That Lonesome Song

That Lonesome Song

by Jamey Johnson
That Lonesome Song

That Lonesome Song

by Jamey Johnson

Vinyl LP(Long Playing Record)

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Overview

Jamey Johnson takes a traditional approach to country songwriting, a stance not always commercially viable in the early 21st century. Johnson came to Nashville in 2000 and, after years of struggling, cut The Dollar in 2005, but when the label couldn't get a hit single off the album, they dropped him. Johnson concentrated on his songwriting and had hits with George Strait, who took "Give It Away" to number one; Trace Adkins, and another number one with "Ladies Love Country Boys"; and Joe Nichols. Proving that chart success doesn't always equal happiness, Johnson's marriage broke up around this time and he spent a long while in seclusion writing the desperate songs that make up That Lonesome Song. Johnson first released the album on his website, then his own Humphead label, but Mercury Records picked it up for nationwide release in August of 2008. The critical cliche would be "They don't write albums like That Lonesome Song any more," which is at least partially true. The raw emotion and barely controlled heartache that Johnson brings to his singing and songwriting on the album aren't exactly in style in 2008's country market, but lovers of old-fashioned hardcore country and honky tonk music will be stunned by its emotional depth and strong melodies. Most modern country singers flounder when they try to put across a ballad, often loading down the lyric with sentimentality rather than real feeling. On an album that's almost exclusively ballads, Johnson never falls into that trap. The songs are full of keen insights, clever turns of phrase, and real emotion. "High Cost of Living" is a moody evaluation of life on the skids that references pot, booze, drugs, infidelity, and hopelessness, without dipping into self-pity. The Hammond B-3 that plays in the background makes it sound like an anti-gospel song and the hook uses the kind of wordplay that used to be the hallmark of country songwriting -- "The high cost of living ain't nothing like the cost of living high." On "Mowin' Down the Roses" the B-3 gives the tune a spooky feel, as Johnson delivers a somber exorcism of his former life, purging the house of every trace of his wife: smashing her pictures, flushing her perfume down the toilet, and mowin' down the roses in the garden. The song doesn't sound like a celebration of newfound freedom; it's a hopeless dirge delivered in a flat, emotionless tone that makes the song even more effective. It's followed by a Bob McDill tune, "The Door Is Always Open," one of the few hopeful numbers on the album, although its lyric and Johnson's delivery give the song a less hopeful spin that you'd expect. The title tune paints the picture of a bleak, hung-over morning. It starts as a acoustic lament, then slowly adds a loping Waylon Jennings beat to deliver a cautionary tale of a singer who throws his life away for the love of a lonesome song. "Women" is a celebration of the fairer sex, and one man's inability to understand them. It's a tongue-in-cheek tune with a great pedal steel break, and rides that jaunty Waylon two-step stomp rhythm. The album closes with the self-congratulatory tale of Johnson's quest for fame, a guy who comes to Nashville with his own sound, somewhere "Between Jennings and Jones." It's another tune that almost dips into self-parody, but Johnson's style is, in fact, between Jennings and Jones. His ironic delivery of the tune is perfect and as he points out in the lyric, if they still had record stores, his albums would be filed between Jennings and Jones. ~ j. poet

Product Details

Release Date: 01/27/2009
Label: Mercury Nashville
UPC: 0602517966468
Rank: 41643

Tracks

  1. Released
  2. High Cost Of Living
  3. Angel
  4. Place Out On The Ocean
  5. Mowin' Down The Roses
  6. The Door Is Always Open
  7. Mary Go Round
  8. In Color
  9. The Last Cowboy
  10. That Lonesome Song
  11. Dreaming My Dreams
  12. Women
  13. Stars In Alabama
  14. Between Jennings and Jones

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Jamey Johnson   Primary Artist,Lead Vocals,Tubular Bells,Guitar (Acoustic),Guitar (Electric),Vocals (Background)
Jim Brown   Synthesizer,Organ (Hammond),Guitar (Acoustic),Bass,Drums,Piano,Strings
Dave Macafee   Drums
Chris Powell   Drums
James Mitchel   Guitar (Electric)
Cowboy Eddie Long   Dobro,Guitar (Steel)
Wayd Battle   Guitar (Electric)
Scott Welch   Guitar (Electric)
Brian Allen   Bass
Jason Cope   Guitar (Acoustic),Guitar (Electric)
Theodore Gentry   Bass,Vocals (Background)
Kevin Grantt   Bass
Curtis Wright   Vocals (Background)
Fred Mandel   Synthesizer
Robby Turner   Guitar (Steel)
Wyatt Beard   Vocals (Background)

Technical Credits

Randy LeRoy   Mastering
Jeremy Popoff   Composer
Rob Hatch   Composer
James Minchin   Photography
Jim Brown   Composer,Engineer,Composer,Composer,Engineer
J.P. Barker   Assistant Engineer
Beau Boggs   Assistant Engineer
Wayd Battle   Composer
Karen Naff   Design,Art Direction
Kim Perrett   Wardrobe
Zach Kasik   Engineer,Assistant Engineer
Ryan Gore   Engineer
The Kent Hardly Playboys   Producer
Teddy Gentry   Composer
Kendell Marvel   Composer
Allen Reynolds   Composer
Theodore Gentry   Composer
Bob McDill   Composer
James Otto   Composer
Lee Thomas Miller   Composer
Jeff Bates   Composer
Dickey Lee   Composer
James Slater   Composer
Buddy Cannon   Composer
Dave Cobb   Producer
Jamey Johnson   Composer,Producer
T.W. Cargile   Mixing,Engineer
Mark Rains   Engineer
Wyatt Beard   Composer
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