Greatest Hits (Chris Gaines album)

Greatest Hits, also titled Garth Brooks in.... The Life of Chris Gaines, is part of the alter ego project of American country music artist Garth Brooks, in which Brooks assumes the fictitious persona of alternative rock artist Chris Gaines. Originally, this album was intended to be the soundtrack for a movie called The Lamb that would star Brooks as a rock star recalling the different periods of his life. This album was purposely released a year in advance from the scheduled film release date to pique interest in Brooks performing rock instead of country. The Lamb, however, was never filmed due to financial and management problems.

This is Brooks' 11th overall album, released on September 28, 1999. It reached #2 on the Billboard 200 chart, and also gained Brooks's first and, to date, only appearance on the U.S. Top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100, with "Lost in You", which peaked at #5. The track It Don't Matter to the Sun was later covered in 2005, by Rosie Thomas on her "If Songs Could Be Held" album.

On November 13, 1999, Brooks hosted Saturday Night Live as himself but performed the musical numbers as Chris Gaines without acknowledging to the audience that they were the same person. He performed "Way of the Girl."

Track listing

1. "That's the Way I Remember It" (Tommy Sims, Tony Arata) – 4:29
2. "Lost in You" (Gordon Kennedy, Wayne Kirkpatrick, Sims) – 3:05
3. "Snow in July" (Kennedy, Kirkpatrick, Mike More, Andrew Logan) – 4:20
4. "Driftin' Away" (Sims) – 4:56
5. "Way of the Girl" (Kennedy) – 3:44
6. "Unsigned Letter" (Kennedy, Kirkpatrick, Sims) – 4:17
7. "It Don't Matter to the Sun" (Kennedy, Kirkpatrick, Sims) – 4:21
8. "Right Now" (Cheryl Wheeler, Chet Powers) – 3:24
9. "Main Street" (Kennedy, Kirkpatrick, Trisha Yearwood) – 4:12
10. "White Flag" (Kennedy, Kirkpatrick) – 4:43
11. "Digging for Gold" (Kennedy, Kirkpatrick) – 5:08
12. "Maybe" (Kennedy, Phil Madeira) – 5:11
13. "My Love Tells Me So" (Kennedy, Kirkpatrick, Sims) – 4:33

Chart performance

Garth Brooks in.... The Life of Chris Gaines peaked at #2 on the U.S. Billboard 200, and peaked at #5 on the Canadian Albums Chart. In November 1999, it was Certified 2 x Platinum by the RIAA.

Personnel

• Kenny Aronoff – drums
• Eddie Bayers – drums
• Garth Brooks (as Chris Gaines) – lead vocals, acoustic guitar
• Lenny Castro – percussion
• Chris Harris – background vocals
• Mark Heimermann – background vocals
• Hutch Hutchison – bass guitar
• Gordon Kennedy – background vocals, lead vocals on "My Love Tells Me So," acoustic guitar, electric guitar, bass guitar
• Rami Jaffee – Hammond B-3 organ
• Wayne Kirkpatrick – acoustic guitar, Clavinet, keyboards, background vocals
• Mike Lawler – Clavinet, keyboards
• Phil Madeira – Hammond B-3 organ
• Blair Masters – keyboards
• Chris McHugh – drums, percussion
• Terry McMillan – percussion
• Dan Needham – drums
• Greg Phillinganes –keyboards
• Matt Rollings – keyboards
• Tommy Sims – acoustic guitar, keyboards, programming, background vocals
• Jimmie Lee Sloas – bass guitar
• Crystal Taliefero – background vocals
• Reggie Young – electric guitar
• J.B. Baird - engineer, mixing
• Don Cobb, Erin Conn, Carlos Grier - digital editing
• George Massenburg - engineer, mixing
• Rik Pekkonen - engineer
• Glenn Spinner - engineer, mixing

References and external links

• Official Chris Gaines Myspace