Kulaks (Russian: кула́к, kulak, "fist", by extension "tight-fisted"; kurkuls in Ukraine, also used in Russian texts in Ukrainian contexts) were a category of relatively affluent farmers in the later Russian Empire, Soviet Russia, and early Soviet Union. The word kulak originally referred to independent farmers in the Russian Empire who emerged from the peasantry and became wealthy following the Stolypin reform, which began in 1906.

According to the political theory of Marxism-Leninism of the early 20th century, the kulaks were class enemies of the poorer peasants.^[1] Vladimir Lenin described them as "bloodsuckers, vampires, plunderers of the people and profiteers, who fatten on famine.”^[2] Marxism-Leninism had intended a revolution to liberate poor peasants and farm laborers alongside the proletariat (urban and industrial workers). In addition, the planned economy of Soviet Bolshevism required the collectivization of farms and land to allow industrialization or conversion to large-scale agricultural production. In practice, these Marxist-Leninist theories led to disruption of agriculture as government officials violently seized kulak farms and murdered resistors.^[1][3]

Definitions[link]

According to the Soviet terminology, the peasants were divided into three broad categories: bednyaks, or poor peasants; serednyaks, or mid-income peasants; and kulaks, the higher-income farmers who had larger farms than most Russian peasants. In addition, they had a category of batraks, landless seasonal agriculture workers for hire.^[1]

The Stolypin reform created a new class of landowners by allowing peasants to acquire plots of land for credit from the large estate owners. They were to repay the credit (a kind of mortgage loan) from their farm work. By 1912, 16% of peasants (up from 11% in 1903) had relatively large endowments of over 8 acres (3.2 ha) per male family member (a threshold used in statistics to distinguish between middle-class and prosperous farmers, i.e., kulaks). At that time an average farmer's family had 6 to 10 children.

After the Russian Revolution of 1917, the Bolsheviks considered only batraks and bednyaks as true allies of the Soviets and proletariat. Serednyaks were considered unreliable, "hesitating" allies; and kulaks were identified as class enemies because they owned land. But, often those classified as kulaks were not especially prosperous. The average value of goods confiscated from kulaks during the policy of "dekulakization" (раскулачивание) at the beginning of the 1930s was only $90–$210 (170-400 rubles) per household.^[1] Both peasants and Soviet officials were often uncertain as to what constituted a kulak. They often used the term to label anyone who had more property than was considered "normal," according to subjective criteria, and personal rivalries played a part in the classification of enemies. In the early years, being classified as a kulak carried no penalty other than mistrust from the Soviet authorities. During the height of collectivization, however, people identified as kulaks were subjected to deportation and extrajudicial punishment. They were often murdered in local violence; others were formally executed after conviction as kulaks.^[3][4][5]

In May 1929, the Sovnarkom issued a decree that formalised the notion of "kulak household" (кулацкое хозяйство). Any of the following defined a kulak:^[1][6]

• use of hired labor
• ownership of a mill, a creamery (маслобойня, butter-making rig), other processing equipment, or a complex machine with a mechanical motor
• systematic renting out of agricultural equipment or facilities
• involvement in trade, money-lending, commercial brokerage, or "other sources of non-labor income".

By the last item, any peasant who sold his surplus goods on the market could be automatically classified as a kulak. In 1930 this list was extended to include those who were renting industrial plants, e.g., sawmills, or who rented land to other farmers. Grigory Zinoviev, a well-known Soviet politician, said in 1924, "We are fond of describing any peasant who has enough to eat as a 'kulak'." At the same time, the ispolkoms (executive committees of local Soviets) of republics, oblasts, and krais were given rights to add other criteria for defining kulaks, depending on local conditions.^[1]

Dekulakization[link]

In 1928 there was a food shortage in the cities and in the army. In response the Soviet government encouraged the formation of collective farms and, in 1929, introduced a policy of mandatory collectivization. Many peasants were attracted to collectivization by the idea that they would be able to afford tractors to generate increased production.

