Kathy Mattea’s “Burnin’ Old Memories” brings a lively honky-tonk spark to her 1989 album Willow in the Wind. Written by Larry Boone, Gene Nelson, and Paul Nelson and produced by Allen Reynolds, it became another major country hit during a remarkable stretch in Mattea’s recording career.
“Burnin’ Old Memories” and Willow in the Wind
Released on Mercury, “Burnin’ Old Memories” was the album’s second single, following “Come From the Heart.” Mattea’s official page for Willow in the Wind identifies the record as a 1989 release and places its recording sessions at Jack’s Tracks Recording Studio in Nashville.
The album artwork offers a quiet, reflective image, but this track moves with an entirely different energy. The review reproduced on Mattea’s website hears a Western swing flavor in its honky-tonk arrangement. It is a useful description of a performance whose momentum comes from the interplay between her clear vocal delivery and the band’s brisk accompaniment.
The guitar behind the record
One of the recording’s distinctive ingredients is Ray Flacke’s electric guitar. Looking back on the song in her interview with WTOP, Mattea singled out Flacke’s playing and spoke warmly about the record. That recollection connects the finished single with a musician she remembered as central to its sound.
Kathy Mattea’s fourth country No. 1
On November 11, 1989, “Burnin’ Old Memories” reached No. 1 on Billboard’s country songs chart. It was Mattea’s fourth chart-topper, as Billboard’s retrospective on the song confirms, along with its songwriting and production credits.
The original Mercury label also credits Reynolds as producer and identifies Willow in the Wind as the parent album. For listeners following Mattea’s rise, this single sits alongside earlier favorites such as “Goin’ Gone” and “Eighteen Wheels and a Dozen Roses.” Together, those recordings offer a rewarding introduction to her late-1980s country catalog.
Listen to “Burnin’ Old Memories”
Hear the recording below in the official audio supplied to YouTube by Universal Music Group.