Just Who I Am: Poets & Pirates
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| Just Who I Am: Poets & Pirates | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | September 11, 2007 | |||
| Recorded | 2007 | |||
| Genre | Country | |||
| Length | 48:43 | |||
| Label | BNA | |||
| Producer | Buddy Cannon and Kenny Chesney (all tracks) Joe Walsh ("Wild Ride" only) | |||
| Kenny Chesney chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Singles from Just Who I Am: Poets & Pirates | ||||
| ||||
| Aggregate scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Metacritic | (70/100)[1] |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   [2] |
| The A.V. Club | B−[3] |
| Billboard | (favorable)[4] |
| Blender | [1] |
| The Boston Globe | (favorable)[5] |
| Entertainment Weekly | B[6] |
| Los Angeles Times |  [1][7] |
| The New York Times | (favorable)[8] |
| PopMatters |   [9] |
| Rolling Stone | [10] |
Just Who I Am: Poets & Pirates is the eleventh studio album by American country music artist Kenny Chesney. It was released on September 11, 2007 via BNA Records. The album was leaked on the Internet on September 5, 2007. It produced four singles on the US Billboard Hot Country Songs chart between 2007 and 2008, three of which reached number one. The album also includes duets with George Strait and Joe Walsh. This is Chesney’s second album where he was not a writer or co-writer on any of the tracks, the first being 1996's Me and You.
Content[edit]
The album's first two singles are "Never Wanted Nothing More" and "Don't Blink", which were officially released to country radio in June and September 2007. Both singles reached number one the Hot Country Songs charts in late 2007, as did "Better as a Memory" (the fourth and final single) in June 2008. "Shiftwork" is a duet with George Strait. It was released as the album's third single in December 2007. It peaked at number 2 in early 2008. The song "Wild Ride", a duet with Joe Walsh, was originally recorded by Dwight Yoakam on his 1993 album This Time.
Critical reception[edit]
The album represented a move by Chesney to a more gulf and western sound with a number of "breezy, steel-drum island songs."[2]
Commercial performance[edit]
Just Who I Am: Poets & Pirates debuted at number three on the US Billboard 200 chart, selling 387,000 copies in first week.[11] The album had the best weekly sales of any country album since the Dixie Chicks' Taking the Long Way in May 2006[12] As of August 2008, the album has sold 1.4 million copies in the United States.[13] On December 10, 2007, the album was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for sales of over a million copies in the United States.[14]
Track listing[edit]
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Never Wanted Nothing More" | 3:29 | |
| 2. | "Don't Blink" |
| 4:46 |
| 3. | "Shiftwork" (duet with George Strait) | Troy Jones | 4:29 |
| 4. | "Just Not Today" | David Lee Murphy | 4:05 |
| 5. | "Wife and Kids" | 4:23 | |
| 6. | "Got a Little Crazy" |
| 4:03 |
| 7. | "Better as a Memory" |
| 4:12 |
| 8. | "Dancin' for the Groceries" |
| 5:11 |
| 9. | "Wild Ride" (featuring Joe Walsh) | Dwight Yoakam | 4:20 |
| 10. | "Scare Me" | 4:14 | |
| 11. | "Demons" | 5:31 | |
| Total length: | 48:43 | ||
Personnel[edit]
As listed in liner notes.[15]
- Wyatt Beard – background vocals
- William F. Bowman – acoustic guitar
- Bekka Bramlett – background vocals
- Mat Britain – steel drums
- Pat Buchanan – electric guitar
- Buddy Cannon – background vocals
- Melonie Cannon – background vocals
- Kenny Chesney – lead vocals
- Jeff Coffin – tenor saxophone
- Eric Darken – percussion
- Dan Dugmore – steel guitar
- Chris Dunn – trombone
- Sonny Garrish – steel guitar, Dobro
- Vince Gill – electric guitar
- Kenny Greenberg – electric guitar
- Rob Hajacos – fiddle
- Tim Hensley – background vocals
- Steve Herman – trumpet
- John Hobbs – piano, keyboards
- Jim Horn – baritone saxophone
- Paul Leim – drums, percussion
- Randy McCormick – Hammond B-3 organ, piano, keyboards, synthesizer, Wurlitzer
- Jonell Mosser – background vocals
- Larry Paxton – bass guitar, upright bass
- Gary Prim – Hammond B-3 organ, piano, keyboards
- Jon Randall – background vocals
- Mickey Raphael – harmonica
- Chris Stapleton – acoustic guitar
- George Strait – duet vocals on "Shiftwork"
- Scott Vestal – banjo
- Joe Walsh – electric guitar and talk box on "Wild Ride"
- Quentin Ware, Jr. – trumpet
- John Willis – acoustic guitar, electric guitar, talk box guitar, gut string guitar
- Andrea Zonn – background vocals
Charts[edit]
Weekly charts[edit]
Year-end charts[edit]
| Singles[edit]
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Certifications[edit]
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| United States (RIAA)[29] | 2× Platinum | 2,000,000‡ |
| ‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. | ||
References[edit]
- ^ a b c "Critic Reviews for Just Who I Am: Poets & Pirates". Metacritic. Retrieved April 10, 2013.
