What I Do

What I Do
Studio album by Alan Jackson
Released	September 7, 2004
Genre	Country
Length	44:43
Label	Arista Nashville
Producer	Keith Stegall
Alan Jackson chronology
The Very Best of Alan Jackson (2004) What I Do (2004) Precious Memories (2006)
Singles from What I Do
"Too Much of a Good Thing" Released: June 21, 2004 "Monday Morning Church" Released: October 11, 2004 "The Talkin' Song Repair Blues" Released: March 21, 2005 "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.

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
Source	Rating
Metacritic	(80/100) [1]
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[2]
BBC Music	(favorable) [3]
Blender	[1]
Entertainment Weekly	B+ [4]
Los Angeles Times	[1]
The New York Times	(favorable) [5]
People	[6]
Robert Christgau	[7]
Rolling Stone	[8]
The Village Voice	(positiv) [9]

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."^[6]

Track listing

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

Personnel

• Monty Allen – background vocals
• Eddie Bayers – drums
• Stuart Duncan – fiddle, mandolin
• Mark Fain – bass guitar
• Robbie Flint – steel guitar
• Paul Franklin – steel guitar, lap steel guitar
• Dave Gaylord – fiddle
• Lloyd Green – steel guitar
• Danny Groah – electric guitar
• Alan Jackson – acoustic guitar, lead vocals, background vocals
• Kirk "Jelly Roll" Johnson – harmonica
• Dave Kelley – mandolin
• Patty Loveless – background vocals on "Monday Morning Church"
• Brent Mason – electric guitar, six-string bass guitar
• Monty Parkey – piano
• Hargus "Pig" Robbins – piano
• Matt Rollings – piano
• Bruce Rutherford – drums
• Tom Rutledge – acoustic guitar
• John Wesley Ryles – background vocals
• Tony Stephens – acoustic guitar
• Richard Sterban – background vocals on "Burnin' the Honky Tonks Down"
• Bruce Watkins – acoustic guitar, banjo
• Roger Wills – bass guitar
• Glenn Worf – bass guitar
• Adam Wright – background vocals on "If Love Was a River"
• Shannon Wright – background vocals on "If Love Was a River"

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.

Charts Charts (2004) Peak position Australia Albums Chart[10] 39 Canadian Albums Chart 2 Norwegian Albums Chart[10] 10 U.S. Billboard 200[11] 1 U.S. Billboard Top Country Albums[11] 1 Singles Year Title Chart Positions US Country US 2004 "Too Much of a Good Thing" 5 46 "Monday Morning Church" 5 54 2005 "The Talkin' Song Repair Blues" 18 99 "USA Today" 18 107

Sales and Certifications Region Provider Certification Sales/Shipments United States RIAA Platinum[12] 1,000,000+

References

1. Critic reviews at Metacritic
2. What I Do at AllMusic
3. BBC Music review
4. Marino, Nick (2004-09-17). "What I Do Review". Entertainment Weekly: 78. Retrieved 2013-04-26.
5. The New York Times review
6. Novak, Ralph (2004-09-20). "Picks and Pans Review: Alan Jackson (What I Do)". People. 62 (12):51. Retrieved 2013-04-26.
7. Robert Christgau Consumer Guide
8. Rolling Stone review at the Wayback Machine (archived July 23, 2008)
9. The Village Voice review
10. http://www.swisscharts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=Alan+Jackson&titel=What+I+Do&cat=a
11. "What I Do - Alan Jackson". Billboard.com. 2004-09-25. Retrieved 2012-03-14.
12. "Gold & Platinum - February 16, 2010". RIAA. Retrieved 2010-02-16.

External links

• What I Do at Metacritic