In July 1929 it remained official Soviet policy that the kulak should not be terrorised and should be enlisted into the collective farms. Joseph Stalin disagreed with this, saying, "Now we have the opportunity to carry out a resolute offensive against the kulaks, break their resistance, eliminate them as a class and replace their production with the production of kolkhozes and sovkhozes."^[8]

On 30 January 1930 the Politburo approved of the extermination of kulaks as a class. Three separate categories for the kulaks were designated. The first consisted of kulaks to be sent to the Gulags, the second was for kulaks to be relocated to distant parts of the USSR (such as the north Urals and Kazahkstan), and the third to other parts of their province.^[9]

Other peasants were outraged by the idea that other people would use their tools/animals as common property; they often retaliated against the state by destroying their tools and killing the livestock. They would have to give their animals to the collectives, but the people could eat the meat; they could also conceal or sell both meat and hides. Many peasants chose to slaughter livestock rather than allow them to become common property. In the first two months of 1930, peasants killed millions of cattle, horses, pigs, sheep, and goats. Through this and a severe winter, a quarter of the nation’s livestock died. It was a greater loss than during the Civil War, and herds did not reach previous levels until the 1950s.

In response to the widespread slaughter, the Sovnarkom issued decrees to prosecute "the malicious slaughtering of livestock" (хищнический убой скота).^[10] Many peasants attempted to sabotage the collectives by attacking members and government officials.^{[citation needed]}

Stalin requested severe measures to put an end to the kulak resistance. In 1930, Stalin declared:

In order to oust the 'kulaks' as a class, the resistance of this class must be smashed in open battle and it must be deprived of the productive sources of its existence and development... That is a turn towards the policy of eliminating the kulaks as a class.^[11] The Communist party agreed to the use of force in the collectivization and dekulakization efforts. They intended to eliminate the kulaks as a class by the following: death sentence, labor settlements (not to be confused with labor camps, although the former were also managed by the GULAG); or deportation "out of regions of total collectivization of the agriculture". Tens of thousands of kulaks were executed, property was expropriated to form collective farms, and many families were deported to unpopulated areas of Siberia and Soviet Central Asia.

Often local officials were assigned minimum quotas of kulaks to identify, and were forced to use their discretionary powers to "find" kulaks wherever they could. This led to many cases in which a farmer who employed only his sons, or any family that had a metal roof on their house, was labelled as kulaks and deported. The same fate was the end of those labeled as podkulachniks (подкулачник), so-called "kulak helpers".

A new wave of persecution against "ex-kulaks" was started in 1937. It was part of the Great Purge, conducted by Nikolai Yezhov after the NKVD Order no. 00447. Those deemed ex-kulaks were either executed or sent to labor camps. With few rich or middle-class peasants left to arrest, to satisfy the conviction quotas demanded by Stalin and Yezhov the NKVD terrorized more of the peasantry to induce more denunciations. In the wave of round-ups that followed, the term 'kulak' lost its previous distinction and became a general accusation (like wrecking), which could be leveled at anyone whom the troikas wished to convict. During the Great Purge, hundreds of thousands of peasants were falsely accused of being ex-kulaks and sent to the Gulag or executed based on circumstantial evidence, forged evidence or none at all.

After being resettled to Siberia and Kazakhstan, many kulaks managed to renew their prosperity. Their fortitude was the basis for recriminations against some sections of NKVD that were in charge of the "labor settlements" (трудовые поселения) in 1938-1939, as they were considered to have permitted "kulakization" (окулачивание) of the "labor settlers" (трудопоселенцев). The new settlers' ability to exceed the prosperity of the neighboring kolkhozes was attributed to "wrecking" and "criminal negligence".

Numbers executed[link]

The overwhelming majority of kulaks executed and imprisoned were male,^[1] but precise numbers have been difficult to obtain. Stalin ordered for kulaks "to be liquidated as a class"^[12] and this liquidation was considered by many historians to have resulted in the Soviet famine of 1946–47.^{[citation needed]} This has complicated attempts to distinguish the executions of kulaks. A wide range of death tolls has been suggested, from as many as 60 million suggested by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn to as few as 700,000 by Soviet news sources. A collection of estimates is maintained by Matthew White.

