''She Rides Wild Horses'' is the twenty-third 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, ...

singer

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 in 1999 on his own Dreamcatcher Records label. The album includes the

singles Singles are people not in a committed relationship. Singles may also refer to: Film and television * ''Singles'' (miniseries), a 1984 Australian television series * ''Singles'' (1992 film), written and directed by Cameron Crowe * ''Singles'' ...

"The Greatest," "Slow Dance More" and "

Buy Me a Rose "Buy Me a Rose" is a song written by Jim Funk and Erik Hickenlooper, and recorded by American country music artist Kenny Rogers. It was released in October 1999 as the third single from his album ''She Rides Wild Horses''. Upon reaching Number One ...

," all of which charted 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 ...

'' country singles charts.

History

Rogers had not charted a country hit since "If You Want to Find Love" in late 1991-early 1992. "The Greatest," his first release on his own label, brought him to the charts for the first time in nearly eight years, spending twenty weeks on the 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 and peaking at 26. After it came "Slow Dance More" at 67, followed by "

," with backing vocals from

Alison Krauss Alison Maria Krauss (born July 23, 1971) is an American bluegrass-country singer and musician. She entered the music industry at an early age, competing in local contests by the age of 8 and recording for the first time at 14. She signed with ...

and

Billy Dean William Harold Dean Jr. (born April 2, 1962) is an American country music singer and songwriter. He first gained national attention after appearing on the television talent competition ''Star Search''. Active as a recording artist since 1990, h ...

. This song went to Number One on the country charts and number 40 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, giving Rogers his first Number One since 1987. The song also made Rogers, who was 61 at the time, the oldest country artist to achieve a Number One hit.

Critical reception

Giving it three stars out of five,

Stephen Thomas Erlewine Stephen Thomas Erlewine (; born June 18, 1973) is an American music critic and senior editor for the online music database AllMusic. He is the author of many artist biographies and record reviews for AllMusic, as well as a freelance writer, occ ...

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 ...

considered it a stronger album than Rogers' 1998 ''Across My Heart'' and a return to his 1980s sound, but said that some of the song selection was "uneven."

Track listing

Personnel

As listed in liner notes. *

– lead vocals *

Bobby Ogdin Robert Ford Ogdin (born September, 1945) is a Nashville-based recording session pianist. He is best known as a member of Elvis Presley's TCB band. He performed on 20 of Presley's recordings and accompanied him on 45 live shows until Presleys' deat ...

– keyboards * Steve Mandile – all guitars (1, 2, 4-9), electric guitar (10) * Richard Bailey –

banjo The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and usually made of plastic, or occasionally animal skin. Early forms of the instrument were fashi ...

(1) * Russ Pahl –

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 ...

(1) *

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 ...

– steel guitar (2, 4) * Steve Gibson – all guitars (3) *

Mark Selby Mark Anthony Selby (born 19 June 1983) is an English professional snooker player, who is a four-time World Snooker Champion. Ranked world number one on multiple occasions, he has won a total of 21 ranking titles, placing him eighth on the ...

– rhythm guitar (10) *

Biff Watson Fletcher Bangs "Biff" Watson is an American guitarist, songwriter, and producer. His musicianship has been a part of recording sessions for many artists. Biography Early years Raised in Chatham, Virginia, Watson learned how to play guitar at a ...

– acoustic guitar (10) * Steve Glassmeyer –

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 ...

(10) * Spencer Campbell – bass *

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 * 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 ...

and

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 ...

(4, 5) *

Jonathan Yudkin Jonathan Yudkin is an American multi-instrumentalist who is a proficient player of banjo, violin, mandolin, and other stringed instruments. He is a Nashville-based session musician, record producer, arranger, and band leader. Biography Growin ...

–

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 ...

(1),

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 ...

(3) * Michael Black – backing vocals (1, 3, 5) * Thom Flora – backing vocals (1, 10) *

– backing vocals (2) *

– backing vocals (2, 4) * Tammy Fry – harmony vocals (3, 5, 9) * Yvonne Hodges – backing vocals (5) * Carolyn Dawn Johnson – harmony vocals (6) *

Billy Montana Billy Montana (born William Schlappi on September 28, 1959, in Voorheesville, New York) is an American country music singer-songwriter. Between 1987 and 1995, Montana released one studio album and charted six singles on '' Billboard''s Hot Coun ...

– backing vocals (7) * Jack Sundrud – backing vocals (7) * Strings on Tracks 2-9 performed by

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 ...

; Carl Gorodetzky, concertmaster. Arranged and conducted by Bergen White.

Production

* Tracks 1-4 produced by Kenny Rogers; Tracks 5-10 produced 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 Jim McKell for Maher Productions. * Executive producer – Jim Mazza * Recorded and mixed by Brent Maher and Jim McKell * Assistant engineers – Jason Breckling, Otto D'Agnolo, Thomas Johnson, Eric Katte, Mark Niemiec, Gary Paczosa, Paul Skaife and Jamison Weddle. * Recorded and mixed at Creative Recording, Inc. (Nashville, TN). * Editing – Eric Conn, Frank Green, Carlos Grier and Mills Logan. * Mastered by Denny Purcell and Jonathan Russell at Georgetown Masters (Nashville, TN). * Art direction – P. David Elezear and Nick Long * Photography – Jim "Señor" McGuire * Management – Ken Kragen and Jim Mazza * Booking – Greg Oswald at William Morris Agency

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

{{Authority control 1999 albums Kenny Rogers albums Albums produced by Brent Maher