''Heartbreak Town'' is the debut studio album of American country music artist

Steve Azar Stephen Thomas Azar (born April 11, 1964) is an American country music singer, songwriter, guitarist, and philanthropist. Active since 1996, he has released a total of seven studio albums: one on the former River North Records, one on Mercury Nas ...

. Released on River North Records in 1996, it features the singles "Someday" and "I Never Stopped Loving You" that peaked at numbers 51 and 50, respectively, 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 advertise ...

'' Hot Country Singles & Tracks (now

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 from Nielsen BDS along with digital sal ...

) charts that year. Azar did not release another album until '' Waitin' on Joe'' six years later. The track "I Go Crazy" is a cover of Paul Davis' hit single from 1978.

Critical reception

Country Standard Time ''Country Standard Time'' is a website dedicated to country music and related genres including Americana, bluegrass and rockabilly. It provides news and musical reviews pertaining to the genre. It was established in 1993 by Jeffrey B. Remz as a p ...

critic Larry Stephens gave a mostly-negative review, saying that outside "Thunderbird" and "As Long as Harley Gets to Play," the album's songs were too similar to each other in sound and "not strong enough to carry

heir Inheritance is the practice of receiving private property, titles, debts, entitlements, privileges, rights, and obligations upon the death of an individual. The rules of inheritance differ among societies and have changed over time. Officiall ...

weight on radio." ''

'' was more positive, with an uncredited review calling Azar's songwriting "adept", while comparing his voice favorably to

John Mellencamp John J. Mellencamp (born October 7, 1951), previously known as Johnny Cougar, John Cougar, and John Cougar Mellencamp, is an American singer-songwriter. He is known for his catchy brand of heartland rock, which emphasizes traditional instrument ...

Track listing

#"I Never Stopped Lovin' You" (Steve Azar, Jason Blume) – 4:10 #"Nights Like This" (Azar,

Bob Regan Robert Joseph Regan is a Grammy nominated American country music songwriter. His chart credits include "Til Love Comes Again" by Reba McEntire, "Busy Man" by Billy Ray Cyrus, "Your Everything" by Keith Urban, "Soon" by Tanya Tucker, "Thinkin' A ...

) – 3:32 #"What Are We Waitin' For" (Azar,

Roger Murrah Roger Alan Murrah (born November 20, 1946) is a songwriter and independent music publisher who has written hits for artists including Waylon Jennings, Alan Jackson, Al Jarreau, and Alabama.A. J. Masters) – 2:43 #"Someday" (Azar, Masters, Regan) – 3:06 #"Thunderbird" (Azar, Masters, Tommy Rocco) – 4:54 #"As Long as Harley Gets to Play" (Azar, Masters, Murrah) – 3:50 #"Dreams of a Dancer" (Azar, Masters, Regan) – 3:11 #"Heartbreak Town" (Azar, Murrah, Regan) – 3:08 #" I Go Crazy" ( Paul Davis) – 3:51 #"Caught Between the Rock and the Roll" (Azar, Masters, Don Goodman) – 4:15 #"Love Had No Right" (Azar, Masters, Tony Marty) – 3:20 #"You Don't Even Have to Try" (Azar, Masters, Murrah) – 3:03

Personnel

As listed in liner notes. *

– lead vocals, background vocals,

acoustic guitar An acoustic guitar is a musical instrument in the string family. When a string is plucked its vibration is transmitted from the bridge, resonating throughout the top of the guitar. It is also transmitted to the side and back of the instrument, ...

Eddie Bayers Eddie Bayers (born January 28, 1949) is an American session drummer who has played on 300 gold and platinum albums. He received the Academy of Country Music 'Drummer of the Year Award' for fourteen years, has three times won the Nashville Music ...

–

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 ...

*Michael Black – background vocals *Kathy Burdick – background vocals *Glen Duncan – acoustic guitar *Larry Franklin –

fiddle A fiddle is a bowed string musical instrument, most often a violin. It is a colloquial term for the violin, used by players in all genres, including classical music. Although in many cases violins and fiddles are essentially synonymous, th ...

*Sonny Garrish –

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 ...

Greg Leisz Gregory Brian Leisz ( ; born September 18, 1949) is an American musician. He is a songwriter, recording artist, and producer. He plays guitar, dobro, mandolin, lap steel and pedal steel guitar. Biography Leisz grew up in the garage band cu ...

–

electric guitar An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar (however combinations of the two - a semi-acoustic guitar and an electric acoustic gui ...

lap steel guitar The lap steel guitar, also known as a Hawaiian guitar, is a type of steel guitar without pedals that is typically played with the instrument in a horizontal position across the performer's lap. Unlike the usual manner of playing a traditional ...

, pedal steel guitar *

Brent Mason Brent Mason (born July 13, 1959) is an American, Nashville, Tennessee-based recording studio guitarist and songwriter, performing primarily country music. Guitar World Magazine listed him as one of the "Top Ten Session Guitarists of All Time". ...

– electric guitar * A. J. Masters – acoustic guitar,

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

, background vocals *Matthew Morse –

strings String or strings may refer to: *String (structure), a long flexible structure made from threads twisted together, which is used to tie, bind, or hang other objects Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Strings'' (1991 film), a Canadian anim ...

*Steve Nathan –

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 ...

Hammond B-3 organ The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert and first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, Hammond organs generated s ...

Johnny Neel Johnny Neel is an American vocalist, songwriter, and musician based in Nashville, Tennessee. He is best known for his songwriting, stage, and being a member of the Allman Brothers Band and the Dickey Betts Band. As a songwriter, in addition to ...

– piano *Russ Pahl – pedal steel guitar *Gary Pigg – background vocals *

– electric guitar *Michael Rhodes – bass guitar *

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 produce ...

– acoustic guitar, electric guitar *

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 ar ...

– background vocals *Joe Thomas – acoustic guitar, piano *Jonathan Yudkin – fiddle

References

{{Authority control 1996 debut albums Steve Azar albums River North Records albums