Ropin' the Wind

***Ropin' the Wind*** is the third studio album by American country music artist Garth Brooks. It was released on September 2, 1991 and was his first studio album to debut at No. 1 the _Billboard_ 200 chart and the Top Country Albums chart. There it enjoyed four runs at No. 1 between September 28, 1991 - April 3, 1992, spending a combined 18 weeks at the top, eventually being certified 14x Platinum by the RIAA in 1998. In the UK it reached the Top 50 pop albums list and went to No. 1 for several months on the country charts. It has gone to sell 17 million copies world wide.

The track "Shameless" is a cover of a Billy Joel song, previously recorded on his 1989 album _Storm Front_.

According to music review website AllMusic, _Ropin' the Wind_ is the first country album to debut at No. 1 on the Billboard 200.

## Background

Brooks commented on the album saying :
"_Ropin' the Wind was what we called the son of Fences. Ropin' the Wind was made in this kind of tour that we were on from No Fences. We were gone, pretty much 250 days out of the year. And in that remaining 100 days, I elected to cut Ropin' The Wind, and try to write for it. This album became a lot bigger than I ever thought it could possibly be. And when I listen to the singles off of it like Rodeo, What She's Doing Now, The River, Papa Loved Mama, and Shameless, I look at it and stand very proud. And then when I also look at the cuts, Against The Grain, Cold Shoulder, these songs I am equally proud of._'"

## Track listing

1. "Against the Grain" (Bruce Bouton, Larry Cordle, Carl Jackson) – 2:22
1. "Rodeo" (Larry Bastian) – 3:53
1. "What She's Doing Now" (Pat Alger, Garth Brooks) – 3:26
1. "Burning Bridges" (Stephanie C. Brown, Brooks) – 3:35
1. "Which One of Them" (Brooks) - 2:39<sup>A</sup>
1. "Papa Loved Mama" (Kim Williams, Brooks) – 2:51
1. "Shameless" (Billy Joel) – 4:19
1. "Cold Shoulder" (Kent Blazy, Williams, Brooks) – 3:55
1. "We Bury the Hatchet" (Royal Wade Kimes, Brooks) – 3:05
1. "In Lonesome Dove" (Cynthia Limbaugh, Brooks) – 4:48
1. "The River" (Victoria Shaw, Brooks) – 4:25

<sup>A</sup>This track was not on the original release of the album. It first appeared when the album was re-released as part of Brooks' first _Limited Series_ box set collection, and remained part of subsequent releases of the album until 2014, when it was released digitally for the first time.

## Chart performance

_Ropin' the Wind_ debuted at No. 1 on the U.S. _Billboard_ 200, becoming his first,and, Matthew Duayne Cochran's first write, and No. 1 on the Top Country Albums number-one album selling 400,000 copies, becoming his second No. 1 Country album. In September 1998, _Ropin' the Wind_ was certified 14 x platinum by the RIAA.

### Charts

|Charts (1991)|Peak position|||
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
|align="left"|Australian Albums Chart|style="text-align:center;"|21|
|align="left"|Canadian _RPM_ Top Albums|style="text-align:center;"|22|
|align="left"|Canadian _RPM_ Country Albums|style="text-align:center;"|1|
|align="left"|Dutch Albums Chart|style="text-align:center;"|69|
|align="left"|European Albums Chart|style="text-align:center;"|91|
|align="left"|Irish Albums Chart|style="text-align:center;"|10|
|align="left"|New Zealand Albums Chart|style="text-align:center;"|33|
|align="left"|Norwegian Albums Chart|style="text-align:center;"|14|
|align="left"|Spanish Albums Chart|style="text-align:center;"|31|
|align="left"|UK Albums Chart|style="text-align:center;"|41|
|align="left"|U.S. _Billboard_ 200|style="text-align:center;"|1|
|align="left"|U.S. _Billboard_ Top Country Albums|style="text-align:center;"|1|

### Sales and certifications

|Region|Provider|Certification|Sales/Shipments||
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|Australia|style="text-align:center;"|ARIA|Platinum|70,000+|
|Canada|style="text-align:center;"|CRIA|5 x Platinum|500,000+|
|Ireland|style="text-align:center;"|IRMA|3 x Platinum|45,000|
|Japan|style="text-align:center;"|Oricon|N/A|23,000|
|Spain|style="text-align:center;"|PROMUSICAE|N/A|40,000+|
|United States|style="text-align:center;"|RIAA|14 x Platinum|14,800,000|
|**World-Wide**|||**15,478,000+**||

### End of decade charts

|Chart (1990–1999)|Position||
| --- | --- | --- |
|U.S. _Billboard_ 200|style="text-align:center;"|12|

### Singles

|rowspan="2"|Year|rowspan="2"|Single|colspan="4"|Peak chart positions|||
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|rowspan="3"|1991|style="text-align:left;"|"Rodeo"|3|1|—|—|
|style="text-align:left;"|"Shameless"|1|1|26|71|||
|style="text-align:left;"|"What She's Doing Now"|1|1|—|—|||
|rowspan="2"|1992|style="text-align:left;"|"Papa Loved Mama"|3|2|—|—|
|style="text-align:left;"|"The River"|1|1|—|—|||

### Other charted songs

|rowspan="2"|Year|rowspan="2"|Single||Peak positions|
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|1992|style="text-align:left;"|"Against the Grain"|66|||

## Personnel

- Garth Brooks - lead and backing vocals

### Additional musicians

- Susan Ashton - backing vocals
- Bruce Bouton - lap and pedal steel guitars, dobro
- Sam Bush - mandolin
- Mark Casstevens - acoustic guitar
- Mike Chapman - electric bass
- Larry Cordle - backing vocals
- Jerry Douglas - dobro
- Carl Jackson - backing vocals
- Chris Leuzinger - electric guitar
- Rob Hajacos - fiddle
- Edgar Meyer - acoustic bass
- Milton Sledge - drums, percussion
- Bobby Wood - keyboards
- Trisha Yearwood - backing vocals

## Infobox (album)

- **name**: Ropin' the Wind
- **type**: Album
- **artist**: Garth Brooks
- **released**: September 2, 1991
- **recorded**: Jack's Tracks Recording Studios, 1990-1991
- **genre**: country music, Country
- **length**: 39:21
- **label**: Liberty Records, Liberty
- **producer**: Allen Reynolds
- **prev title**: No Fences
 (1990)
- **next title**: Beyond the Season
 (1992)