What I Do

For the album by George Canyon, see What I Do (George Canyon album).
What I Do
Studio album by
Alan Jackson
ReleasedSeptember 7, 2004
GenreCountry
Length44:42
LabelArista Nashville
ProducerKeith Stegall
Alan Jackson chronology
The Very Best of Alan Jackson
(2004) 		What I Do
(2004) 		Precious Memories
(2006)
Singles from What I Do
  1. "Too Much of a Good Thing"
    Released: June 21, 2004
  2. "Monday Morning Church"
    Released: October 11, 2004
  3. "The Talkin' Song Repair Blues"
    Released: March 21, 2005
  4. "USA Today"
    Released: August 22, 2005

What I Do is the twelfth studio album by American country music artist Alan Jackson. It was released on September 7, 2004, and produced four singles for Jackson on the Hot Country Songs charts: "Too Much of a Good Thing" and "Monday Morning Church" both reached #5, while "The Talkin' Song Repair Blues" and "USA Today" both reached #18, making this album the first of Jackson's career not to produce any #1 hits.

The Wrights, a duo composed of Adam and Shannon Wright (the former of whom is Jackson's nephew) are featured as background vocalists on "If Love Was a River", which they also co-wrote. Adam Wright also wrote the track "Strong Enough".

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic(80/100) [1]
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic [2]
BBC Music(favorable) [3]
Blender [1]
Entertainment WeeklyB+ [4]
Los Angeles Times [1]
The New York Times(favorable) [5]
People [9]
Robert Christgau(choice cut) [6]
Rolling Stone [7]
The Village Voice(positiv) [8]

Giving the album all four stars, People magazine said on the album that Jackson "continues to sound more and more like Merle Haggard, which is tantamount to approaching perfection."[9]

Track listing

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Too Much of a Good Thing"Alan Jackson3:08
2."Rainy Day in June"Jackson4:40
3."USA Today"Jackson3:26
4."If Love Was a River" (background vocals: The Wrights)Adam Wright, Shannon Wright3:54
5."If French Fries Were Fat Free"Jackson4:16
6."You Don't Have to Paint Me a Picture"Jackson3:45
7."There Ya Go"Dan Hill, Keith Stegall3:13
8."The Talkin' Song Repair Blues"Dennis Linde2:58
9."Strong Enough"A. Wright4:04
10."Monday Morning Church" (background vocals: Patty Loveless)Brent Baxter, Erin Enderlin3:23
11."Burnin' the Honky Tonks Down" (background vocals: Richard Sterban of The Oak Ridge Boys)Billy Burnette, Shawn Camp4:53
12."To Do What I Do" (Live)Tim Johnson3:00

Personnel

Chart performance

What I Do debuted at #1 on the U.S. Billboard 200 selling 139,000 copies, becoming his third #1 album, and #1 on the Top Country Albums, becoming his seventh #1 country album. The album was certified Platinum by the RIAA in October 2004.


Weekly charts

Chart (2004) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[10] 7
Canadian Albums (Billboard)[11] 2
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[12] 10
US Billboard 200[13] 1
US Top Country Albums (Billboard)[14] 1

Year-end charts

Chart (2004) Position
US Billboard 200[15] 157
US Top Country Albums (Billboard)[16] 28
Chart (2005) Position
US Top Country Albums (Billboard)[17] 35

Sales and Certifications

Region Provider Certification Sales/Shipments
United States RIAA Platinum[18] 1,000,000+

References

  1. ^ a b c Critic reviews at Metacritic
  2. ^ What I Do at AllMusic
  3. ^ BBC Music review
  4. ^ Marino, Nick (September 17, 2004). "What I Do Review". Entertainment Weekly: 78. Archived from the original on July 8, 2013. Retrieved April 26, 2013.
  5. ^ "Mamas, Trains, Prisons and a Wink (Published 2004)". The New York Times.
  6. ^ Robert Christgau Consumer Guide
  7. ^ "Rolling Stone review". Archived from the original on July 23, 2008. Retrieved February 3, 2008.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  8. ^ The Village Voice review[permanent dead link]
  9. ^ a b Novak, Ralph (September 28, 2004). "Picks and Pans Review: Alan Jackson (What I Do)". People. 62 (12):51. Retrieved April 26, 2013.
  10. ^ "Australiancharts.com – Alan Jackson – What I Do". Hung Medien. Retrieved November 8, 2020.
  11. ^ "Alan Jackson Chart History (Canadian Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved November 8, 2020.
  12. ^ "Norwegiancharts.com – Alan Jackson – What I Do". Hung Medien. Retrieved November 8, 2020.
  13. ^ "Alan Jackson Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved November 8, 2020.
  14. ^ "Alan Jackson Chart History (Top Country Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved November 8, 2020.
  15. ^ "Top Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 2004". Billboard. Retrieved November 8, 2020.
  16. ^ "Top Country Albums – Year-End 2004". Billboard. Retrieved November 8, 2020.
  17. ^ "Top Country Albums – Year-End 2005". Billboard. Retrieved November 8, 2020.
  18. ^ "Gold & Platinum - February 16, 2010". RIAA. Retrieved February 16, 2010.