Alan Jackson - Thirty Miles West - Printable Version +- Music Discussion (https://www.music-discussion.com) +-- Forum: Music Discussion (https://www.music-discussion.com/forumdisplay.php?fid=4) +--- Forum: Country/Folk/Americana (https://www.music-discussion.com/forumdisplay.php?fid=17) +--- Thread: Alan Jackson - Thirty Miles West (/showthread.php?tid=7102)

Alan Jackson - Thirty Miles West - Music Head - 07-06-2012 online listen could have used more country weepers but it'll do for country the clip is what I had in mind with my daughter going through a divorce, these songs are tough I try and see it from the other side 1.7 from me and a converted 2.4 from the pros at allmusic from the album - So You Don't Have To Love Me Anymore http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mVGm93II-UA released June 5th, 2012 Bio - from allmusic After Garth Brooks, Alan Jackson was the most popular male country singer of the '90s. An heir to the new traditionalist movement of the '80s, Jackson's approach was rooted in classic honky tonk yet remained comfortably within the contemporary mainstream. Jackson's hallmark was consistency -- he wrote many of his own hits, and his way with a hook was part of the reason he never really hit a commercial dry spell, even into the new millennium. He also projected a modest, wholesome, down-to-earth image that made him one of the best-liked stars of his era even apart from his music. The total package resulted in an astounding 20 number one singles and 20 more Top Ten hits, all in the first 12 years of his career. Jackson was born in the small town of Newnan, GA, on October 17, 1958. He grew up singing gospel music, both in church and at home with his family, and as a teenager, he performed locally as part of a country duo. He left school to work and married his high school sweetheart, Denise, who worked as an airline stewardess. During the early '80s, Jackson held down a series of odd jobs -- car salesman, construction worker, forklift operator at K-Mart -- while playing the local club circuit with his band, Dixie Steel, and working on his songwriting. He caught his big break when Denise found country-pop star Glen Campbell waiting for a flight and gave him a copy of her husband's demo tape; Campbell in turn gave her contact information for his music publishing company, and the Jacksons picked up and moved to Nashville shortly thereafter. Campbell's company suggested that Alan take a year and hone his songwriting even further, and so he worked more odd jobs -- including the mail room at The Nashville Network, plus some session singing -- before finally signing on as a staff writer. By night, he performed in Nashville clubs and recorded an updated demo with songwriter/producer Keith Stegall. In 1989, Jackson became the first artist signed to Arista's new country division. Jackson's debut album, Here in the Real World, was issued in 1990 and became a platinum-selling hit on the strength of four Top Five hits: the title cut, "Chasin' That Neon Rainbow," "Wanted," and the first of many chart-toppers, "I'd Love You All Over Again." He shot to full-fledged superstardom with the follow-up, 1991's Don't Rock the Jukebox, whose title track was an inescapable number one smash that year. The record produced three more number ones ("Someday," "Dallas," "Love's Got a Hold on You") and also contained one of Jackson's signature songs, the Top Five "Midnight in Montgomery," which told the story of a visit to Hank Williams' grave. Also in 1991, Jackson co-wrote several songs with Randy Travis for Travis' High Lonesome album. With 1992's A Lot About Livin' (And a Little 'Bout Love), Jackson took his place as not only one of the most popular stars of his time, but also one of the best. The number one smash "Chattahoochee" became another signature tune, and Jackson also topped the charts with "She's Got the Rhythm (And I Got the Blues)," while scoring three more Top Five hits from the album -- which became his first to top the country LP charts. In late 1993, Jackson released the stopgap holiday album Honky Tonk Christmas, which actually avoided standards in favor of lesser-known material. He returned in 1994 with Who I Am, his second straight number one country album, which gave him a staggering four number one singles: a cover of Eddie Cochran's "Summertime Blues," the music-biz satire "Gone Country" (a dig at executives hopping on the commercial country bandwagon), "Livin' on Love," and "I Don't Even Know Your Name." In only his fifth year on the scene, Jackson was able to issue The Greatest Hits Collection in 1995 and scored hits with three newly minted songs: a cover of George Jones' "Tall Tall Trees," "I'll Try" (both number one), and "Home." It took The Greatest Hits Collection only a year to sell over three million copies. And, of course, Jackson was far from done. 1996's Everything I Love became his fourth straight