According to data from Soviet archives, which were published only in 1990, 1,803,392 people were sent to labor colonies and camps in 1930 and 1931. Books based on these sources have said that 1,317,022 reached the destinations. The remaining 486,370 may have died or escaped.^{[citation needed]} Deportations on a smaller scale continued after 1931. The reported number of kulaks and their relatives who died in labor colonies from 1932-1940 was 389,521. Former "kulaks" and their families made up the majority of victims of the Great Purge of the late 1930s, with 669,929 arrested and 376,202 executed.^[13]

See also[link]

• Dekulakization
• Enemy of the people
• Collectivization in the USSR
• Yeoman
• Earth (1930), Ukrainian film by Alexander Dovzhenko, concerning a community of farmers and their resistance to collectivization.
• Ural-Siberian Method

References[link]

External links[link]

Look up kulak in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• Ludo Martens, "The kulak: The first wave of collectivization", Another View of Stalin, 1995

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This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (November 2008)

Jack Tempchin is an American musician and singer-songwriter, best known for writing the Eagles classic "Peaceful Easy Feeling" and co-writing their hits "Already Gone", "The Girl From Yesterday," "Somebody," and "It's Your World Now."

During the Eagles’ breakup period (1980–1994) he co-wrote with Glenn Frey producing "You Belong to the City", "Smuggler's Blues", "The One You Love", "I Found Somebody" and "True Love".^[1]

Among numerous other songs, Tempchin wrote "Slow Dancin' (Swayin' to the Music)." The song was first recorded by the short-lived group The Funky Kings, of which Tempchin was a member at the time. In 1977, the song became a top-10 pop hit for Johnny Rivers, and in 1979 it was a top-10 country hit for Johnny Duncan.

Other compositions include:

• "Someone That You Used To Know" (George Jones)
• "White Shoes" (Emmylou Harris, Randy Meisner)
• "Rollin'" (Glen Campbell)
• "To Feel That Way At All" (Patty Loveless)
• "Somebody Trying To Tell You Something" (Tanya Tucker)
• “You Can Go Home" (Chris Hillman & The Desert Rose Band)
• "Your Tattoo" (Sammy Kershaw)
• "East Of Eden" (Tom Rush)
• "15 Days Under The Hood" (The Paladins, New Riders of the Purple Sage)
• "Who's Been Sleeping In My Bed" (Phantom Blues Band, Candye Kane)

Tempchin has also toured extensively as a solo artist over the years, opening for artists such as Ringo Starr, Jackson Browne, Dave Mason, Poco, Dolly Parton, Karla Bonoff, Chicago, Christopher Cross, Kenny Loggins, Timothy B. Schmit, Barry McGuire, Tom Rush, Al Kooper and Emmylou Harris.^[2]

His current band is called Rocket Science, which plays at venues throughout Southern California and beyond.

He is from Encinitas, California.

Discography[link]

with The Funky Kings[link]

• 1976 The Funky Kings

Solo albums[link]

• 1978 Jack Tempchin
• 1994 After the Rain
• 1995 Lonely Midnight
• 1997 Best of Jack Tempchin (includes newly recorded versions of "Already Gone" and "Peaceful Easy Feeling" )
• 2000 Live on Hwy 101
• 2004 Staying Home
• 2007 Songs

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official Website
• Official MySpace
• Songs composed by Jack Tempchin

Delaney Bramlett (July 1, 1939 – December 27, 2008) was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and producer. Bramlett's five decade career reached peaks in creativity, performance, and notoriety in partnership with his then wife Bonnie Bramlett, in a revolving troupe of professional musicians and Rock superstars dubbed Delaney & Bonnie & Friends.

Career[link]

Bramlett was born in Pontotoc, Mississippi, United States. After a stint in the United States Navy, Bramlett moved to Los Angeles, California in the early 60's.^[1] There he established himself as a singer-songwriter, writing with fellow musicians Joey Cooper, Mac Davis and Jackie DeShannon. By 1965 Bramlett was a regular member of the house band of the television show Shindig!, the Shindogs. During this time, he worked with J.J. Cale and Leon Russell and released some unsuccessful solo singles.^{[citation needed]}

The British guitarist Eric Clapton joined Delaney, Bonnie & Friends on tour in the late 1960s, after which Delaney produced and co-wrote songs for Clapton's debut solo album, Eric Clapton. Clapton still credits Delaney for pushing him to sing and teaching him the art of rock vocals.^[2] Bramlett produced King Curtis' last LP,^[3] which had two hit singles: "Teasin'" and "Lonesome Long Way from Home".

