Gary Allan Herzberg is an American
country musicCountry music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
artist, known professionally as
Gary Allan.
Signed to
Decca RecordsDecca Records began as a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934; however, owing to World War II, the link with the British company was broken for several decades....
in 1996, Allan made his debut on the United States country music scene with the release of his single "
Her Man"Her Man" is the title of a song written by Kent Robbins. Originally recorded by American country music artist Waylon Jennings on his 1990 album The Eagle, it was covered in 1996 by Gary Allan on his debut album Used Heart for Sale...
", the lead-off to his gold-certified debut album
Used Heart for Sale-Album:-Singles:-Certifications:-Personnel:*Gary Allan – lead vocals*Dan Dugmore – acoustic guitar, steel guitar*Owen Hale – drums*Jim Lauderdale – background vocals*B...
, which was released in 1996 on Decca Records. A second album,
It Would Be You-Album:-Singles:...
, followed in 1998 on Decca. Allan's third album,
Smoke Rings in the Dark-Album:-Singles:-Certifications:-Personnel:*Gary Allan – lead vocals*Lisa Cochran – background vocals*Christy Cornelius – background vocals*Chad Cromwell – drums*Dan Dugmore – pedal steel guitar, acoustic guitar*Steve Gibson – electric guitar...
, was his first album for MCA Nashville (to which he has been signed ever since) and the first platinum album of his career. Its successors,
Alright Guy-Personnel:* Chad Cromwell - drums* Jake Kelly - acoustic guitar* Joe Manuel - acoustic guitar* Steve Nathan - keyboards* Michael Rhodes - bass guitar* Brent Rowan - electric guitar* John Wesley Ryles - background vocals* Hank Singer - Mandolin, fiddle...
(2001) and
See If I Care-Album:-Singles:-Certifications:-Personnel:*Richard Bennett – electric guitar*Lisa Cochran – background vocals*Chad Cromwell – drums*Eric Darken – percussion*Dan Dugmore – steel guitar*Stuart Duncan – fiddle*Mike Henderson – electric guitar...
(2003), were all certified platinum as well, while 2005's
Tough All Over-Personnel:As listed in liner notes.*Perry Coleman - background vocals*Chad Cromwell - drums*Eric Darken - percussion*Kenny Greenberg - acoustic guitar on track 2, electric guitar on tracks 2, 7, 8 and 12*Wes Hightower - background vocals...
and 2007's
Greatest Hits-Album:-Singles:-Certifications:-References:...
were both certified gold. A seventh studio album,
Living HardLiving Hard is the seventh studio album by American country music singer Gary Allan. It was released on October 23, 2007 on the MCA Nashville label....
, was released later in 2007.
Overall, Allan's seven studio albums and Greatest Hits package have produced 24 singles on the
Billboard Hot Country SongsHot 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...
charts, including three that reached Number One: "
Man to Man"Man to Man" is the title of a song written by Jamie O'Hara and recorded by American country music singer Gary Allan. It was released in September 2002 as the third and final single from Allan's 2001 album Alright Guy and Gary's first single to reach number one...
" and "
Tough Little Boys"Tough Little Boys" is the first single released from Gary Allan's 2003 album See If I Care. The song reached Number One on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs chart in October of 2003, becoming Allan's second straight No. 1 single.-Content:...
" in 2003, and "
Nothing On but the Radio"Nothing On but the Radio" is the title of a song written by Byron Hill, Odie Blackmon and Brice Long, recorded by American country music artist Gary Allan. It was released in June 2004 as the last single release from his 2004 album See If I Care. The song was Allan's third Number One single on the...
" in 2004. Seven more of his singles have reached the Top Ten on this chart as well: "
Her Man"Her Man" is the title of a song written by Kent Robbins. Originally recorded by American country music artist Waylon Jennings on his 1990 album The Eagle, it was covered in 1996 by Gary Allan on his debut album Used Heart for Sale...
", "It Would Be You", "
Right Where I Need to Be"Right Where I Need to Be" is a song written by Casey Beathard and Kendell Marvel and recorded by country music artist Gary Allan. It is the last single released from his 1999 album Smoke Rings in the Dark. It reached #5 in June 2001, thus becoming his first top 5 hit, as well as his third top 10 hit...
