What Mattered Most

Infobox Album
Name = What Mattered Most
Type = studio
Artist = Ty Herndon


Released = start date|1995|04|18
Recorded =
Genre = Country
Length = 35:18
Label = Epic
Producer = Doug Johnson
"Heart Half Empty" produced by Doug Johnson and Ed Seay
Reviews =
This album = "What Mattered Most"
(1995)
Next album = "Living in a Moment"
(1996)

"What Mattered Most" is the debut album of American country music artist Ty Herndon. The album's title track, which was Herndon's debut single, reached #1 on the "Billboard" Hot Country Singles & Tracks (now Hot Country Songs) charts in mid-1995. Other singles from the album were, in order, "I Want My Goodbye Back", "Heart Half Empty", and "In Your Face". "Heart Half Empty", a duet with Stephanie Bentley, also served as the lead-off single to Bentley's debut album "Hopechest".

The track "You Just Get One" was later recorded and released as a single by Jeff Wood from his 1997 debut album "Between the Earth and the Stars". Additionally, "Summer was a Bummer" was later recorded by Wade Hayes on his 1998 album "When the Wrong One Loves You Right". "You Don't Mess Around with Jim" is a cover of a single released by Jim Croce in 1972.

Track listing

#"What Mattered Most" (Gary Burr, Vince Melamed) - 3:40
#"Pretty Good Thing" (Walt Aldridge, Brad Crisler) - 2:51
#"Summer Was a Bummer" (Hank Cochran, Dean Dillon) - 3:30
#"You Don't Mess Around with Jim" (Jim Croce) - 3:16
#"Heart Half Empty" (Burr, Desmond Child) - 4:55
#*Duet with Stephanie Bentley
#"I Want My Goodbye Back" (Pat Bunch, Doug Johnson, Dave Berg) - 3:24
#"You Just Get One" (Vince Gill, Don Schlitz) - 3:35
#"In Your Face" (Annette Cotter, Kim Tribble) - 2:16
#"Love at 90 Miles an Hour" (Chris Knight, Sam Tate, Annie Tate) - 3:30
#"Hat Full of Rain" (Kim Morrison, Ronnie Godfrey) - 4:11

Personnel

*Stephanie Bentley - duet vocals (track 5), background vocals (track 9)
*Gary Burr - background vocals
*John Catchings - strings (track 10)
*Carol Chase - background vocals (track 4)
*Joe Chemay - bass guitar
*David Davidson - strings (track 10)
*Joe Diffie - background vocals (tracks 3, 10)
*Dan Dugmore - steel guitar
*Connie Ellisor - strings (track 10)
*Paul Franklin - Dobro (tracks 1, 9), steel guitar (track 2)
*Vince Gill - background vocals (track 7)
*Jim Grosjean - strings (track 10)
*Rob Hajacos - fiddle
*Connie Heard - strings (track 10)
*Dann Huff - electric guitar (track 5)
*Kraig Hutchens - electric guitar (tracks 1, 7)
*Mike Jones - background vocals
*Paul Leim - drums (tracks 1, 5, 6, 7, 9)
*Patty Loveless - background vocals (track 10)
*Terry McMillan - percussion
*Steve Nathan - keyboards
*Kathryn Plumber - strings (track 10)
*Christian Teal - strings (track 10)
*Biff Watson - acoustic guitar
*Kristin Wilkinson - strings (track 10)
*Lonnie Wilson - drums (tracks 2, 3, 4, 8, 10)

Production

*Jim Burnett - digital editing, assistant engineer
*Don Cobb - editing
*Paige Conners - production assistant
*Emory Gordy, Jr. - strings arranger (track 10)
*Bill Johnson - art direction
*Anthony Martin - assistant engineer
*Frank Ockenfels - photography
*Denny Purcell - mastering
*Ed Seay - engineer, mixing
*Rollow Welch - art direction

Charts

*Top Heatseekers - #1
*Billboard 200 - #68
*Top Country Albums - #9

References

* [http://allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:d9frxqqhld6e "What Mattered Most"] at Allmusic
*cite album-notes |title=What Mattered Most |bandname=Ty Herndon |year=1995 |publisher=Epic Records |publisherid=66397