Bramlett taught then Beatle George Harrison to play slide guitar, which led into a gospel jam that resulted in Harrison's hit "My Sweet Lord".^[4] Bramlett wrote, recorded, or appeared on stage with many notable performers, including Joe Cocker, Jimi Hendrix,^[5] Janis Joplin, Billy Preston, John Lennon, The Everly Brothers, Spooner Oldham, Steve Cropper and Billy Burnette. Members of the Friends appearing in concert or recording with Bramlett on Friends albums include a galaxy of stars and highly respected side men, including Clapton, Harrison, Russell, Curtis, Duane Allman, Gregg Allman, Dave Mason, Rita Coolidge, Carl Radle, Jim Gordon, Bobby Whitlock, Jim Keltner, Bobby Keys, and Gram Parsons.

In 2006 Bramlett was one of the duet artists on the Jerry Lee Lewis album Last Man Standing,^[6] singing and playing guitar on "Lost Highway". In 2008, the year of his death, Bramlett released his first CD in six years, A New Kind of Blues.^[7]

Over the years, some of Bramlett's songs have reached music "standard's" status, such as "Superstar",^[8] which he co-wrote with Leon Russell and his first wife, Bonnie Bramlett.^[9] "Superstar", was most notably recorded by The Carpenters, reached #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 pop singles chart and spent two weeks at number one on the Easy Listening chart that autumn en route to going Gold. The song was also recorded by Luther Vandross, Sonic Youth, and Usher, among others.

The Bramlett's "Never Ending Song of Love" has been covered by others, and appears on the soundtrack of RV and A Good Year.^[10] Bramlett co-wrote the Eric Clapton hit, "Let It Rain".^[11]

On January 18, 2011, Bramlett was inducted into the Mississippi Musicians Hall of Fame.^[12]

Death[link]

Described in an obituary as a "Southern Legend",^[13] Bramlett died from complications of gall bladder surgery on December 27, 2008, in Los Angeles, California.^[1] Delaney was survived by his widow, Susan Lanier-Bramlett, a brother, John Wayne Bramlett, three daughters, Michele Bramlett, Suzanne Bramlett, Bekka Bramlett, a stepson, Dylan Thomas and two grandchildren.

Discography[link]

• 1969: Accept No Substitute (Elektra)
• 1969: Home (Stax)
• 1970: Delaney & Bonnie & Friends on Tour (WEA / Atlantic)
• 1970: To Bonnie from Delaney (Atco)
• 1971: Motel Shot (Atco)
• 1971: Genesis (GNP/Crescendo)
• 1972: Somethings Coming (Columbia)
• 1972: Country Life (Atco)
• 1972: D&B Together (CBS)
• 1973: Best of Delaney Bramlett (Atlantic)
• 1973: Mobius Strip (CBS)
• 1975: Giving Birth to a Song (MGM)
• 1977: Class Reunion (Prodigal)
• 1978: Delaney Bramlett with Steve Cropper (Motown)
• 1990: Best of Delaney & Bonnie (Rhino)
• 1998: Sounds From Home (DK/Zane)
• 2002: Sweet Inspiration (Dreamsville Records)
• 2008: A New Kind of Blues (Magnolia Gold)^[14]

Other credits[link]

