The Way It Is is the debut album by Bruce Hornsby and the Range, released by RCA Records in 1986. Led by its hit title track, the album achieved multi-platinum status and contributed to the group winning the Grammy Award for Best New Artist. Other notable tracks from the album include "Mandolin Rain" and "Every Little Kiss". Huey Lewis appears on harmonica and provides vocals on "Down the Road Tonight." Lewis also co-produced this track, along with "The Long Race" and "The River Runs Low."
Contents
Background
Bruce Hornsby formed The Range in 1984 while in Los Angeles, having previously spent time as a session musician for Sheena Easton and a songwriter for 20th Century Studios' music publishing company. The band sent a series of demo tapes to various record companies, initially with no success. Huey Lewis, who had befriended Hornsby a few years prior to the creation of The Range, advocated on Hornsby's behalf by encouraging record labels to sign the band.
Windham Hill Records offered to sign Hornsby after he sent them a four-song demo tape that included "The Way It Is". The tape then leaked to other record labels, who then also expressed interest in signing the artist. Hornsby's lawyer encouraged him to submit the tape to a few other labels, although Hornsby was initially hesitant as he was tired of being rejected. Hornsby ultimately declined to sign with Windham Hill Records over his belief that they were not interested in the rock music that The Range's offered. He instead going with RCA Records, saying that "with RCA, I was able to make the total record I wanted to make. They were interested in all of me, not just one side."
Some of the material written for The Way It Is related to Hornsby's home state of Virginia. The 'roadside shack' referenced in "Down the Road Tonight" related to a location near Williamsburg, Virginia. "The Wild Frontier" relates to Hornsby's desire to escape from Los Angeles and return to Virginia. He explained that "L.A. is okay but not great. I just have an overall feeling of 'Well, this place really isn't for me...I don't think anybody out there really likes breathing the air or dealing with the traffic. That's where I live, but Virginia is my home."
Hornsby found the recording process for The Way It Is to be a departure from the session work he had previously done in Los Angeles based on the additional responsibilities associated with making a solo album, including decisions relating to mixing and mastering.
Releases
The original release of the album featured an impressionistic photograph on the cover of Bruce Hornsby playing an accordion. It was initially aimed at the New Age music market and included slightly different versions of the songs "Down the Road Tonight" and "The River Runs Low."
As the album's tracks began to receive regular airplay on pop music stations in late 1986, it was remixed and subsequently re-released on December 20, 1986, with a new sepia-toned cover featuring a photograph of the band superimposed over an image of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge–Tunnel in Virginia.
Critical reception
In their review of The Way It Is, Billboard said that its songs "recall the melodic flow and western imagery that reached a peak with the Eagles", adding that the music "laces these elements with a canny mix of acoustic and electric accents."
Track listing
The track times listed are for the current release of the album. The opening of "Every Little Kiss" features an extended quotation from the beginning of Movement III, "The Alcotts", from Charles Ives's Piano Sonata No. 2.
Live: The Way It Is Tour 1986–87
Produced by DIR Broadcasting for the King Biscuit Flower Hour. Recorded live at The Ritz, New York City, February 2, 1987 by Effanel Music.
Personnel
Bruce Hornsby and The Range
Bruce Hornsby – lead vocals, piano, accordion, synthesizer, hammered dulcimer, OB-X, LinnDrum
David Mansfield – guitar, mandolin, violin
George Marinelli – electric and acoustic guitars, backing vocals
Joe Puerta – bass, backing vocals
John Molo – drums, percussion
Huey Lewis – harmonica (6), backing vocals (6)
Sean Hopper – synthesizer consultant
Jon Gilutin – synthesizer consultant
Jeff Gerson – enforcement
Technical
Produced by Bruce Hornsby (1–3, 5, 7, 9), Elliot Scheiner (1–3, 5, 7, 9), and Huey Lewis (4, 6, 8)
Executive producer – Paul Atkinson
Engineered by Elliot Scheiner (1–3, 5, 7, 9) and Jim Gaines (4, 6, 8)
Additional engineers – Eddie King and Jeff "Nik" Norman
Mixed by Elliot Scheiner, Don Smith, Eddie King, and David Luke
Digital editing – Bob Harlan
Mastered by Stephen Marcussen at Precision Lacquer (Hollywood, CA)
Production assistant – Ivy Skoff
A&R coordination – Marge Meoli
Art direction and design – Ted Raess
Art consultant – Kathy Hornsby
Photography – Aaron Rapoport
Inner sleeve photography – Robert Llewellyn
Management – Tim Neece