Swimming in Champagne is the debut studio album by American singer Eric Heatherly, released in 2000.
The album contains a cover of "Flowers on the Wall", originally recorded by the Statler Brothers in 1965. Heatherly's cover was released as the album's lead-off single, peaking at number 6 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks (now Hot Country Songs) chart and number 50 on the Billboard Hot 100. The second and third singles were the title track and "Wrong Five O'Clock", which respectively reached numbers 46 and 32 on the country chart. The album peaked at number 157 on the Billboard 200.
Production The album was produced by Keith Stegall. Heatherly cowrote every song aside from the Statler Brothers cover.
Critical reception Country Standard Time wrote that "the barroom anthems are tempered by the beautiful title ballad and the first single, a reworking of the Statler Brothers classic, 'Flowers On The Wall', that is different enough to succeed in the face of the original." The Morning Call thought that "trafficking in typical rock-country hybrids, this freshly minted singer-songwriter pens tunes that tell a story, not unlike, say, John Mellencamp, Tom Petty or Johnny Cash."
Track listing
Eric Heatherly's band Richard E. Carpenter – drums Jonathan Hamby – keyboards Eric Heatherly – lead vocals, electric guitar Jim Roller – bass guitar
Additional musicians Randy McCormick – keyboards Gary Prim – piano John Wesley Ryles – background vocals John Willis – acoustic guitar Glenn Worf – bass guitar
Chart performance Chart (2000) Peakposition U.S. Billboard Top Country Albums 17 U.S. Billboard 200 157 U.S. Billboard Top Heatseekers 6 Canadian RPM Country Albums 6
References