• 1969: Elvin Bishop, Best of Elvin Bishop: "Tulsa Shuffle" - Rhythm guitar, background vocals, producer
• 1970: The Crickets, Rockin' 50's Rock 'n' Roll - Producer
• 1970: Elvin Bishop, Best of Elvin Bishop: "Crabshaw" - Producer
• 1970: Eric Clapton, Eric Clapton - Arranger, rhythm guitar, background vocals, producer
• 1970: Leon Russell, Leon Russell - Guitar
• 1970: Dave Mason, Alone Together - Guitar, vocals
• 1971: John Simon, John Simon's Album - Tambourine
• 1972: Elvin Bishop, Rock My Soul - Guitar, vocals, producer
• 1972: John Hammond Jr, I'm Satisfied - Producer, vocals, guitar
• 1972: Eric Clapton, The History of Eric Clapton - Guitar, vocals
• 1972: Eric Clapton, Eric Clapton at His Best - Producer
• 1972: Duane Allman, An Anthology - Rhythm guitar, vocals, producer
• 1972: Everly Brothers, Stories We Could Tell - Guitar, vocals
• 1973: Jerry Lee Lewis, Sometimes a Memory Ain't Enough - Guitar, vocals
• 1973: Pacific Gas & Electric, Best - Producer
• 1973: John Ussery, Ussery - Percussion, producer, slide guitar
• 1974: Duane Allman, An Anthology Vol. II - Guitar, vocals
• 1976: Free Creek, Summit Meeting - Guitar
• 1978: Commander Cody, Flying Dreams - Vocals
• 1978: Dann Rogers, Hearts Under Fire - Background vocals
• 1982: Eric Clapton, Time Pieces: Best of Eric Clapton - Rhythm guitar, producer
• 1988: Eric Clapton, Crossroads - Guitar, vocals, producer, horn arrangements
• 1991: Zoo, Shakin' the Cage - Background vocals
• 1992: Phil Driscoll, Picture Changes - Background vocals
• 1992: Classic Rock Classic Rock [Cema] - Producer
• 1996: Heroes of Country Music, Vol. 5 - Vocals, producer
• 1997: Hank Thompson, Hank, Real Thing - Background vocals, National dobro
• 1998: Ian Whitcomb, You Turn Me On: The Very Best of Ian Whitcomb - Bass guitar
• 1998: T. Graham Brown, Wine into Water - Guitar, vocals
• 1999: Dave Mason, Ultimate Collection - Background vocals
• 2006: Jerry Lee Lewis, Last Man Standing, "Lost Highway" - Vocals^[15]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Delaney Bramlett biography at Allmusic
• Delaney Bramlett at MySpace
• Delaney Bramlett at the Internet Movie Database

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (June 2009)

Kenny Rankin (Los Angeles, February 10, 1940 - June 7, 2009) was an American pop and jazz singer and songwriter, originally from the Washington Heights neighborhood of New York City, New York.

Biography[link]

Rankin was raised in New York and was introduced to music by his mother, who sang at home and for friends. Early in his career he worked as a singer-songwriter, and developed a considerable following during the 70s with a steady flow of albums, three of which broke into the Top 100 of the Billboard Album Chart. His liking for jazz was evident from an early age, but the times were such that in order to survive his career had to take a more pop-oriented course. By the 90s, however, he was able to angle his repertoire to accommodate his own musical preferences and to please a new audience while still keeping faith with the faithful. Rankin's warm singing style and his soft, nylon-stringed guitar sound might suggest an artist more attuned to the supper-club circuit than the jazz arena, but his work contains many touches that appeal to the jazz audience.

Rankin appeared on The Tonight Show more than twenty times. Host Johnny Carson was so impressed by him that he wrote the liner notes to Rankin's 1967 debut album Mind Dusters, which featured the single "Peaceful." Kenny's friend Helen Reddy would reach #2 Adult Contemporary and #12 Pop in 1973 with a cover of it, released as her follow-up single to "I Am Woman". Georgie Fame also had a hit with this song in 1969, his only songwriting credit to hit the British charts reaching number sixteen and spending 9 weeks on the chart.

Rankin's accompanists from time to time included Alan Broadbent, Mike Wofford and Bill Watrous, and on such occasions the mood slips easily into a jazz groove. His compositions have been performed by artists such as Mel Tormé and Carmen McRae, while Stan Getz said of him that he was "a horn with a heartbeat". Rankin was deeply interested in Brazilian music and his Here In My Heart, on which he used jazz guests including Michael Brecker and Ernie Watts, was recorded mostly in Rio De Janeiro. More contemporary songs were given an airing following his move to Verve Records, including the Beatles' "I've Just Seen A Face" and Leon Russell's "A Song For You."

