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

• Eddie Bayers – drums
• Bob Bullock – engineer
• Buddy Cannon – producer
• Glen Duncan – fiddle
• Stuart Duncan – fiddle
• Paul Franklin – Dobro, steel guitar
• Sonny Garrish – steel guitar
• Rob Hajacos – fiddle
• John Hobbs – piano
• John Kelton – engineer
• Sammy Kershaw – vocals
• Paul Leim – drums
• Brent Mason – electric guitar
• Nashville String Machine – strings
• Steve Nathan – organ, piano
• Danny Parks – acoustic guitar
• Larry Paxton – bass
• Warren Peterson – engineer
• Hargus "Pig" Robbins – piano
• Hal Rugg – steel guitar
• John Wesley Ryles – background vocals
• Keith Stegall – producer
• John Willis – acoustic guitar
• Dennis Wilson – background vocals
• Norro Wilson – producer
• Glenn Worf – bass
• Reggie Young – electric guitar

Chart performance

Album

Singles

References