Records and in late 1978, released his debut album, Ain't Living Long Like This. His debut album, as well as his following two albums, But What Will the Neighbors Think and Rodney Crowell, were not commercially successful despite garnering a huge cult following. Crowell himself criticized his debut album for not translating onto vinyl the same clarity and energy he felt in the studio. His single "Ashes by Now" from "But What Will the Neighbors Think" reached No. 37 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1980. Though he had already several country hits by artists covering his songs (including "I Ain't Living Long Like This" by Waylon Jennings, "Leaving Louisiana..." by the Oak Ridge Boys, and several covers by Johnny Cash, Rosanne Cash, Emmylou Harris, Jerry Reed and others), Crowell got his first big taste of pop songwriting success with "Shame on the Moon". "Shame on the Moon" was recorded on the 1982 album The Distance by Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band. Glenn Frey joined Seger on background harmony on the song. Appealing to a broad cross-section of listeners, the song spent four weeks at number two on the Billboard Hot 100 pop singles chart, topped the adult contemporary chart, and placed in the Top 15 of the country chart in early 1983. The song's dark, poetic and hypnotic style helped boost Crowell's cult status. The album Rodney Crowell was released in 1981 (see 1981 in country music) by Warner Bros. Records and was his last album on that label before switching to Columbia. The first album Crowell produced by himself, it reached No. 47 on the Top Country Albums chart and No. 105 on the Billboard 200 albums chart. The songs "Stars on the Water" and "Victim or a Fool" were released as singles. "Stars on the Water" reached No. 30 on the Hot Country Songs chart, Crowell's highest charting song up to that point. It peaked at No. 21 on the Canadian country charts. "Victim or a Fool" reached No. 34 in the U.S. In 1981, Crowell put his career on hold to produce several of his wife Rosanne Cash's albums. In 1983, Crystal Gayle had a number one country single with his song "'Til I Gain Control Again" from her first Elektra album, True Love. The song was first recorded in 1975 by Emmylou Harris and appeared on Elite Hotel that year. In 1984, Crowell