Rankin's own unique gift for reworking classic songs such as The Beatles' "Blackbird," which he recorded for his Silver Morning album, so impressed Paul McCartney that he asked Rankin to perform his interpretation of the song when McCartney and John Lennon were inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.

Rankin was lifelong friends with Comedian George Carlin. On Saturday, November 4th 1972, Kenny Rankin performed live on Broadway, at Manhattan's Palace Theater as the opening act for The George Carlin Show. Tickets cost $6.75. "Just so you know, it was me that opened up the show. I toured with my dear friend George for nearly ten years. I will miss my most kind and generous friend. Peace ~ Kenny" They toured together off and on for nearly 10 years and later, Rankin sang at Carlin's Memorial Service (June 2008) before dying of cancer almost exactly one year later in June 2009.

He can be heard singing the song "Miles From Here" in the first episode of the television series Fame titled "Metamorphosis".

Rankin was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer, just three weeks before he died in Los Angeles, California - where he had resided for many years - from the disease on June 7, 2009. He was 69 years old.

Discography[link]

Studio albums[link]

• Mind-Dusters (1967)
• Family (1970)
• Like a Seed (1972)
• Inside (1975)
• Silver Morning (1974)
• The Kenny Rankin Album (1976)
• After the Roses (1980)
• Hiding in Myself (1988)
• Because of You (1991)
• Professional Dreamer (1994)
• Here in My Heart (1997)
• A Christmas Album (1999)
• A Song for You (2002)

Compilations[link]

• Peaceful: The Best of Kenny Rankin (1996)

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official Website
• Kenny Rankin at the Internet Movie Database
• Kenny Rankin at the Internet Broadway Database
• AP Obituary in The Los Angeles Times
• LA Times Obituary

Jeffrey LeVasseur (born August 27, 1961 in Burbank, California)^[3] is an American country music singer and songwriter, more commonly known by the name Jeffrey Steele. Along with recording his own material, Steele has become a prolific Nashville songwriter, having co-written more than sixty hit songs for such artists as Montgomery Gentry, Tim McGraw, Faith Hill, LeAnn Rimes, Rascal Flatts, Billy Ray Cyrus, and others.

Between 1990 and 1996, Steele was the lead singer and bass guitarist in the country music band Boy Howdy, which recorded two albums and an EP on Curb Records, in addition to charting seven singles on the Billboard country music charts. After Boy Howdy disbanded, Steele embarked on a solo career, recording seven studio albums (one of which was not released). He also charted four singles as a solo artist, with the highest-peaking ("Somethin' in the Water") reaching #33 on the country charts in 2001.

Biography[link]

Jeffrey LeVasseur was born in Burbank, California to a musical family. His mother was a singer, and his father had aspirations to become a country music songwriter.^[3] He first gained his own interest in music at age eight, when he sang Three Dog Night's "Joy to the World" at a church function. This rendition earned him a standing ovation, so he sang the song an additional seven times.^[3][4] Later, he shifted his focus to songwriting; by age seventeen, he was performing with local groups, and playing keyboards at various gigs on the Sunset Strip in Los Angeles.^[4] In 1987, after the death of his father, LeVasseur changed his last name to Steele as a tribute to his father, who processed steel for a living.^[5]

Boy Howdy[link]

In 1990, Steele and three other California musicians — Hugh Wright, along with brothers Cary and Larry Park — formed the band Boy Howdy, in which he served as lead vocalist and bass guitarist.^[6] Jeffrey Steele wrote a song, 'When Johnny Comes Marching Home' about the returning veterans from the Gulf war, Curb signed Boy Howdy but made them change their group name to 'New Frontier' they went to appear on 'Nashville Now' hosted by Ralph Emery who liked the band name Boy Howdy this helped convince Curb records to let them keep the Boy Howdy name. The war ended so soon that the single was never released.Boy Howdy signed to Curb Records in 1992, recording three albums and an EP for the label, in addition to charting seven singles on the country music charts.^[6] While in Boy Howdy, Steele was named Best Bassist and Best Male Vocalist by the California Country Music Association.^[4] As the band's primary songwriter, he also earned BMI awards for co-writing their highest-charting singles, "She'd Give Anything" and "They Don't Make 'Em Like That Anymore".^[4]

