These Days
Studio album by
Vince Gill
ReleasedOctober 17, 2006
RecordedSeptember 2005-2006
GenreCountry
Length2:44:37
LabelMCA Nashville
ProducerVince Gill
John Hobbs
Justin Niebank
Vince Gill chronology
Next Big Thing
(2003) 		These Days
(2006) 		Icon
(2010)
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic82/100[1]
Review scores
SourceRating
About.com[2]
AllMusic[3]
The Austin Chronicle[4]
Billboard(favorable)[5]
Entertainment WeeklyA−[6]
Hartford Courant(favorable)[7]
The New York Times(positive)[8]
PopMatters[9]

These Days is the eleventh studio album and the first box set by American country music artist Vince Gill. Consisting of 43 original songs spanning four discs, the album displays the range of Gill’s lyrical and musical styles, ranging from traditional country and bluegrass to jazz and rock. The album was nominated for two Grammy Awards including Album of the Year and won Best Country Album. In 2012, the album was number 10 on People Magazine's "Top 10 Best Albums of the Century (So Far)".[10] It is also ranked #9 on Country Universe's "The 100 Greatest Albums of the Decade."[11]

History

To accompany him on this undertaking, Gill turned both to artists he knew and had worked with before and to those whose music he admired from a distance. "I never try to fill up my records with famous people," Gill says. "I try to fill them up with the most talented people I can find on the face of the earth." By the time the project was completed, that group included Sheryl Crow, Bonnie Raitt, Diana Krall, Rodney Crowell, Patty Loveless, Phil Everly, the Del McCoury Band, Alison Krauss, Emmylou Harris, John Anderson, Lee Ann Womack, Jenny Gill, Amy Grant, LeAnn Rimes, Gretchen Wilson, Guy Clark, Trisha Yearwood, Bekka Bramlett, Michael McDonald, steel-guitarist Buddy Emmons and many other musical standouts.

Initially, Gill planned to pare down the songs to a single album. Then, in one of the studios he used, he spotted some Beatles memorabilia and recalled that the Fab Four had routinely released multiple albums within the same year.

The album debuted on the U.S. Billboard 200 at number 17, with 42,000 copies sold in its first week.[12] This was also the album's peak position on the chart.[13]

Singles

Three singles were released from this album, of which two were duets. The first single, "The Reason Why" (featuring Alison Krauss) reached #28 on the Hot Country Songs charts; following it was "What You Give Away", which featured Sheryl Crow and peaked at #43. The third single, "How Lonely Looks", failed to chart.

Track listing

Workin' on a Big Chill

"The Rockin' Record"

  1. "Workin’ on a Big Chill" (Gill, Al Anderson, Leslie Satcher) - 4:03
  2. "Love’s Standin’" (Gill, Joe Henry, John Hobbs) - 4:05
  3. "Cowboy Up" (featuring Gretchen Wilson) (Gill, Pete Wasner) - 4:00
  4. "Sweet Thing" (Gill, Gary Nicholson) - 3:20
  5. "Bet It All on You" (Gill, Anderson) - 4:26
  6. "Nothin’ for a Broken Heart" (Duet w/Rodney Crowell) (Gill, Anderson) - 3:03
  7. "Son of a Ramblin’ Man" (featuring Del McCoury Band) (Gill, Anderson) - 2:45
  8. "Smilin’ Song" (featuring Michael McDonald) (Gill) - 2:59
  9. "The Rhythm of the Pourin’ Rain" (featuring Bekka Bramlett) (Gill, Wasner) - 3:26
  10. "Nothin’ Left to Say" (Gill, Billy Thomas) - 3:56

The Reason Why

"The Groovy Record"

  1. "What You Don't Say" (with LeAnn Rimes) (Gill, Hobbs, Reed Nielsen) - 5:03
  2. "The Reason Why" (with Alison Krauss) (Gill, Nicholson) - 2:50
  3. "The Rock of Your Love" (with Bonnie Raitt) (Gill, Anderson, Satcher) - 3:51
  4. "What You Give Away" (with Sheryl Crow) (Gill, Anderson) - 4:52
  5. "Faint of Heart" (with Diana Krall) (Gill, Anderson) - 4:30
  6. "Time to Carry On" (with Jenny Gill) (Gill, Wasner) - 4:09
  7. "No Easy Way" (Gill, Nielsen) - 3:40
  8. "This Memory of You" (with Trisha Yearwood) (Gill, Anderson, Hobbs) - 3:43
  9. "How Lonely Looks" (Gill, Beverly W. Darnell) - 5:10
  10. "Tell Me One More Time About Jesus" (with Amy Grant) (Gill, Grant) - 4:02
  11. "Everything and Nothing" (with Katrina Elam) (Gill, Darnell, Kyle D. Matthews) - 4:02
  12. "Which Way Will You Go" (Gill, Hobbs, Nielsen) - 4:11
  13. "These Days" (Gill) - 3:55

