Pinmonkey (album)

Pinmonkey
A monochromatic photo of the four members of Pinmonkey standing in front of a house, with the word "Pinmonkey" in stylized letters at the top. The entire image has a yellow-orange tint.
Studio album by
Pinmonkey
ReleasedOctober 8, 2002 (2002-10-08)
GenreCountry
LabelBNA
Producer
Pinmonkey chronology
Speak No Evil
(2002) 		Pinmonkey
(2002) 		Big Shiny Cars
(2006)

Pinmonkey is a studio album by American country music group Pinmonkey. It was issued in late 2002 on BNA Records. The album peaked at number 17 on the Top Country Albums chart and produced two top 40 country singles: "Barbed Wire and Roses" and "I Drove All Night". It is also their only major-label release.

History

Before signing with BNA Records in 2002, Pinmonkey self-released an album titled Speak No Evil. Record executive Joe Galante allowed the band to release this project while signing to BNA Records, as he thought doing so would allow them to have a project to promote while on tour.[1]

Pinmonkey contains two singles. First was "Barbed Wire and Roses", which peaked at number 25 on Billboard Hot Country Songs in 2002. The only other single was a cover of Cyndi Lauper's "I Drove All Night", which the band took to number 36 on the same chart.[2] According to an interview with Country Standard Time, the decision to cover "I Drove All Night" was recommended by group member Chad Jeffers's girlfriend, who was a fan of Lauper's music. The band intentionally based their cover off an acoustic rendition sung by Jeffers, so as not to let Lauper's original version influence their own. Additionally, lead singer Michael Reynolds sought out a cover of Dolly Parton's "Falling Out of Love with Me" because he wanted to include a Parton cover on the album; however, he did not think the song was suitable for Pinmonkey until Chad began singing it in conversation.[3] The Parton cover also includes her on backing vocals.[4][5] Additional cover songs on the album include Sugar Ray's "Fly", Gwilym Emyr Owen III's "Augusta", and the Staples Singers's "Stay with Us".[4][5]

Critical reception

Deborah Evans Price of Billboard found influences of bluegrass, swamp rock, and country rock in their sound. She also praised Michael Reynolds's lead vocals as "a clear, high tenor adept at up-tempos and stunning on...ballads".[6] Jack Leaver of The Grand Rapids Press rated the album three-and-a-half stars out of four, praising the cover songs in particular, as well as the use of Dobro and vocal harmony.[5] AllMusic writer Erik Hage praised the "tight musicianship" and Reynolds's lead vocals, giving the album four out of five stars.[7]

Track listing

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Slow Train' Comin'"Ashley Gorley, Melissa Peirce, Bryan Simpson3:49
2."Jar of Clay"Michael Reynolds2:50
3."Every Time It Rains"Leslie Satcher, Bobby Carmichael3:50
4."Augusta"Gwil Owen4:54
5."Fly"Sugar Ray3:20
6."Falling Down"Jeff Skorik3:38
7."The Longest Road"Reynolds4:12
8."Falling Out of Love with Me"Dolly Parton3:44
9."Barbed Wire and Roses"Tia Sillers, Mark Selby, Sean Locke3:15
10."I Drove All Night"Tom Kelly, Billy Steinberg3:29
11."Stay with Us"Mavis Staples3:20

Personnel

Pinmonkey

  • Chad Jeffers – Dobro, lap steel guitar, banjo, acoustic guitar, background vocals
  • Michael Jeffers – bass guitar
  • Michael Reynolds – lead vocals, acoustic guitar
  • Rick Schell – drums, percussion, acoustic guitar, background vocals

Additional musicians

Technical

  • Carlos Grier - digital editing
  • Erik Hellerman - recording
  • Andrew Mendelson - digital editing
  • Mike Poole - production, recording, mixing
  • Denny Purcell - mastering
  • Clarke Schleicher - recording
  • Paul Worley - production

Chart performance

Chart (2002) Peak
position
U.S. Billboard 200 126
U.S. Billboard Top Country Albums 17
U.S. Billboard Top Heatseekers 3

References

  1. ^ Fred Phillips (November 8, 2002). "Pinmonkey bowls 'em over". The News-Star. p. 1. Retrieved October 29, 2024.
  2. ^ Whitburn, Joel (2017). Hot Country Songs 1944 to 2017. Record Research, Inc. p. 282. ISBN 978-0-89820-229-8.
  3. ^ Jeffrey B. Remz. "Pinmonkey drives on". Country Standard Time. Retrieved October 29, 2024.
  4. ^ a b "Pinmonkey Makes Rock-Meets-Bluegrass 'Ear Candy'". Billboard. October 10, 2002. Retrieved October 29, 2024.
  5. ^ a b c Jack Leaver (October 9, 2002). "Maturing Urban paves 'Golden Road'; India.Arie cuts voyage short". The Grand Rapids Press. pp. B7. Retrieved October 29, 2024.
  6. ^ Deborah Evans Price (October 26, 2002). "Reviews". Billboard: 19.
  7. ^ Erik Hage. "Pinmonkey review". AllMusic. Retrieved October 29, 2024.