Garth Brooks [Bonus Track] (CD - 1989)

Personnel: Garth Brooks (vocals); Mark Casstevens (acoustic guitar); Chris Leuzinger (electric guitar); Bruce Bouton (steel guitar); Rob Hajacos (fiddle); Bobby Wood (keyboards); Mike Chapman (bass); Milton Sledge (drums); Wayland Patton, Kathy Chiavola, Hurshel Wiginton, Jennifer O'Brien, Wendy Johnson, Curtis Young, Trisha Yearwood (background vocals).

The Nashville String Machine: Carl Gorodetzky, Dennis Molchan, Pamela Sixfin, John Borg, George Binkly III, Roy Christensen, Gary Vanosdale.

Recorded at Jack's Tracks Recording Studio, Nashville, Tennessee.

Digitally remastered by Denny Purcell (Georgetown Masters).

Personnel: Garth Brooks (vocals); Jennifer O'Brien, Curtis Young, Kathy Chiavola, Trisha Yearwood, Wayland Patton, Hurshel Wiginton (vocals); Mark Casstevens (acoustic guitar); Chris Leuzinger (electric guitar); Bruce Bouton (steel guitar); Rob Hajacos (fiddle); Dennis Molchan, John Borg, George Binkley III, Roy Christensen, Carl Gorodetzky, Pamela Sixfin, Gary VanOsdale (strings); Bobby Wood (keyboards); Milton Sledge (drums).

Audio Mixer: Mark Miller .

Recording information: Jack's Tracks Recording Studio, Nashville, TN.

Photographer: Beverly Parker.

After several years as a small-time bar singer, Garth Brooks burst upon the American country scene in 1989 with this self-named album, produced by Don Williams' producer, Allen Reynolds. He sang songs with an old-time country feel ("Cowboy Bill") and revived a Jim Reeves' single ("I Know One"), but he was much too young to feel this damn old and the album had a solid, contemporary feel. One of the greatest love songs of recent years, if not all-time, is his own composition "If Tomorrow Never Knows." This album was first in his on-going series of multi-platinum sales.

On Garth Brooks' self-titled debut, his fusion of rock & roll and traditional country genres like honky tonk and Western swing is already fully formed as is his gift for extended metaphors. One listen to his signature song and breakthrough hit, "The Dance," proves that, which is why he broke away from the hat acts that he was initially grouped with. Nevertheless, Garth Brooks is the most straightforward of all of his albums; Brooks sticks with neo-traditional country on about half of the tracks. He sings traditional country quite well -- "Not Counting You" is a particularly effective honky tonk number, demonstrating a debt to both George Jones and George Strait -- but what makes the album an exciting debut are songs like the genre-bending ballads "The Dance" and "If Tomorrow Never Comes"; and that is the style that would bring him mass success with his next album, No Fences. [Brooks re-released the album in 2000, adding the track "Uptown Down Home Good Ol' Boy."] ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine minimize