", "
The One"The One" is a song written by Karen Manno and Billy Lee, and recorded by American country music singer Gary Allan that reached the Top 5 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart. It was released in January 2002 as the second single from his CD, Alright Guy...
", "
Best I Ever Had"Best I Ever Had " is a song recorded by the American alternative rock band Vertical Horizon on their fourth album Everything You Want, which was released in 1999. It was released as a single in 2001...
" (a cover of a
Vertical HorizonVertical Horizon is an American alternative rock band formed at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. in 1991. The band is best known for a string of hits in 1999 and early 2000s, including "You're a God", "Everything You Want", and "Best I Ever Had ". Their most recent album, Burning the...
song), "
Life Ain't Always Beautiful"Life Ain't Always Beautiful" is the title of a song written by Cyndi Goodman and Tommy Lee James, and recorded by American country music singer Gary Allan. It was released in January 2006 as the second and final single from his 2005 album, Tough All Over...
", and "
Watching Airplanes"Watching Airplanes" is a single by American country music singer Gary Allan and written by Jonathan Singleton and Jim Beavers. It is the first single released from his 2007 album Living Hard. His twentieth chart single overall, the song reached a peak of #2 on the Billboard country charts in early...
". Allan's latest album,
Get Off on the PainUpon its release, Get Off on the Pain received generally positive reviews from most music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 84, based on 5 reviews, which indicates "universal...
, was released on March 9, 2010.
Personal
Gary Allan Herzberg was born and raised in
La Mirada, CaliforniaLa Mirada is a city in southeast Los Angeles County, California, United States, and is one of the Gateway Cities. The population was 48,527 at the 2010 census, up from 46,783 at the 2000 census....
, to Harley and Mary Herzberg. To ensure that the family would focus on music, Allan's mother insisted that the family's guitars would always remain visible in the home. At age thirteen, Allan began playing in honky tonks with his father. Two years later, he was offered his first recording contract, from
A&M RecordsA&M Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group that operates under the mantle of its Interscope-Geffen-A&M division.-Beginnings:...
, but rejected the deal. His parents wanted him to finish his education and his father felt that Allan had yet to develop his own distinctive style. Despite his commitment to finishing school, Allan reflects that he was rarely alert in class. "I played the bars at night, I was half asleep when I got to school. I thought sleep was what you did when you got to school."
After finishing school, he continued to play in the bars with his band, the Honky Tonk Wranglers. Many of the venues they played were packed, and promoters often tried to move them to larger clubs. The moves would have required him to stop playing some of the older country music, such as covers of
George JonesGeorge Glenn Jones is an American country music singer known for his long list of hit records, his distinctive voice and phrasing, and his marriage to Tammy Wynette....
songs, so Allan refused.
In 1987, Gary married his first wife, Tracy Taylor Herzberg. She is the mother to his three daughters. They since divorced. He married model Danette Day on November 28, 1998 in South Carolina and they divorced in June 1999. His third wife, Angela (whom he wed on June 5, 2001), committed suicide on October 25, 2004.
Nashville connection
Allan was introduced to songwriter/producer
Byron HillByron Hill , is an American songwriter from Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Working professionally in Nashville, TN for more than thirty years, his songs have been recorded by over 650 Country and Pop artists.-Music career:...
on August 28, 1993 by a mutual friend and talent-scout Jim Seal, at a bar called the Lion D'or in
Downey, CaliforniaDowney is a city located in southeast Los Angeles County, California, United States, southeast of downtown Los Angeles. The city is best known as the birthplace of the Apollo space program, and is the city where folk singer Karen Carpenter lived and died...
, where Allan was already regularly performing. Seal and Hill had asked Allan if they could showcase an unsigned act that they were developing there. Hill had arranged to bring the head of
A&RArtists and repertoire is the division of a record label that is responsible for talent scouting and overseeing the artistic development of recording artists. It also acts as a liaison between artists and the record label.- Finding talent :...
from a major label to the show to see this other act perform. Allan kindly let them use his stage for the event, giving the new act the opening performance slot that night. Hill promised Gary that they would make sure the A&R person remained there to see his portion of the show. Everyone was knocked out with Allan's performance, and very impressed with his voice. From that point on, Byron Hill began sending Gary songs. Without any serious funding at the time, Hill arranged for Allan to go into Seal's small studio in California to try his vocals on some of existing demo tracks that Byron had sent to Gary from
Nashville, TennesseeNashville 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...