Some Things Never Get Old

"The Country and Western Record"

  1. "This New Heartache" (Gill) - 3:31
  2. "The Only Love" (Gill, Nielsen) - 3:53
  3. "Out of My Mind" (featuring Patty Loveless) (Gill, Anderson, Satcher) - 3:18
  4. "The Sight of Me Without You" (Gill, Anderson, Hobbs) - 4:07
  5. "I Can’t Let Go" (featuring Alison Krauss & Dan Tyminski) (Gill) - 3:28
  6. "Don’t Pretend with Me" (Gill, Anderson, Satcher) - 2:32
  7. "Some Things Never Get Old" (featuring Emmylou Harris) (Gill, Anderson, Tia Sillers) - 4:11
  8. "Sweet Little Corrina" (featuring Phil Everly) (Gill, Anderson) - 2:52
  9. "If I Can Make Mississippi" (featuring Lee Ann Womack) (Gill) - 3:44
  10. "Take This Country Back" (Duet w/John Anderson) (Gill) - 3:37

Little Brother

"The Acoustic Record"

  1. "All Prayed Up" (Gill) - 2:16
  2. "Cold Gray Light of Gone" (featuring The Del McCoury Band) (Gill, Bill Anderson, Otto Kitsinger) - 4:03
  3. "A River Like You" (featuring Jenny Gill) (Gill, Randy Albright, Mark D. Sanders) - 4:50
  4. "Ace Up Your Pretty Sleeve" (Gill, Mark Germino) - 3:33
  5. "Molly Brown" (Gill, Jim Waggoner) - 4:19
  6. "Girl" (Guest Vocalist: Rebecca Lynn Howard) (Gill) - 4:30
  7. "Give Me the Highway" (featuring The Del McCoury Band) (Gill) - 3:14
  8. "Sweet Augusta Darlin’" (Gill) - 3:12
  9. "Little Brother" (Gill) - 4:46
  10. "Almost Home" (Duet w/Guy Clark) (Gill) - 5:19

Personnel

Chart performance

Certifications

Region Certification Certified units/sales
United States (RIAA)[17] Platinum 1,000,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

  1. ^ "Critic Reviews for These Days". Metacritic. Retrieved November 29, 2013.
  2. ^ Bauman, Sue. "Vince Gill - These Days". About.com. Retrieved November 29, 2013.
  3. ^ Jurek, Thom. "These Days - Vince Gill". AllMusic. Retrieved August 23, 2019.
  4. ^ Jordan, Scott (December 8, 2006). "Vince Gill: These Days (MCA)". The Austin Chronicle. Retrieved November 29, 2013.
  5. ^ Tunzi, Kristina. "These Days". Billboard. Archived from the original on December 9, 2007. Retrieved November 29, 2013.
  6. ^ Willman, Chris (October 20, 2006). "These Days Review". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved November 29, 2013.
  7. ^ Kintner, Thomas (October 17, 2006). "Vince Gill Shows His Audacious Side". Hartford Courant. Retrieved November 29, 2013.
  8. ^ Friskics-Warren, Bill (October 15, 2006). "Just a Balladeer? A 43-Track Manifesto Testifies Otherwise". The New York Times. Retrieved November 29, 2013.
  9. ^ MacIntosh, Dan (December 17, 2006). "Vince Gill: These Days". PopMatters. Retrieved November 29, 2013.
  10. ^ Thompson, Gayle. "People's Top 10 Albums of the Century Includes Vince Gill CD". The Boot. March 6, 2012. Retrieved March 7, 2012.
  11. ^ "The 100 Greatest Albums of the Decade, Conclusion: #10-#1 – Country Universe". Retrieved 2016-08-11.
  12. ^ Katie Hasty, "Diddy Scores First No. 1 Album In Nine Years", Billboard.com, October 25, 2006.
  13. ^ Artist chart history for Vince Gill (albums), Billboard.com.
  14. ^ "Vince Gill, TLP". Billboard. Retrieved November 25, 2020.
  15. ^ "Vince Gill, CLP". Billboard. Retrieved November 25, 2020.
  16. ^ "Top Country Albums – Year-End 2007". Billboard. Retrieved November 25, 2020.
  17. ^ "American album certifications – Vince Gill – These Days". Recording Industry Association of America.

External links

Vince Gill
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