Call Me Crazy
Encyclopedia
Call Me Crazy is the sixth studio album released by country music singer Lee Ann Womack
Lee Ann Womack
Lee Ann Womack is an American country music singer and songwriter, who is best known for her old fashioned-styled country music songs that often discuss subjects such as cheating and lost love....

, released on October 21, 2008 via MCA Nashville Records
Universal Music Group Nashville
Universal Music Group Nashville is Universal Music Group's country music subsidiary. Some of the labels in this group include MCA Nashville Records, Mercury Nashville Records, and Lost Highway Records...

. It is her first studio release in three years, as her previous album (2006's Finding My Way Back Home) was not released. The lead-off single to this album is "Last Call
Last Call (Lee Ann Womack song)
"Last Call" is a song written by Erin Enderlin and Shane McAnally, and recorded by American country artist Lee Ann Womack. It is the lead-off single to Womack's sixth studio album, Call Me Crazy, which was released in October 2008...

" which in late 2008 became Womack's first Top 20 country hit in three years. The album's second single, "Solitary Thinkin", was released in April 2009 and reached the Top 40 of the country charts, peaking at #39 in June 2009. The album was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Country Album
Grammy Award for Best Country Album
The Grammy Award for Best Country Album has been awarded since 1994. The equivalent award, the Grammy Award for Best Country & Western Album was presented in 1965 and 1966...

 on December 2, 2009.

Background

Womack told The Early Show
The Early Show
The Early Show is an American television morning news talk show broadcast by CBS from New York City. The program airs live from 7 to 9 a.m. Eastern Time Monday through Friday; most affiliates in the Central, Mountain, and Pacific time zones air the show on tape-delay from 7 to 9 a.m. local time. ...

, "Well, I always like to tell people, really, a lot of the songs just come from real life, whether I wrote them or other writers. You know, that's the beauty of country music, it's about real-life situations. And so I look for songs that really mean something to me, either I've been through it or I know somebody that's been through it. And something that really touches me."

Content

"Last Call" is the first single release from this album. Written by Shane McAnally
Shane McAnally
Shane McAnally , is an American country music artist. He signed to Curb Records in 1999 and released a self-titled debut album the following year...

 and Erin Enderlin, the song is Womack's first chart entry since "Finding My Way Back Home" in mid-2006.

The album was produced by Tony Brown
Tony Brown (record producer)
Tony Brown is an American country music record producer.He was born in Greensboro, North Carolina.Brown played piano for Elvis Presley. He toured with the TCB Band for much of Presley's final two years and was a part of the 1976 "Jungle Room" recording sessions at Graceland...

. One track, "The Bees", features background vocals from Keith Urban
Keith Urban
Keith Lionel Urban is a New Zealand-born Australian, country music singer, songwriter and guitarist whose commercial success has been mainly in the United States and Australia. Urban was born in New Zealand and began his career in Australia at an early age...

, and "Everything but Quits" is a duet with George Strait
George Strait
George Harvey Strait is an American country music singer, actor, and music producer. Strait is referred to as the "King of Country," and critics call Strait a living legend. He is known for his unique style of western swing music, bar-room ballads, honky-tonk style, and fresh yet traditional...

. "The King of Broken Hearts" was originally recorded by Strait on the soundtrack to the 1993 film Pure Country
Pure Country (film)
Pure Country is a 1992 American dramatic musical western film directed by Christopher Cain. The film stars George Strait in his acting debut with Lesley Ann Warren, Isabel Glasser and Kyle Chandler. The film was considered a box office bomb, however the soundtrack was a critical success and to date...

.

Critical reception

According to the music review aggregator Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...

, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album has received an average score of 73 out of 100, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

Carrie Pitzer of the Norfolk Daily News
Norfolk Daily News
Norfolk Daily News is a daily newspaper located in downtown Norfolk, Nebraska, and is one of just a handful of daily newspapers owned and managed by an individual family. Kent Warneke serves as editor of the Norfolk Daily News.-History:...

gave the album a positive review and wrote, "Slightly better (it's hard to improve upon an album of the year) than her last, Womack sounds more mature this time around as she offers advice and explanation." Glenn Gamboa of Newsday
Newsday
Newsday is a daily American newspaper that primarily serves Nassau and Suffolk counties and the New York City borough of Queens on Long Island, although it is sold throughout the New York metropolitan area...

