Beautiful Eyes

Beautiful Eyes is the second extended play (EP) by American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift. The EP was released on July 15, 2008 by Big Machine Records exclusively to Walmart stores in the United States and online. The limited release EP has a primarily country pop sound and features alternate versions of tracks from her self-titled debut album (2006), and two original tracks, title track and "I Heart ?", which Swift had composed as early as 2003.[1] "I Heart ?" was previously released for digital download with the purchase of the Best Buy exclusive version CD of Swift's self-titled debut album in 2006.[2][3] A DVD, featuring music videos of singles from her self-titled debut album, is also included on the physical release of the EP.

Beautiful Eyes
EP by
Taylor Swift
ReleasedJuly 15, 2008
Recorded2006–2008
Studio
Genre
Length
  • 18:06 (CD)
  • 60:46 (DVD)
LabelBig Machine
Producer
Taylor Swift chronology
The Taylor Swift Holiday Collection
(2008)		 Beautiful Eyes
(2008)		 Fearless
(2008)

Beautiful Eyes peaked at number nine on the US Billboard 200 and topped Billboard's Top Country Albums chart, succeeding her self-titled debut album. "I Heart ?" was released as a promotional single in June 2008. Though the EP was not heavily promoted, Swift performed the title track at a few venues. While "Beautiful Eyes" and "I Heart ?" exist on Spotify as unplayable individual tracks on an alternate version of Fearless, the EP as a whole is Swift’s only project to remain unavailable on streaming services.[4][5]

Background

Swift received much success with the release of her self-titled debut album Taylor Swift (2006), and began working on her second studio album, Fearless (2008), in 2007. During that time, she received a number of e-mails from fans requesting for new material to be released, which drove Swift into releasing Beautiful Eyes: "I thought this might tide them over till the new album comes out in the fall."[1] Beautiful Eyes is musically oriented to country pop and contemporary music.[6] It includes new versions of tracks from Taylor Swift: an alternate version of "Should've Said No", the fifth single from the album, an acoustic version of "Teardrops on My Guitar", the second single from the album, a radio edit of "Picture to Burn", the fourth single from the album, and "I'm Only Me when I'm with You", a promotional single from the album. The EP also features two original songs, "Beautiful Eyes" and "I Heart?", which she previously wrote in 2003.[1] The EP's DVD features music videos from the singles from Taylor Swift, as well as a music video made for "Beautiful Eyes" from footage from Swift's eighteenth birthday party.

Swift did not want any misconceptions of Beautiful Eyes as her second album and therefore partnered with the American retail company Wal-Mart to make the EP an exclusive release.[1] The album was only made available through American Wal-Mart stores and Wal-Mart's website.[7] Furthermore, it was made a limited release because Swift only allowed Big Machine Records to manufacture a certain number of copies of the EP.[1] She said, "I’m only letting my record company make a small amount of these. The last thing I want any of you to think is that we are putting out too many releases."[1]

Commercial performance

On the week ending August 2, 2008, Beautiful Eyes debuted at number nine on the Billboard 200 due to sales of 45,000 copies.[8][9] The EP spent a total of twenty weeks on the Billboard 200.[10] On the same week, it debuted at number one on Top Country Albums, replacing her own album Taylor Swift as the chart's number one album. With Taylor Swift charting at number two, Swift became the first artist to hold the first two positions on Top Country Albums since LeAnn Rimes charted in 1997 with Blue (1996) and Unchained Melody: The Early Years (1997).[11][12] The following week, the EP slipped to number two[13] and, in total, it spent twenty eight weeks on Top Country Albums.[10] As of July 2019, the EP has sold 359,000 copies in the United States.[14]

Promotion

"I Heart ?" was released as a promotional single from Beautiful Eyes on June 23, 2008.[15] Swift promoted Beautiful Eyes minimally for the reason being she did not want for misconceptions of the EP being her second album, although she did perform the title track at different venues.[1] She first performed "Beautiful Eyes" on January 23, 2005 at the 2005 NAMM Show, an annual music product trade show held in Anaheim, California at the Anaheim Convention Center.[16] The performance featured Swift, dressed in a red blouse and blue jeans, performing acoustically with a guitar, sitting on a bar stool. "Beautiful Eyes" was later performed as part of Swift's set for iHeartRadio.com's Stripped on August 5, 2008; she wore a black, one-shoulder dress and performed with a back-up band while playing a rhinestoned acoustic guitar.[17]

Track listing
Beautiful Eyes – Disc one (CD)
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."Beautiful Eyes"Taylor SwiftRobert Ellis Orrall2:58
2."Should've Said No" (alternate version)SwiftNathan Chapman3:46
3."Teardrops on My Guitar" (acoustic version)
Chapman2:58
4."Picture to Burn" (radio edit)
  • Swift
  • Rose
Chapman2:54
5."I'm Only Me When I'm with You"
  • Orrall
  • Angelo
3:35
6."I Heart ?"SwiftOrrall3:15
Total length:18:06
Beautiful Eyes – Disc two (DVD)
No.TitleDirector(s)Length
1."Beautiful Eyes" (music video)
2:56
2."Picture to Burn" (music video)Fanjoy3:36
3."I'm Only Me When I'm with You" (music video)Swift3:47
4."Tim McGraw" (music video)Fanjoy4:00
5."Teardrops on My Guitar" (pop version) (music video)Fanjoy3:26
6."Our Song" (music video)Fanjoy3:30
7."Picture to Burn" ('making of' video)Cassetty22:02
8."GAC new artist special" 14:45
9."Should've Said No" (2008 ACM Awards performance) 4:04
Total length:60:46

