Half the Way explained

Half the Way
Type:single
Artist:Crystal Gayle
Album:Miss the Mississippi
B-Side:Room for One More
Released:September 1979
Recorded:1978
Genre:Country pop, adult contemporary
Length:4:03 (Album version) 3:32 (Single version)
Label:Columbia
Producer:Allen Reynolds
Prev Title:Your Kisses Will
Prev Year:1979
Next Title:Your Old Cold Shoulder
Next Year:1979

"Half the Way" is a song written by Ralph Murphy and Bobby Wood, and recorded by American country music artist Crystal Gayle. It was released in September 1979 as the first single from the album Miss the Mississippi.

After achieving major Country crossover success in 1977 with "Don't It Make My Brown Eyes Blue.", followed by a Top 20 Pop hit and No. 1 Country hit the next year ("Talking In Your Sleep"), Gayle attempted this new crossover piece of music.

After signing with Columbia Records in early 1979, Gayle immediately started recording for them. "Half the Way" was the first song recorded under her new record label. The song's up-tempo, soft rock production made it reach Billboard Magazine's Hot 100 chart; peaking at number fifteen for the week ending Saturday, December 15, 1979. One month prior, the song climbed to number two on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart for the week ending Saturday, November 3, 1979.[1] It also reached number nine on the Billboard AdultContemporary chart. Following "Half the Way"'s success, Gayle never achieved another solo Top 40 Pop hit. Her singles did continue to chart on Billboard's Hot Country Singles and A.C. charts, however.

Chart performance

Chart (1979–1980)Peak
position
Canada RPM Country Tracks[2] 1
Canadian RPM Adult Contemporary Tracks2
Canadian RPM Top Singles56
South Africa (Springbok)[3] 4

Notes and References

  1. Book: Whitburn, Joel . The Billboard Book Of Top 40 Country Hits: 1944-2006, Second edition. Joel Whitburn . 2004 . Record Research . 131.
  2. Web site: Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada . Collectionscanada.gc.ca . 1979-12-08 . 2020-03-01.
  3. Web site: SA Charts 1965–March 1989. 5 September 2018.