''Street Language'' is the fourth studio album by American country music artist

Rodney Crowell Rodney Crowell (born August 7, 1950) is an American musician, known primarily for his work as a singer and songwriter in country music. Crowell has had five number one singles on Hot Country Songs, all from his 1988 album '' Diamonds & Dirt''. ...

. It was released in 1986 (see 1986 in country music) by

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...

, his first release on that label. It peaked at #38 on the Top Country Albums chart. The songs, "Let Freedom Ring", "When I'm Free Again", "She Loves the Jerk" and "Looking for You" were released as singles but they all failed to chart within the top 20. This album was co-produced by

R & B Rhythm and blues, frequently abbreviated as R&B or R'n'B, is a genre of popular music that originated in African-American communities in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly ...

artist Booker T. Jones and features a blend of soul and country music. In 1984, Crowell recorded what was to be a new album for Warner Bros., ''Street Language''.Bill DeYoung
The Ballad of Rodney Crowell"
at About the Arts. May 27, 2014. Retrieved 1 July 2018. That album, a pop-sounding effort co–produced by David Malloy, was rejected by Warner Bros, and was never released. The label requested a more

Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and the ...

-friendly record, but Crowell negotiated a release from his contract and moved to

. He then he brought in Booker T. Jones as co-producer and re-recorded a more rock and roll/electric-sounding ''Street Language'' in 1986. The song "Looking for You" was co-written with Crowell's then wife, Rosanne Cash. "She Loves the Jerk" was written and first recorded by John Hiatt in 1983 and was included on his album, ''Riding with the King''. It would later be covered by

Elvis Costello Declan Patrick MacManus Order of the British Empire, OBE (born 25 August 1954), known professionally as Elvis Costello, is an English singer-songwriter and record producer. He has won multiple awards in his career, including a Grammy Award in ...

. Crowell's version of "I Don't Have to Crawl" was recorded for the Warner Bros. release, but did not make it onto the final Columbia album. That track was released in 1989 on ''

the Rodney Crowell Collection ''The Rodney Crowell Collection'' is the title of the first compilation album by American country music artist Rodney Crowell. It was released in 1989 (see 1989 in country music) by Crowell's former label, Warner Bros. Records, following the huge ...

''.

Track listing

Personnel

* Mike Baird - drums * Eddie Bayers - drums * Richard Bennett - acoustic guitar *

Ben Cauley Ben S. Cauley, Jr. (October 3, 1947 – September 21, 2015) was an American trumpet player, vocalist, songwriter, and founding member of the Stax recording group the Bar-Kays. He was the only survivor of the 1967 plane crash that claimed the live ...

- horn *Bobby Clark -

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 ...

Anthony Crawford Anthony Crawford may refer to: * Anthony Crawford (bass musician), American musician, producer and songwriter *Anthony Crawford (musician), American musician * Anthony Crawford (lynching victim), African American man who was killed by a lynch mob i ...

- background vocals *Quitman Dennis - horn *

Hank DeVito Henry M. "Hank" DeVito is an American musician and photographer known primarily for his pedal steel guitar work and songwriting. Biography After high school, DeVito attended the School of Visual Arts in New York City. He studied graphic arts and ...

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 ...

*Rick DiFonzo - guitar *

Anton Fig Anton Fig (born 8 August 1952 in Cape Town, South Africa), known as "The Thunder from Down Under", is a South African session drummer, perhaps best known as the drummer and second-in-command for Paul Shaffer and the World's Most Dangerous Ba ...

- drums * Vince Gill - acoustic guitar, background vocals * Bob Glaub - bass guitar * Kenny Greenberg - electric guitar * Jim Horn - horn, saxophone * Wayne Jackson - horn *

Eric Johnson Eric Johnson may refer to: Music *Eric Johnson (guitarist) (born 1954) an American guitarist and recording artist * Eric D. Johnson (born 1976), member of multiple indie-rock bands including Fruit Bats, The Shins and Califone Politics * Eric Joh ...

- guitar * Booker T. Jones - organ, synthesizer, piano, background vocals *Mary Ann Kennedy - background vocals * David Lindley - guitar * Dave Loggins - background vocals *Randy McCormick - synthesizer *Joann Neal - background vocals *

Dean Parks Weldon Dean Parks (born December 6, 1946) is an American session guitarist and record producer from Fort Worth, Texas. Albums Parks was member of the North Texas State One O'clock Lab Band before moving to Los Angeles to work with Sonny and Cher ...

- guitar *Mike Porter - percussion * Michael Rhodes - upright bass, bass guitar *

Robert Sabino Robert Sabino is an American rock keyboardist.(14 July 1996)Star Turns From a Home in the Firehouse ''The New York Times'' ("Mr. Sabino, a well-known keyboardist, attracted a record producer, Nile Rodgers, who lived in Fairfield County, to some o ...

- synthesizer *

Ralph Schuckett Ralph Schuckett (March 2, 1948 – April 4, 2021) was an American keyboardist, composer and songwriter known as one of the founding members of Todd Rundgren's band Utopia. He composed for film and television, including Pokémon, Sonic X, and A ...

- keyboards * Steuart Smith - electric guitar *Keith Sykes - background vocals * Billy Joe Walker Jr. - electric guitar *Roger "Rock" Williams - horn *Peter Wood - organ, programming *Pete Wosner - background vocals Choir performed by 'Catch a Rising Choir' and brass ensemble is 'Uptown Horns'

Chart performance

Album

Singles

Sources

{{DEFAULTSORT:Street Language (Album) 1986 albums Rodney Crowell albums Columbia Records albums Albums produced by Rodney Crowell Albums produced by Booker T. Jones