''Keith Gattis'' is the self-titled debut 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, ...

singer

Keith Gattis Keith Gattis (born May 26, 1970) is an American country music artist, songwriter, guitarist and producer. Gattis has released two studio albums and charted one single while signed to RCA Nashville on the ''Billboard'' Hot Country Singles & Tra ...

. It was released in 1996 via

RCA Records RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also A ...

. The album includes the singles "Little Drops of My Heart", which peaked at number 53 on

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 ...

, and "Real Deal".

Critical reception

Chuck Hamilton of ''

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 ...

'' gave the album a positive review, saying that Gattis "covers a variety of hard country styles and has the vocal equipment to handle it all convincingly." It received 4.5 stars out of 5 from Michael McCall of

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

, who compared Gattis' voice favorably to

Johnny Paycheck Johnny Paycheck (born Donald Eugene Lytle; May 31, 1938 – February 19, 2003) was an American country music singer and Grand Ole Opry member notable for recording the David Allan Coe song "Take This Job and Shove It". He achieved his greates ...

and

George Jones George Glenn Jones (September 12, 1931 – April 26, 2013) was an American country musician, singer, and songwriter. He achieved international fame for his long list of hit records, including his best-known song "He Stopped Loving Her Today", ...

Track listing

All songs written by Keith Gattis except as noted. #"Real Deal" (Gattis, Jim Dowell) — 3:08 #"Everywhere I See You There" — 3:25 #"The Puppet" — 3:32 #"Back in Your Arms" — 3:12 #"Whoop-De-Do" (

Jeff Carson Jeffrey Lee Herndon (December 16, 1963 – March 26, 2022), known professionally as Jeff Carson, was an American country music artist. Originally a session musician in Branson, Missouri, and later a demo singer, he was signed to Curb Records in ...

, Buddy Blackmon, Vip Vipperman) — 2:50 #"Little Drops of My Heart" — 3:51 #"Scrapin' Off the Pain" — 3:23 #"Heartache Hero" (Kim Williams, Ron Harbin,

Kim Tribble Kim Chadwick Tribble (November 14, 1951-August 26, 2021) was an American country music songwriter. Active since the mid-1990s, he has written for David Lee Murphy, Montgomery Gentry, Doug Stone, and others. Two songs written by Tribble, " Guys Do ...

) — 2:46 #"Only Lonely Fool" — 3:32 #"Look Out Below" (Gattis, James T. Heffernan) — 2:42

Personnel

Compiled from liner notes.

Musicians

*Harold Bradley —

tic tac bass The baritone guitar is a guitar with a longer scale length, typically a larger body, and heavier internal bracing, so it can be tuned to a lower pitch. Gretsch, Fender, Gibson, Ibanez, ESP Guitars, PRS Guitars, Music Man, Danelectro, Schec ...

*Mark Casstevens — acoustic guitar *Glen Duncan and Rob Hajacos — twin fiddles *Keith Gattis — vocals, acoustic guitar *

Paul Leim Paul may refer to: *Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name) *Paul (surname), a list of people People Christianity * Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chri ...

— drums *Larry Marrs — bass guitar, background vocals *

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 *

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

— piano *Hal Rugg —

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 ...

Marty Stuart John Marty Stuart (born September 30, 1958) is an American country and bluegrass music singer, songwriter, and musician. Active since 1968, Stuart initially toured with Lester Flatt, and then in Johnny Cash's road band before beginning work as a ...

—

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 ...

Technical

*Don Cobb — digital editing *Carlos Greer — digital editing *Joe Hayden — assistant engineer *Amy Hughes — assistant engineer *Ken Hutton — assistant engineer *Sandy Jenkins — assistant engineer *Tom King — assistant engineer *John Kunz — assistant engineer *Warren Peterson — overdubs *Denny Purcell — mastering *

Chris Rowe Christopher Rowe, is an American record producer, audio engineer and guitarist specializing in country rock. He is best known for his work with Taylor Swift. Career Rowe began his career working as a guitarist on Folk music, folk, New-age musi ...

— digital editing *Steve Sexton — assistant engineer *Dave Sinco — overdubs *Brian Tankersley — mixing *Rhett Travis — assistant engineer *King Williams — assistant engineer *

Norro Wilson Norris Denton "Norro" Wilson (April 4, 1938 – June 8, 2017) was an American country music singer-songwriter, producer, and member of the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame. Wilson wrote or co-wrote numerous hit songs during more than 40 yea ...

— producer

Chart performance

References

{{Authority control 1996 debut albums RCA Records albums Keith Gattis albums Albums produced by Norro Wilson