gave the album a B+ rating and wrote, "Womack takes her love of traditional country in a whole new direction. It simply makes you wish for more where that came from." Ken Tucker of Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...

gave the album a favorable review and wrote, "Just when you thought she couldn’t get any better, Lee Ann Womack surprises in a big way. The first-time combination of Womack and producer Tony Brown is overdue and magical.“Solitary Thinkin’” proves Womack has more soul than just about any other country female vocalist out there. All hail the queen of country. Editors at Performing Songwriter said, "This is a pure, full-on country album filled with tales of heartache and regret. How can any country music fan not fall under Womack’s spell? If you’ve ever been lamenting that pop crossover is infecting country music, this collection of mostly downbeat tales sung by one of country’s most glorious voices will, ironically, give you hope." Nick Cristiano of The Philadelphia Inquirer
The Philadelphia Inquirer
The Philadelphia Inquirer is a morning daily newspaper that serves the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, metropolitan area of the United States. The newspaper was founded by John R. Walker and John Norvell in June 1829 as The Pennsylvania Inquirer and is the third-oldest surviving daily newspaper in the...

gave the album a three and a half star rating and wrote, "The only real misfire is "I Found It in You," the kind of generic power ballad that throws the power and beauty of the rest of Call Me Crazy into even greater relief" Dave Heaton of PopMatters
PopMatters
PopMatters is an international webzine of cultural criticism that covers many aspects of popular culture. PopMatters publishes reviews, interviews, and detailed essays on most cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, films, books, video games, comics, sports, theater,...

gave the album a rating of 7 and wrote, "Call Me Crazy is best when Womack conveys the understanding that we’re all sinners, when musically she doesn’t try too hard to isolate herself from the sins. After all, in the world of country music, sin is never that far away."

Editors at No Depression wrote, "But it's not the poignant themes that set this album apart; Womack has tackled them before, if never so relentlessly. It is, naturally, Womack's voice, full of personality, clarity and caressing warmth, and so agile she could turn a melody inside-out and still wind up with a hook. Editors at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
The Fort Worth Star-Telegram is a major U.S. daily newspaper serving Fort Worth and the western half of the North Texas area known as the Metroplex. Its area of domination is checked by its main rival, The Dallas Morning News, which is published from the eastern half of the Metroplex. It is owned...

gave the album four stars and wrote, "Womack remains one of Music City’s most underrated talents. Crazy, her seventh record, is an often gloomy assortment of broken-hearted love songs ideal for consuming on some lonely, overcast fall day." Cathalena E. Burch of the Arizona Daily Star
Arizona Daily Star
The Arizona Daily Star is the major morning daily newspaper that serves Tucson and surrounding districts of southern Arizona in the United States. The paper was purchased by Pulitzer in 1971; Lee Enterprises bought Pulitzer in 2005....

wrote, "Crazy puts Womack through those trenches and then some, with songs that dip into the well from which Loretta, Patsy, Barbara, Dolly and Tammy drank so freely a generation or two ago. "Crazy" dances through all the emotions country music is supposed to embrace — sorrow, heartbreak, starting over, getting over and renewal." Michael McCall of Nashville Scene wrote, Womacl "And her veteran producer combine traditional and contemporary ideas into spare, breathing arrangements that add nuance to the real-life dramas of Womack's well-chosen material. Call Me Crazy certainly succeeds creatively—let's hope radio sees the potential for these songs to bring a needed depth to the format as well." Werner Trieschmann of The Village Voice
The Village Voice
The Village Voice is a free weekly newspaper and news and features website in New York City that features investigative articles, analysis of current affairs and culture, arts and music coverage, and events listings for New York City...

 gave the album a mixed review and wrote, "There’s a palpable melancholy in Womack’s delivery, a resignation that makes you believe—all right, hope—that there’s a little more where that came from, and a little less of everything else."

