Unchained Melody: The Early Years
Compilation album by
LeAnn Rimes
ReleasedFebruary 11, 1997
Recorded1994–1996
StudioNorman Petty (Clovis, N.M.), Rosewood (Tyler, Tex.), Masterfonics (Nashville)
GenreCountry
Length32:36
LabelCurb Records
ProducerGreg Walker, Johnny Mulhair, Wilbur C. Rimes
LeAnn Rimes chronology
Blue
(1996)		 Unchained Melody: The Early Years
(1997)		 You Light Up My Life: Inspirational Songs
(1997)

Unchained Melody: The Early Years or simply The Early Years[1][2][3][4] is a compilation album by American country singer LeAnn Rimes, released in the United States on February 11, 1997 (see 1997 in music) by Curb Records. Due to high sales of her debut album, Blue, the album consists of tracks recorded previously to Blue (tracks one, two and five through nine were taken from Rimes's independent album, under Nor Va Jak label, All That (1994)). "Unchained Melody" (originally by The Righteous Brothers) was released on a single as a B-side track with "Put a Little Holiday in Your Heart" at Target stores during the 1996 Christmas season alongside Rimes's debut album. The album contains cover versions of "I Want to Be a Cowboy's Sweetheart" by Patsy Montana, "Blue Moon of Kentucky" by Bill Monroe, "I Will Always Love You" by Dolly Parton, "Yesterday" by The Beatles. The album has been certified 2× Platinum for shipments of two million copies in the United States. She was the fourth solo artist to chart on the Billboard 200 under the age of 18.[5]

Background

Due to high sales of Rimes's debut album, Blue,[6] Curb Records used several tracks recorded from Rimes' commercial album, All That,[7][8] all of which were recorded when Rimes was eleven years old.[9][8] The only songs not recorded prior to Blue is Rimes's cover of Bill Monroe's "Blue Moon of Kentucky" and the song "River of Love". "Unchained Melody" was originally released on a single as a B-side track with "One Way Ticket (Because I Can)" and again on the promotional CD single, "Put a Little Holiday in Your Heart", at Target stores during the 1996 Christmas season alongside Rimes's debut album[10][11] before being released as a single on its own in December 1996. The compilation album was released on February 11, 1997, by Curb Records.[12]

Despite Rimes also being a country singer, her cover of Dolly Parton's "I Will Always Love You" is done in the style of Whitney Houston's R&B cover.

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[13]

Jose F. Promis of AllMusic gave the album two and a half out of five stars stating that it's "a tad bizarre" due to the album consisting of recordings released prior to Blue, that were recorded when Rimes was eleven years old, as a follow-up to her debut album.[13]

Track listing

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Cowboy's Sweetheart"Patsy Montana2:32
2."I Will Always Love You"Dolly Parton4:38
3."Blue Moon of Kentucky"Bill Monroe3:17
4."River of Love"Buddy Blackmon, Vip Vipperman3:19
5."The Rest Is History"Clay Blaker, Karen Staley3:09
6."Broken Wing"David Nowlen3:20
7."Yesterday"John Lennon, Paul McCartney3:09
8."Sure Thing"Joyce Harrison2:41
9."Share My Love"Rimes, Blake Vickers2:40
10."Unchained Melody"Alex North, Hy Zaret3:51

Personnel

Credits for Unchained Melody: The Early Years were adapted from liner notes of All That.[7] Additional credits adapted from liner notes of the album.[1]

Charts

Unchained Melody: The Early Years debuted at #1 on Billboard 200 with 166,000 copies sold in the week ending of March 1, 1997,[14] it dropped to #2 in its second week with 133,500 copies sold.[15]

References

  1. 1 2 Unchained Melody: The Early Years (CD). LeAnn Rimes. Curb Records. 1997. D2-77856.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  2. ↑ Put a Little Holiday in Your Heart (CD single). LeAnn Rimes. Curb Records. 1996. PRCD-6945-2.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  3. ↑ "Billboard - Google 도서". 21 December 1996. Retrieved 2012-06-09.
  4. ↑ "Curb Catalog: Home". Artists.curb.com. Retrieved 2012-06-09.
  5. ↑ Lynch, Joe. "Solo Artists Who Scored a No. 1 Album Before Turning 18". Billboard. Retrieved May 23, 2021.
  6. ↑ CMT Inside Fame: LeAnn Rimes CMT (2004-4-12) Retrieved 2011-10-8
  7. 1 2 All That (CD). LeAnn Rimes. Nor Va Jak. 1994. 98081-1234-2.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  8. 1 2 Kingsbury, Paul; Rumble, John; Cooper, Daniel C. (2004-12-16). The Encyclopedia of Country Music: The Ultimate Guide to the Music - Paul Kingsbury, Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum - Google 도서. ISBN 9780195176087. Retrieved 2012-06-02.
  9. ↑ McCall, Michael; Rumble, John; Kingsbury, Paul (February 2012). The Encyclopedia of Country Music - Google 도서. ISBN 9780199920839. Retrieved 2012-06-02.
  10. ↑ "Amazon.com: Put a Little Holiday in Your Heart: LeAnn Rimes: Music". amazon.com. Retrieved 8 August 2011.
  11. ↑ "Billboard - Google 圖書". 23 November 1996. Retrieved 2012-06-02.
  12. ↑ "Early Years: Unchained Melody: Leann Rimes: Music". Amazon. Retrieved 2011-10-29.
  13. 1 2 Promis, Jose F. (1997-02-11). "Unchained Melody: The Early Years - LeAnn Rimes". AllMusic. Retrieved 2011-10-28.
  14. ↑ "Billboard - Google 도서". March 1997. Retrieved 2011-10-07.
  15. ↑ "Billboard - Google 圖書". 8 March 1997. Retrieved 2012-06-02.
  16. ↑ Steffen Hung. "LeAnn Rimes - Unchained Melody - The Early Years". australian-charts.com. Retrieved 2011-10-07.
  17. 1 2 3 . billboard.com. Retrieved 7 August 2011.
  18. ↑ "Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. Retrieved 2011-10-07.
  19. ↑ "ARIA Charts - End of Year Charts - Top 100 Albums 1997". Aria.com.au. Retrieved 2011-10-07.
  20. 1 2 . google.com. Retrieved 7 August 2011.
  21. ↑ . google.com. Retrieved 4 August 2011.
  22. ↑ "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 1997 Albums" (PDF). Australian Recording Industry Association.
  23. ↑ "Canadian album certifications – LeAnn Rimes – Unchained Melody-The Early Years". Music Canada.
  24. ↑ "American album certifications – LeAnn Rimes – The Early Years". Recording Industry Association of America.
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