Mountain High... Valley Low Explained

Mountain High... Valley Low
Type:	Studio album
Artist:	Yolanda Adams
Cover:	Yolanda Adams - Mountain High...Valley Low.jpg
Released:	September 3, 1999
Genre:	Gospel, R&B
Length:	52:30
Label:	Elektra
Producer:	Kevin Bond Buster & Shavoni Warryn Campbell Fred Hammond Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis Little Walt Richard Smallwood Keith Thomas
Prev Title:	Songs from the Heart
Prev Year:	1998
Next Title:	Christmas With Yolanda Adams
Next Year:	2000

Mountain High... Valley Low is the sixth studio album by American singer Yolanda Adams. It was released by Elektra Records on September 3, 1999, in the United States. The album stands as Adams's best-selling to date, having sold 1,374,000, as of 2009,^[1] and is certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).^[2] The album won the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Soul Gospel Album and remains one of the best-selling gospel albums of all time.

Several singles were released from Mountain High... Valley Low. The set leads with the Warryn Campbell-produced "Yeah", which was co-written by gospel duo Mary Mary who springboarded from the song to gain their own fame. The most notable single was the second release, "Open My Heart," which became a massive crossover fixture on R&B radio. Both of the singles had accompanying music videos. Remixers like Maurice Joshua, Digital Black-N-Groove, Pound Boys, and Junior Vasquez were brought in to turn both of these songs into dance club-friendly material. "The Things We Do" and "Fragile Heart" were also serviced to radio and fared well on adult contemporary stations.

Track listing

Credits taken from the album's liner notes.^[3] Notes

denotes co-producer

Personnel

"Time to Change"

Produced by Warryn Campbell
Vocals: Yolanda Adams
Backing vocals: Mary Mary
Instrumental music performed by Warryn Campbell

"Yeah"

Produced by Warryn Campbell
Vocals: Yolanda Adams
Backing vocals: Mary Mary
Guitar: Dave Foreman
Instrumental music performed by Warryn Campbell

"Fragile Heart"

Produced by Buster & Shavoni: Louis Brown & Scott "Shavoni" Parker
Lead Vocals: Yolanda Adams
Background Vocals: Vanessa Williams, Raymond Reeder & Victoria Purcell
Piano Solo & All Pianos: Tim Carmon
Additional String Overdubs: Rickey Grundy
Instrumental music performed by Buster & Shavoni

"That Name"

Produced by Richard Smallwood
Lead Vocals: Yolanda Adams
Background Vocals: Richard Smallwood & Vision
Instrumental music performed by Richard Smallwood, Bryant Pugh, Darin Atwater, Mark A. Walker & Roger Ryan

"In The Midst of It All"

Produced by Kevin Bond
Live Drums: Jeremy Haynes
Instrumental music performed by Kevin Bond
Originally performed by Walter Hawkins & The Hawkins Family^[4]

"The Things We Do"

Produced by Keith Thomas
Music & Strings arranged by Keith Thomas
Strings arranged & conducted by Ronn Huff
Strings performed by Nashville String Machine
Acoustic Guitar: Bruce Gaitsch
Keyboards, Bass & Drum Machine played by Keith Thomas
Additional Drum Machine: Mark Hammond
Additional Background Vocals: Debbie Winans
Vocal Samples: "Inaugural Address" by John F. Kennedy^[5] & "I Have a Dream (Detroit)" by Martin Luther King Jr.^[6]

"Open My Heart"

Produced by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis & James "Big Jim" Wright
Percussion & Live Drums: Stokley Williams
Guitar: Mike Scott
Strings arranged by Lee Blaske & Big Jim Wright
Violins: Brenda Mickens, Carolyn Daws, Elizabeth Sobieski, Michael Sobieski, Elsa Nilsson, Leslie Shank & Thomas Kornacker
Violas: Alice Preves & Tamas Strasser
All Other Instruments played by Big Jim Wright
Background Vocals: Marva King & Yolanda Adams

"Wherever You Are"^[7]

Produced by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis & James "Big Jim" Wright
Background Vocals: Big Jim Wright & Yolanda Adams
Keyboards: Big Jim Wright & Jimmy Jam
Bass played by Jimmy Jam
Percussion: Terry Lewis
Guitar: Mike Scott
All Other Instruments played by Big Jim Wright
Re-Sung Lyrics from "I Wanna Be Where You Are" by Michael Jackson^[8]

"He'll Arrive (Coming Back)"

