Be Here Explained
Be Here is the fourth studio album by New Zealand-born Australian country singer Keith Urban. It was released on 21 September 2004, through Capitol Nashville. With four million copies sold, the album is not only Urban's best-selling album, but also one of the best-selling albums in America by an Australian artist.
The album produced three number 1 singles on the Hot Country Songs chart with "Days Go By", "Making Memories of Us" and "Better Life", as well as the number 2 hits "You're My Better Half" and "Tonight I Wanna Cry". The song "Live to Love Another Day" also peaked at number 48 on the country charts, even though it was not released as a single.
Content
"Making Memories of Us", written by Rodney Crowell, was originally recorded by Tracy Byrd on his 2003 album The Truth About Men. It was also recorded by Crowell himself, along with his backing band The Notorious Cherry Bombs, on their 2004 self-titled album. Nine of the album's songs were written by Urban. Urban produced the tracks "God's Been Good to Me" and "Live to Love Another Day" himself, and then he co-produced the rest of the tracks with Dann Huff.[1]
"Country Comfort" is a cover of a track from Elton John's Tumbleweed Connection.
Critical reception
The album has received positive reviews from Allmusic, BBC,[2] Entertainment Weekly, and Rolling Stone. Three tracks from the album, "Days Go By", "Making Memories of Us", and "Tonight I Want to Cry" were included in an About.com ranking of Urban's top ten songs.[3]
Accolades
Be Here received a Grammy Award nomination for Best Country Album,[4] and won Academy of Country Music Award for Album of the Year. The album was also nominated for Album of the Year at the 40th Annual Country Music Association Awards.
Commercial performance
The album was certified 4× Platinum by Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), and remains as Urban's best-selling album to date, with sales of 3,639,000 copies in the United States, as of July 2009;[5] it also reached number 8 on the Canadian album chart, number 1 on the Billboard Hot Country Albums chart and number 3 on the Billboard 200.
Personnel
- Tim Akers – accordion (tracks 1, 7), keyboards (1–3, 6–7, 10), Hammond organ (9), piano (3)
- Charlie Bisharat – violin (tracks 8–9)
- Bruce Bouton – Dobro guitar (track 9), steel guitar (11)
- Paul Buckmaster – string conductor, string arrangements (tracks 8–9)
- Denyse Buffum – viola (tracks 8–9)
- Tom Bukovac – acoustic guitar (track 12), electric guitar (2–7, 10), slide guitar (7), wah wah guitar (7), additional guitars (1, 3, 8–9, 11, 13)
- Paul Bushnell – bass guitar (tracks 3, 5, 9, 11)
- Matt Chamberlain – drums (tracks 3, 5, 9, 11), percussion (3, 5, 9)
- Larry Corbett – cello (tracks 8–9)
- Eric Darken – percussion (tracks 1–2, 6–8, 10–11, additional: 3)
- Bruce Dukov – violin (tracks 8–9)
- Matt Funes – viola (tracks 8–9)
- Armen Garabedian – violin (tracks 8–9)
- Berj Garabedian – violin (tracks 8–9)
- Endre Granat – violin (tracks 8–9)
- Paula Hochhalter – cello (tracks 8–9)
- Dann Huff – acoustic 12-string guitar (track 3), electric guitar (6), mandolin (1, 11)
- Suzie Katayama – cello (tracks 8–9)
- Peter Kent – violin (tracks 8–9)
- Steven King – accordion (track 13)
- Natalie Leggett – violin (tracks 8–9)
- Chris McHugh – drums (tracks 1–2, 4, 6–8, 10, 12–13), percussion (4, 12)
- Robert Matsuda – violin (tracks 8–9)
- Steve Nathan – piano (track 8)
- Jimmy Nichols – keyboards (5), piano (11), synthesizer strings (9)
- Sara Parkins – violin (tracks 8–9)
- Bob Peterson – violin (tracks 8–9)
- Kevin Pickle - assistant engineer
- Steve Richards – cello (tracks 8–9)