Solo career and success as songwriter[link]

Steele re-located to Nashville, Tennessee in 1994, two years before Boy Howdy disbanded. In 1996, he released three solo singles, as well as a self-titled solo album which was never shipped.^[1][4] Steele was eventually signed to a songwriting contract, however, and he began writing singles for other artists. Among his first hits as a songwriter were "If You Love Somebody" by Kevin Sharp, "Unbelievable" by Diamond Rio, and "Big Deal" by LeAnn Rimes, all three of which earned him additional BMI awards.^[1][4] He also sang backing vocals on Sharp's first two albums.

In 2001, Steele was signed to his second solo recording contract, this time with Monument Records. His solo debut album, Somethin' in the Water, was issued late that year. In addition to producing the album, Steele wrote or co-wrote every song on it.^[4] The album's title cut reached a peak of #33 on the Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart, becoming Steele's only Top 40 hit as a solo artist.

Meanwhile, he continued to write songs for other artists, with Faith Hill, Tim McGraw, Trace Adkins, and Montgomery Gentry all recording songs he had co-written.^[4] Steele earned his first Number One song with Tim McGraw's "The Cowboy in Me" in 2002. In addition, Rascal Flatts reached Number One on the country charts in late 2002 with "These Days", their first Number One single. Steele also continued to record studio albums even while writing hits for other artists; his albums Gold, Platinum, Chrome and Steele and You Gotta Start Somewhere were both released in 2003, the same year that he was named Songwriter of the Year by both BMI and the Nashville Songwriters Association International (NSAI).^[7][8] 2004 saw the release of his fourth studio album, Outlaw, on the Lofton Creek Records label.^[9] By 2005, more than sixty of his songs had become chart hits for other artists;^[4] that same year, he received a second Songwriter of the Year award from the NSAI.^[8][10]

His most successful single as a songwriter is "What Hurts the Most," a Number One single on both the Hot Country Songs and Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks charts for Rascal Flatts in 2006, which was also a chart single for Cascada. Another one of Steele's compositions, Steve Holy's Number One single "Brand New Girlfriend", earned him yet another BMI award in 2006, as well as the Rascal Flatts hit "My Wish" just as Steele released his album, Hell on Wheels.^[11] "What Hurts the Most" would later earn him the Songwriter of the Year and Song of the Year awards from BMI, as well as the Songwriter of the Year award from Music Row magazine.^[12] Steele has since released two other albums, his second greatest hits record "Gold, Platinum, No Chrome, and More Steele" was released in 2007 and his country classics tribute album "Countrypolitan" which was released in 2008. Steele also produced Keith Anderson's two studio albums: 2005's Three Chord Country and American Rock & Roll and 2008's C'mon!, as well as Montgomery Gentry's 2004 album You Do Your Thing and 2006 album Some People Change

In April 2008, Steele joined Jewel and John Rich of Big & Rich as judges on the talent show Nashville Star.^[13] Steele has also guest hosted for Bob Kingsley twice on the radio show Bob Kingsley's Country Top 40, a weekly radio countdown show based on the Mediabase country charts: for the weeks of September 13–14, 2008 and October 3–4, 2009.^[14][15]

In September 2008 The Country Music Hall of Fame honored Steele as a Poet & Prophet in the Hall of Fame's quarterly series.^[16]

Steele signed a deal with Best Buy to release 3 of his albums November 18, 2008: "Hell On Wheels", "Gold, Platinum, No Chrome, and More Steele: Greatest Hits Vol. II", and "Countrypolitan"^[17]

Jeffrey Steele and Miley Cyrus also co-wrote the main track I Thought I Lost You for the 2008 Disney animated film Bolt.^[18]

Discography[link]

Albums[link]

Singles[link]

Music videos[link]

Songs written by Jeffrey Steele[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official site
• Radio Interview with Jeffrey Steele