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Share Your Love is a studio album by country singer Kenny Rogers, released in 1981.
Produced by Lionel Richie, it is also Rogers' first with Liberty Records besides his Greatest Hits album. The album has sold nine million copies worldwide.
Rogers recorded portions of the album at Concorde Recording Center, where he had recorded his single "Lady", and purchased the recording studio in May 1981, before the album was completed.
He later re-named the studio Lion Share Studios.
Country meets R&B by the way of Pop. Country and Soul music share a long and often interacting history, but by the early 80s, both niche genres were watered down so much that their biggest crossover stars were not too far apart in sound.
This is why this album makes sense as Lionel Richie produced all of it after Kenny just hit big with Lionel's "Lady".
It also makes sense that Kenny scored bigger on the Adult Contemporary than on the Country charts at this time. He finally said goodbye to his old production and recording team and recorded this album in Lionel's comfort zone in L.A., far from Nashville.
The result is not only one of Kenny's best solo albums, but one of the best crossover attempts that ended both commercially and artistically satisfying. Four out of these ten songs were huge crossover hits.
From the cheery uptempo opener of "Blaze of Glory" or the catchy "So in Love With" (which could have been another hit) to the ballads, this is an album of mostly love songs rather than story songs which made The Gambler such a classic.
However next to being a first class storyteller, Kenny is fortunately also one of the greatest crooners in Pop music and a master of easy seduction music.
The distinct growl (probably inspired by Conway Twitty) and 'man next door'-persona from his story-songs give ballads like "I Don't Need You" (might be my favorite Kenny song) or "Through the Years" that special extra.
The centerpiece might be the title track, something of a Country-Soul standard which both cross-genre pioneers Charlie Rich and Bobby Bland recorded before - so it makes sense that it would finally become a hit now that the times are ready for it.
Those who think Kenny is giving in to mediocrity and abandons the Country traditions clearly haven't heard the version of the drinking lament "Makes Me Wonder If I Ever Said Goodbye" written by his friend Mickey Newbury or the desperado road-song "Goin' Back to Alabama" (where he is supported by Michael Jackson and Gladys Knight on background vocals) - he can still tell a good story!
The lighthearted closer "Grey Beard" was written by Kenny himself, a narrative set in the old west reminiscent of "The Devil Went Down to Georgia".
At the time of this writing, Lionel just released the "Country" album Tuskegee, which is basically a 'Greatest Hits' re-recorded with contemporary Country stars.
In the promotion process he often claimed how he always has been Country and how his songs are basically Country songs.
That this is not a farce he showed with songs like "Three Times a Lady" (a Country hit for Conway Twitty) or "Easy", but his understanding for the genre and how its appeal can be extended to audiences outside of the limits, he showed with his tremendous production effort.
Instead of watering Kenny down, he captured his strength at his most appealing.
Although it is almost more a Pop album, today it sounds more Country than current Country radio hits or Lionel's new album which has that new Country sound.
Country music is not necessarily the instrumentation or the twang, but mostly its magic lies in the value of a simple and powerful song of which there are ten pieces included here.
Four singles were released from this Share Your Love. "I Don't Need You", the title cut "Share Your Love With Me".
Rogers then took a break to release a single from his first Christmas album. "Blaze of Glory", which featured Kin Vassy on backing vocals, was also released as a single.
Although it was a lesser hit than the first two singles, it still made the top ten. The final single, "Through The Years", returned Rogers to the very top by putting him at No. 1 the Adult Contemporary charts once again.
Side one
1. Blaze Of Glory - 2:37
2. I Don’t Need You - 3:27
3. The Good Life - 2:47
4. Makes Me Wonder If I Ever Said Goodbye - 2:29
5. Through The Years - 4:48
Side two
1. Share Your Love With Me - 3:19
2. So In Love With You - 4:17
3. Goin’ Back To Alabama - 4:30
4. Without You In My Live - 5:04
5. Grey Beard - 2:36
Musicians
- Kenny Rogers – lead vocals, rhythm track arrangements
- Reginald "Sonny" Burke – keyboards
- Barnaby Finch – keyboards
- Glen Hardin – keyboards
- John Hobbs – keyboards
- Lincoln Mayorga – keyboards
- Sylvester Rivers – keyboards
- James Burton – guitars
- Rickey Harper – guitars
- Paul Jackson Jr. – guitars
- Russ Powell - guitars
- Darrell Jones – guitars
- Thomas McClary – guitars
- Ray Parker Jr. – guitars
- Fred Tackett – guitars
- Billy Joe Walker Jr. – guitars
- Dennis Belfield – bass
- Joe Chemay – bass
- Nathan East – bass
- Abraham Laboriel – bass
- Jerry Scheff – bass
- Freddie Washington – bass
- Ed Greene – drums
- Paul Leim – drums
- Rick Shlosser – drums
- Eddie "Bongo" Brown – percussion
- Ollie E. Brown – percussion
- Paulinho da Costa – percussion
- David Boruff – saxophone solo
- Gary Herbig – saxophone solo
- Gene Page – string, horn and rhythm arrangements
- Edgar Struble – string arrangements
- Harry Bluestone – concertmaster
Backing vocalists
- Track 1: Kin Vassy, Terry Williams, Gene Marford
- Track 2: Terry Williams, Kin Vassy, Cindy Fee, Juanice Charmain
- Track 3: Deborah Thomas, Kin Vassy, Terry Williams, Cindy Fee
- Track 4: Kin Vassy, Terry Williams, Cindy Fee
- Track 5: none
- Track 6: Gladys Knight & the Pips (Gladys Knight, William Guest, Merald "Bubba" Knight, Edward Patten), Lionel Richie
- Track 7: Lionel Richie, Terry Williams, Cindy Fee
- Track 8: Lionel Richie, Michael Jackson
- Track 9: Kin Vassy, Terry Williams, Deborah Thomas, Brooks Hunnicut
- Track 10: Lionel Richie, Terry Williams, Dorothy Sugarloaf
Technical
- Reginald Dozier – recording and mixing engineer
- Larry Ferguson – second engineer
- Bernie Grundman – mastering at Capitol Studios (Hollywood, CA).
- Michael Mancini – second engineer
- Brenda Harvey-Richie – assistant production
- Lionel Richie – producer
- Kenny Rogers – mixing engineer
Additional credits
- Bill Burks – art direction, design
- Roy R. Guzman – design
- Ken Kragen – management
- Gary Register – photography
Notes
Release: 1981
Format: LP, Vinyl
Genre: Country, Soul
Label: Liberty
Catalog# 1A 062-400020
Vinyl: Goed (VG)
Cover: Goed (VG)
Prijs: €10,00
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