''Love Is Strange'' is the twenty-third studio album by country music superstar

Kenny Rogers Kenneth Ray Rogers (August 21, 1938 – March 20, 2020) was an American singer, songwriter, and actor. He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2013. Rogers was particularly popular with country audiences but also charted mo ...

. It was released on September 11, 1990, by

Reprise Records Reprise Records is an American record label founded in 1960 by Frank Sinatra. It is owned by Warner Music Group, and operates through Warner Records, one of its flagship labels. Artists currently signed to Reprise Records include Enya, Michael ...

. The album includes the single "Love Is Strange", which charted at number 21 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 ...

that same year.

Track listing

Personnel

From ''Love Is Strange'' liner notes. * Kenny Rogers – lead vocals *

Matt Rollings Matt Rollings is a Grammy Award-winning American composer, keyboard player and record producer. Known mainly for playing in Lyle Lovett's Large Band, Rollings has worked with many artists, not all country. Matt won the 'Best Traditional Pop Voca ...

– electric piano (1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 9), acoustic piano (4, 5, 7) *

Mike Lawler Michael Vincent Lawler (born September 9, 1986) is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for New York's 17th congressional district since 2023. From 2021 to 2022, he was a Republican member of the New York State Assembly fro ...

– synthesizers (1-5, 10) * Phil Naish – synthesizers (1, 2, 3, 5–10) *

Larry Byrom Steppenwolf was an American-Canadian rock band that was prominent from 1968 to 1972. The group was formed in late 1967 in Los Angeles by lead singer John Kay, keyboardist Goldy McJohn, and drummer Jerry Edmonton, all formerly of the Canadian b ...

– electric guitar (1),

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 ...

(2), acoustic guitar (3, 10) * Steve Gibson – electric guitar (1, 2, 4–9), acoustic guitar (3, 7, 9, 10), mandolin (3, 10), gut-string guitar solo (3),

sitar The sitar ( or ; ) is a plucked stringed instrument, originating from the Indian subcontinent, used in Hindustani classical music. The instrument was invented in medieval India, flourished in the 18th century, and arrived at its present form in ...

(10) * John Hug – electric guitar (3), acoustic guitar (4, 5, 6, 9, 10) *

Bernie Leadon Bernie Leadon (pronounced ''led-un''; born July 19, 1947) is an American singer, musician, songwriter and founding member of the Eagles, for which he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998. Prior to the Eagles, he was a member ...

– acoustic guitar (3),

mandola The mandola (US and Canada) or tenor mandola (Ireland and UK) is a fretted, stringed musical instrument. It is to the mandolin what the viola is to the violin: the four double courses of strings tuned in fifths to the same pitches as the viola ...

(4, 8), mandolin (10) *

Glenn Worf Glenn Worf is an American bassist known mainly for his work as a session musician. He has recorded with many major country music acts and also tours with Mark Knopfler. Early life and education Worf was born in Dayton, Ohio, and grew up in Madis ...

– bass (1, 2, 6, 8, 10) * Michael Rhodes – bass (3, 4, 5, 9) *

Joe Chemay Joe Chemay is an American bassist and background singer, known for his recording session work. Biography Chemay started out working as a session and touring support musician in Los Angeles, but moved to Nashville in 1989. Chemay has worked wi ...

– bass (7) *

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 (1, 2, 6, 7, 10), percussion (6, 8, 10) *

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 (3, 5, 9) *

Terry McMillan Terry McMillan (born October 18, 1951) is an American novelist. Her work centers around the experiences of Black women in the United States. Early life McMillan was born in Port Huron, Michigan. She received a B.A. in journalism in 1977 from ...

– percussion (1, 2, 10) * Jimmy Mattingly –

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 ...

(4) * Bobby Taylor –

English horn The cor anglais (, or original ; plural: ''cors anglais''), or English horn in North America, is a double-reed woodwind instrument in the oboe family. It is approximately one and a half times the length of an oboe, making it essentially an alto ...

(5),

oboe The oboe ( ) is a type of double reed woodwind instrument. Oboes are usually made of wood, but may also be made of synthetic materials, such as plastic, resin, or hybrid composites. The most common oboe plays in the treble or soprano range. A ...

(8) * Bergen White – string arrangements and conductor (4, 8) * Carl Gorodetzky – concertmaster and contractor (4, 8) *

The 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 ...

– orchestra (4, 8) * Chris Harris – backing vocals (1-9) * Mark Heimermann – backing vocals (1-9) * Gary Janney – backing vocals (1-9), harmony vocals (6, 10) *

Dolly Parton Dolly Rebecca Parton (born January 19, 1946) is an American singer-songwriter, actress, philanthropist, and businesswoman, known primarily for her work in country music. After achieving success as a songwriter for others, Parton made her album d ...

– lead vocals (1) *

Vince Gill Vincent Grant Gill (born April 12, 1957) is an American country music singer, songwriter and musician. He has achieved commercial success and fame both as frontman of the country rock band Pure Prairie League in the 1970s and as a solo artist b ...

– backing vocals (2, 10) *

Jim Photoglo James G. Photoglo is an American soft rock singer and songwriter from Inglewood, California. He released two charting albums in the early 1980s and had two hit singles, " We Were Meant to Be Lovers" (No. 31, 1980) and " Fool in Love with You" (No. ...

– backing vocals (2, 10) *

Harry Stinson Harry Stinson (born June 3, 1953 in Toronto, Ontario) is a Canadian real estate developer from Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. He is president of Stinson Properties, Inc. He has been called Toronto's "condo king". Biography Stinson's most significant ...

– backing vocals (2, 10) * Jim "Val" Valentini – harmony vocals (2) * Jennifer O'Brien-Enoch – soprano vocals (4)

Production

* Producers – Jim Ed Norman and Eric Prestidge * Production Assistant – Daniel Kee * Engineered and Mixed by Eric Prestidge * Assistant Engineers – Robert Tassi and Jim "Val" Valentini * Additional Engineers – Craig Hansen, Daniel Johnston, John Kunz and John David Parker. * Recorded at The Loft, Digital Recorders and 16th Avenue Sound (Nashville, TN). * Mixed at The Loft (Nashville, TN) and The Castle (Franklin, TN). * Digital Multitrack Editing by Keith Odle at GroundStar Laboratories (Nashville, TN). * Mastered by Glenn Meadows and Eric Prestidge at Masterfonics (Nashville, TN). * Art Direction – Laura LiPuma * Design – Heather Horne * Photography – Bernard Boudreau * Management – Ken Kragen

Chart performance

Singles

''Love Is Strange'' is home to three singles. The title cut, a duet with

, debuted first and made it to number 21 in the U.S. and number 14 in Canada. The follow-up single, released in 1990, was "Lay My Body Down", which reached number 69 in the U.S. but did not chart in Canada. The final single, "What I Did For Love", written by

Brent Maher Brent Maher is a producer, engineer, and songwriter currently residing in Nashville, Tennessee. He has produced and engineered six Grammy-winning records and received awards from the CMA, ACM, CCMA, ASCAP, SOCAN and NSAI. Maher engineered cl ...

and Tom Schuyler, did the opposite, charting only in Canada, peaking at number 81.

References

Kenny Rogers albums 1990 albums Reprise Records albums Albums produced by Jim Ed Norman {{1990s-country-album-stub