''Words'' is the debut album by American
R&B musician
Tony Rich
Antonio Jeffries (born November 19, 1971), better known as Tony Rich and The Tony Rich Project, is an American Grammy-award-winning Contemporary singer-songwriter best known for his hit single "Nobody Knows".
Early career
Rich was born in Det ...
(under the moniker "The Tony Rich Project"), released January 16, 1996 on
LaFace Records
LaFace Records was an American record label based in Atlanta, Georgia, that operated as a unit of Sony Music Entertainment from 2008 to 2011 and was historically a part of Bertelsmann Music Group from 1989 to 2004. It was most active and achie ...
. The album is produced, written, arranged and performed by Rich. In
1997
File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of t ...
, the album won the
Grammy Award for Best R&B Album
The Grammy Award for Best R&B Album is an honor presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for quality works on albums in the R&B music genre. Honors ...
.
At the start of 1996 with the acoustic R&B ballad, "Nobody Knows", the song was a hit, peaking at number two for two weeks, going platinum, and spending almost a year on the
''Billboard'' Hot 100 (47 weeks).
In total three singles were released from ''Words'': "Nobody Knows", "Like a Woman", and "Leavin'".
Track listing
All songs written by Tony Rich except "Nobody Knows" (written by Joe Rich & Don DuBose).
# "Hey Blue" – 3:48
# "
Nobody Knows" – 5:06
# "Like a Woman" – 4:08
# "Grass is Green" – 4:08
# "Ghost" – 4:21
# "Leavin'" – 3:44
# "Billy Goat" – 4:11
# "Under Her Spell" – 4:24
# "Little Ones" – 3:37
# "Missin' You" – 3:49
Personnel
*Tony Rich – all instruments, vocals, programming
*Nuri – additional vocals on "Under Her Spell"
*Joe Rich – keyboards on "Nobody Knows"
*John Frye – second acoustic guitar on "Ghost"
*Peter Moore – acoustic guitar on "Nobody Knows" and "Missin' You"
*Reggie Griffin – electric guitar on "Hey Blue" and "Missin' You", solo and rhythm guitars on "Like a Woman", feedback on "Ghost", wah wah guitar on "Billy Goat"
*Colin Wolfe – bass guitar on "Ghost"
Charts
Certifications
References
{{Authority control
1996 debut albums
Tony Rich albums
LaFace Records albums
Grammy Award for Best R&B Album
Neo soul albums