Half the Way
{{Infobox song
| name = Half the Way
| image = Half the way by Crystal Gayle US single side-A.png
| alt =
| caption = Side A of US single
| type = single
| artist = Crystal Gayle
| album = Miss the Mississippi
| B-side = Room for One More
| released = September 1979
| recorded = 1978
| studio =
| venue =
| genre = Country pop, adult contemporary
| length = 4:03 (Album version)
3:32 (Single version)
| label = Columbia
| writer = Ralph Murphy, Bobby Wood
| producer = Allen Reynolds
| prev_title = Your Kisses Will
| prev_year = 1979
| next_title = Your Old Cold Shoulder
| next_year = 1979
}}
"Half the Way" is a song written by Ralph Murphy and Bobby Wood, and recorded by American country music artist Crystal Gayle. It was released in September 1979 as the first single from the album Miss the Mississippi.
After achieving major Country crossover success in 1977 with "Don't It Make My Brown Eyes Blue.", followed by a Top 20 Pop hit and No. 1 Country hit the next year ("Talking In Your Sleep"), Gayle attempted this new crossover piece of music.
After signing with Columbia Records in early 1979, Gayle immediately started recording for them. "Half the Way" was the first song recorded under her new record label. The song's up-tempo, soft rock production made it reach Billboard Magazine's Hot 100 chart; peaking at number fifteen for the week ending Saturday, December 15, 1979. One month prior, the song climbed to number two on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart for the week ending Saturday, November 3, 1979.{{cite book |title= The Billboard Book Of Top 40 Country Hits: 1944-2006, Second edition|last=Whitburn |first=Joel |author-link=Joel Whitburn |year=2004 |publisher=Record Research |page=131}} It also reached number nine on the [[Adult Contemporary (chart)|Billboard Adult
Contemporary]] chart. Following "Half the Way"'s success, Gayle never achieved another solo Top 40 Pop hit. Her singles did continue to chart on Billboard's Hot Country Singles and A.C. charts, however.
Chart performance
class="wikitable sortable"
!align="left"|Chart (1979–1980) !align="center"|Peak |
Canada RPM Country Tracks{{cite web|url=http://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/films-videos-sound-recordings/rpm/Pages/image.aspx?Image=nlc008388.6867a&URLjpg=http%3a%2f%2fwww.collectionscanada.gc.ca%2fobj%2f028020%2ff4%2fnlc008388.6867a.gif&Ecopy=nlc008388.6867a|title=Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada |website=Collectionscanada.gc.ca |date=1979-12-08 |accessdate=2020-03-01}}
|align="center"|1 |
align="left"|Canadian RPM Adult Contemporary Tracks
|align="center"|2 |
align="left"|Canadian RPM Top Singles
|align="center"|56 |
South Africa (Springbok){{cite web|title=SA Charts 1965–March 1989|url=http://www.rock.co.za/files/springbok_top_20_(G).html|accessdate=5 September 2018}}
|align="center"|4 |
{{singlechart|Billboardcountrysongs|2|artist=Crystal Gayle}} |
{{singlechart|Billboardadultcontemporary|9|artist=Crystal Gayle}} |
{{singlechart|Billboardhot100|15|artist=Crystal Gayle}} |
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{YouTube|MLgjMECUs-0|Listen to "Half the Way"}}
{{Crystal Gayle singles}}
{{authority control}}
Category:Songs written by Ralph Murphy (musician)
Category:Song recordings produced by Allen Reynolds