Shades of Grace is the third solo album by Christian singer - songwriter Bob Carlisle. It was originally released on April 1, 1996 and it is his first album on Diadem Music, with distribution by Benson Music Group. Carlisle produced the album himself.
Carlisle made a triumphant return to the Christian radio charts with its lead single "Mighty Love" topping the Christian AC chart for two weeks. But it was Shades of Grace's second single, "Butterfly Kisses." that put Carlisle on the map. The song, written by Carlisle and Randy Thomas, is dedicated to Carlisle's daughter Brooke who turned 16. Initially, Carlisle was reluctant to add the song on the album because he really wanted to keep the song for himself to sing for Brooke. Carlisle's wife Jacque convinced him to add it on Shades of Grace.
"Butterfly Kisses," at first, was a Christian radio hit peaking at number 3 on the Christian AC chart and then in 1997 at the 28th GMA Dove Awards, Carlisle won two Dove Awards for the song, winning Inspirational Recorded Song of the Year and the sharing the top prize Song of the Year with co-writer Thomas. Because of its Dove Award win, Diadem reissued the album and re-titled it Butterfly Kisses
(Shades of Grace) on May 13, 1997 with a new mainstream distributor Jive Records with an alternate album cover, a rearranged track listing and a country version of "Butterfly Kisses" as a bonus track. "Butterfly Kisses" was reissued as a single to the mainstream pop market as well as the country music market. The song topped the Billboard AC chart and peaked at number 45 on the country chart.
Two other country music acts, Rayborn Brothers and Jeff Carson, covered the song and charted on the country music chart with the Rayborn Brothers' version charting higher than Carlisle's or Carson's recordings and peaked at number 37 and crossing over to the Hot 100 at number 22. Carlisle's version was only released as an airplay-only single and was not eligible on the Hot 100 at the time but did well on the pop airplay and adult pop charts in the Top 20 and reached the Top 10 on the Hot 100 Airplay chart.
Butterfly Kisses (Shades of Grace) gave Carlisle his first and only number one album on the Billboard 200 Albums chart. At the time, Carlisle was the first contemporary Christian music act to top the album chart, a feat that other
CCM acts like Amy Grant and DC Talk could not accomplish during their 1990s mainstream period. The album is also Carlisle's first number one on the Top Christian Albums and Top Heatseekers Albums charts in Billboard magazine. In 1998, Carlisle and Thomas collected more awards for "Butterfly Kisses," winning a Grammy Award for Best Country Song and a Dove Award for Southern Gospel Recorded Song of the Year and also awarded to southern gospel singer Tim Greene who recorded his version.
The album was Carlisle's only multi-platinum selling album going double Platinum selling over two million copies. The single was certified Gold in 2011 and then Platinum in 2020. In 2006, "Butterfly Kisses" was named as one of the 100 Greatest Christian Songs in Christian Music by CCM Magazine and listed it at number 18. It has been streamed over 23 million times according to Spotify.
Track listing
All songs were written by Bob Carlisle and Randy Thomas, except where noted.
1. Butterfly Kisses -5:39
2. You Must Have Been an Angel (Bob Carlisle, Rick Elias) -4:17
3. Man of His Word (Bob Carlisle, Mike Demus, Dennis Patton) -4:58
4. On My Way to Paradise -4:18
5. One Man Revival -4:15
6. Mighty Love (Bob Carlisle, Regie Hamm) -4:37
7. Living Water -4:27
8. It Is Well With My Soul (Bob Carlisle) -4:19
9. On My Knees (Bob Carlisle, Rick Elias, Regie Hamm) -4:11
10. I'm Gonna Be Ready (duet with Bryan Duncan) -5:00
11. Butterfly Kisses (country remix) -5:42
Gold certified in 1997.
Platinum certified 2x in 1997.
"Butterfly Kisses" single
Gold certified in 2011.
Platinum certified in 2020.
Accolades
1997 Dove Award -Song of the Year ("Butterfly Kisses" with Randy Thomas)
Inspirational Recorded Song of the Year ("Butterfly Kisses)
1998 Grammy Award -Best Country Song ("Butterfly Kisses" with Randy Thomas)
Radio singles
1996 "Mighty Love" -#18 Christian CHR, #1 Christian AC for 2 weeks
1996 -1997 "Butterfly Kisses" -#3 Christian AC, #1 Billboard Adult Contemporary,
Country Songs, #10 Billboard Hot 100 Airplay
1996 "On My Way to Paradise" -#11 Christian AC
1997 "Living Water" -#20 Christian AC
1997 "Man of His Word" -#10 Christian AC
Previous release: The Hope of a Man (1994)
Next release: Collection (1997) (Sparrow Records compilation album)
Watch the original 1996 version of "Butterfly Kisses" here:
Watch the 1997 country version of "Butterfly Kisses" here:
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