What I Do

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. What I Do, however, was the first album of his career not to produce any #1 hits.

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

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	3:08
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.

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 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

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. 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. Retrieved April 26, 2013.
5. The New York Times review
6. Novak, Ralph (September 28, 2004). "Picks and Pans Review: Alan Jackson (What I Do)". People. 62 (12):51. Retrieved April 26, 2013.
7. Robert Christgau Consumer Guide
8. "Rolling Stone review". Archived from the original on July 23, 2008. Retrieved February 3, 2008.CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
9. The Village Voice review
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.

External links

• What I Do at Metacritic