Unchained Melody: The Early Years

Unchained Melody: The Early YearsCompilation album by LeAnn Rimes
General information
Release Date	February 11, 1997
Recorded	1994-1996 Norman Petty Studios (Clovis, N.M.) Rosewood Stuidios (Tyler Texas) Masterfonics (Nashville, Tennessee)
Length	32:36
Label	Curb Records
Producer(s)	Greg Walker, Johnny Mulhair, Wilbur C. Rimes
Chronology
Previous	Blue (album)
Current	Unchained Melody: The Early Years
Next	You Light Up My Life: Inspirational Songs

Unchained Melody: The Early Years or simply The Early Years, and sometimes refered to as Unchained Melody, is a compilation album by American country singer LeAnn Rimes, released in the United States on February 11, 1997 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' 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' 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.

Background

Due to high sales of Rimes' debut album, Blue, Curb Records used several tracks recorded from Rimes' commercial album, All That, all of which were recorded when Rimes was eleven years old. The only songs not recorded prior to Blue is Rimes' 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 "Put a Little Holiday in Your Heart" at Target stores during the 1996 Christmas season alongside Rimes' debut album, and as a B-side track to "One Way Ticket (Because I Can)". The compilation album was released on February 11, 1997 by Curb Records.

Critical reception

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.

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Cowboy's Sweetheart"	Patsy Montana	2:32
2.	"I Will Always Love You"	Dolly Parton	4:38
3.	"Blue Moon of Kentucky"	Bill Monroe	3:17
4.	"River of Love"	Buddy Blackmon, Vip Vipperman	3:19
5.	"The Rest Is History"	Clay Blaker, Karen Staley	3:09
6.	"Broken Wing"	David Nowlen	3:20
7.	"Yesterday"	John Lennon, Paul McCartney	3:09
8.	"Sure Thing"	Joyce Harrison	2:41
9.	"Share My Love"	Rimes, Blake Vickers	2:40
10.	"Unchained Melody"	Alex North, Hy Zaret	3:51

Personnel

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

Bob Smith — bass Brad Billingsley — drums Chuck Rippey — fiddle Crista Carnes — background vocals Curtis Randall — bass Fred Gleber — drums Gary Beevers — dobro, steel guitar Gary Leach — assistant mixing, assistant recording Glenn Meadows — mastering Greg Hunt — mixing, recording Greg Walker — assistant producer, assistant mixing, assistant recording Jerry Matheny — electric guitar Jimmy Kelly — keyboards

Johnny Mulhair — acoustic guitar, co-producer, electric guitar, engineer, lead guitar, mandolin, mixing, recording, steel guitar Joy Mckay — background vocals Kayla Powell — background vocals Kelly Glenn — keyboards Lisa Criss — background vocals Mike Mclain — keyboards, recording Milo Deering — steel guitar Paul Goad — bass, keyboards, piano Perry Coleman — background vocals Ray Carl — harmonica Whitney Mulhair — flute Wilbur C. Rimes — producer, mixing

Charts

Unchained Melody: The Early Years debuted at number one on Billboard 200 with 166,000 copies sold in the week ending of March 1, 1997, it dropped to number two in its second week with 133,500 copies sold.

Peak Positions Chart (1997) Peak position Australian Albums Chart 4 Canadian RPM Top Albums 19 Canadian RPM Country Albums 1 US Billboard 200 1 US Billboard Top Country Albums 1

Year End-Chart Chart (1997) Position Australian Albums Chart 71 Canadian RPM Country Albums 5 US Billboard 200 21 US Billboard Top Country Albums 3 Chart (1998) Position US Billboard Top Country Albums 31

Alternate covers

Alternate cover

Japanese cover

References

V*E LeAnn Rimes albums

Main article: LeAnn Rimes discography Independent albums Everybody's Sweetheart (1991) From My Heart to Yours (1992) All That (1994) Studio albums Blue (1996) You Light Up My Life: Inspirational Songs (1997) Sittin' on Top of the World (1998) LeAnn Rimes (1999) Twisted Angel (2002) What a Wonderful World (2004) This Woman (2005) Whatever We Wanna (2006) Family (2007) Lady & Gentlemen (2011) Spitfire (2013) Today Is Christmas (2015) Remnants (2016) Chant: The Human & The Holy (2020) God's Work (2022) Compilations Unchained Melody: The Early Years (1997) God Bless America (2001) I Need You (2002) Greatest Hits (2003) The Best of LeAnn Rimes (2004) The Best of LeAnn Rimes: Remixed (2004) Dance Like You Don't Give A.... Greatest Hits Remixes (2014) All-Time Greatest Hits (2015) The Biggest Hits of LeAnn Rimes: How Do I Live (2018) Extended Plays Best Sellers, Best Price (2010) One Christmas: Chapter 1 (2014) Re-Imagined (2018) Live albums Rimes: Live at Gruene Hall (2019)