Garth Brooks is the debut album by American country music artist Garth Brooks, released on April 12, 1989, through Capitol Nashville. It was both a critical and chart success, peaking at No. 13 on the Billboard 200 and at No. 2 on the Top Country Albums chart. The album has been certified diamond by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for shipments over ten million copies.

Background

Brooks commented on the album, saying:

Musical style and composition

Garth Brooks has been labeled as a neotraditional country album, with elements of traditional country subgenres such as honky-tonk and Western swing, and non-country based genres such as rock and roll and pop music that Brooks would further expand upon on his follow-up album, No Fences.

Commercial performance

Garth Brooks peaked at No. 13 on the US Billboard 200, and peaked at No. 2 on the Top Country Albums. In November 2006, it was certified diamond by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for shipments of over ten million copies in the United States. To date, the album has shipped ten million copies in the US.

Critical reception

USA Today deemed the album "core country with heartfelt, hurtin' vocals and country timelessness."

Track listing

Original Release

Limited Series Release

Personnel

  • Garth Brooks – lead and backing vocals, acoustic guitar

Additional musicians

  • Bruce Bouton – pedal steel guitar
  • Mark Casstevens – acoustic guitar
  • Mike Chapman – bass guitar
  • Kathy Chiavola – backing vocals on "Alabama Clay"
  • Charles Cochran – string arrangements
  • Rob Hajacos – fiddle
  • Wendy Johnson – backing vocals on "I've Got A Good Thing Going", "If Tomorrow Never Comes" and "Everytime That It Rains"
  • Chris Leuzinger – electric guitar
  • The Nashville String Machine – string section
  • George Binkley III
  • John Borg
  • Roy Christiensen
  • Carl Gorodetzky
  • Dennis Molchan
  • Pamela Sixfin
  • Gary Vanosdale
  • Jennifer O'Brien – backing vocals on "I've Got A Good Thing Going", "If Tomorrow Never Comes" and "Everytime That It Rains"
  • Wayland Patton – backing vocals on "Alabama Clay"
  • Milton Sledge – drums
  • Hurshel Wiginton – backing vocals on "I've Got A Good Thing Going", "If Tomorrow Never Comes" and "Everytime That It Rains"
  • Bobby Wood – keyboards, synthesizer
  • Curtis Young – backing vocals on "I've Got A Good Thing Going", "If Tomorrow Never Comes" and "Everytime That It Rains"

Technical personnel

  • Allen Reynolds – production
  • Mark Miller – recording and mixing engineering
  • Denny Purcell – mastering

Charts

Weekly charts

{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"

|-

! scope="col"| Chart (1989–1992)

! scope="col"| Peak<br /> position

|-

! scope="row"| Australian Albums (ARIA)

| 197

|-

! scope="row"| Canadian Albums (RPM)

| 60

|-

! scope="row"| Canadian Country Albums (RPM)

| 22

|-

|-

|}

Year-end charts

{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"

|-

! scope="col"| Chart (1989)

! scope="col"| Position

|-

! scope="row"| US Top Country Albums (Billboard)

| 55

|-

! scope="col"| Chart (1990)

! scope="col"| Position

|-

! scope="row"| US Billboard 200

| 98

|-

! scope="row"| US Top Country Albums (Billboard)

| 4

|-

! scope="col"| Chart (1991)

! scope="col"| Position

|-

! scope="row"| US Billboard 200

| 34

|-

! scope="row"| US Top Country Albums (Billboard)

| 2

|-

! scope="col"| Chart (1992)

! scope="col"| Position

|-

! scope="row"| US Billboard 200

| 27

|-

! scope="row"| US Top Country Albums (Billboard)

| 5

|-

! scope="col"| Chart (1993)

! scope="col"| Position

|-

! scope="row"| US Billboard 200

| 96

|-

! scope="row"| US Top Country Albums (Billboard)

| 20

|-

! scope="col"| Chart (1994)

! scope="col"| Position

|-

! scope="row"| US Top Country Albums (Billboard)

| 34

|}

Singles

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"

|-

! rowspan="2"| Year

! rowspan="2"| Single

! colspan="3"| Peak chart positions

|- style="font-size:smaller;"

! style="width:45px;"| US Country

! style="width:45px;"| CAN Country

! style="width:45px;"| UK

|-

| rowspan="2"| 1989

| style="text-align:left;"| "Much Too Young (To Feel This Damn Old)"

| 8

| 9

| —

|-

| style="text-align:left;"| "If Tomorrow Never Comes"

| 1

| 2

| —

|-

| rowspan="2"| 1990

| style="text-align:left;"| "Not Counting You"

| 2

| 1

| —

|-

| style="text-align:left;"| "The Dance"

| 1

| 1

| 36

|}

Certifications

See also

  • List of best-selling albums in the United States

References