Politics, Religion and Her

Politics, Religion and Her
Studio album by Sammy Kershaw
Released May 7, 1996
Genre Country
Length 38:38
Label Mercury
Producer Buddy Cannon and Norro Wilson (tracks 1-4, 7, 10, 11)
Keith Stegall (tracks 5, 6, 8, 9, 12)
Sammy Kershaw chronology

The Hits Chapter 1
(1995)
Politics, Religion and Her
(1996)
Labor of Love
(1997)

Politics, Religion and Her is a 1996 album by country musician Sammy Kershaw. The album launched several charting singles and itself charted at #115 on The Billboard 200, also peaking at number 17 on Top Country Albums.[1] Charting songs included "Vidalia", "Meant to Be", "Fit to Be Tied Down" and the title track, which peaked on the Hot Country Singles & Tracks charts at numbers 10, 5, 29, and 28 respectively.[2]

Critical reception

At the time of release, the album received a C+ review from Entertainment Weekly, which praised the singer for finding emotional depth on songs like "Little Bitty Crack in Her Heart" (which Randy Travis would later record on his 1999 album A Man Ain't Made of Stone) and the title track, but criticized his "tired" covers of "Memphis" and "Chevy Van".[3] Allmusic also found these two pop covers uninspired in nature, but said that the album had "a couple of powerful, soul-baring ballads."[4] Country Standard Time reviewer Larry Stephens gave a more positive review, saying, "His voice can never be mistaken for anything but country while he makes the music come alive. This is an album that has no bad cuts."[5]

Track listing

  1. "Vidalia" (Tim Nichols, Mark D. Sanders) – 3:21
  2. "Meant to Be" (Rick Bowles, Chris Waters) – 3:46
  3. "Fit to Be Tied Down" (Wynn Varble, Charles Victor) – 3:12
  4. "Politics, Religion and Her" (Byron Hill, Tony Martin) – 3:19
  5. "Chevy Van" (Sammy Johns) – 3:42
  6. "Same Place" (Buddy Cannon, Marla Cannon-Goodman, Dean Dillon) – 2:38
  7. "Little Bitty Crack in Her Heart" (Shawn Camp, Jim Rushing) – 2:50
  8. "These Flowers" (Rick Giles) – 3:20
  9. "I Saw You Today" (Bobby Braddock) – 3:28
  10. "Memphis, Tennessee" (Chuck Berry) – 2:56
  11. "For Years" (Harley Allen, Stacey Earle) – 3:22
  12. "Here She Comes" (Sammy Kershaw) – 2:44

Personnel

Chart performance

Album

Chart (1996) Peak
position
U.S. Billboard Top Country Albums 17
U.S. Billboard 200 115

Singles

Year Single Peak chart positions[6]
US Country CAN Country
1996 "Meant to Be" 5 4
"Vidalia" 10 7
1997 "Politics, Religion, and Her" 28 47
"Fit to Be Tied Down" 29 49

References

  1. Politics, Religion and Her at AllMusic
  2. Sammy Kershaw Billboard singles at AllMusic
  3. Cannon, Bob. (May 10, 1996) Politics, Religion and Her. Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 19/04/08.
  4. McCall, Michael. "Politics, Religion and Her review". Allmusic. Retrieved 2008-04-22.
  5. Stephens, Larry. "Sammy Kershaw - Politics, Religion and Her". Country Standard Time. Retrieved 2008-10-18.
  6. Whitburn, Joel (2008). Hot Country Songs 1944 to 2008. Record Research, Inc. pp. 223–224. ISBN 0-89820-177-2.