Big Hopes

Big Hopes
Studio album by Ty Herndon
Released	May 26, 1998 (1998-05-26)
Genre	Country
Length	40:50
Label	Epic
Producer	Byron Gallimore (tracks 1, 3-7) Doug Johnson (tracks 2, 8-11)
Ty Herndon chronology
Living in a Moment (1997) Big Hopes (1998) Steam (1999)

Big Hopes is the third studio album recorded by country music artist Ty Herndon. It features the singles "A Man Holding On (To a Woman Lettin' Go)", "It Must Be Love", and "Hands of a Working Man". These songs peaked at #5, #1, and #5, respectively, on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks (now Hot Country Songs) charts. "It Must Be Love" was his third and final Number One on the country charts, while "Hands of a Working Man" was his last Top Ten.

Doug Virden and Drew Womack, then members of Sons of the Desert, serve as backing vocalists on other tracks, as they did on Herndon's previous album Living in a Moment. Blue Miller, formerly of Bob Seger's Silver Bullet Band and later of the Gibson/Miller Band, also provides background vocals.

Thom Owens of Allmusic rated the album three stars out of five, saying that it "comes as close to MOR rock and pop as it does to country."^[1]

Track listing

1. "Big Hopes" (Walt Wilkins) – 3:46
2. "It Must Be Love" (Craig Bickhardt, Jack Sundrud) – 3:31
3. "A Man Holdin' On (To a Woman Lettin' Go)" (Bobby Taylor, Gene Dobbins, John Ramey) – 3:36
4. "Big Time Dreamer" (Gary Burr, Victoria Shaw) – 3:51
5. "Thinkin' with My Heart Again" (Donny Kees, Sanger D. Shafer, Dean Dillon) – 3:08
6. "Somewhere a Lover" (Tim Ryan Rouillier, Alex Harvey) – 3:40
7. "Hands of a Working Man" (D. Vincent Williams, Jim Collins) – 3:47
8. "How Much Can One Man Love You" (Burr, Bob DiPiero) – 3:41
9. "The Only Way I Know" (Burr, Mike Reid) – 4:17
10. "No Brakes" (Pat Bunch, Shane Teeters) – 2:46
11. "Tears in God's Eyes" (Skip Ewing, Kim Williams, Kent Blazy) – 4:36

Personnel

Compiled from liner notes.^[2]

Byron Gallimore-produced tracks (1, 3-7)

• Larry Byrom – electric guitar
• Steven Conn – accordion
• Dan Dugmore – steel guitar
• Sonny Garrish – steel guitar
• Aubrey Haynie – fiddle
• Ty Herndon – lead vocals
• Jeff King – acoustic guitar
• B. James Lowry – acoustic guitar
• Brent Mason – electric guitar
• Terry McMillan – percussion
• Steve Nathan – keyboards
• Tom Roady – percussion
• D. Vincent Williams – background vocals
• Lonnie Wilson – drums
• Glenn Worf – bass guitar
• Curtis Wright – background vocals
• Curtis Young – background vocals

Doug Johnson-produced tracks (2, 8-11)

• Joe Chemay – bass guitar
• Larry Franklin – fiddle
• Paul Franklin – steel guitar
• Steve Gibson – electric guitar
• Ty Herndon – lead vocals
• John Hobbs – keyboards
• Dann Huff – electric guitar
• Mike Jones – background vocals
• Paul Leim – drums
• Patty Loveless – background vocals
• Blue Miller – background vocals
• Wendell Mobley – background vocals
• Steve Nathan – keyboards
• Tom Roady – percussion
• Brent Rowan – electric guitar
• Doug Virden – background vocals
• Biff Watson – acoustic guitar
• Drew Womack – background vocals

Chart performance

References