- ^ a b Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Just Who I Am: Poets & Pirates - Kenny Chesney". Allmusic. Retrieved July 16, 2011.
- ^ Battaglia, Andy (October 9, 2007). "Kenny Chesney: Just Who I Am: Poets & Pirates". The A.V. Club. Retrieved April 10, 2013.
- ^ Tucker, Ken. "Just Who I Am: Poets & Pirates". Billboard. Archived from the original on November 22, 2007. Retrieved April 10, 2013.
- ^ Rodman, Sarah (September 11, 2007). "The many hats of Kenny Chesney". The Boston Globe. Retrieved April 10, 2013.
- ^ Pastorek, Whitney (August 31, 2007). "Just Who I Am: Poets & Pirates Review". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved July 16, 2011.
- ^ Lewis, Randy (September 22, 2007). "Chesney reveals 'Who I Am' in the words of others". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved April 10, 2013.
- ^ Sanneh, Kelefa (September 11, 2007). "The King of Country Casual, Back Again". The New York Times. Retrieved April 10, 2013.
- ^ Timmermann, Josh (September 12, 2007). "Kenny Chesney: Just Who I Am: Poets and Pirates". PopMatters. Retrieved April 10, 2013.
- ^ Sheffield, Rob (September 5, 2007). "Just Who I Am: Poets & Pirates". Rolling Stone. Retrieved April 10, 2013.
- ^ "Justin Bieber, Kenny Chesney, Fiona Apple Lead Billboard 200 Debuts". Billboard.
- ^ Katie Hasty, "Album Sales Down 9% Despite Huge Kanye, 50 Tallies", Billboard.com, September 19, 2007.
- ^ Cohen, Jonathan. "Kenny Chesney's 'Sun' To Shine This Fall". Billboard. August 21, 2008.
- ^ "Gold & Platinum". Recording Industry Association of America.
- ^ Just Who I Am: Poets & Pirates (Media notes). Kenny Chesney. BNA Records. 2007. 88697-11457-2.
{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link) - ^ "Kenny Chesney Chart History (Canadian Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved November 30, 2020.
- ^ "Kenny Chesney Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved November 30, 2020.
- ^ "Kenny Chesney Chart History (Top Country Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved November 30, 2020.
- ^ "Top Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 2007". Billboard. Retrieved November 30, 2020.
- ^ "Top Country Albums – Year-End 2007". Billboard. Retrieved November 30, 2020.
- ^ "Top Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 2008". Billboard. Retrieved November 30, 2020.
- ^ "Top Country Albums – Year-End 2008". Billboard. Retrieved November 30, 2020.
- ^ "Kenny Chesney Chart History – Country Songs". Billboard. Retrieved March 3, 2020.
- ^ "Kenny Chesney Chart History – Hot 100". Billboard. Retrieved March 3, 2020.
- ^ "Kenny Chesney Chart History – Canada Country". Billboard. Retrieved March 3, 2020.
- ^ "Kenny Chesney Chart History: Canadian Hot 100". Billboard. Retrieved March 3, 2020.
- ^ "American single certifications – Kenny Chesney – Never Wanted Nothing More". Recording Industry Association of America.
- ^ "American single certifications – Kenny Chesney – Don%27t Blink". Recording Industry Association of America.
- ^ "American album certifications – Kenny Chesney – Just Who I Am". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved November 18, 2022.