. Meanwhile, Hill became head of A&R at
BNA EntertainmentBNA Records, formerly known as BNA Entertainment, is a label group that shares ties with Arista Nashville and RCA Nashville from parent company Sony Music Nashville, which itself is a subsidiary of Sony Music Entertainment. Based in Nashville, Tennessee, BNA features country music acts on its roster...
on October 29 of that same year and immediately wanted to sign Allan to BNA, but the then current roster conditions and other circumstances related to the planned restructuring of RCA/BNA Nashville stood in the way.
From demo to deal
In the meantime, Allan took a job selling cars. He left a demo tape in the glove box of a car purchased by a wealthy couple. When the couple discovered that he was the singer, they wrote him a check for $12,000. This independent funding allowed Allan to go to Nashville to record some of the songs that were on that early demo tape with
Byron HillByron Hill , is an American songwriter from Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Working professionally in Nashville, TN for more than thirty years, his songs have been recorded by over 650 Country and Pop artists.-Music career:...
as producer. On September 11, 1995, they worked at Javelina Studios for a couple of days on the four songs that Hill immediately showed to labels. Allan's recordings brought serious responses from several labels including
MercuryMercury Records is a record label operating as a standalone company in the UK and as part of the Island Def Jam Motown Music Group in the US; both are subsidiaries of Universal Music Group. There is also a Mercury Records in Australia, which is a local artist and repertoire division of Universal...
,
RCARCA Records is one of the flagship labels of Sony Music Entertainment. The RCA initials stand for Radio Corporation of America , which was the parent corporation from 1929 to 1985 and a partner from 1985 to 1986.RCA's Canadian unit is Sony's oldest label...
, and
DeccaDecca Records began as a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934; however, owing to World War II, the link with the British company was broken for several decades....
. A meeting was then held at a Nashville hotel among Hill, Allan, and friend of Allan's, who was a program director for a radio station in California.
The meeting was to arrange two showcases in
Los Angeles, CaliforniaLos Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
, to put Allan on stage at two of the radio station's regular nights at a local club. Byron arranged for staffers at the Nashville office of Decca Records to attend the first showcase held on November 1, 1995. Decca immediately wanted to sign Allan, and knowing that Byron was lining up other labels to see Gary, Decca asked them to cancel the second showcase. A rep from RCA was already booked to see the second showcase the following week, but the "bird-in-hand" deal offer was too tempting for both Byron and Gary, so they committed to the Decca offer. Decca staffer Mark Wright and Byron Hill co-produced Gary's first three albums for Decca beginning sessions on March 11, 1996 for
Used Heart for Sale, then
It Would Be You, both of which yielded top five singles, and later
Smoke Rings in the Dark (which also included Tony Brown as a co-producer). It was during the recording of the first album that they recorded "It Must Have Been Ol' Santa Claus", as an added track to be packaged on various MCA/Decca Christmas compilations. Then Byron and Gary got a personal call from
Harry Connick, Jr.Joseph Harry Fowler Connick, Jr. is an American singer, big-band leader/conductor, pianist, actor, and composer. He has sold over 25 million albums worldwide. Connick is ranked among the top 60 best-selling male artists in the United States by the Recording Industry Association of America, with...
, the writer of the song, thanking them for the recording, during which he added a few of his
New Orleans JazzDixieland music, sometimes referred to as Hot jazz, Early Jazz or New Orleans jazz, is a style of jazz music which developed in New Orleans at the start of the 20th century, and was spread to Chicago and New York City by New Orleans bands in the 1910s.Well-known jazz standard songs from the...
style "very cool man!" compliments. The Christmas recording has been since released on at least four compilations. The merger of
PolygramPolyGram was the name of the major label recording company started by Philips from as a holding company for its music interests in 1945. In 1999 it was sold to Seagram and merged into Universal Music Group.-Hollandsche Decca Distributie , 1929-1950:...
