The Hardest Part is the second album by singer/songwriter Allison Moorer. The album is a concept album about a doomed relationship produced and co-written by Moorer's then husband Doyle Lee Primm. The album is based on her parents' relationship which ended in the mid-1980s when Moorer's father murdered her mother before killing himself. She told No Depression magazine in 2000: "This record was inspired by the things I saw my mother go through. It’s not the true story, but it’s inspired by the true story."
Contents
Personnel
Allison Moorer – vocals, acoustic guitar (1, 3)
Jay Bennett – acoustic piano (2, 4, 8, 9), acoustic guitar (2), Hammond B3 organ (3, 6), Mellotron (8)
Kenny Greenberg – acoustic guitar (1, 3, 7–9), electric guitars (2–6, 8–10), acoustic 12-string guitar (4)
Rick Plant – electric guitars (3, 9), acoustic guitar (10)
Buddy Miller – acoustic guitar (4), electric guitars (6)
Richard Bennett – acoustic guitar (7)
Rick Plant – banjo (1)
Marty Stuart – mandolin (1)
Russ Pahl – pedal steel guitar (2–6, 8–10)
Michael Rhodes – upright bass (1), bass (2–10)
Chad Cromwell – drums
Eric Darken – percussion (2, 5, 6, 9)
Joe Spivey – fiddle (1, 6)
Chris Carmichael – fiddle (10)
Jim Hoke – harmonica (2, 7)
The Nashville String Machine – strings (3, 8, 9)
The Love Sponge Strings – string quartet (4)
Kristin Wilkinson – string arrangements and conductor (3, 4, 8, 9)
Louise Red – harmony vocals (1–4, 6, 8, 9)
Harry Stinson – harmony vocals (1), backing vocals (5)
Louis Nunley – backing vocals (3)
Dennis Wilson – backing vocals (3)
Rick Schell – backing vocals (5), harmony vocals (6)
Lonesome Bob – vocals (9)
Production
Tony Brown – executive producer
Kenny Greenberg – producer
Allison Moorer – co-producer
Doyle Primm – co-producer
Don Smith – engineer (1–6, 8–10)
Peter Coleman – overdub recording, string recording (3, 4, 8, 9), engineer (7)
James Bauer – assistant engineer
Nathan Mann – assistant engineer
Greg Parker – assistant engineer
John Saylor – assistant engineer
Justin Niebank – mixing at Masterfonics (Nashville, Tennessee)
Ken Love – mastering at MasterMix (Nashville, Tennessee)
Kate Garner – photography
Beth Middleworth – design
T.K. Kimbrell for Two Artist Management – management