release to top the country album charts, and it gave him five Top Ten hits, including the number ones "Little Bitty" (a Tom T. Hall cover) and "There Goes." The 1998 follow-up, High Mileage, also hit number one and became Jackson's highest- charting album on the pop side, reaching number four; it contained four more Top Tens, including the chart-topping "Right on the Money." Jackson paid tribute to his favorite country singers of the past on the easygoing 1999 covers album Under the Influence, which featured material by Jones, Merle Haggard, Charley Pride, Jimmy Buffett, Hank Williams, Jr., Don Williams (the chart-topping "It Must Be Love"), and Jim Ed Brown (the Top Ten "Pop a Top"), among others. Although Under the Influence just missed hitting number one, 2000's When Somebody Loves You returned Jackson to the top of the album charts and gave him another number one in "Where I Come From." That year, he also teamed up with George Strait for the duet "Murder on Music Row," a strident defense of traditional country in the face of a new wave of crossover stars. The year 2001 brought an enormous hit in "Where Were You (When the World Stopped Turning)," a poignant attempt to make sense of the aftermath of September 11; rush-released after an awards-show premiere, the song rocketed to the top of the country charts and also became his first single to crack the pop Top 30. It was followed by the full- length Drive in 2002, which spawned another number one in "Drive (For Daddy Gene)," a tribute to Jackson's late father. The album was Jackson's seventh to top the country charts, and it also became his first to top the pop charts. His second greatest-hits collection appeared in 2003 and featured the crossover hit "It's Five O'Clock Somewhere," a duet with Jimmy Buffett. A year later the well-received What I Do became the purest country album from Jackson in years. Precious Memories, released in 2006, was a collection of 15 hymns originally recorded as a Christmas gift for his mother. Later that same year, Jackson released Like Red on a Rose, a mellow Alison Krauss production. Live at Texas Stadium, a concert set with George Strait and Jimmy Buffett, followed in 2007. A new studio effort, Good Time, appeared in 2008, followed by another studio outing, Freight Train, in 2010. Jackson left Arista Records Nashville after two decades to sign a distribution deal with EMI Records for Jackson's new label, Alan's Country Records (ACR). Jackson's 17th studio album, Thirty Miles West, appeared on ACR under the new deal in 2012. Album Review - from allmusic Splitting from his longtime label Arista, Alan Jackson sets up his ACR Records imprint at EMI and releases Thirty Miles West, his 15th collection of new songs. Jackson doesn't use this opportunity as a rebirth but rather a continuation, stripping away the barest hint of extra fat left upon his 2010 Arista farewell Freight Train and delivering his leanest hard country album in years. Unlike his albums of the 2000s, which flirted with the digital age via cutesy novelties like "www.memory," this doesn't bother with the present and often looks toward the past, Jackson enlisting Zac Brown for a nostalgic trip down his hometown "Dixie Highway" and envisioning how he's "Gonna Come Back as a Country Song." There's a constant tugging undercurrent of comfortable regret flowing underneath Thirty Miles West, whether he's stoically playing the part of the bad guy on the dry-eyed ballad "So You Don't Have to Love Me Anymore" or seeing his lifetime love almost slip away on "When I Saw You Leaving (For Nisey)," the explicitly sad songs neatly balanced by breezy drinking anthems -- he's sipping margaritas, not beer, on "Long Way to Go" -- and rockers so cheery it's easy to overlook how Jackson is talking about how life keeps bringing him down. Over the years, Jackson has perfected that smooth easy touch and here, on a record devoted to new songs written in the classic tradition (many written by Jackson himself, others penned by Terry McBride, Al Anderson, Shawn Camp, Jay Knowles, Adam Wright, and Guy Clark), he is a master of understatement in both his delivery and construction, the songs slowly seeping into your marrow. It's an album only an old pro could make and it's one of the best this ever- reliable singer has ever done. Track Listing 1. Gonna Come Back as a Country Song 2. You Go Your Way 3. Everything But the Wings 4. Talk Is Cheap 5. So You Don't Have to Love Me Anymore 6. Look Her in the Eye and Lie 7. Dixie Highway (Featuring Zac Brown) 8. She Don't Get High 9. Her Life 's a Song 10. Nothin' Fancy 11. Long Way to Go 12. Life Keeps Bringin' Me Down 13. When I Saw You Leaving (For Nicey) Alan Jackson - Thirty Miles West - CRAZY-HORSE - 07-06-2012 Zac Brown has featured on several of his songs now....guess theyre mates eh????? Alan Jackson - Thirty Miles West - SteveO - 07-06-2012 Great voice...nice song! thanks MH !