Thom Jurek of AllMusic gave the album three and a half stars and wrote, "Call Me Crazy continues Womack's journey of creating her own sonic brand. Perhaps next time she will flex her star power more and insist on more production control." Sarah Rodman of the Boston Globe gave the album a favorable review and wrote,"In addition to the timeless-sounding tracks, "Crazy" includes a few olive branches to contemporary country radio. The best thing about those tunes is that even though they seem like bids for hits, they don't sound remotely like compromises. We'll take that kind of "Crazy" any day. Johnathon Keefe of Slant Magazine
Slant Magazine
Slant Magazine is an online publication that features reviews of movies, music, TV, DVDs, theater, and video games, as well as interviews with actors, directors, and musicians. The site covers various film festivals like the New York Film Festival.- History :...

gave the album three and a half stars and said, "Of course, at this point in her career, there is little lingering doubt as to Womack's talent, so Crazy doesn't prove any new points regarding her strengths as a hard-country vocalist. "The Bees," which is given a progressive, new wave-inflected production that drives its lilting, familiar melody with a slap bass and a muffled drum loop. While traditionalists will inevitably bristle at the track, its relative subtlety makes it one of the album's sonic experiments that actually work. Chris Willman of Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...

gave the album an A- rating and wrote, "This overdue follow-up Call Me Crazy brings in a new producer (Tony Brown) but has Lee Ann Womack in much the same traditionalist mode, sounding like a distaff version of George Jones at his finest." Thomas Kintner of the Hartford Courant gave the album a positive review and wrote, "The Texas-bred singer returns with "Call Me Crazy," a similar assortment of tunes that are modern and accessible, but with a classic sensibility. Her singing pretty and poised, Womack caresses each song as she extracts its core emotions."

Matt Bjorke of Roughstock gave the album a favorable review and wrote, "At the end of the day, "Call Me Crazy" is an album that should please fans of both the traditional and contemporary sides of Lee Ann Womack. It's a well-written, sung, played and recorded album that only helps to prove why Lee Ann Womack is one of modern country music's most treasured artists." Jack Lowe of About.com
About.com
About.com is an online source for original information and advice. It is written in English, and is aimed primarily at North Americans. It is owned by The New York Times Company....

gave the album four and a half stars and wrote, "Call Me Crazy has been 3 years in the making, and has been well worth the wait. Very smooth and easy to listen to from start to finish." Jasper Jones of 411 Mania gave the album a rating of 7 and said, "For all the gold contained in Call Me Crazy, there seems to be just as much garbage." Christian Hoard of Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...

gave the album three stars and said, "The album sounds way more professional than crazy, but tunefulness this pleasant works out just fine." Kevin J. Coyne of Country Universe gave the album three and a half stars and said, "Womack is such a talented performer that the album still satisfies in many ways, but it’s not quite up to the bar she has set so high with her best work." Editors at ACountry gave the album a positive review and wrote, "It's apparent this is music lovingly created by an artist who is reveling in what she was born to do." Brian Mansfield of USA Today
USA Today
USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...

gave the albums three and a half stars and wrote, "Womack rarely pushes the tempo of her sweet countrypolitan and dusty Southern soul, but the emotional dynamic is always intense."

Track listing

  1. "Last Call
    Last Call (Lee Ann Womack song)
    "Last Call" is a song written by Erin Enderlin and Shane McAnally, and recorded by American country artist Lee Ann Womack. It is the lead-off single to Womack's sixth studio album, Call Me Crazy, which was released in October 2008...

    " (Erin Enderlin, Shane McAnally
    Shane McAnally
    Shane McAnally , is an American country music artist. He signed to Curb Records in 1999 and released a self-titled debut album the following year...

    ) — 3:17
  2. "Either Way" (Chris Stapleton
    Chris Stapleton
    Chris Stapleton is an American country, bluegrass, and rock musician. He co-wrote the singles "Never Wanted Nothing More" for Kenny Chesney, "Swing" for Trace Adkins, "Your Man" for Josh Turner, "Keep On Lovin' You" for Steel Magnolia and "Come Back Song" for Darius Rucker.Between 2008 and 2010,...

    , Kendall Marvel, Tim James) — 3:39
  3. "Solitary Thinkin'" (Waylon Payne
    Waylon Payne
    Waylon Payne is an American country singer, songwriter, musician and actor.-Early life:Payne was born in Nashville, Tennessee, the son of guitarist Jody Payne and Grammy Award-winning country singer Sammi Smith. His father became a longtime picker for Willie Nelson; his mother toured with Waylon...

