"It's Not Over" is a song written by Mark Wright and Larry Kingston, and recorded by American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

singer

Mark Chesnutt Mark Nelson Chesnutt (born September 6, 1963) is an American country music singer and songwriter. Between 1990 and 1999, he had his greatest chart success recording for Universal Music Group Nashville's MCA and Decca branches, with a total of ei ...

. Originally found on his 1992 album '' Longnecks & Short Stories'', the song was also included on his 1997 album '' Thank God for Believers'',

History

The song was originally recorded under the title "It's Not Over (If I'm Not Over You)" by

Vern Gosdin Vernon Gosdin (August 5, 1934 – April 28, 2009) aka Country music's "The Voice", was an American country music singing, singer. He had 19 top-10 solo hits on the country music charts from 1977 through 1990. Three of these hits went to Number O ...

and released on his 1982 album ''Passion''.

Reba McEntire Reba Nell McEntire ( ; born March 28, 1955), or simply Reba, is an American country music, country singer and actress. Dubbed "Honorific nicknames in popular music, The Queen of Country", she has sold more than 75 million records worldwide. Sin ...

also cut it in 1984 on her album '' My Kind of Country''.

included his version of the song on his 1992 album '' Longnecks & Short Stories'', but did not release it as a single at the time. His rendition of the song features backing vocals from

Vince Gill Vincent Grant Gill (born April 12, 1957) is an American singer, songwriter, and musician. He played in a number of local bluegrass music, bluegrass bands in the 1970s, and from 1978 to 1982, he achieved his first mainstream attention after ta ...

and

Alison Krauss Alison Maria Krauss (born July 23, 1971) is an American bluegrass-country singer, fiddler and music producer. She entered the music industry at an early age, competing in local contests by the age of eight and recording for the first time at ...

. Five years later, he put the original version on his 1997 album '' Thank God for Believers''. Chesnutt chose to put the song on the album in order to replace a song that he felt did not fit thematically with the rest of the album. Regarding its placement on the album, he said that "When we put it up against the other songs, you would never know it was recorded so long ago." He also chose to make it a single because he "always thought that song had a place on radio".

Critical reception

A review from ''

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 advertis ...

'' was favorable, praising Chesnutt's "heartbroken hillbilly delivery", the presence of

steel guitar A steel guitar () 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 conventional guitar i ...

and

fiddle A fiddle is a Bow (music), bowed String instrument, string musical instrument, most often a violin or a bass. It is a colloquial term for the violin, used by players in all genres, including European classical music, classical music. Althou ...

in the production, and the harmony vocals.

Personnel

From ''Thank God for Believers'' liner notes. * Pat Flynn - acoustic guitar * Paul Franklin -

- background vocals *Rob Hajacos - fiddle *

- background vocals *

Paul Leim Paul William Leim (born December 29, 1950) is an American drummer and recording session musician based in Nashville. Biography Leim was born in Port Huron, Michigan and raised in Troup, Texas. He was inspired to take up drumming as a child a ...

- drums *

Hargus "Pig" Robbins Hargus Melvin Robbins (January 18, 1938 – January 30, 2022), known by his nickname "Pig", was an American session keyboard player. He played on records for many artists, including Patsy Cline, Dolly Parton, Connie Smith, Patti Page, Loretta Ly ...

- piano *

Brent Rowan Brent Rowan (born May 28, 1956, in Waxahachie, Texas) is an American session musician and record producer who works primarily in country music. Active since the 1970s, Rowan began working with John Conlee through the recommendation of record produ ...

- electric guitar *

Biff Watson Fletcher Bangs "Biff" Watson (born 1952) is an American guitarist, songwriter, and producer. His musicianship has been a part of recording sessions for many artists. Biography Early years Raised in Chatham, Virginia, Watson learned how to play ...

- acoustic guitar *Bob Wray - bass guitar

Chart performance

The song was the "Hot Shot Debut", meaning the highest-debuting song of the week, on the

Hot Country Songs 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 along with digital sales and streaming. ...

chart published for December 13, 1997, where it entered at No. 53.

References

{{authority control 1984 songs 1997 singles Reba McEntire songs Mark Chesnutt songs Vince Gill songs Alison Krauss songs Songs written by Mark Wright (record producer) Song recordings produced by Mark Wright (record producer) Vocal collaborations Songs about heartache