The Road Less Traveled is the twenty-first studio album by country artist George Strait released by MCA Nashville in 2001. Certified platinum for sales of one million copies, the album produced the hits "Run", "She'll Leave You with a Smile" and "Living and Living Well", the latter two of which were number 1 hits on the Billboard country charts. "Stars on the Water" and "The Real Thing" also charted at numbers 50 and 60 from unsolicited airplay.
Content
Four of this album's songs are covers: "Stars on the Water" was originally cut by Rodney Crowell on his 1981 album Rodney Crowell; "The Real Thing" by Chip Taylor (as "(I Want) The Real Thing") on his 1973 album Chip Taylor's Last Chance; "Good Time Charley's" by Del Reeves on his 1969 album Down at Good Time Charlie's (as "Good Time Charlie's'); and "My Life's Been Grand" by Merle Haggard on his 1986 album Out Among the Stars.
The song "She'll Leave You with a Smile" is not to be confused with another song with the same name which Strait previously recorded on his 1997 album, Carrying Your Love With Me.
Critical reception
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   [1] |
| Chicago Tribune | (favorable)[2] |
| Entertainment Weekly | A-[3] |
| People | (favorable)[4] |
| Rolling Stone | (favorable)[5] |
Track listing
- "She'll Leave You with a Smile" (Odie Blackmon, Jay Knowles) - 2:58
- "Run" (Tony Lane, Anthony Smith) - 4:05
- "Stars on the Water" (Rodney Crowell) - 3:43
- "Living and Living Well" (Tony Martin, Mark Nesler, Tom Shapiro) - 3:38
- "The Real Thing" (Chip Taylor) - 3:33
- "Don't Tell Me You're Not in Love" (Tony Colton, Kim Williams, Bobby Wood) - 3:32
- "The Road Less Traveled" (Buddy Brock, Dean Dillon) - 3:54
- "The Middle of Nowhere" (Shawn Camp, John Scott Sherrill) - 3:14
- "Good Time Charley's" (Jerry Chesnut) - 2:31
- "My Life's Been Grand" (Merle Haggard, Terry Gordon) - 2:38
Personnel
As listed in liner notes.[6]
Musicians
- Eddie Bayers – drums
- Steve Conn – accordion
- Stuart Duncan – fiddle, mandolin
- Paul Franklin – steel guitar
- Steve Gibson – electric guitar
- Wes Hightower – background vocals
- Chris Leuzinger – electric guitar
- Liana Manis – background vocals
- Brent Mason – electric guitar
- Steve Nathan – keyboards
- Michael Rhodes – bass guitar
- Randy Scruggs – acoustic guitar
- George Strait – lead vocals
Strings performed by the Nashville String Machine under the conduction and arrangement of Steve Dorff.
Production
- Chuck Ainlay - engineer, mixing (& additional overdubs)
- Tony Brown — production
- David Bryant - 2nd engineer (& overdubs)
- Eric Conn - digital editing
- Tony Green - 2nd engineer (overdubs)
- Carlos Grier - digital editing
- Russ Martin - 2nd engineer (overdubs)
- Justin Niebank - engineer (overdubs)
- Jessie Noble - project coordinator
- Denny Purcell - mastering
- Jeff Socher - 2nd engineer (mixing)
- George Strait — production
Design
- Tony Baker - photography
- Virginia Team - art direction and additional photography
- Chris Ferrara - design
Charts
References
- ^ Allmusic review
- ^ Chicago Tribune review
- ^ Entertainment Weekly review
- ^ People review
- ^ "Rolling Stone review". Archived from the original on June 21, 2009. Retrieved July 30, 2014.
- ^ The Road Less Traveled (CD). George Strait. MCA Records. 2001. 170220.
- ^ "George Strait Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved October 19, 2020.
- ^ "George Strait Chart History (Top Country Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved October 19, 2020.
- ^ "Top Country Albums – Year-End 2001". Billboard. Retrieved October 19, 2020.
- ^ "Top Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 2002". Billboard. Retrieved October 19, 2020.
- ^ "Top Country Albums – Year-End 2002". Billboard. Retrieved October 19, 2020.
- ^ "Top Country Albums – Year-End 2003". Billboard. Retrieved October 19, 2020.