Description
Urban Cowboy 1980
The movie Urban Cowboy was a modest hit upon its 1980 release. Its soundtrack, however, was a much different, more successful story.
The double LP spawned three country No. 1 hits (Johnny Lee’s “Lookin’ for Love,” Mickey Gilley‘s “Stand By Me” and Anne Murray‘s “Could I Have This Dance”), while its Kenny Rogers track, “Love the World Away,” peaked at No. 4. All four of those songs also reached the pop Top 40, as did two other tunes: Boz Scaggs’ “Look What You’ve Done to Me” and Joe Walsh’s “All Night Long.”
“And you could already hear the Eagles’ influence on Nashville. Irving knew it was time for a crossover, and not just musically,” she added. “He’d looked at the disco movement and Saturday Night Fever. He knew Urban Cowboy could impact the way people dressed, ate, danced, listened.”
Although Azoff wanted the soundtrack to feature only the Eagles, the tracklist eventually expanded to include other artists and then-recent hits by groups such as the Charlie Daniels Band. It ended up being a great move: The album felt more like a great compilation than a mere movie soundtrack.
The film’s screenplay was adapted by Aaron Latham and James Bridges from an article by the same name in Esquire Magazine written by Latham. The original Esquire article centered on the romance between two Gilley’s regulars named Dew Westbrook and Betty Helmer. Westbrook and Helmer’s real-life relationship became the inspiration for the on-screen romance between John Travolta’s and Debra Winger’s characters “Bud” and “Sissy”. The movie was directed by Bridges. Some film critics referred to the movie as a country music version of Saturday Night Fever. The film grossed almost $47 million in the United States alone and represented a temporary recovery for Travolta from 1978’s poorly received Moment by Moment, but the film was not nearly as successful as either Saturday Night Fever.
Tracklist:
Written by Brian Collins and Robby Campbell
Performed by Jimmy Buffett
Lively Music/New Chenaniah (BMI)
Written by Bob Seger
Performed by Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band (as Bob Seger and The Silver Bullet Band)
Hideout Records/Distributors Inc. (ASCAP)
Written by Ben E. King, Jerry Leiber, Mike Stoller
Performed by Mickey Gilley
Unichappell (BMI) / Jerry Leiber Music/Mike Stoller Music (ASCAP)
Written by Michael Martin Murphey (as Michael Murphy)
Performed by Johnny Lee
Dro-N-Sis Music (BMI)
Written by Wayland Holyfield and Bob House
Performed by Anne Murray
Tree Music Publishing (BMI)
Written by Don Henley and Glenn Frey
Performed by Eagles
Cass County Music Company/Red Cloud Music (ASCAP)
Written by Rusty Wier
Performed by Bonnie Raitt
Prophecy Publishing Inc./Bug House (ASCAP)
Written by Charlie Daniels, Tom Crain, Taz Di Gregorio, Fred Edwards, Charlie Haywardand James Marshall
Performed by The Charlie Daniels Band
Cabin Fever Music (BMI)
Written by Jerry Foster and Bill Rice
Performed by Mickey Gilley
Jack And Bill Music Company
Written by Ervin T. Rouse (as Ervin Rouse)
Performed by Gilley’s ‘Urban Cowboy’ Band
MCA Inc. (ASCAP)
Written by Bob Morrison and Johnny Wilson
Performed by Kenny Rogers
WRITEL Music (BMI)
Written by Charlie Daniels
Performed by The Charlie Daniels Band
Cabin Fever Music (BMI)
Performed by Bonnie Raitt
Sptember Music Corp./Margaret Point Music Limited (ASCAP)
Written by Boz Scaggs, David Foster
Performed by Boz Scaggs
Boz Scaggs Music/Irving Music Inc./Fpster Frees Music Inc. (BMI)
Written by JD Souther
Performed by JD Souther and Linda Ronstadt
EMI April Music Inc. (ASCAP)
