“To Make You Feel My Love”
Garth Brooks
Written by Bob Dylan
Billboard
#1 (2 weeks)
August 1, 1998
The genre’s biggest star enjoys his final No. 1 hit of the decade.
The Road to No. 1
Brooks completed his longest run of No. 1 singles since the early nineties with “To Make You Feel My Love,” his fifth consecutive chart-topper.
The No. 1
Bob Dylan wrote it. Billy Joel covered it. Garth Brooks covered the Billy Joel version.
Somehow, someway, the end result was a Garth ballad that is all nuance and softly delivered lines, more in line with his Bluebird roots than his stadium-rattling live shows.
It’s beautifully done, though I’m sure Garth himself would agree with my only caveat: Trisha Yearwood sang it better on the same soundtrack.
The Road From No. 1
Brooks finished out the decade with another top five hit from Sevens: “You Move Me.” He then went top ten with “It’s Your Song,” the only official release from his Double Live album. His final project of the nineties was Garth Brooks…in the Life of Chris Gaines, an intended companion album for a film that was never made. It charted one top thirty country hit with “It Don’t Matter to the Sun,” but it also notably produced Garth’s sole crossover hit: “Lost in You” went to No. 5 on the Hot 100. Brooks hosted Saturday Night Live in support of the project. The banner above is a promotional still from that appearance.
Brooks was named Artist of the Decade by the Academy of Country Music, and his success on the country singles chart has continued well into the 21st century. We’ll see him multiple times when we get to the 2000s and 2010s.
“To Make You Feel My Love” gets a B+.
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Everyone likes to make fun of the Chris Gaines thing, but taken not as a Garth album but just as a bit of late ’90s soft rock/pop it’s way better than it ever gets credit for.
I really liked “Right Now.”
Yes, I really like “Right Now” as well.
I might’ve liked the Chris Gaines album a lot better if he hadn’t sang in a ridiculous falseto voice and fake higher register throughout it.
Book’s again shows the depth of his versatility as artist with this beatiful performance.
As for his Gaines album, nothing could have been as bad as the reviews, and response, suggested at the time. The album was almost destined to be reconsidered given some time, distance, and perspective from the sheer audacity of the initial project.