Strait from the Heart

2025-09-23T05:31:56Z

2405:DC00:EC7E:B9C2:B415:1C9E:DF2D:2805:

{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2025}}
{{Infobox album
| name = Strait from the Heart
| type = Studio
| artist = [[George Strait]]
| cover = Strait From the Heart.jpg
| alt =
| released = {{Start date|1982|06|03}}
| recorded = September 1981 – April 1982
| studio = [[Music City Music Hall]] (Nashville, Tennessee)
| genre = {{flatlist|
* [[Neotraditional country]]
* [[honky-tonk]]
* [[countrypolitan]]
}}
| length = {{Duration|m=28|s=45}}
| label = [[MCA Records|MCA]]
| producer = Blake Mevis
| prev_title = [[Strait Country]]
| prev_year = 1981
| next_title = [[Right or Wrong (George Strait album)|Right or Wrong]]
| next_year = 1983
| misc = {{Singles
| name = Strait from the Heart
| type = Studio
| single1 = [[Fool Hearted Memory]]
| single1date = May 27, 1982
| single2 = [[Marina del Rey (song)|Marina del Rey]]
| single2date = September 16, 1982
| single3 = [[Amarillo by Morning (song)|Amarillo by Morning]]
| single3date = January 14, 1983
| single4 = [[A Fire I Can't Put Out]]
| single4date = May 19, 1983
}}
}}

'''''Strait from the Heart''''' is the second studio album by American [[country music]] artist [[George Strait]], released on June 3, 1982, by [[MCA Records]]. The album includes Strait's first No. 1 single, "[[Fool Hearted Memory]]", as well as follow-up singles "[[Marina del Rey (song)|Marina del Rey]]", "[[Amarillo by Morning (song)|Amarillo by Morning]]" and "[[A Fire I Can't Put Out]]", reaching No. 6, No. 4, and No.
1 respectively on the ''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]'' Hot Country Singles chart. The album peaked at No. 18 on the US ''Billboard'' Top Country Albums chart. ''Strait from the Heart'' is certified [[RIAA certification|platinum]] by the [[RIAA]].

There were three cover songs on the album: "Honky Tonk Crazy", which had been released a couple of months earlier in 1982 by the duo of [[Gary Stewart (singer)|Gary Stewart]] and [[Dean Dillon]] on their ''Brotherly Love'' album; 2) the [[Guy Clark]] song, "Heartbroke", which was first recorded by [[Rodney Crowell]] on his 1980 album, ''[[But What Will the Neighbors Think]]''; and 3) "[[Amarillo by Morning (song)|Amarillo by Morning]]" which was first recorded by [[Terry Stafford]] in 1973.

"The Only Thing I Have Left" was later recorded by [[Tim McGraw]] for his 1993 [[Tim McGraw (album)|self-titled debut album]].

==Recording==
''Strait from the Heart'' was recorded at Music City Music Hall in Nashville, Tennessee. The album was recorded and mixed digitally.<ref name="album-notes">{{cite AV media notes|title=Strait from the Heart |others=George Strait |year=1982 |pages=1–2 |type=liner notes |publisher=MCA Records |location=Universal City, CA |id=MCAD–31117}}</ref>

== Musical style and composition ==
''Strait from the Heart'' is a [[neotraditional country]], [[honky-tonk music|honky-tonk]], and [[countrypolitan]] album that continues the styles of Strait's debut album ''Strait Country''.<ref name="TMD">{{cite web |title=World Records, No. 14: George Strait – ‘Strait From the Heart’ (1982) |url=https://themusicaldivide.com/2023/05/08/world-records-no-14-george-strait-strait-from-the-heart-1982/ |website=The Musical Divide |access-date=February 15, 2025 |date=May 8, 2023}}</ref><ref name="allmusic"/><ref name="humphrey">{{cite web |last1=Humphrey |first1=Mark |title=''Strait Country''/''Strait from the Heart'' Review |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/strait-country-strait-from-the-heart-mw0000192014 |website=[[AllMusic]] |access-date=February 15, 2025}}</ref> The album also has musical elements of [[Western swing]].<ref name="humphrey"/>

