''The Things That Matter'' is the debut 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, ...

artist

Vince Gill Vincent Grant Gill (born April 12, 1957) is an American country music singer, songwriter and musician. He has achieved commercial success and fame both as frontman of the country rock band Pure Prairie League in the 1970s and as a solo artist ...

. It was released in 1985 on

RCA Nashville RCA Nashville is an American country music record label based in Nashville, Tennessee. It is distributed by Sony Music Nashville which is part of Sony Music. Current artists *Kane Brown *Andrew Jannakos *Miranda Lambert * Niko Moon (RCA/River Ho ...

. Its lead-off single, "True Love", reached #32 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 adverti ...

'' country charts. This song was followed by "If It Weren't for Him" (a duet with

Rosanne Cash Rosanne Cash (born May 24, 1955) is an American singer-songwriter and author. She is the eldest daughter of country musician Johnny Cash and Vivian Liberto Cash Distin, Johnny Cash's first wife. Although she is often classified as a country art ...

) at #10, and "Oklahoma Borderline" at #9. The Cash duet was also Gill's first Top Ten country hit. "With You" was the final single, peaking at #33.

Track listing

All songs written by Vince Gill except where noted.

Personnel

– lead and backing vocals, guitars *

John Barlow Jarvis John Barlow Jarvis (born January 2, 1954 in Pasadena, California)Paul Kingsbury, editor"The Encyclopedia of Country Music: The Ultimate Guide to the Music" 2004 is an American songwriter, composer, session pianist and recording artist. Before mov ...

– keyboards (1-5, 7, 8) * John Hobbs – keyboards (6) *

Billy Joe Walker Jr. Billy Joe Walker Jr. (February 29, 1952 – July 25, 2017) was an American songwriter, record producer and recording artist. He composed singles for Eddie Rabbitt, including " I Wanna Dance with You", " That's Why I Fell in Love with You" and " ...

– guitars (1-5, 7, 8) * Richard Bennett – guitars (6) * JayDee Maness –

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 conv ...

Emory Gordy Jr. Emory Lee Gordy Jr. (born December 25, 1944) is an American musician, songwriter and music producer. A former member of Emmylou Harris' backing band The Hot Band, he is best known for his association with country singer Patty Loveless, to whom h ...

– bass guitar *

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 (1-5, 7, 8) *

Larrie Londin Ralph Gallant (October 15, 1943 − August 24, 1992), better known by the stage name Larrie Londin, was an American drummer and session musician. According to journalist James Byron Fox, "If not the best known, Larrie is one of the most listene ...

– drums (6) * Mike Porter – percussion (6) * John Catchings – cello (4) *

Edgar Meyer Edgar Meyer (born November 24, 1960) is an American bassist and composer. His styles include classical, bluegrass, newgrass, and jazz. He has won five Grammy Awards and been nominated seven times. Meyer is a member of the Telluride Bluegras ...

–

double bass The double bass (), also known simply as the bass () (or #Terminology, by other names), is the largest and lowest-pitched Bow (music), bowed (or plucked) string instrument in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding unorthodox addit ...

(4), arrangement assistance (4) * Sara Fogel – viola (4) * Jim Grosjean – viola (4) * Kris Wilkinson – viola (4) * Ted Madsen – violin (4) * Connie McCollister – violin (4), concertmistress (4) * Laura Molyneaux – violin (4) * Betty Small – violin (4) * Jennifer Kimball – backing vocals (1) * Janis Oliver – backing vocals (1, 3) *

Herb Pedersen Herbert Joseph Pedersen (born April 27, 1944 in Berkeley, California) is an American musician, guitarist, banjo player, and singer-songwriter who has played a variety of musical styles over the past fifty years including country, bluegrass, p ...

– backing vocals (3, 8) *

– lead vocals (6) *

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''. ...

– backing vocals (8)

Production

* Emory Gordy Jr. – producer * Rob Santos – reissue producer * Jim Cotton – engineer, mixing * Joe Scaife – engineer, mixing * Gordon Shyrock – engineer * David Ahlert – assistant engineer * George W. Clinton – assistant engineer * Elliott Federman – mastering * Jeremy Holiday – production coordinator * Arlessa Barnes – project coordinator * Stephanie Kika – project coordinator * Robin Manning – project coordinator * Brooke Nochomson – project coordinator * Larry Parra – project coordinator * Dana Renert – project coordinator * Bill Stafford – project coordinator * Steve Strauss – project coordinator * Tom Tierney – project coordinator * Traci Werbel – project coordinator * John Hudson – product manager, art direction * Bill Brunt – art direction, design * Mandana Eidgah – art direction * Christine Chagnon – reissue design * Mark Tucker – photography * June Miller – make-up * Rich Kienzie – liner notes

Chart performance

References

*Allmusic (see infobox) {{DEFAULTSORT:Things That Matter 1985 debut albums Albums produced by Emory Gordy Jr. Vince Gill albums RCA Records albums