''Ropin' the Wind'' is the third studio album 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 ...

artist

Garth Brooks Troyal Garth Brooks (born February 7, 1962) is an American Country music, country singer and songwriter. His integration of pop and rock elements into the country genre has earned him his immense popularity, particularly in the United States, ...

. It was released on September 2, 1991, and became his first studio album to debut at No. 1 on both the ''Billboard'' 200 chart and the

Top Country Albums Top Country Albums is a chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine in the United States. The 50-position chart lists the most popular country music albums in the country, calculated weekly by Broadcast Data Systems based on physical sales ...

chart. This marked the first time a country singer topped both charts since

Kenny Rogers Kenneth Ray Rogers (born Kenneth Donald Rogers) (August 21, 1938 – March 20, 2020) was an American singer and songwriter. He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, Country Music Hall of Fame in 2013. Rogers was particul ...

accomplished this just over a decade earlier. The album had four runs at No. 1 between September 28, 1991, and April 3, 1992, spending a total of 18 weeks at the top and ultimately being certified 14× Platinum by the RIAA in 1998. In the UK, it reached the Top 50 pop albums list and maintained the No. 1 position for several months on the country charts. It is the last studio album released under

Capitol Records Nashville Capitol Records Nashville is a major United States–based record label located in Nashville, Tennessee, operating as part of the Music Corporation of America. From 1991 to 1995, Capitol Nashville was known as Liberty Records. While under the ...

until the 1995 album '' Fresh Horses''. The track "Shameless" is a cover version of a song by

Billy Joel William Martin Joel (born May 9, 1949) is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Piano Man" after his Signature song, signature 1973 song Piano Man (song), of the same name, Joel has ha ...

, recorded on his 1989 album '' Storm Front''. According to the music website

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

, ''Ropin' the Wind'' was the first country album to debut at No. 1 on the ''Billboard'' 200.

Background

Brooks commented on the album, saying:

"''Ropin' the Wind'' was what we called the son of ''Fences''. ''Ropin' the Wind'' was made during this kind of tour that we were on from ''No Fences''. We were gone for pretty much 250 days out of the year. In the remaining 100 days, I elected to cut ''Ropin' the Wind'' and try to write for it. This album became a lot bigger than I ever thought it could possibly be. When I listen to the singles off of it like 'Rodeo,' 'What She's Doing Now,' 'The River,' 'Papa Loved Mama,' and 'Shameless,' I look at it and stand very proud. And when I also look at the cuts, 'Against the Grain' and 'Cold Shoulder,' these songs I am equally proud of."

Reception

''Ropin' the Wind'' debuted at No. 1 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' 200, becoming his first album to achieve this milestone, and reached No. 1 on the

chart, selling 400,000 copies. This made it his second No. 1 country album. In September 1998, ''Ropin' the Wind'' was certified 14× Platinum by the

RIAA The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

Track listing

Personnel

* Garth Brooks – lead and backing vocals, acoustic guitar *

Susan Ashton Susan Ashton (born Susan Rae Hill; July 17, 1967) is an American contemporary Christian music and country music artist who topped the Christian charts throughout the 1990s. In 1991 she began using her mother's maiden name, Ashton, when she reco ...

– backing vocals * Bruce Bouton – lap and pedal steel guitars,

Dobro Dobro () is an American brand of resonator guitars owned by Gibson and manufactured by its subsidiary Epiphone. The term "dobro" is also used as a generic term for any wood-bodied, single-cone resonator guitar. The Dobro was originally a gui ...

* Sam Bush –

mandolin A mandolin (, ; literally "small mandola") is a Chordophone, stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally Plucked string instrument, plucked with a plectrum, pick. It most commonly has four Course (music), courses of doubled St ...

* Mark Casstevens – acoustic guitar * Mike Chapman – bass guitar * Charles Cochran – string arrangements * Larry Cordle – backing vocals *

Jerry Douglas Gerald Calvin Douglas (born May 28, 1956) is an American Dobro and lap steel guitar player and record producer. He is widely regarded as "perhaps the finest Dobro player in contemporary acoustic music, and certainly the most celebrated and prol ...

– Dobro * Carl Jackson – backing vocals * Chris Leuzinger – electric guitar * Rob Hajacos – fiddle * Kenny Malone – percussion * Edgar Meyer – acoustic bass * Milton Sledge – drums, percussion * Bobby Wood – keyboards *

Trisha Yearwood Patricia Lynn Yearwood (born September 19, 1964) is an American country singer. She rose to fame with her 1991 debut single "She's in Love with the Boy", which became a number one hit on the ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' Hot Country Songs ...

– backing vocals * Nashville String Machine –

string orchestra A string orchestra is an orchestra consisting solely of a string section made up of the bowed strings used in Western Classical music. The instruments of such an orchestra are most often the following: the violin, which is divided into first a ...

Charts

Weekly charts

Singles

Other charted songs

Year-end charts

Decade-end charts

Certifications and sales

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ropin' The Wind 1991 albums Garth Brooks albums Albums produced by Allen Reynolds Liberty Records albums Canadian Country Music Association Top Selling Album albums