    ) — 3:58
  4. "New Again" (Lee Ann Womack, Dale Dodson, Casey Beathard
    Casey Beathard
    Casey Beathard is an American country music songwriter. The son of former NFL general manager Bobby Beathard, he has co-written singles for several country music recording artists, including Top Ten singles for Gary Allan, Billy Ray Cyrus, Trace Adkins, and Kenny Chesney...

    ) — 3:56
  5. "I Found It in You" (Brian Nash, Michael T. Post, Whitney Duncan
    Whitney Duncan
    Whitney Duncan is an American country music artist, who was the fifth place finalist on the fifth season of Nashville Star. She has released one studio album and has charted on the U.S...

    ) — 3:46
  6. "Have You Seen That Girl" (Womack, Dodson, Dean Dillon
    Dean Dillon
    Dean Dillon is an American country music artist. Between 1982 and 1993, Dillon recorded six studio albums on various labels, and charted several singles on the Billboard country charts. Although he has not charted since 1993, Dillon has continued to write several hit songs for other artists, most...

    ) — 3:23
  7. "The Bees" (Natalie Hemby, Daniel Tashian) — 5:08
  8. "I Think I Know" (Tom Shapiro
    Tom Shapiro
    Tom Shapiro is an American songwriter and occasional record producer, known primarily for his work in country music. To date, he holds four Country Songwriter of the Year awards from Broadcast Music Incorporated, as well as the Songwriter of the Decade award from the Nashville Songwriters...

    , Mark Nesler
    Mark Nesler
    Mark Nesler is an American country music artist. Signed to Elektra Records as a recording artist in 1998, Nesler charted three singles on the U.S. Billboard country charts...

    , Tony Martin
    Tony Martin (songwriter)
    Tony Martin is a country music songwriter who has had twelve Number One hits as a songwriter. Among his compositions are "Third Rock from the Sun" by Joe Diffie and "Just to See You Smile" by Tim McGraw....

    ) — 3:28
  9. "If These Walls Could Talk" (Womack, Dodson) — 3:33
  10. "Everything but Quits" (Womack, Dodson, Dillon) — 3:51
    • duet with George Strait
      George Strait
      George Harvey Strait is an American country music singer, actor, and music producer. Strait is referred to as the "King of Country," and critics call Strait a living legend. He is known for his unique style of western swing music, bar-room ballads, honky-tonk style, and fresh yet traditional...

  11. "The King of Broken Hearts" (Jim Lauderdale
    Jim Lauderdale
    Jim Lauderdale is a musician & singer-songwriter who performs bluegrass and country music. He has recorded since 1986 and has released nineteen studio albums. Artists who have recorded his material include George Strait and Patty Loveless.-Biography:...

    ) — 3:49
  12. "The Story of My Life" (Hillary Lindsey
    Hillary Lindsey
    Hillary Lindsey is a country music singer-songwriter. As a songwriter, she has written songs with or for Faith Hill, Martina McBride, Sara Evans, Carrie Underwood, Kellie Pickler, Bon Jovi, Taylor Swift, and Tim McGraw. One of her compositions, Underwood's Number One hit "Jesus, Take the Wheel",...

    , Brett James
    Brett James
    Brett James Cornelius is an American singer, songwriter and record producer. Signed to Career Records as a solo artist in 1995, James charted three singles and released a self-titled debut album that year...

    , Angelo Petraglia) — 4:22

Production

  • Chuck Ainlay: Engineer, Mixing
  • Jim Cooley: Assistant Engineer
  • Bob Ludwig: Mastering

Promotion & chart performance

One way Womack has planned to promote the album is to tour.
Womack also previewed the album in Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...

 on October 20 at Nashville's War Auditorium, singing nearly all of the songs on the album.
She also previewed the album at the Jazz Lincoln Center in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

 on September 17.

Call Me Crazy debuted at #4 on Billboard's Top Country Albums chart and #23 on the Billboard 200
Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...

, becoming Womack's first album in nearly ten years to miss the Top 20.

Album charts
Chart (2008) Peak
position
U.S. Billboard Top Country Albums 4
U.S. Billboard 200 23


Single charts
Year Single Chart Positions
US Country
Hot Country Songs
Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States.This 60-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly mostly by airplay and occasionally commercial sales...

US
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...

2008 "Last Call" 14 77
2009 "Solitary Thinkin'" 39
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