==Critical reception==
{{Music ratings
| rev1 = [[AllMusic]]
| rev1score = {{Rating|5|5}}<ref name="allmusic"/>
}}
''Strait from the Heart'' received positive reviews upon its release in 1982. On the music review website [[AllMusic]], it received five out of five stars. In his review for AllMusic, Thom Jurek called Strait "a singer of uncommon vitality who could sing honky-tonk, countrypolitan, and the new traditional sounds".<ref name="allmusic">{{cite web|last=Jurek |first=Thom |title=Strait from the Heart |publisher=AllMusic |url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/strait-from-the-heart-mw0000194791 |access-date=March 18, 2014}}</ref> Jurek singled out the depth and breadth of the singer's talent, delivering his first number one hit, "Fool Hearted Memory", a slow two-step, alongside the equally successful ballads "Amarillo by Morning", "Marina del Rey", and "A Fire I Can't Put Out", as well as the raw traditional numbers "Honky Tonk Crazy", "Heartbroke", "I Can't See Texas from Here", and the barroom anthem "The Steal of the Night"—songs that "offer a portrait of Strait as a man who can do it all".<ref name="allmusic"/> Jurek concludes:
{{blockquote|His work is not over-produced, and his voice rings clear and true, offering only what the song needs to reveal itself to the listener. ''Strait from the Heart'' may not be the exact beginning of the story, but it is the first part of the legend.<ref name="allmusic"/>}} In 2022, ''[[Rolling Stone]]'' ranked the album 19 on its 100 Greatest Country Albums of All Time publication.<ref name="rs100">{{cite web |last1=Freeman |first1=Jon |title=The 100 Greatest Country Albums of All Time |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/best-country-albums-1234581876/george-strait-9-1234582680/ |website=[[Rolling Stone (magazine)|Rolling Stone]] |access-date=November 23, 2022 |date=August 30, 2022}}</ref>

==Track listing==
{{Track listing
| headline = Side One
| title1 = [[Fool Hearted Memory]]
| writer1 = {{hlist|[[Byron Hill]]|Blake Mevis}}
| length1 = 2:40
| title2 = Honky Tonk Crazy
| writer2 = {{hlist|[[Dean Dillon]]|Frank Dycus}}
| length2 = 2:29
| title3 = The Only Thing I Have Left
| writer3 = [[Clay Blaker]]
| length3 = 3:28
| title4 = The Steal of the Night
| writer4 = {{hlist|Mevis|Bill Shore|[[David Wills (singer)|David Wills]]}}
| length4 = 2:40
| title5 = I Can't See Texas from Here
| writer5 = [[George Strait]]
| length5 = 2:29
}}
{{Track listing
| headline = Side Two
| title6 = [[Marina del Rey (song)|Marina del Rey]]
| writer6 = {{hlist|Dillon|Dycus}}
| length6 = 3:03
| title7 = Lover in Disguise
| writer7 = {{hlist|Mevis|Jim Dowell}}
| length7 = 2:30
| title8 = [[Heartbroke]]
| writer8 = [[Guy Clark]]
| length8 = 3:34
| title9 = [[Amarillo by Morning (song)|Amarillo by Morning]]
| writer9 = {{hlist|[[Terry Stafford]]|Paul Fraser}}
| length9 = 2:53
| title10 = [[A Fire I Can't Put Out]]
| writer10 = Darryl Staedtler
| length10 = 3:00
| total_length = 28:45<ref name="allmusic"/>
}}

== Personnel ==
'''Musicians'''
* [[George Strait]] – lead vocals, acoustic guitar
* Mitch Humphries – keyboards
* Gregg Galbraith – lead guitar
* Fred Newell – lead guitar
* Jimmy Capps – rhythm guitar
* [[Bobby Thompson (musician)|Bobby Thompson]] – rhythm guitar
* Steve Chapman – acoustic guitar (1)
* Dave Kirby – acoustic guitar (1)
* Sonny Garrish – [[steel guitar]]
* [[John Hughey]] – steel guitar
* Mike Leech – bass guitar
* Larry Paxton – bass guitar
* Clyde Brooks – drums (1)
* Jerry Kroon – drums (2–10)
* Mark Feldman – [[fiddle]] (1)
* Rob Hajacos – fiddle
* [[Buddy Spicher]] – fiddle
* [[The Nashville String Machine]] – strings
* Alan Moore – string arrangements
* Sudie Callaway – background vocals
* [[Buddy Cannon]] – background vocals
* Rita Figlio – background vocals
* Arlene Harden – background vocals
* Bobby Harden – background vocals
* Gwen Kay – background vocals
* [[The Jordanaires|Curtis Young]] – background vocals

'''Production'''
* Blake Mevis – producer
* Bill Harris – engineer, mixing
* Doug Crider – assistant engineer
* David DeBusk – assistant engineer
* Milan Bogdan – digital editing {{small|(CD)}}
* Glenn Meadows – digital mastering {{small|(CD)}}
* Simon Levy – art direction
* Jim McGuire – photography
* Katie Gillon – coordination
* Sherri Halford – coordination

==Chart positions==
{| class="wikitable"
! Chart (1982)
! Peak<br />position
|-
| U.S. ''Billboard'' Top Country Albums
| align="center"| 18
|}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{George Strait}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:1982 albums]]
[[Category:George Strait albums]]
[[Category:MCA Records albums]]

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Strait from the Heart