"What Kind of Love" is a song co-written and recorded by American country music artist Rodney Crowell. It was released in June 1992 as the second single from the album ''

Life Is Messy ''Life Is Messy'' is the seventh studio album by American country music artist Rodney Crowell, released in 1992 by Columbia Records. It peaked at number 30 on the Top Country Albums chart. The songs, " Lovin' All Night", " What Kind of Love", "It's ...

''. The song reached number 11 on the U.S. ''

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 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 ...

chart and peaked at number 2 on the ''RPM'' Country Tracks in Canada.

History

Crowell and co-writer Will Jennings wrote the lyrics to a recording of a melody that

Roy Orbison Roy Kelton Orbison (April 23, 1936 – December 6, 1988) was an American singer, songwriter, and musician known for his impassioned singing style, complex song structures, and dark, emotional ballads. His music was described by critics as ...

had made before his death. The song features backing vocals from

Don Henley Donald Hugh Henley (born July 22, 1947) is an American musician and a founding member of the rock band Eagles. He is the drummer and one of the lead singers for the Eagles. Henley sang the lead vocals on Eagles hits such as "Witchy Woman", "Despe ...

and Linda Ronstadt.

Critical reception

Deborah Evans Price, of ''

'' magazine reviewed the song favorably, calling it the "first step in a major effort to immerse this rock-influenced country star into the pop and AC realm. She goes on to say that "twangy instrumentation a la Tom Petty and the late

(with whom this song was penned), combined with an appealing vocal, makes a strong argument for play at these and album rock formats."''

'', July 11, 1992 - Vol. 104, No. 28, Page 66.

Personnel

From ''Life Is Messy'' liner notes. ;Musicians * Mickey Curry - drums *

- background vocals * Booker T. Jones -

Hammond 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 ...

* Larry Klein - bass guitar, keyboards * Linda Ronstadt - background vocals * Steuart Smith - guitars ;Technical * Larry Klein - producer *Dan Marnien - engineering, mixing

Chart performance

"What Kind of Love" debuted at number 75 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot Country Singles & Tracks for the week of June 27, 1992.

Year-end charts

Other versions

Mike Walker Mike Walker is the name of: Sports * Mike Walker (rugby union) (1930–2014), Scottish rugby union player * Mike Walker (English footballer) (born 1945), former English footballer * Mike Walker (Welsh footballer) (born 1945), former Welsh footbal ...

covered the song on his 2002 album for

DreamWorks Records DreamWorks Records (often referred in copyright notices as SKG Music, LLC) was an American record label founded in 1996 by David Geffen, Steven Spielberg and Jeffrey Katzenberg as a subsidiary of DreamWorks Pictures. The label operated until 200 ...

. It was the B-side to the album's first single, "Honey Do".

References

{{Rodney Crowell 1992 singles Rodney Crowell songs Songs written by Rodney Crowell Songs written by Roy Orbison Songs with lyrics by Will Jennings Columbia Records singles 1992 songs