Killin' Time (Clint Black album)

Killin' Time is the debut studio album by American country music singer-songwriter Clint Black. It was released on May 2, 1989, by RCA Nashville. The album, buoyed by the chart-topping success of its first four singles, was a huge hit upon its release, and established Black as one of the biggest new stars in country music. The album is currently certified triple platinum by the RIAA.

Killin' Time
Studio album by Clint Black
Released	May 2, 1989
Recorded	1988
Studio	Digital Services (Houston, Texas) Eleven Eleven (Nashville, Tennessee) House of David (Nashville, Tennessee) Sound Stage (Nashville, Tennessee) Woodland (Nashville, Tennessee) Reflections (Nashville, Tennessee)
Genre	Neotraditional country Texas country Western swing
Length	30:35
Label	RCA Nashville
Producer	James Stroud, Mark Wright
Clint Black chronology
Killin' Time (1989) Put Yourself in My Shoes (1990)
Singles from Killin' Time
"A Better Man" Released: February 18, 1989 "Killin' Time" Released: July 15, 1989 "Nobody's Home" Released: October 1989 "Walkin' Away" Released: February 19, 1990 "Nothing's News" Released: June 18, 1990

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[1]
Chicago Tribune	[2]
Christgau's Record Guide	A−[3]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music	[4]
Q	[5]
Rolling Stone	[6]

"A Better Man", "Nothing's News", "Walking Away", "Nobody's Home", and "Killin' Time" were all huge hit songs. All of these except "Nothing's News" reached Number One on the Billboard Hot Country Singles and Hot Country Singles & Tracks (now Hot Country Songs) chart, while "Nothing's News" reached No. 3. In addition, "A Better Man" and "Nobody's Home" were declared the Number One songs of 1989 and 1990, respectively, according to Billboard.

Critical reception

The Los Angeles Times wrote that "Black has a winning vocal style that evokes a very young Merle Haggard at times, and musically he can Western swing just as hard as fellow Texan George Strait, which he proves on the delightful 'Straight From the Factory'."^[7]

Musical style and composition

Killin' Time has been described musically as neotraditional country,^[6][2][3] Texas country,^[1] Western swing.^[7] It has been compared to the musical style of classic country music artists such as Merle Haggard and as neotraditional country contemporaries such as George Strait and Randy Travis.^[2][6][5]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Clint Black and Hayden Nicholas except where noted.

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Straight from the Factory"		2:18
2.	"A Better Man"		3:04
3.	"Nobody's Home"	Black	3:29
4.	"Walkin' Away"	Black, Nicholas, Dick Gay	2:47
5.	"You're Gonna Leave Me Again"		3:43
6.	"I'll Be Gone" (Omitted from LP/Cassette version)		2:28
7.	"Nothing's News"	Black	3:02
8.	"Winding Down"	Black	3:38
9.	"Killin' Time" (Track 6 on LP/Cassette version)		2:47
10.	"Live and Learn"	Black	3:14

Personnel

Band

• Clint Black – acoustic guitar, harmonica, lead vocals, background vocals
• Dick Gay – drums
• Rob Hajacos – fiddle
• Jana King – background vocals
• Randy McCormick – keyboards
• Craig Morris – background vocals
• Hayden Nicholas – acoustic guitar, electric guitar, background vocals
• Mark O'Connor – fiddle
• John Permenter – fiddle
• Jeff Peterson – Dobro, steel guitar
• Jim Photoglo – background vocals
• Donna Rhodes – background vocals
• Brent Rowan – electric guitar
• Harry Stinson – background vocals
• Wendy Waldman – background vocals
• Jake Willemain – bass guitar
• Reggie Young – electric guitar

Production

• Milan Bogdan – editing
• Bill Ham – executive producer
• Steve Lindsey – production coordinator
• Glenn Meadows – mastering
• Lynn Peterzell – engineer, mixing
• Scott Poston – production coordinator
• James Stroud – producer
• Mark Wright – producer

Chart positions

Weekly charts Chart (1989–1990) Peak position Canadian Albums (RPM) 93 Canadian Country Albums (RPM) 6 US Billboard 200[8] 31 US Top Country Albums (Billboard)[9] 1

Year-end charts Chart (1989) Position US Top Country Albums (Billboard)[10] 16 Chart (1990) Position US Billboard 200[11] 52 US Top Country Albums (Billboard)[12] 1 Chart (1991) Position US Top Country Albums (Billboard)[13] 6 Chart (1992) Position US Top Country Albums (Billboard)[14] 50

Singles

Year	Single	Peak positions
		US Country	CAN Country
1989	"A Better Man"	1	1
	"Killin' Time"	1	1
	"Nobody's Home"	1	1
1990	"Walkin' Away"	1	1
	"Nothing's News"	3	1

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)[15]	Platinum	100,000^
United States (RIAA)[16]	3× Platinum	3,000,000^
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.