Just Who I Am: Poets & Pirates

Last updated
Just Who I Am: Poets & Pirates
Poetsandpirates.jpg
Studio album by
ReleasedSeptember 11, 2007 (2007-09-11)
Recorded2007
Genre Country
Length48:43
Label BNA
Producer Buddy Cannon and Kenny Chesney (all tracks)
Joe Walsh ("Wild Ride" only)
Kenny Chesney chronology
Live: Live Those Songs Again
(2006)
Just Who I Am: Poets & Pirates
(2007)
Super Hits
(2007)
Singles from Just Who I Am: Poets & Pirates
  1. "Never Wanted Nothing More"
    Released: June 12, 2007
  2. "Don't Blink"
    Released: September 10, 2007
  3. "Shiftwork"
    Released: December 10, 2007
  4. "Better as a Memory"
    Released: March 31, 2008
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic (70/100) [1]
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [2]
The A.V. Club B− [3]
Billboard (favorable) [4]
Blender Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [1]
The Boston Globe (favorable) [5]
Entertainment Weekly B [6]
Los Angeles Times Star full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svg [1] [7]
The New York Times (favorable) [8]
PopMatters Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [9]
Rolling Stone Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [10]

Just Who I Am: Poets & Pirates is the eleventh studio album by American country music artist Kenny Chesney. It was released on September 11, 2007 via BNA Records. The album was leaked on the Internet on September 5, 2007. It produced four singles on the US Billboard Hot Country Songs chart between 2007 and 2008, three of which reached number one. The album also includes duets with George Strait and Joe Walsh. This is Chesney’s second album where he was not a writer or co-writer on any of the tracks, the first being 1996's Me and You .

Contents

Content

The album's first two singles are "Never Wanted Nothing More" and "Don't Blink", which were officially released to country radio in June and September 2007. Both singles reached number one the Hot Country Songs charts in late 2007, as did "Better as a Memory" (the fourth and final single) in June 2008. "Shiftwork" is a duet with George Strait. It was released as the album's third single in December 2007. It peaked at number 2 in early 2008. The song "Wild Ride", a duet with Joe Walsh, was originally recorded by Dwight Yoakam on his 1993 album This Time .

Critical reception

The album represented a move by Chesney to a more Gulf and Western sound with a number of "breezy, steel-drum island songs." [2]

Commercial performance

Just Who I Am: Poets & Pirates debuted at number three on the US Billboard 200 chart, selling 387,000 copies in first week. [11] The album had the best weekly sales of any country album since the Dixie Chicks' Taking the Long Way in May 2006 [12] As of August 2008, the album has sold 1.4 million copies in the United States. [13] On December 10, 2007, the album was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for sales of over a million copies in the United States. [14]

Track listing

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Never Wanted Nothing More"3:29
2."Don't Blink"
4:46
3."Shiftwork" (duet with George Strait)Troy Jones4:29
4."Just Not Today" David Lee Murphy 4:05
5."Wife and Kids"4:23
6."Got a Little Crazy"
  • Wallin
  • Craig Monday
4:03
7."Better as a Memory"
  • Scooter Carusoe
  • Lady Goodman
4:12
8."Dancin' for the Groceries"5:11
9."Wild Ride" (featuring Joe Walsh) Dwight Yoakam 4:20
10."Scare Me"4:14
11."Demons"5:31
Total length:48:43

Personnel

As listed in liner notes. [15]

Charts

Certifications

RegionCertification Certified units/sales
United States (RIAA) [29] 2× Platinum2,000,000

Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

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References

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