Live Like You Were Dying
2004 studio album by Tim McGraw
Live Like You Were Dying is the eighth studio album by American country music artist Tim McGraw . It was released on August 24, 2004 by Curb Records . It was recorded in a mountaintop studio in upstate New York . It entered the Billboard 200 chart at number one, with sales of 766,000 copies in its first week.[ 9] The album was certified 4x Platinum by the RIAA for shipping four million copies,[ 10] and was nominated for Best Country Album at the 47th Annual Grammy Awards . That same year at the Grammys, the title track from Live Like You Were Dying was nominated for Song of the Year and won in the categories Best Country Song and Best Male Country Vocal Performance . Five singles were released from the album, all were top 15 hits on the Hot Country Songs chart, two of which hit #1.
Content
The title track was the first single from the album. The song peaked at number 1 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart, held it for seven weeks, and peaked at number 29 on the Billboard Hot 100 .[ 11] The song won a Grammy Award for Best Male Country Vocal Performance . The music video for the title track prominently featured McGraw's father, former baseball player Tug McGraw , who had died of brain cancer. This song was also the number one country song of 2004 according to Billboard Year-End .
The next single from this album is "Back When ", which also reached #1 on Billboard Hot Country Songs chart. The third single, "Drugs or Jesus " peaked at #14, making it the first McGraw single since 1993 not to reach the country Top 10 (not counting "Tiny Dancer "). "Do You Want Fries with That " was the fourth single and peaked at #5, and the fifth and final single, "My Old Friend ", peaked at #6.
"How Bad Do You Want It" was featured as the theme song to CMT's Trick My Truck . "Can't Tell Me Nothin'" was previously recorded by Travis Tritt on his 2002 album Strong Enough .
Track listing
Personnel
Tim McGraw & The Dance Hall Doctors
Tim McGraw – lead vocals
Jeff McMahon – acoustic piano, Rhodes , Wurlitzer electric piano , Hammond B3 organ , synthesizers
Denny Hemingson – electric guitar, steel guitar , baritone guitar , slide guitar , dobro , Melobar guitar
Bob Minner – acoustic guitar, banjo , mandolin (2, 12)
Darran Smith – electric guitar, acoustic guitar (12)
Deano Brown – fiddle , mandolin
John Marcus – bass
Billy Mason – drums
David Dunkley – percussion
Background vocals
Russell Terrell (1, 3, 4, 8, 14)
Steve McEwan (2)
Greg Barnhill (4-7, 11, 16)
Kim Carnes (4, 6)
Bob Bailey (6)
Kim Fleming (6)
Vicki Hampton (6)
Rodney Crowell (9)
Wes Hightower (10, 15, 16)
Faith Hill (12)
Brett Warren (12)
Gene Miller (13, 16)
Chris Rodriguez (13)
Strings on tracks 5, 6, 11 & 15
David Campbell – string arrangements
Suzie Katayama – string contractor
Larry Corbett and Suzie Katayama – cello
Bob Becker and Evan Wilson – viola
Charlie Bisharat , Darius Campo, Susan Chatman, Mario DeLeon, Berj Garabedian, Armen Garabedian, Natalie Leggett and Sara Parkins – violin
Production
Byron Gallimore – producer, mixing
Tim McGraw – producer, mixing
Darran Smith – producer
Missi Gallimore – A&R direction
Julian King – tracking engineer (1, 3-13, 15)
David Bryant – second tracking engineer (1, 3-13, 15)
Steve Churchyard – string engineer (5, 6, 11, 15)
Greg Lawrence – additional engineer (5, 6, 11, 15), second string engineer (5, 6, 11, 15)
Jesse Chrisman – assistant engineer
Ricky Cobble – assistant engineer (1, 3-13, 15)
Matt Cullen – assistant engineer
Jason Gantt – assistant engineer, Pro Tools engineer
Erik Lutkins – assistant engineer, Pro Tools engineer
Sara Lesher – assistant engineer
Harry McCarthy – technician assistant
John Prestia – technician assistant
Mike Rector – technician assistant
Hank Williams – mastering
Ann Callis – production assistant
Kelly Clauge Wright – creative director
Glenn Sweitzer – art direction, design
Mark Seliger – cover photography
Tony Duran – back photography
Studios
Tracks 1, 3-13 & 15 recorded at Allaire Studios (Shokan, New York).
