"Till I Gain Control Again" is a country song written by

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''. ...

and originally recorded by

Emmylou Harris Emmylou Harris (born April 2, 1947) is an American singer, songwriter and musician. She has released dozens of albums and singles over the course of her career and has won 14 Grammys, the Polar Music Prize, and numerous other honors, including ...

in 1975. The song was included on her 1975 studio album ''

Elite Hotel ''Elite Hotel'' is the third studio album by American country music artist Emmylou Harris, released in 1975. ''Elite Hotel'' was Harris' second album to be released in 1975, preceded by the widely acclaimed ''Pieces of the Sky''. ''Elite Hotel'' s ...

''. The song is most known by the No. 1 single version recorded by

Crystal Gayle Crystal Gayle (born Brenda Gail Webb; January 9, 1951) is an American country music singer widely known for her 1977 hit "Don't It Make My Brown Eyes Blue". Initially, Gayle's management and record label were the same as that of her oldest sist ...

on her 1982 album, '' True Love''.

Composition

wrote the song while working for

Jerry Reed Jerry Reed Hubbard (March 20, 1937 – September 1, 2008) was an American singer, guitarist, composer, and songwriter as well as an actor who appeared in more than a dozen films. His signature songs included " Guitar Man", " U.S. Male", "A Thi ...

's publishing company. At the time, he was hanging out with noted songwriters

Townes Van Zandt John Townes Van Zandt (March 7, 1944 – January 1, 1997) was an American singer-songwriter.

Guy Clark Guy Charles Clark (November 6, 1941 – May 17, 2016) was an American folk and country singer-songwriter and luthier. He released more than 20 albums, and his songs have been recorded by other artists, including Jerry Jeff Walker, Jimmy Buffet ...

, and Steve Runkle, and wanted to show his own songwriting skill.Cooper, Peter
Rodney Crowell: Closer to Heaven
''

American Songwriter ''American Songwriter'' is a bimonthly magazine covering songwriting. Established in 1984, it features interviews, songwriting tips, news, reviews and lyric contest. The magazine is based in Nashville, Tennessee. History The ''American Songwri ...

'', October 31, 2008. In retrospect, Crowell expresses regret at rhyming "been" with "can" in the lyric "What you've seen is what I've been/There is nothing I could hide from you/You see me better than I can." Had he written the song later in his career, Crowell says he would have spent time to find a hard rhyme. Crowell marvels when people tell him this song is their favorite of his. Crowell's version was released on his third (self titled) album in 1981. Crowell wrote the song back-to-back with "

Song for the Life "Song for the Life" is a song written by American singer Rodney Crowell and originally recorded by The Seldom Scene. Crowell recorded the song in 1978 on his debut album '' Ain't Living Long Like This'', and since then, the song has been covered by ...

" (recorded on his debut album ''

Ain't Living Long Like This ''Ain't Living Long Like This'' is the debut studio album by United States, American country music singer-songwriter Rodney Crowell, released in 1978 by Warner Bros. Records. It failed to enter the Top Country Albums chart. The songs, "Elvira (son ...

'') in the 1970s and says both are a "projection into the future that I later lived through . . . and it was exactly like I predicted."

Crystal Gayle version

In 1982, the song would be recorded by

and her recording was her tenth number one on the country chart. Her recording would go to number one for one week and spend a total of twelve weeks on the chart. A music video was filmed for the song.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Blue Rodeo version

In 1993, the song was covered by Canadian country rock band

Blue Rodeo Blue Rodeo is a Canadian country rock band formed in 1984 in Toronto, Ontario. They have released 16 full-length studio albums, four live recordings, one greatest hits album, and two video/DVDs, along with multiple solo albums, side projects, a ...

for their album '' Five Days in July''. Released as a single in 1994, the song peaked at number 24 on the ''

RPM Revolutions per minute (abbreviated rpm, RPM, rev/min, r/min, or with the notation min−1) is a unit of rotational speed or rotational frequency for rotating machines. Standards ISO 80000-3:2019 defines a unit of rotation as the dimensionl ...

'' Country Tracks chart.

Chart performance

Other versions

Waylon Jennings Waylon Jennings (June 15, 1937 – February 13, 2002) was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. He pioneered the Outlaw Movement in country music. Jennings started playing guitar at the age of eight and performed at age f ...

covered the song on his 1977 album, ''

Ol' Waylon ''Ol' Waylon'' is an album by American country music artist Waylon Jennings, released on RCA Victor in 1977. It eventually became one of Jennings' highest-selling albums, due in no small part to the phenomenal success of the chart-topping "Luck ...

''.

Willie Nelson Willie Hugh Nelson (born April 29, 1933) is an American country musician. The critical success of the album ''Shotgun Willie'' (1973), combined with the critical and commercial success of ''Red Headed Stranger'' (1975) and '' Stardust'' (197 ...

covered it on his 1978 live album ''

Willie and Family Live ''Willie and Family Live'' is a live album by country music artist Willie Nelson. It was released in 1978 as a double- LP. It was recorded live at Harrah's in Lake Tahoe, Nevada in April 1978. Emmylou Harris provides backup vocals on "Will the Ci ...

''.

Jerry Jeff Walker Jerry Jeff Walker (born Ronald Clyde Crosby; March 16, 1942 – October 23, 2020) was an American country music and folk singer-songwriter. He was a leading figure in the progressive country and outlaw country music movement. He was best ...

also covered the song in 1978 on his ''Contrary to Ordinary'' album.

Bobby Bare Robert Joseph Bare Sr. (born April 7, 1935) is an American country music singer and songwriter, best known for the songs "Marie Laveau", " Detroit City" and "500 Miles Away from Home". He is the father of Bobby Bare Jr., also a musician. Early ca ...

covered the song in 1979. Crowell recorded his own version of the song as well in 1981 on his self-titled album. The eclectic band

This Mortal Coil This Mortal Coil were a British music collective led by Ivo Watts-Russell, founder of the British record label 4AD. Although Watts-Russell and John Fryer were the only two official members, the band's recorded output featured a large rotating ...

covered it on their 1991 album ''

Blood Blood is a body fluid in the circulatory system of humans and other vertebrates that delivers necessary substances such as nutrients and oxygen to the cells, and transports metabolic waste products away from those same cells. Blood in the c ...

''.

Van Morrison Sir George Ivan Morrison (born 31 August 1945), known professionally as Van Morrison, is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist whose recording career spans seven decades. He has won two Grammy Awards. As a teenager in t ...

covered it on his 2006 ''

Pay the Devil ''Pay the Devil'' is the thirty-second studio album by Northern Irish singer/songwriter Van Morrison. It was released in 2006 by Lost Highway. The album features twelve cover versions of American country and western tunes and three original ...

'' album.

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 ...

recorded it in 2016 as part of a tribute album to Harris titled ''The Life & Songs of Emmylou Harris''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Til I Gain Control Again 1975 songs 1982 singles 1994 singles Emmylou Harris songs Crystal Gayle songs Blue Rodeo songs Songs written by Rodney Crowell Song recordings produced by Allen Reynolds Song recordings produced by Jimmy Bowen Elektra Records singles