- Jimmie Lee Sloas – bass guitar (tracks 1–2, 4, 6–8, 10, 12–13)
- Dan Smith – cello (tracks 8–9)
- Charles Stegeman – violin (tracks 8–9)
- Rachel Stegeman – violin (tracks 8–9)
- Rudy Stein – cello (tracks 8–9)
- Russell Terrell – background vocals (tracks 1–3, 5–7, 9–10, 13)
- Chris Thile – mandolin (track 9)
- Keith Urban – banjo (tracks 2, 4, 6–7, 11–13), EBow (1, 5), acoustic 12-string guitar (3), acoustic guitar (1–7, 9–13), electric guitar (1–7, 9–12), hand clapping, mandolin (7, 13), slide guitar (4), lead vocals (All tracks), background vocals (tracks 1–10, 12–13, harmony: 11)
- Josefina Vergara – violin (tracks 8–9)
- Evan Wilson – viola (tracks 8–9)
- Jonathan Yudkin – cello (track 3), fiddle (1, 13)
Charts
Year-end charts
| Chart (2004) | Position |
|---|
| US Billboard 200[7] | 191 |
| US Top Country Albums (Billboard)[8] | 35 |
| Chart (2005) | Position |
|---|
| Australian Albums (ARIA)[9] | 57 |
| US Billboard 200[10] | 30 |
| US Top Country Albums (Billboard)[11] | 7 |
| Chart (2006) | Position |
|---|
| US Billboard 200[12] | 29 |
| US Top Country Albums (Billboard)[13] | 8 | |
Singles
Footnotes
Release history
Notes and References
- Be Here . Keith Urban . 2004 . CD booklet . Capitol Records . 77489.
- Web site: Keith Urban Be Here Review. Sue Keogh. BBC. 2004. 31 October 2016.
- Web site: Top 10 Keith Urban Songs. Sean Dooley. About.com. 6 November 2016. 7 November 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20161107155255/http://countrymusic.about.com/od/top10lists/tp/KeithUrbanTop10Songs.htm. dead.
- Web site: Grammy Award nominees in top categories. USA Today. 7 December 2004. 6 November 2016.
- Web site: Chart Watch Extra: The Top 20 New Acts of the 2000s. Chart Watch. 2009-07-22.
- Web site: australian-charts.com – Keith Urban – Be Here . Hung Medien . 30 April 2012 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20120417023320/http://www.australian-charts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=Keith+Urban&titel=Be+Here&cat=a . 17 April 2012.
- Top Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 2004. Billboard. 3 September 2020.
- Top Country Albums – Year-End 2004. Billboard. 3 September 2020.
- Web site: ARIA End of Year Albums Chart 2005. Australian Recording Industry Association. 3 September 2020.
- Top Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 2005. Billboard. 3 September 2020.
- Top Country Albums – Year-End 2005. Billboard. 3 September 2020.
- Top Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 2006. Billboard. 3 September 2020.
- Top Country Albums – Year-End 2006. Billboard. 3 September 2020.
- Keith Urban Chart History: "Hot Country Songs" . . 15 October 2017.
- Keith Urban Chart History: "Hot 100" . . 15 October 2017.
- Keith Urban Chart History: "Adult Contemporary" . . 15 October 2017.
- Keith Urban Chart History: "Adult Pop Songs" . . 15 October 2017.
- Web site: Discography Keith Urban. australian-charts.com / Hung Medien. 5 January 2015.
- 5 September 2011. Issue 1123. ARIA Report. 1123. 4 . https://webarchive.nla.gov.au/awa/20110929140100/http://pandora.nla.gov.au/pan/23790/20110930-0001/Issue1123.pdf. dead. 2011-09-29. 1 February 2012.
- Web site: Be Here by Keith Urban . iTunes Store (CA) . . 7 May 2015 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20150518094221/https://itunes.apple.com/ca/album/be-here/id724552576 . 18 May 2015.
- Web site: Be Here by Keith Urban. iTunes Store (US). Apple Inc. 7 May 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150518094205/https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/be-here/id724552576. 18 May 2015. dead.
- Web site: Amazon.com: Keith Urban: Be Here: Music. Amazon Music. 7 May 2015. 2004-11-30.