Tracks 2, 4, 14 & 16 recorded at Blackbird Studio (Nashville, Tennessee).
Strings recorded at Record One Studio B (Sherman Oaks, California).
Mixed at Essential Sound (Houston, Texas) and Emerald Sound Studio (Nashville, Tennessee).
Mastered at MasterMix (Nashville, Tennessee).
Chart positions
Live Like You Were Dying debuted on the US Billboard 200 chart at number one, his third number-one album, and on the Top Country Albums at number one, making it his seventh number one on that chart.
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Sales and certifications
References
^ a b c "Critic Reviews for Live Like You Were Dying" . Metacritic . Retrieved May 3, 2013 .
^ Rondinella, Penny. "Tim McGraw - 'Live Like You Were Dying' " . About.com . Archived from the original on April 26, 2006. Retrieved May 3, 2013 .
^ Jurek, Thom (August 24, 2004). "Live Like You Were Dying - Tim McGraw" . Allmusic . Retrieved August 20, 2012 .
^ "Live Like You Were Dying" . Billboard . September 4, 2004. Archived from the original on August 28, 2004. Retrieved May 3, 2013 .
^ Rimmer, Mike (March 1, 2005). "Review: Live Like You Were Dying" . Cross Rhythms . Retrieved May 3, 2013 .
^ Chris Willman (September 3, 2004). "Live Like You Were Dying Review" . Entertainment Weekly . Archived from the original on June 6, 2011. Retrieved February 28, 2012 .
^ Sanneh, Kelefa (September 20, 2004). "CRITIC'S CHOICE/New CD's - Mamas, Trains, Prisons and a Wink" . The New York Times . Retrieved February 28, 2012 .
^ Mansfield, Brian (August 23, 2004). "Tim McGraw, Live Like You Were Dying " . USA Today . Retrieved May 30, 2013 .
^ "Tim McGraw Music News & Info" . Billboard.com . Retrieved 2012-02-28 .
^ "Recording Industry Association of America" . RIAA. Archived from the original on June 26, 2007. Retrieved February 28, 2012 .
^ "Tim McGraw Music News & Info" . Billboard.com . Retrieved 2012-02-28 .
^ "Australiancharts.com – Tim McGraw – Live Like You Were Dying" . Hung Medien. Retrieved November 11, 2020.
^ "Tim McGraw Chart History (Canadian Albums)" . Billboard . Retrieved November 11, 2020.
^ "Tim McGraw Chart History (Billboard 200)" . Billboard . Retrieved November 11, 2020.
^ "Tim McGraw Chart History (Top Country Albums)" . Billboard . Retrieved November 11, 2020.
^ "Top Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 2004" . Billboard . Retrieved November 11, 2020 .
^ "Top Country Albums – Year-End 2004" . Billboard . Retrieved November 11, 2020 .
^ "Top 50 Global Best Selling Albums for 2004" (PDF) . International Federation of the Phonographic Industry . Archived from the original (PDF) on November 17, 2008. Retrieved February 2, 2023 .
^ "Top Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 2005" . Billboard . Retrieved November 11, 2020 .
^ "Top Country Albums – Year-End 2005" . Billboard . Retrieved November 11, 2020 .
^ "Top Country Albums – Year-End 2006" . Billboard . Retrieved November 11, 2020 .
^ "Canadian album certifications – Tim McGraw – Live Like You Were Dying" . Music Canada . Retrieved February 8, 2023 .
^ "American album certifications – Tim McGraw – Live Like You Were Dying" . Recording Industry Association of America . Retrieved February 8, 2023 .
External links
Studio albums Compilations Tours Related articles