, Decca, and
MCA RecordsMCA Records was an American-based record company owned by MCA Inc., which later gave way to the larger MCA Music Entertainment Group , of which MCA Records was still part. MCA Records was absorbed by Geffen Records in 2003...
marked the closing of Decca and Gary was moved to MCA Records.
Used Heart for Sale
His first deal, with
Decca RecordsDecca Records began as a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934; however, owing to World War II, the link with the British company was broken for several decades....
Nashville, produced the 1996 album
Used Heart for Sale-Album:-Singles:-Certifications:-Personnel:*Gary Allan – lead vocals*Dan Dugmore – acoustic guitar, steel guitar*Owen Hale – drums*Jim Lauderdale – background vocals*B...
. The album was named "Best of the Month" by
Stereo Review. It advanced to the top 20 of the charts, and produced a Top 10 country hit with the track "
Her Man"Her Man" is the title of a song written by Kent Robbins. Originally recorded by American country music artist Waylon Jennings on his 1990 album The Eagle, it was covered in 1996 by Gary Allan on his debut album Used Heart for Sale...
" (previously recorded by
Waylon JenningsWaylon Arnold Jennings was an American country music singer, songwriter, and musician. Jennings began playing at eight. He began performing at twelve, on KVOW radio. Jennings formed a band The Texas Longhorns. Jennings worked as a D.J on KVOW, KDAV and KLLL...
). Other tracks from the album, however, proved less successful.
It Would Be You
His second album,
It Would Be You-Album:-Singles:...
, was released in 1998. Although Allan had been writing songs since he was a teenager, he does not hesitate to bump his work from his albums in favor of those written by other songwriters he respects. For his second album, Allan replaced one of his songs with "No Judgement Day", written by Allen Shamblin. Although the song was a hidden acoustic track, radio stations began giving it heavy airplay. The song tells the story of a shopkeeper in Texas, whose children killed him in search of money. The title track of the album became Allan's second top 10 hit of the year, remaining in the top 10 after 21 weeks of radio play, "way beyond the tenure of most disposable radio hits." At the beginning of 1999, Decca Records folded, and when Allan moved to the parent label, MCA Nashville,
It Would Be You was left in limbo.
Allan was labeled "Country Music's Sexy Star" by
People Magazine. He also delved into the acting world in the TV mini-series
Shake, Rattle, & Roll, playing the lead role of
Eddie CochranEddie Cochran , was an American rock and roll pioneer who in his brief career had a small but lasting influence on rock music through his guitar playing. Cochran's rockabilly songs, such as "C'mon Everybody", "Somethin' Else", and "Summertime Blues", captured teenage frustration and desire in the...
. He followed that role with a part in the CBS TV series
Pensacola: Wings of Gold, but describes his acting experience as "tedious."
Smoke Rings in the Dark
In 1999, Allan released
Smoke Rings in the Dark-Album:-Singles:-Certifications:-Personnel:*Gary Allan – lead vocals*Lisa Cochran – background vocals*Christy Cornelius – background vocals*Chad Cromwell – drums*Dan Dugmore – pedal steel guitar, acoustic guitar*Steve Gibson – electric guitar...
, an album he recorded while in the midst of a divorce from his second wife, Versace model Danette Day, after only seven months of marriage. Unlike his first two albums,
Smoke Rings in the Dark made fuller use of background singers and stringed instruments, "resulting in a lusher, fuller sound." The new album avoided the "devil-may-care brashness" of the first two, instead presenting a tone balanced between youthful optimism and "the knowledge that some of life's experiences exact a high toll."
Smoke Rings in the Dark was certified platinum, and it included two successful singles.
