Beyond the Blue Neon

Beyond the Blue Neon is the ninth studio album by American country music artist George Strait and 12th overall. It was released by MCA Records on February 6, 1989. It is certified platinum by the RIAA, and it produced the singles "Baby's Gotten Good at Goodbye", "What's Going on in Your World", "Ace in the Hole", and "Overnight Success". While the first three singles all reached Number One on the Billboard country charts in 1989, "Overnight Success" was a #8 for Strait in 1990. "Hollywood Squares" also charted at #67 in 1990 based on unsolicited airplay.

Content
Two of this album's tracks were previously recorded by other artists, while two more were later covered by others. "Leavin's Been Comin' (For a Long, Long Time)" was originally cut by Gene Watson on 1983's Little By Little, and the title track was originally recorded by its co-writer, Larry Boone, on his 1988 Swingin' Doors, Sawdust Floors (the title of which also references this song). In addition, "Oh Me, Oh My, Sweet Baby" was later recorded by Diamond Rio on their 1992 album Close to the Edge, from which it was released as a single. Finally, David Ball covered "What's Going On in Your World" on his 2007 album Heartaches by the Number.

Personnel

 * George Strait – lead vocals
 * Floyd Domino – pianos
 * Steve Gibson – acoustic guitars, electric guitars
 * Reggie Young – electric guitars
 * Paul Franklin – steel guitar
 * David Hungate – bass
 * Eddie Bayers – drums
 * Steve Marsh – saxophone
 * Johnny Gimble – fiddle
 * Curtis Young – backing vocals
 * Liana Young – backing vocals

Production

 * Jimmy Bowen – producer
 * George Strait – producer
 * Bob Bullock – recording
 * Tim Kish – overdub recording, second engineer
 * Russ Martin – overdub recording
 * Ron Treat – overdub recording
 * Julian King – second engineer
 * Sheila Mann – second engineer
 * John Guess – mixing
 * Milan Bogdan – digital editing
 * Glenn Meadows – mastering
 * Masterfonics (Nashville, Tennessee) – editing and mastering location
 * Don Lanier – pre-production
 * Jessie Noble – project coordinator
 * Robert Jones – design
 * Steven Pumphrey – photography
 * Erv Woolsey – management