You Can't Make Old Friends (album) explained
You Can't Make Old Friends is the twenty-seventh studio album of original music from American country music singer Kenny Rogers. Released on October 8, 2013 via Warner Bros. Nashville, it is Rogers's first album of original material since 2006's Water & Bridges. Its title track, a duet with Dolly Parton, peaked at number 57 on the Billboard Country Airplay chart in December 2013, becoming Rogers' first single released in four years. "You Can't Make Old Friends" was later included on Parton's 2014 album, Blue Smoke.
Personnel
- Kenny Rogers – lead vocals
- Charlie Judge – acoustic piano (1), synthesizers (1), strings (1, 10), keyboards (2, 3, 10)
- Clayton Ivey – electric piano (3), Hammond B3 organ (3, 5, 7, 8)
- Gordon Mote – acoustic piano (3, 10)
- John Barlow Jarvis – acoustic piano (4, 5, 7), Wurlitzer electric piano (5), electric piano (8)
- Warren Hartman – keyboards (5, 6, 8), string arrangements (6), backing vocals (6), percussion (11)
- Tony Harrell – keyboards (6)
- Jeff Taylor – accordion (6)
- Buckwheat Zydeco – accordion (7)
- John Hobbs – keyboards (9, 11)
- J. T. Corenflos – electric guitar (1, 2, 3, 10)
- Dann Huff – electric guitar (1, 2, 3, 10)
- Ilya Toshinsky – acoustic guitar (1, 2, 3, 9, 10, 11)
- Pat Buchanan – electric guitar (4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 11)
- Brent Mason – electric guitar (4, 5, 7, 8)
- John Willis – acoustic guitar (4, 5, 7), electric guitar (6)
- Bryan Sutton – acoustic guitar (6, 7), mandolin (6, 11), banjo (11)
- Paul Franklin – steel guitar (1, 10)
- Dan Dugmore – steel guitar (2, 3)
- Russ Pahl – steel guitar (4, 8, 9)
- Jimmie Lee Sloas – bass (1, 2, 3, 10)
- Michael Rhodes – bass (4, 5, 7, 8)
- Viktor Krauss – bass (6)
- Mike Brignardello – bass (9, 11)
- Greg Morrow – drums (1-5, 9, 10, 11)
- Steve Brewster – drums (6, 7, 8)
- Eric Darken – percussion
- Larry Hall – strings (6), string arrangements (6)
- Jim Horn – tenor saxophone (7), baritone saxophone (7), horn arrangements (7)
- Dolly Parton – guest vocals (1)
- Russell Terrell – backing vocals (2, 3)
- Perry Coleman – backing vocals (4, 5, 7, 8, 9)
- Vicki Hampton – backing vocals (4, 5, 6, 9)
- Tania Hancheroff – backing vocals (4, 5, 6, 9)
- Cindy Walker Richardson – backing vocals (4, 5, 6, 9)
- Eric Paslay – backing vocals (5)
- Bob Bailey – backing vocals (6, 11)
- Jason Eskridge – backing vocals (6, 11)
- Steve Glassmeyer – backing vocals (6)
- Jordan Lehning – backing vocals (6)
- Michael Mishaw – backing vocals (6, 11)
- Gene Sisk – backing vocals (6)
- Will Robinson – Spanish language (6)
- Troy Johnson – backing vocals (7)
- Wes Hightower – backing vocals (11)
Production
Tracks 1, 2, 3 & 10
- Producer – Dann Huff
- Engineer – Todd Tidwell
- Additional Engineer – Russell Terrell
- Assistant Engineers – Shawn Daugherty, Mike Lancaster and Seth Morton.
- Recorded at Starstruck Studios (Nashville, TN).
- Additional Engineering at RTBGV (Nashville, TN).
- Kenny Rogers' vocals recorded by Steve Marcantonio at Starstruck Studios, Blackbird Studio (Nashville, TN) and Doppler Studios (Atlanta, GA).
- Mixed by Steve Marcantonio at Blackbird Studio.
- Digital Editing by Sean Neff
Tracks 4-9 & 11
- Producers – Warren Hartman and Kyle Lehning
- Basic Track Arrangements – Warren Hartman
- Engineer – Steve Marcantonio
- Assistant Engineers – Justin Francis and Mike Spezia
- Recorded at Ocean Way and Sound Stage (Nashville, TN).
- Additional overdubs engineered by Ryan Carr, Jordan Lehning and Kevin Sokolnicki
- Additional overdubs recorded and edited at The Compound (Nashville, TN).
- Accordion overdubs on Track 7 recorded by Tony Daigle at Dockside Studio (Maurice, LA).
- Kenny Rogers' vocals engineered by Jordan Lehning at Blackbird Studio, Sound Stage and The Compound.
- Mixed by Kyle Lehning at Blackbird Studio
Other Credits
- Mastered by Eric Boulanger and Doug Sax at The Mastering Lab (Ojai, CA).
- A&R Direction – Jason Henke, Cris Lacy and Rebekah Sterk.
- Production Coordination – Mike "Frog" Griffith
- Art Direction – Katherine Petillo
- Design – Sally Carnes Gulde
- Creative Director – Shane Tarleton
- Photography – Piper Ferguson and Thomas Petillo
- Booking – Greg Oswald at WME Entertainment.
- Management – Bob Burwell, Jason Henke and Ken Levitan at Vector Management.
- Business Management – Kevin Dalton and Dwight Wiles at Smith Wiles & Co.