Alright Guy
In 2001 the album
Alright Guy-Personnel:* Chad Cromwell - drums* Jake Kelly - acoustic guitar* Joe Manuel - acoustic guitar* Steve Nathan - keyboards* Michael Rhodes - bass guitar* Brent Rowan - electric guitar* John Wesley Ryles - background vocals* Hank Singer - Mandolin, fiddle...
was released. It contained the singles "The One," "Man of Me," and "Man to Man," the latter of which became his first
Billboard No. 1 hit. The same year, Allan married for the third time, to Angela, a
flight attendantFlight attendants or cabin crew are members of an aircrew employed by airlines primarily to ensure the safety and comfort of passengers aboard commercial flights, on select business jet aircraft, and on some military aircraft.-History:The role of a flight attendant derives from that of similar...
he met on an airplane.
See If I Care
Despite his previous success and eight years in the music business, Allan was nominated for the
Country Music AssociationThe Country Music Association was founded in 1958 in Nashville, Tennessee. It originally consisted of only 233 members and was the first trade organization formed to promote a music genre...
's Horizon Award, typically given to newcomers, in 2003. The same year he released his fifth album,
See If I Care-Album:-Singles:-Certifications:-Personnel:*Richard Bennett – electric guitar*Lisa Cochran – background vocals*Chad Cromwell – drums*Eric Darken – percussion*Dan Dugmore – steel guitar*Stuart Duncan – fiddle*Mike Henderson – electric guitar...
. Allan had to fight to keep the title, which he felt epitomized his attitude towards the music business, that he would continue to make the music that he wanted to make regardless of whether the record label chose to back him or people chose to buy the album.
See If I Care included his second and third Number One singles, "
Tough Little Boys"Tough Little Boys" is the first single released from Gary Allan's 2003 album See If I Care. The song reached Number One on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs chart in October of 2003, becoming Allan's second straight No. 1 single.-Content:...
" and "
Nothing On but the Radio"Nothing On but the Radio" is the title of a song written by Byron Hill, Odie Blackmon and Brice Long, recorded by American country music artist Gary Allan. It was released in June 2004 as the last single release from his 2004 album See If I Care. The song was Allan's third Number One single on the...
." "Songs About Rain" was a top 15 hit.
Tough All Over
In 2003, Allan and his wife, Angela Herzberg, moved to
TennesseeTennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
from California. On October 25, 2004, Angela Herzberg committed suicide after suffering from depression and migraines. Allan initially put his career on hold, but soon turned to music to deal with the loss of his wife. This resulted in 2005's "heart-wrenchingly personal album,"
Tough All Over-Personnel:As listed in liner notes.*Perry Coleman - background vocals*Chad Cromwell - drums*Eric Darken - percussion*Kenny Greenberg - acoustic guitar on track 2, electric guitar on tracks 2, 7, 8 and 12*Wes Hightower - background vocals...
. He included several songs which he wrote or cowrote, including "Puttin' Memories Away" and "I Just Got Back from Hell," which dealt directly with his grief. Several years later, Gary discussed his wife's suicide on
The Oprah Winfrey ShowThe Oprah Winfrey Show is an American syndicated talk show hosted and produced by its namesake Oprah Winfrey. It ran nationally for 25 seasons beginning in 1986, before concluding in 2011. It is the highest-rated talk show in American television history....
.
Tough All Over sold over 99,000 copies in its first week, debuting at No. 3 on the
Billboard 200The 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...
and No. 1 on the magazine's Top Country Albums chart. It was subsequently certified gold by the RIAA as of December 20, 2006, and contained the top 10 singles "
Best I Ever Had"Best I Ever Had " is a song recorded by the American alternative rock band Vertical Horizon on their fourth album Everything You Want, which was released in 1999. It was released as a single in 2001...
" (written by
Vertical HorizonVertical Horizon is an American alternative rock band formed at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. in 1991. The band is best known for a string of hits in 1999 and early 2000s, including "You're a God", "Everything You Want", and "Best I Ever Had ". Their most recent album, Burning the...
's
Matt ScannellMatthew "Matt" Scannell is an American singer, guitarist, songwriter and musician. Scannell is the lead vocalist, lead guitarist, primary songwriter, and founding member of the alternative rock band, Vertical Horizon....
) and "
Life Ain't Always Beautiful"Life Ain't Always Beautiful" is the title of a song written by Cyndi Goodman and Tommy Lee James, and recorded by American country music singer Gary Allan. It was released in January 2006 as the second and final single from his 2005 album, Tough All Over...
