Gretchen Wilson photo courtesy of Sony Music Nashville.

Last year saw the end of the road for Gretchen Wilson and Chris Cagle with the record companies that brought them to national prominence. Chris and Capitol parted ways some nine years after the release of his debut album, while Gretchen left Sony more than five years after her debut with “Redneck Woman.”

But that isn’t the end of the music in either case. Both labels, in long-held music-business tradition, are putting out retrospectives in the coming weeks to summarize the artists’ stays with the companies.

Capitol plans a Feb. 9 release for the 15-track Best Of Chris Cagle, which features such signature hits as “What Kinda Gone,” “What A Beautiful Day” and “I Breathe In, I Breathe Out.” What Chris plans next is a bit of a mystery. His website has said since last summer that Chris “will be busy the next few months working on his new CD.” He does have concert dates on the books, but nothing else has been announced.

Sony has an 11-track Greatest Hits album set to mark Gretchen’s tenure with the label. Tabbed for a Jan. 19 release, according to Amazon, the disc kicks off with “Redneck Woman” and runs through “Here For The Party,” “When I Think About Cheatin’” and “All Jacked Up” along the way, concluding with a live version of the Heart classic-rock title “Barracuda.” Merle Haggard and John Rich also have guest vocal slots on the CD. During the fall, she launched her own label, Redneck Records.

The full track list for Best Of Chris Cagle:
• Hey Y’all
• Country By The Grace Of God
• What A Beautiful Day
• I Breathe In, I Breathe Out
• My Life’s Been A Country Song
• Wal-Mart Parking Lot
• I’d Be Lying
• My Love Goes On And On
• What Kinda Gone
• Look At What I’ve Done
• Anywhere But Here
• Laredo
• Miss Me Baby
• No Love Songs
• Chicks Dig It

The track list for Gretchen’s Greatest Hits, as represented at Amazon:
• Redneck Woman
• Here For The Party
• Homewrecker
• When I Think About Cheatin’
• California Girls
• Politically Uncorrect (featuring Merle Haggard)
• I Don’t Feel Like Loving You Today
• One Of The Boys
• Come To Bed (featuring John Rich)
• All Jacked Up
• Barracuda (live)

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