Produced by Walter "Little Walt" Millsap III
Lead & Background Vocals: Kelly Price & Yolanda Adams
Background Vocals: Candice Nelson
All Music performed by Walter "Lil Walt" Millsap III

"Continual Praise"

Produced by Fred Hammond
Keyboards & Drum Machine: Tommie Walker
Lead Guitar & Live Bass played by Fred Hammond
Vocals arranged by Fred Hammond
Background Vocals performed by JoAnn Rosario, Bryan Pratt, David Ivey, Frederick J. Purifoy II, Kevin L. Wilson, Marsha Johns, Miatura Dias, Pam Kenyon M. Donald, Tamika Lucas & Yoshawndala Parker.

"Already Alright"

Produced by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis & James "Big Jim" Wright
Background Vocals: Big Jim Wright, Marva King & Yolanda Adams
Drum Machine: Alex Richbourg
Keyboards: Big Jim Wright
All Other Instruments played by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis

Charts

Year-end charts

Chart (1999)	Peak position
US Top Gospel Albums (Billboard)^[9]	17
Chart (2000)	Position
US Billboard 200^[10]	120
US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)^[11]	20
US Top Gospel Albums (Billboard)^[12]	1
US Christian Albums (Billboard)^[13]	1
Chart (2001)	Position
US Top Gospel Albums (Billboard)^[14]	2
US Christian Albums (Billboard)^[15]	5

Decade-end charts

Chart (2000-2009)	Peak position
US Top Gospel Albums (Billboard)^[16]	1
US Christian Albums (Billboard)^[17]	8

Notes and References

Web site: Ask Billboard: Madonna, Yoko Ono, Gospel. Billboard. 2009-09-18. 2012-02-19.
Web site: A new 'Day' to celebrate . 2 February 2006 .
Mountain High… Valley Low . Yolanda Adams . liner notes . 1999 . Elektra.
Yolanda Adams Cover of Walter Hawkins & The Hawkins Family's "In the Midst of It All". WhoSampled.com. http://www.whosampled.com/cover/95360/Yolanda-Adams-In-the-Midst-of-It-All-Walter-Hawkins-The-Hawkins-Family-In-the-Midst-of-It-All/
"The Things We Do" Sample of "Inaugural Address". WhoSampled.com. http://www.whosampled.com/sample/112103/Yolanda-Adams-The-Things-We-Do-John-F.-Kennedy-Inaugural-Address/
"The Things We Do" Sample of "I Have a Dream (Detroit)". WhoSampled.com. http://www.whosampled.com/sample/95354/Yolanda-Adams-The-Things-We-Do-Martin-Luther-King,-Jr.-I-Have-a-Dream-(Detroit)/
Adams, Yolanda. "Wherever You Are". AllMusic.com. http://www.allmusic.com/song/wherever-you-are-mt0000435626
"Wherever You Are" Sample of "I Wanna Be Where You Are". WhoSampled.com. http://www.whosampled.com/sample/131289/Yolanda-Adams-Wherever-You-Are-Michael-Jackson-I-Wanna-Be-Where-You-Are/
The Year in Music 1999: Top Gospel Albums. Billboard. December 25, 1999. January 18, 2024. World Radio History.
Billboard 200 Albums: Year-End 2000. Billboard. July 11, 2020.
2000 The Year in Music. Billboard. 112. 53. YE-52. December 30, 2000. August 8, 2021.
The Year in Music 2000: Top Gospel Albums. Billboard. December 30, 2000. January 18, 2024. World Radio History.
The Year in Music 2000: Top Contemporary Christian Albums. Billboard. December 30, 2000. January 18, 2024. World Radio History.
The Year in Music 2001: Top Gospel Albums. Billboard. December 29, 2001. January 18, 2024. World Radio History.
The Year in Music 2001: Top Contemporary Christian Albums. Billboard. December 29, 2001. January 18, 2024. World Radio History.
Best of the 2000s: Gospel Albums. January 6, 2010. https://web.archive.org/web/20100106051824/http://www.billboard.com/charts-decade-end/gospel-albums?year=2009#/charts-decade-end/gospel-albums?year=2009. dead. Billboard. February 11, 2024. Wayback Machine.
Best of the 2000s: Christian Albums. July 30, 2010. https://web.archive.org/web/20100730133221/http://www.billboard.com/charts-decade-end/christian-albums?year=2009#/charts-decade-end/christian-albums?year=2009. dead. Billboard. February 11, 2024. Wayback Machine.