Dixie Chicks – Fly (1999)

Fly is the fifth studio album by American country band Dixie Chicks, released in 1999. The album was very successful for the group, debuting at No. 1 on the Billboard 200. It has received diamond status by the RIAA on June 25, 2002 in the United States, for shipments of 10 million units.

The tracks “Ready to Run”, “Cowboy Take Me Away”, “Without You”, “Goodbye Earl”, “Cold Day in July”, “Heartbreak Town”, “Some Days You Gotta Dance” and “If I Fall You’re Going Down with Me” were all released as singles; “Sin Wagon” also charted without officially being released. “Some Days You Gotta Dance” was previously recorded by The Ranch, a short-lived country trio founded by Keith Urban in the late 1990s. Urban plays guitar on the Dixie Chicks’ rendition. (by wikipedia)

Wide Open Spaces unveiled the new incarnation of the Dixie Chicks, revealing an eclectic, assured group that was simultaneously rootsy and utterly modern, but if that 1998 de facto debut captured the band just leaving the ground, Fly — perhaps appropriately, given the title — finds the group in full flight, in full possession of their talents.

This time around, the different sounds they draw upon are more fully integrated, which only makes them more distinctive as a group. Even if the whole of the album feels more of a piece, they still take the time to deliver a slice of pure honky tonk on “Hello Mr. Heartache” and a piece of breakneck bluegrass on the rip-roaring, wickedly clever “Sin Wagon,” which is also one of the group originals here, a collaboration between Natalie Maines and Emily Robison and outside writer Stephony Smith.

It — along with the Maines-cowritten “Without You,” the Maines/Robison “Don’t Waste Your Heart” and Martie Seidel’s co-written “Ready to Run” and “Cowboy Take Me Away” — showcase the trio’s increasing craft as writers, which is one of the reasons this album sounds unified. But even the outside-written material feels like the group, whether it’s the twangy boogie “Some Days You Gotta Dance,” Patty Griffin’s “Let Him Fly,” the melancholy “Cold Day in July” and, especially “Goodbye Earl” where a wife gets revenge on her abusive husband. Like before, the group moves gracefully between these different styles, with Maines providing a powerful, compelling focus with Robison and Seidel offering sensitive support, and this blend makes Fly a rich, nuanced album that just gets better with repeated listens. (by Stephen Thomas Erlewine)

In other words: This is one of the best Country orientated albums I ever heard  … and … enjoy the great booklet !

Personnel:
Natalie Maines (vocals)
Emily Robison (guitar, banjo, dobro, vocals, lap steel guitar)
Martie Seidel (fiddle, mandolin, viola, background vocals)
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Pat Buchanan (guitar)
Blake Chancey (handclapping)
Steve Conn (accordion)
Marcus Hummon (guitar on 01.)
Mike Henderson (guitar on 12.)
Dennis Linde – acoustic guitar on “Goodbye Earl”
Terry McMillan (percussion)
Lloyd Maines (steel guitar)
George Marinelli (guitar on 05. + 12.)
John Mock (concertina, bodhrán, tin whistle)
Greg Morrow (drums)
Steve Nathan (keyboards)
Michael Rhodes (bass)
Tom Roady (percussion)
Charlie Robison (handclapping)
Matt Rollings (keyboards)
Randy Scruggs (guitar)
Adam Steinberg (guitar on 10. + 15.)
Bryan Sutton (guitar on 09.)
Keith Urban (guitar on 11.)
Billy Joe Walker, Jr. (guitar on 01. + 10.)
Paul Worley (guitar, background vocals)
“Iffy harmony” vocals on “Goodbye Earl” performed by
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background vocals on 06.:
The “Do-Wrongs”:
Blake Chancey – Paul Worley – Charlie Robison.
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String section on 10.:

Violins:
Martie Seidel – Carl Gorodetsky – Pamela Sixfin – Lee Larrison – Connie Ellisor  – Alan Umstead – David Davidson – Mary Katherine Van Osdale – David Angell – Janet Askey – Karen Winkelman – Cate Myer – Catherine Umstead

Viola:
Kris Wilkinson – Jim Grosjean – Gary Van Osdale – Monisa Angell

Cello:
Bob Mason – John Catchings

Conducted by Dennis Burnside

Tracklist:
01. Ready To Run (Hummon/Seidel) 3.52
02. If I Fall You’re Going Down With Me (Berg/Roboff) 3.05
03. Cowboy Take Me Away (Seidel/Hummon) 4.51
05. Cold Day In July (Leigh) 5.12
06. Goodbye Earl (Linde) 4.19
07. Hello Mr. Heartache (Henderson/Hadley) 3.49
08. Don’t Waste Your Heart (Robison/Maines) 2.50
09. Sin Wagon (Maines/Robison/Smith) 3.41
10. Without You (Maines/Silver) 3.32
11. Some Days You Gotta Dance (Johnson/Morgan) 2.30
12. Hole In My Head (Lauderdale/Miller) 3.22
13. Heartbreak Town (Scott) 3.48
14. Ain’t No Thang But A Chicken Wang 0.07
15. Let Him Fly (Griffin) 3.08

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Dixie Chicks – Wide Open Spaces (1998)

Wide Open Spaces is the fourth studio album and the major label debut of American country music band, the Dixie Chicks. It was their first record with new lead vocalist Natalie Maines, and became their breakthrough commercial success. It received diamond status by the RIAA on February 20, 2003 in the United States, having shipped 14 million units worldwide, while spending more than six years in the Australian ARIA music charts Country Top 20.