," co-written by country singer
Cyndi ThomsonCyndi Thomson is an American country music artist. Thomson wrote songs with songwriter Tommy Lee James and in 2000, she signed with Capitol Records Nashville as a recording artist...
(under the name Cyndi Goodman).
Greatest Hits
Allan's first
Greatest Hits-Album:-Singles:-Certifications:-References:...
collection was released on March 6, 2007. A Number One album on the
Billboard Top Country Albums charts, the album reprised the greatest hits from his first six albums, as well as two new songs. One of these, titled "A Feelin' Like That", was co-written by
David Lee MurphyDavid Lee Murphy is an American country music artist. Signed to MCA Nashville Records in 1994, Murphy made his first appearance on the Billboard country charts that year with "Just Once", a song from the soundtrack to the 1994 film 8 Seconds. A year later, Murphy's debut album Out with a Bang was...
and Ira Dean (the latter a former member of
Trick PonyTrick Pony was an American country music group. It was formed in 1996 by Keith Burns , Ira Dean , and Heidi Newfield . The group recorded three studio albums: Trick Pony, On a Mission and R.I.D.E., released in 2001, 2002 and 2005, respectively...
); the single peaked at #12 on the country singles charts.
Living Hard
Allan's album titled
Living HardLiving Hard is the seventh studio album by American country music singer Gary Allan. It was released on October 23, 2007 on the MCA Nashville label....
, was released on October 23, 2007. Serving as its lead-off single was the song "
Watching Airplanes"Watching Airplanes" is a single by American country music singer Gary Allan and written by Jonathan Singleton and Jim Beavers. It is the first single released from his 2007 album Living Hard. His twentieth chart single overall, the song reached a peak of #2 on the Billboard country charts in early...
," which spent more than thirty weeks on the country charts, where it reached a peak of #2 and went #1 on the Mediabase Chart. The song's music video was filmed during live concerts, including one at the
Red Rocks AmphitheatreRed Rocks Amphitheatre is a rock structure near Morrison, Colorado, where concerts are given in the open-air amphitheatre. There is a large, tilted, disc-shaped rock behind the stage, a huge vertical rock angled outwards from stage right, several large outcrops angled outwards from stage left and a...
in
Morrison, ColoradoThe historic Town of Morrison is a Home Rule Municipality in Jefferson County, Colorado, United States. The population was 430 at the 2000 census...
. Second single "
Learning How to Bend"Learning How to Bend" is the title of a song co-written and recorded by American country music singer Gary Allan. It was released in March 2008 as the second single from his 2007 album, Living Hard...
" – co-written by Allan – quickly became another hit song, peaking at #13. The video was filmed during a live performance at the House of Blues in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Following this song is third single "She's So California," which Allan co-wrote with Jaime Hanna (of
Hanna-McEuen-Track listing:#"Fool Around" - 3:22#"Blue Sunrise" - 3:34#"Read Between the Lies" - 3:30#"Something Like a Broken Heart" - 3:52...
) and
Jon RandallJon Randall Stewart is an American country music artist. Signed to RCA Records in 1995, he debuted that year with the album What You Don't Know. A second album for RCA, 1996's Great Day to Be Alive, was recorded but never released...
, and it peaked at #24, becoming his first single to miss the top 20 since "Lovin' You Against My Will" in 2000.
Get Off on the Pain
A new single called "
Today"Today" is a song recorded by the country music artist Gary Allan. It is the lead-off single to an eighth studio album, Get Off on the Pain, released on March 9, 2010...
" was released on June 12, 2009. It served as the lead-off single to Allan's studio album,
Get Off on the PainUpon its release, Get Off on the Pain received generally positive reviews from most music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 84, based on 5 reviews, which indicates "universal...
, which was released on March 9, 2010.
Title track, "
Get Off on the Pain"Get Off on the Pain" is the title of a song written by Brett James, Bill Luther and Justin Weaver, and recorded by American country music singer Gary Allan. It is the second single from his 2009 album of the same name...
", is the album's second single. It debuted at #42 on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs chart, the highest-debuting single of his career.