Personnel

Credits adapted from the album's liner notes[18]

  • Robert Ellis Orrall – production & background vocals (tracks 1, 5, 6), additional recording (track 1)
  • Chris Rowe – mixing, shaker, synthpad, organ & guitar (track 1), digital editing (track 6)
  • Gary Burnette – guitars (tracks 1, 6), bass (track 1)
  • Chad Carlson – recording (tracks 2, 4), mixing (track 2), additional recording (track 4)
  • Wanda Vick – mandolin (tracks 5, 6), banjo (track 6)
  • Caitlin Evanson – fiddle & harmony vocals (track 2)
  • Paul Sidoti – electric guitar & harmony vocals (track 2)
  • Tony Harrell – keyboards (tracks 5, 6)
  • Dan Dugmore – steel (tracks 5, 6)
  • Ken Lewis – drums (track 1)
  • Rusty Danmyer – steel (track 1)
  • Eric Richardson – recording (track 1)
  • Ben Clark – banjo (track 2)
  • Al Wilson – drums (track 2)
  • Amos Heller – bass (track 2)
  • Grant Mickelson – electric guitar (track 2)
  • Chuck Ainlay – mixing (track 4)
  • Scott Kidd – mixing (track 4)
  • Steve Short – engineering (track 4)
  • Nick Buda – drums (track 4)
  • Eric Darken – percussion (track 4)
  • Rob Hajacos – fiddle (track 4)
  • Jeff Hyde – banjo (track 4)
  • Tim Marks – bass (track 4)
  • Scotty Sanders – steel (track 4)
  • John Willis – mandolin (track 4)
  • Angelo – production (track 5)
  • Jamie Tate – mixing (track 5)
  • A.J. Derrick – recording (track 5)
  • Steve Bryant – bass (track 5)
  • Dennis Holt – drums (track 5)
  • Troy Lancaster – electric guitar (track 5)
  • Lorraine Morrison – background vocals (track 5)
  • Curt Ryle – acoustic guitar (track 5)
  • Ben Fowler – mixing (track 6)
  • Jason Lefan – engineering (track 6)
  • Allen Ditto – recording (track 6)
  • Clarke Schleicher – recording (track 6)
  • Mike Brignardello – bass (track 6)
  • Shannon Forrest – drums (track 6)
  • Liana Manis – background vocals (track 6)

Charts
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References
  1. "Wal-Mart "Eyes" New Taylor Swift Project". Great American Country. Scripps Networks Interactive. July 15, 2008. Archived from the original on July 19, 2008. Retrieved January 6, 2010.
  2. "Taylor's Rarest Release CD : TaylorSwift". Reddit. Retrieved June 21, 2019.
  3. "Swift Discs". Tumblr. Retrieved June 21, 2019.
  4. "Beautiful Eyes - Spotify". Spotify. Retrieved May 29, 2020.
  5. "I Heart ? - Spotify". Spotify. Retrieved May 29, 2020.
  6. "Beautiful Eyes > Overview". Allmusic. Macrovision Corporation. Retrieved January 9, 2010.
  7. "Beautiful Eyes (Wal-Mart Exclusive) (Includes DVD)". Walmart.com. Wal-Mart. Archived from the original on March 8, 2009. Retrieved January 6, 2010.
  8. Hasty, Katie (July 23, 2008). "Nas Dethrones Lil Wayne Atop Billboard 200". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. Retrieved January 8, 2010.
  9. "Taylor Swift - Beautiful Eyes (EP)". aCharts.us. Retrieved January 9, 2010.
  10. "Beautiful Eyes - Taylor Swift". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. Retrieved January 8, 2010.
  11. "Taylor Swift Bumps Herself Out of No. 1 Slot". CMT News. Viacom. July 26, 2008. Retrieved January 9, 2010.
  12. "Taylor Swift owns top of country chart". Great American Country. Scripps Networks Interactive. July 23, 2008. Retrieved January 9, 2010.
  13. "Top Country Albums - Week of August 9, 2008". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. August 9, 2008. Retrieved January 9, 2010.
  14. Trust, Gary (July 14, 2019). "Ask Billboard: Taylor Swift's Career Sales & Streaming Totals, From 'Tim McGraw' to 'You Need to Calm Down'". Billboard. Archived from the original on July 15, 2019. Retrieved July 14, 2019.
  15. "I Heart ? > Overview". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved June 14, 2010.
  16. "NAMM Kicks Off Annual Summer Trade Show in Nashville". Namm.org. Nashville, Tennessee: The NAMM Show. July 24, 2004. Retrieved January 6, 2010.
  17. "Taylor Swift - Beautiful Eyes (Exclusive Performance)". Stripped. Iheartradio.com. Archived from the original on October 23, 2010. Retrieved January 6, 2010.
  18. Beautiful Eyes (CD liner notes). Taylor Swift. Big Machine. 2008. BMRATS0140.CS1 maint: others (link)
  19. "Taylor Swift Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved November 4, 2017.
  20. "Taylor Swift Chart History (Top Country Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved November 4, 2017.
  21. "Best of 2008 - The Billboard 200". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. Retrieved March 12, 2010.

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