Right in the Middle of It

Right in the Middle of It
Studio album by Chely Wright
Released January 9, 1996
Genre Country
Length 35:52
Label Polydor
Producer Ed Seay
Harold Shedd
Chely Wright chronology
Woman in the Moon
(1994)		 Right in the Middle of It
(1996)		 Let Me In
(1997)
Singles from Right in the Middle of It
  1. "Listenin' to the Radio"
    Released: October 1995
  2. "The Love That We Lost"
    Released: January 1996
  3. "The Love He Left Behind"
    Released: 1996

Right in the Middle of It is the second studio album by American country artist Chely Wright. The album was released January 9, 1996 on Polydor Records and was produced by Harold Shedd. It was the final album Wright released on the Polydor label.

Contents

Background

Right in the Middle of It was recorded in Nashville, Tennessee, United States and was produced by Ed Seay and Harold Shedd. This was unlike her previous Polydor release entitled Woman in the Moon, which was co-produced by both Shedd and Barry Beckett.[1] Right in the Middle of It contained eleven tracks of material. Three out of the album's eleven tracks were either written or co-written by Wright: the title track, "The Other Woman", and "Gotta Get Good at Givin' Again". The album's production and sound mainly consisted of a traditional country sound that included both uptempo and ballad songs. Charlotte Dillon of Allmusic commented that the album's production included much of "natural country twang". The tenth track on the recording entitled "It's Not Too Late" was co-written by American country artist Tracy Byrd.[2] Right in the Middle of It was released on a compact disc upon its original release in January 1995.

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic [2]

Right in the Middle of It received a positive critical response upon its initial release in January 1996. Charlotte Dillon of Allmusic gave Right in the Middle of It four and a half out five stars, calling it Wright's "album pick". Dillon praised Wright for having the ability to record both ballads and have enough energy to record uptempo country numbers as well. Dillon also stated that many of Wright's musical influences (such as Connie Smith and Buck Owens) have shown influence on many of the album's individual tracks. In addition, Dillon praised Wright's musical experience, stating, "This might only be her second album, but she's had plenty of singing experience, starting with family get-togethers when she was a small child, where singalongs with fiddles and guitars were the norm. Before she hit her teens she had already formed a country band of her own. Early on Wright was exposed to music greats like Loretta Lynn, Buck Owens, Connie Smith, and Conway Twitty. Many of those influences can be heard in the songs on Right in the Middle of It."[2]

Release

Right in the Middle of It spawned three singles between 1995 and 1996, all of which charted on the Billboard Magazine country singles chart. The album's lead single entitled "Listenin' to the Radio" was released in October 1995, peaking at #66 on the Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart[3] and #84 on the Canadian RPM Country Singles chart.[4] The album's second track "The Love That We Lost" was released as the second single in January 1996, which peaked at #41 on the Billboard country chart[3] and #51 on the Canadian RPM country chart.[4] The final single released was "The Love He Left Behind" in 1996, which failed to chart any Billboard chart or in Canada. Right in the Middle of It was officially released on January 9, 1996 on Polydor Records, and did not chart on any Billboard list either.

Track listing

No. Title Writer(s) Length
1. "Listenin' to the Radio"   Sunny Russ, Stephony Smith 3:33
2. "The Love That We Lost"   Gary Burr, Monty Powell 3:49
3. "Heart Shaped World"   Kent Blazy, Bob DiPiero, Kim Williams 2:33
4. "The Love He Left Behind"   Steven Dale Jones, Bobby Tomberlin 3:38
5. "Right in the Middle of It"   Chely Wright 3:03
6. "What I Learned from Loving You"   James Brown, Russell Smith 3:48
7. "Alligator Purse"   Nick Pellegrino, Kenya Slaughter Walker 3:26
8. "The Other Woman"   Wright 3:53
9. "Day One"   Marv Green, Wendell Mobley 3:00
10. "It's Not Too Late"   Tracy Byrd, Bill Rice, Sharon Rice 3:32
11. "Gotta Get Good at Givin' Again"   Wright 3:37

Personnel

Sales chart positions

Singles
Year Song Peak chart positions
US Country
[3]		 CAN Country
[4]
1995 "Listenin' to the Radio" 66 84
1996 "The Love That We Lost" 41 51
"The Love He Left Behind" — —
"—" denotes releases that did not chart.

References

  1. ^ "Woman in the Moon > credits". Allmusic. http://www.allmusic.com/album/r205843/credits. Retrieved 22 July 2010. 
  2. ^ a b c Dillon, Charlotte. "Right in the Middle of It > Review". Allmusic. http://www.allmusic.com/album/r231201/review. Retrieved 22 July 2010. 
  3. ^ a b c Whitburn, Joel (2008). Hot Country Songs 1944 to 2008. Record Research, Inc.. ISBN 0-89820-177-2. 
  4. ^ a b c "Search results for "Chely Wright" under "country singles"". RPM. http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/rpm/028020-110.01-e.php?PHPSESSID=gmrhouli7kvfvaeu848ka389j0&q1=Chely+Wright&q2=Country+Singles&interval=20. Retrieved 22 July 2010. 
Chely Wright
Studio albums
Compilation albums
The Definitive Collection
Extended plays
Everything · Chely Wright Live
Notable singles
Related topics