Living Hard
Encyclopedia
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.
The album debuted at number three on the U.S. Billboard 200
chart, selling approximately 69,000 copies in its first week. Its lead-off single, "Watching Airplanes", reached number 2 on the country charts, while "Learning How to Bend" reached number 13. The album's third single, "She's So California" reached number 24. "Half of My Mistakes" was originally recorded Radney Foster
on his album This World We Live In, and by Jace Everett
on his self-titled debut album, both released in 2005. "Like It's a Bad Thing" was later recorded by Danny Gokey
on his 2010 debut album, My Best Days
.
country charts in early 2008. It was written by Jim Beavers and Jonathan Singleton
.
The music video
for this song was shot during live concerts at Red Rocks Amphitheatre
in Morrison, Colorado
, the Red Dirt Roundup '07 in Fort Worth, Texas
, the Nutty Brown Cafe in Austin, Texas
, and in Saint George, Utah.
chart dated April 5, 2008.
and Jaime Hanna of Hanna-McEuen
. It peaked at number 24.
The song is an up-tempo in which the narrator uses various California-themed imagery to describe his lover, whom he says is "so California." Blake Boldt of CountryUniverse.net gave it a B- rating, saying it waas "little more than album filler", calling the production both "modest" and "a bit sterile", but saying that Allan's "gravelly vocal" was of note.
Country music
Country 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...
singer Gary Allan
Gary Allan
Gary Allan Herzberg is an American country music artist, known professionally as Gary Allan.Signed to Decca Records in 1996, Allan made his debut on the United States country music scene with the release of his single "Her Man", the lead-off to his gold-certified debut album Used Heart for Sale,...
. It was released on October 23, 2007 on the MCA Nashville label.
The album debuted at number three on the U.S. 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...
chart, selling approximately 69,000 copies in its first week. Its lead-off single, "Watching Airplanes", reached number 2 on the country charts, while "Learning How to Bend" reached number 13. The album's third single, "She's So California" reached number 24. "Half of My Mistakes" was originally recorded Radney Foster
Radney Foster
Radney Foster is an American Texas Country artist. Initially a songwriter in Nashville, Tennessee, Foster made his debut in 1986 alongside Bill Lloyd in the duo Foster & Lloyd...
on his album This World We Live In, and by Jace Everett
Jace Everett
Jace Everett is an American recording artist. Signed to Epic Records in 2005, he released his debut single "That's the Kind of Love I'm In" in 2005, which peaked at No. 51 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts, and was the first single from his self-titled debut album. He also co-wrote Josh...
on his self-titled debut album, both released in 2005. "Like It's a Bad Thing" was later recorded by Danny Gokey
Danny Gokey
Daniel Jay "Danny" Gokey is an American country music singer and church music director from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He was the third place finalist on the eighth season of American Idol...
on his 2010 debut album, My Best Days
My Best Days
Matt Bjorke of Roughstock gave a positive review, saying that its sound recalled country pop and contemporary Christian music, but also saying that it "sure feels like Danny Gokey has gotten himself a strong set of songs that find him in strong voice." Allmusic reviewer Stephen Thomas Erlewine gave...
.
Track listing
"Watching Airplanes"
"Watching Airplanes" was the lead-off single. His twentieth chart single overall, the song reached a peak of number 2 on the BillboardBillboard (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...
country charts in early 2008. It was written by Jim Beavers and Jonathan Singleton
Jonathan Singleton
Jonathan Singleton is an American country music singer and songwriter. He is known for co-writing the songs "Don't" by Billy Currington, "Watching Airplanes" by Gary Allan, "Red Light" and "Let It Rain" by David Nail and "Why Don't We Just Dance" by Josh Turner...
.
The music video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
for this song was shot during live concerts at Red Rocks Amphitheatre
Red Rocks Amphitheatre
Red 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, Colorado
Morrison, Colorado
The historic Town of Morrison is a Home Rule Municipality in Jefferson County, Colorado, United States. The population was 430 at the 2000 census...
, the Red Dirt Roundup '07 in Fort Worth, Texas
Fort Worth, Texas
Fort Worth is the 16th-largest city in the United States of America and the fifth-largest city in the state of Texas. Located in North Central Texas, just southeast of the Texas Panhandle, the city is a cultural gateway into the American West and covers nearly in Tarrant, Parker, Denton, and...
, the Nutty Brown Cafe in Austin, Texas
Austin, Texas
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of :Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 14th most populous city in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in...
, and in Saint George, Utah.
"Learning How to Bend"
"Learning How to Bend" peaked at number 13 in the United States. Written by Gary Allan, James LeBlanc, and Matt Warren. The song debuted at number 51 on the Hot Country SongsHot 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...
chart dated April 5, 2008.
"She's So California"
"She's So California" was the third and final single, written by Allan along with Jon RandallJon Randall
Jon 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 Jaime Hanna of Hanna-McEuen
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...
. It peaked at number 24.
The song is an up-tempo in which the narrator uses various California-themed imagery to describe his lover, whom he says is "so California." Blake Boldt of CountryUniverse.net gave it a B- rating, saying it waas "little more than album filler", calling the production both "modest" and "a bit sterile", but saying that Allan's "gravelly vocal" was of note.
Album
| Chart (2007) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| U.S. Billboard Top Country Albums | 3 |
| U.S. Billboard 200 | 3 |
Singles
| Year | Single | Peak 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... |
CAN Canadian Hot 100 The Canadian Hot 100 is a music singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine which ranks songs in Canada. The chart debuted in the Billboard issue dated June 16, 2007 and was made available for the first time via their online services on June 7, 2007... |
||
| 2007 | "Watching Airplanes" | 2 | 43 | 72 |
| 2008 | "Learning How to Bend" | 13 | 96 | — |
| "She's So California" | 24 | — | — | |
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart | ||||