"
Kiss Me When I'm Down"Kiss Me When I'm Down" is a song written by Andrew Dorff, Josh Kear, and Chris Tompkins and recorded by American country music singer Gary Allan. It is the third single off his eighth studio album Get Off On The Pain.- Content :...
" the album's third single. released to radio in 2010. It debuted at #52 on the U.S. Billboard
Hot Country SongsHot 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...
chart.
Political views
In 2003, Allan told
CMT that he believed Republican candidate,
Arnold SchwarzeneggerArnold Alois Schwarzenegger is an Austrian-American former professional bodybuilder, actor, businessman, investor, and politician. Schwarzenegger served as the 38th Governor of California from 2003 until 2011....
would be the best governor because he is not driven by money.
Sound
Allan's voice is described as "raspy and unpolished." The
New York Times describes his music as "elegant, often deadpan songs [that] tend toward manly understatement." His sound is heavily influenced by the
BakersfieldThe Bakersfield sound was a genre of country music developed in the mid- to late 1950s in and around Bakersfield, California. The many hit singles were largely produced by Capitol Records country music head, Ken Nelson. Bakersfield country was a reaction against the slickly produced, string...
scene, especially
Buck OwensAlvis Edgar Owens, Jr. , better known as Buck Owens, was an American singer and guitarist who had 21 No. 1 hits on the Billboard country music charts with his band, the Buckaroos...
and
Merle HaggardMerle Ronald Haggard is an American country music singer, guitarist, fiddler, instrumentalist, and songwriter. Along with Buck Owens, Haggard and his band The Strangers helped create the Bakersfield sound, which is characterized by the unique twang of Fender Telecaster guitars, vocal harmonies,...
. He prefers this sound to that of the more pop country that is prevalent on country radio, because "the songs have got to have soul, have real meaning....Country music is...what happens during the week. Rock 'n roll is about what happens at the weekend." Because his sound is different from many of the current crop of country singers, Allan has at times had difficulty getting radio to play his singles. He says he has to "walk a real fine line" to "make sure that I get traditional stuff on the radio."
Albums
- Used Heart for Sale
-Album:-Singles:-Certifications:-Personnel:*Gary Allan – lead vocals*Dan Dugmore – acoustic guitar, steel guitar*Owen Hale – drums*Jim Lauderdale – background vocals*B...
(1996)
- It Would Be You
-Album:-Singles:...
(1998)
- Smoke Rings in the Dark
-Album:-Singles:-Certifications:-Personnel:*Gary Allan – lead vocals*Lisa Cochran – background vocals*Christy Cornelius – background vocals*Chad Cromwell – drums*Dan Dugmore – pedal steel guitar, acoustic guitar*Steve Gibson – electric guitar...
(1999)
- Alright Guy
-Personnel:* Chad Cromwell - drums* Jake Kelly - acoustic guitar* Joe Manuel - acoustic guitar* Steve Nathan - keyboards* Michael Rhodes - bass guitar* Brent Rowan - electric guitar* John Wesley Ryles - background vocals* Hank Singer - Mandolin, fiddle...
(2001)
- See If I Care
-Album:-Singles:-Certifications:-Personnel:*Richard Bennett – electric guitar*Lisa Cochran – background vocals*Chad Cromwell – drums*Eric Darken – percussion*Dan Dugmore – steel guitar*Stuart Duncan – fiddle*Mike Henderson – electric guitar...
(2003)
- Tough All Over
-Personnel:As listed in liner notes.*Perry Coleman - background vocals*Chad Cromwell - drums*Eric Darken - percussion*Kenny Greenberg - acoustic guitar on track 2, electric guitar on tracks 2, 7, 8 and 12*Wes Hightower - background vocals...
(2005)
- Greatest Hits
-Album:-Singles:-Certifications:-References:...
(2007)
- Living Hard
Living Hard is the seventh studio album by American country music singer Gary Allan. It was released on October 23, 2007 on the MCA Nashville label....
(2007)
- Get Off on the Pain
Upon its release, Get Off on the Pain received generally positive reviews from most music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 84, based on 5 reviews, which indicates "universal...
(2010)
External links