Pictures

by John Michael Montgomery

Overview

Perhaps it's a sign that time is creeping along, but after ten years of success, John Michael Montgomery dilutes some of his lovable rascal persona with a more mature perspective on Pictures. The titles hint at his broadening focus: "Love and Alcohol," with its good-time beat and shouts of "Hey, bartender," admits right up front that the women get better looking with each new round. But on the title track, Montgomery offers grandkids yet to come and wedding pictures that are far from yellowed as measures of a life well spent, and on "I Wanna Be There" he similarly anticipates a future of idyllic fatherhood with his young daughter. He presents all of this with his reassuring baritone croon, backed by an idiomatically correct assembly of Nashville studio all-stars. If there's any distressing detail here, it's the formulaic writing. Each song, whether sentimental or mischievous in its intent, projects a one-dimensional image of a life concerned with nothing weightier than drinkin', dancin', drivin', or looking back on those wild days, or forward to a time when other things matter more. Attempts to push past these limits seem a little awkward; nobody who talks like the folks in these songs would say, as Montgomery does in "It Goes Like This," that some little hottie over there has a "thunderstorm of love" inside of her. On the other hand, these concerns are real to lots of people, and if they need a singer to articulate them in song, then Pictures serves that purpose. ~ Robert L. Doerschuk

Product Details

Release Date:	10/08/2002
Label:	Warner Bros.
UPC:	0093624834120

Tracks

1. Country Thang
2. Love Changes Everything
3. 'Til Nothing Comes Between Us
4. Got You to Thank for That
5. Pictures
6. Love and Alcohol
7. I Wanna Be There
8. Believe in Me
9. It Goes Like This
10. Four-Wheel Drive

Album Credits

Performance Credits

John Michael Montgomery   Primary Artist
Sixwire   Primary Artist,Featured Artist,Guest Artist,Vocals (Background)
Paul Franklin   Lap Steel Guitar,Pedal Steel
Steve Mandile   Guitar (Acoustic),Guitar (Electric)
Chip Davis   Vocals (Background)
Curtis Young   Vocals (Background)
Steve Nathan   Piano,Wurlitzer,Synthesizer,Organ (Hammond)
Lonnie Wilson   Drums,Vocals (Background)
Michael Spriggs   Guitar (Acoustic)
Mike Brignardello   Bass
Brent Mason   Guitar (Electric)
Kenny Greenberg   Guitar (Electric)
Gordon Mote   Piano,Strings
Eric Darken   Percussion
John Wesley Ryles   Vocals (Background)

Technical Credits

Steve Mandile   Composer
Kenny Beard   Composer
Kevin Harris   Composer
Chuck Jones   Composer
Ben Fowler   Engineer
Donald Bailey   Design
Charlie "Steele" Pennachio   Composer
Lonnie Wilson   Composer
Rivers Rutherford   Composer
Mike Clute   Mixing
Danny Orton   Composer
Bill Decker   Mixing
Byron Hill   Composer
Steve Crowder   Assistant
Harley Allen   Composer
Paige Levy   A&R
Paul Overstreet   Composer
Steve Seskin   Composer
Don Pfrimmer   Composer
John Bettis   Composer
John Kunz   Engineer
Scott Hendricks   Mixing,Engineer,Producer
Michael Hanson   Assistant Engineer
Jennifer Kemp   Stylist
Carol Buckley Frazier   Grooming
Jimmy Yeary   Composer
Jim Shea   Photography
Jeremy Spillman   Composer
Robert Charles   Assistant
Tony Marty   Composer
Rebecca Marshall   Composer
Kerry Harvick   Composer
Hank Williams   Mastering
Clint Ingersoll   Composer
John Michael Montgomery   Producer,Liner Notes