At the 41st Grammy Awards, the album was awarded 2 Grammy Awards out of 3 nominations.[5] It was awarded Best Country Album (the first of what would be 4 trophies in this category: they would later win for Fly in 2000, Home in 2003, and Taking the Long Way in 2007) and for Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal for the song “There’s Your Trouble”. This is an award the Chicks would win 5 times: in 2000 for “Ready to Run”, in 2003 for “Long Time Gone”, in 2005 for “Top of the World” and 2007 for “Not Ready to Make Nice”, a feat only matched by The Judds. In addition, the Chicks were nominated for Best New Artist in 1999.

“Once You’ve Loved Somebody” had previously been recorded by John & Audrey Wiggins on their 1996 album, The Dream. (by wikipedia)

The Dixie Chicks spent the first half of the ’90s toiling away on the independent bluegrass circuit, releasing three albums on small labels, before sisters Martie Seidel and Emily Robison decided to revamp their sound in 1995, adding Natalie Maines as their lead singer and, in the process, moving the group away from bluegrass and toward a major label with Sony/Columbia’s revived Monument Records imprint. All of this seems like the blueprint for a big pop crossover move and, to be sure, their 1998 major-label debut Wide Open Spaces was a monumental success, selling over ten million copies and turning the group into superstars, but the remarkable thing about the album is that it’s most decidedly not a sell-out, or even a consciously country-pop record. To be sure, there are pop melodies here, but this isn’t a country-pop album in the vein of Shania Twain, a record that’s big on style and glitz, designed for a mass audience. Instead, Wide Open Spaces pulls from several different sources — the Chicks’ Americana roots, to be sure, but also bits of the alt country from kd lang and Lyle Lovett, ’70s soft rock (any album that features versions of songs by J.D. Souther and Bonnie Raitt surely fits this bill), even the female neo-folkies emerging on the adult alternative rock stations at the end of the decade.

In other words, it hit a sweet spot, appealing to many different audiences because it was eclectic without being elitist but they also had a true star in Natalie Maines, whose powerful, bluesy voice gave these songs a compelling center. Maines was versatile, too, negotiating the twists and turns of these songs without a hitch, easily moving from the vulnerability of “You Were Mine” to the snarl of “Give It Up or Let Me Go.” The same goes for the Dixie Chicks and Wide Open Spaces as a whole: they are as convincing on the sprightly opener “I Can Love You Better” or the bright, optimistic title song as they are on the breezy “There’s Your Trouble” as they are on the honky tonk shuffle of “Tonight the Heartache’s on Me” and the rocking swagger of “Let ‘Er Rip.” It’s a remarkably wide range and it’s effortlessly eclectic, with the Dixie Chicks bringing it all together with their attitude and understated musicality — as debuts go (and this does count as a debut), they rarely get better than this. (by Stephen Thomas Erlewine)

Personnel:
Emily Erwin (guitar, banjo, dobro, vocals)
Natalie Maines (vocals, banjo)
Martie Seidel (fiddle, mandolin, vocals)
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Mark Casstevens (guitar)
Bobby Charles, Jr. (bass)
Joe Chemay (bass)
Billy Crain (guitar)
Lloyd Maines (steel guitar)
George Marinelli (guitar)
Greg Morrow (drums)
Michael Rhodes (bass)
Tom Roady (percussion)
Matt Rollings (keyboards)
Billy Joe Walker, Jr. (guitar)
Paul Worley (guitar)
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Tommy Nash (guitar on 12.)
Tony Paoletta (steel guitar on 12.)

Tracklist:
01. I Can Love You Better (Hayes/Kostas) 3.54
02. Wide Open Spaces (Gibson) 3.43
03. Loving Arms (Jans) 3.37
04. There’s Your Trouble (Selby/Sillers) 3.13
05. You Were Mine (Erwin/Seidel) 3.37
06. Never Say Die (Ducas/Foster) 3.57
07. Tonight The Heartache’s On Me (Francis/MacRae/Morrison) 3.26
08. Let ‘Er Rip (Crain/Ramos) 2.51
09. Once You’ve Loved Somebody (McHugh/Miller) 3.29
10. I’ll Take Care Of You (Souther) 3.40
11. Am I the Only One (Who’s Ever Felt This Way) (McKee) 3.25
12. Give It Up Or Let Me Go (Raitt) 4.56

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