Book design ** Back cover copy, part of co ...

Me First and the Gimme Gimmes Me First and the Gimme Gimmes (often shortened to just Me First or the Gimmes) are a punk rock supergroup and cover band that formed in San Francisco in 1995. The band's lineup consists of Spike Slawson, Fat Mike, Joey Cape, and Dave Raun. Ch ...

released a version of "Much Too Young (To Feel This Damn Old)" as the first track on their October 2006 album '' Me First and the Gimme Gimmes Love Their Country''. "If Tomorrow Never Comes" has been covered by

Ronan Keating Ronan Patrick John Keating (born 3 March 1977) is an Irish singer. He debuted in 1993 alongside Keith Duffy, Michael Graham, Shane Lynch, and Stephen Gately, as the co-lead singer (with Gately) of Irish pop group Boyzone. His solo career start ...

(former lead singer of Irish group

Boyzone Boyzone were an Irish boy band, created in 1993 by talent manager Louis Walsh. Before even recording any material, Boyzone made an appearance on RTÉ's '' The Late Late Show''. Their most successful line-up was composed of Keith Duffy, Steph ...

), and many other famous singers including

Barry Manilow Barry Manilow (born Barry Alan Pincus; June 17, 1943) is an American singer and songwriter with a career that spans seven decades. His hit recordings include "Could It Be Magic", " Somewhere Down the Road", " Mandy", "I Write the Songs", " Can ...

Moe Bandy Marion Franklin "Moe" Bandy Jr. (born February 12, 1944) is an American country music singer. He was most popular during the 1970s, when he had several hit songs, both alone and with his singing partner, Joe Stampley. Early life and recording ...

previously recorded "Nobody Gets Off in This Town" on his 1988 album ''No Regrets''.

Commercial performance

''Garth Brooks'' peaked at No. 13 on the US ''Billboard'' 200, and peaked at No. 2 on the

. In November 2006, it was certified

by the

(RIAA) for shipments of over ten million copies in the United States. To date, the album has shipped ten million copies in the US.

Track listing

Original Release Limited Series Release

Personnel

Bruce Bouton Bruce Bouton is an American guitarist, session musician, producer, and songwriter. His pedal steel guitar has been featured on many country music recordings, and he helped reintroduce the pedal steel guitar to the forefront of the Nashville sound ...

–

pedal steel guitar The pedal steel guitar is a Console steel guitar, console-type of steel guitar with pedals and knee levers that change the pitch of certain strings to enable playing more varied and complex music than any previous steel guitar design. Like all s ...

– vocals, acoustic guitar *Mark Casstevens – acoustic guitar *Mike Chapman – bass guitar *Kathy Chiavola – backing vocals on "Alabama Clay" *Charles Cochran – string arrangements *Rob Hajacos – fiddle *Wendy Johnson – backing vocals on "I've Got A Good Thing Going", "If Tomorrow Never Comes" and "Everytime That It Rains" *Chris Leuzinger – electric guitar *Jennifer O'Brien – backing vocals on "I've Got A Good Thing Going", "If Tomorrow Never Comes" and "Everytime That It Rains" *Wayland Patton – backing vocals on "Alabama Clay" *Milton Sledge – drums *Hurshel Wiginton – harmony and backing vocals *

Bobby Wood Bobby Shou Wood (born November 15, 1992) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a striker for Major League Soccer club New England Revolution. Youth and early career Wood was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, to a mother with partial ...

– keyboards, synthesizer *Curtis Young – backing vocals on "I've Got A Good Thing Going", "If Tomorrow Never Comes" and "Everytime That It Rains" *

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 ...

– string section

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Singles

Certifications

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Garth Brooks (album) 1989 debut albums Garth Brooks albums Capitol Records albums Albums produced by Allen Reynolds

Background

Singles

Notable covers

Commercial performance

Track listing

Personnel

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Singles

Certifications

See also

References