Right in the Middle of It
Studio album by
Chely Wright
ReleasedJanuary 9, 1996
Studio
  • Money Pit
  • Music Mill
GenreCountry[1]
Length35:52
Label
Producer
Chely Wright chronology
Woman in the Moon
(1994)		 Right in the Middle of It
(1996)		 Let Me In
(1997)
Singles from Right in the Middle of It
  1. "Listenin' to the Radio"
    Released: October 1995
  2. "The Love That We Lost"
    Released: January 1996
  3. "The Love He Left Behind"
    Released: 1996

Right in the Middle of It is a studio album by American country artist Chely Wright. The album was released January 9, 1996 on PolyGram/Mercury Records and contained 11 tracks. The album was co-produced by Ed Seay and Harold Shedd. Although critically acclaimed, the album was not successful. Three of its singles charted in lower-end positions on the North American country charts, which later influenced Wright to leave the label.

Background

Right in the Middle of It was recorded in Nashville, Tennessee at the Music Mill and Money Pit studios.[2] It was co-produced by Ed Seay and Harold Shedd. This was unlike her previous Polydor release entitled Woman in the Moon, which was co-produced by both Shedd and Barry Beckett.[3] Right in the Middle of It contained 11 tracks of material. Three out of the album's eleven tracks were either written or co-written by Wright: the title track, "The Other Woman", and "Gotta Get Good at Givin' Again". The album's production and sound mainly consisted of a traditional country sound that included both uptempo and ballad songs. Charlotte Dillon of Allmusic commented that the album's production included much of "natural country twang". The tenth track on the recording entitled "It's Not Too Late" was co-written by American country artist Tracy Byrd.[1] The sixth track "What I Learned from Loving You" was originally recorded by Lynn Anderson and was a Top 20 country single for her in 1983.[4]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[1]

Right in the Middle of It received a positive critical response upon its initial release in January 1996. Charlotte Dillon of Allmusic gave Right in the Middle of It four and a half out five stars, calling it Wright's "album pick". Dillon praised Wright for having the ability to record both ballads and have enough energy to record uptempo country numbers as well. Dillon also stated that many of Wright's musical influences (such as Connie Smith and Buck Owens) have shown influence on many of the album's individual tracks. In addition, Dillon praised Wright's musical experience, stating, "This might only be her second album, but she's had plenty of singing experience, starting with family get-togethers when she was a small child, where singalongs with fiddles and guitars were the norm. Before she hit her teens she had already formed a country band of her own. Early on Wright was exposed to music greats like Loretta Lynn, Buck Owens, Connie Smith, and Conway Twitty. Many of those influences can be heard in the songs on Right in the Middle of It."[1]

Release and chart performance

Right in the Middle of It spawned three singles between 1995 and 1996, all of which charted on the Billboard Magazine country singles chart. The album's lead single entitled "Listenin' to the Radio" was released in October 1995, peaking at number 66 on the Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart[5] and number 84 on the Canadian RPM Country Singles chart.[6] The album's second track "The Love That We Lost" was released as the second single in January 1996, which peaked at number 41 on the Billboard country chart[5] and number 51 on the Canadian RPM country chart.[6] The final single released was "The Love He Left Behind" in 1996, which failed to chart any Billboard chart or in Canada.[5][6] Right in the Middle of It was officially released on January 9, 1996 on PolyGram/Mercury Records. It was issued originally as a compact disc and a cassette.[7][8] With the lack of the record's commercial success, Wright would later leave PolyGram/Mercury. She would then sign a deal with MCA Nashville.[9]

Track listings

Compact disc and digital versions

Right in the Middle of It (CD and digital versions)[7][10]
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Listenin' to the Radio"
  • Sunny Russ
  • Stephony Smith
3:33
2."The Love That We Lost"
3:49
3."Heart Shaped World"
2:33
4."The Love He Left Behind"
  • Steven Dale Jones
  • Bobby Tomberlin
3:38
5."Right in the Middle of It"Chely Wright3:03
6."What I Learned from Loving You"
3:48
7."Alligator Purse"
  • Nick Pellegrino
  • Kenya Slaughter Walker
3:26
8."The Other Woman"Wright3:53
9."Day One"
3:00
10."It's Not Too Late"
3:32
11."Gotta Get Good at Givin' Again"Wright3:37

Cassette versions

Right in the Middle of It (Side one)[8]
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Listenin' to the Radio"
  • Russ
  • S. Smith
3:33
2."The Love That We Lost"
  • Burr
  • Powell
3:49
3."Heart Shaped World"
  • Blazy
  • DiPiero
  • Williams
2:33
4."The Love He Left Behind"
  • Jones
  • Tomberlin
3:38
5."Right in the Middle of It"Wright3:03
6."What I Learned from Loving You"
  • Hooker
  • R. Smith
3:48
Right in the Middle of It (Side two)[8]
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Alligator Purse"
  • Pellegrino
  • Walker
3:26
2."The Other Woman"Wright3:53
3."Day One"
  • Green
  • Mobley
3:00
4."It's Not Too Late"
  • Byrd
  • B. Rice
  • S. Rice
3:32
5."Gotta Get Good at Givin' Again"Wright3:37

Personnel

All credits for Right in the Middle of It are adapted from Allmusic.[2]

Musical personnel

Technical personnel

  • Don Cobb – editing
  • Todd Culross – assistant engineer
  • Carlos Grier – editing
  • Erik Hellerman – assistant engineer
  • Mark Lambert – programmer
  • Anthony Martin – assistant engineer
  • Denny Purcell – mastering
  • Ed Seay – engineer, mixing, producer
  • Harold Shedd – producer

Release history

Region Date Format Label Ref.
United States January 9, 1996 Compact disc [7]
Cassette [8]
2010s
  • Digital download
  • streaming
 Mercury Records [10]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Dillon, Charlotte. "Right in the Middle of It > Review". Allmusic. Retrieved 22 July 2010.
  2. 1 2 "Right in the Middle of It: Chely Wright: Credits". Allmusic. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
  3. ↑ "Woman in the Moon > credits". Allmusic. Retrieved 22 July 2010.
  4. ↑ "Song results for "What I Learned From Loving You"". Allmusic. Retrieved 19 August 2012.
  5. 1 2 3 Whitburn, Joel (2008). Hot Country Songs 1944 to 2008. Record Research, Inc. ISBN 978-0-89820-177-2.
  6. 1 2 3 "Search results for "Chely Wright" under "country singles"". RPM. Retrieved 22 July 2010.
  7. 1 2 3 "Chely Wright -- Right in the Middle of It (1996, CD)". Discogs. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
  8. 1 2 3 4 "Chely Wright -- Right in the Middle of It (1996, Cassette) (US)". Discogs. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
  9. ↑ Freydkin, Donna (August 17, 1999). "Chely shows her Wright stuff". CNN. Retrieved 30 January 2021.
  10. 1 2 "Right in the Middle of It by Chely Wright". Apple Music. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
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