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
Producers
Pinmonkey chronology
Speak No Evil
(2002)		 Pinmonkey
(2002)		 Big Shiny Cars
(2006)

Pinmonkey is the second studio album by American country music band Pinmonkey. It was issued in late 2002 on BNA Records. The album contains two singles: "Barbed Wire and Roses" and a cover of Cyndi Lauper's "I Drove All Night", both of which charted on Billboard Hot Country Songs. It was co-produced by Paul Worley and Mike Poole. The album received favorable critical reception for the band's musicianship.

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.

Pinmonkey contains two singles. First was "Barbed Wire and Roses", which peaked at number 25 on Billboard Hot Country Songs in 2002. The second single was a cover of Cyndi Lauper's "I Drove All Night", which the band took to number 36 on the same chart. 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. 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 he heard Chad sing it. Joe Galante, then the president of their label, gave Parton a call and she came to the studio to provide Background vocals for the song. Additional songs on the album include Sugar Ray's "Fly", Gwil Owen's "Augusta", and the Staples Singers's "Stay with Us", as well as two songs, "Jar Of Clay" and "The Longest Road", written by Michael Reynolds.

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". 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. AllMusic writer Erik Hage praised the "tight musicianship" and Reynolds's lead vocals, giving the album four out of five stars.

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"Charles Frazier, Alan Shacklock, Mark McGrath, Matthew Karges, Rodney Sheppard, Joseph Nichol3:20
6."Falling Down"Jeff Skorik3:38
7."The Longest Road"Michael 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


Additional musicians

Technical

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. 1 2 "Pinmonkey Makes Rock-Meets-Bluegrass 'Ear Candy'". Billboard. October 10, 2002. Retrieved October 29, 2024.
  5. 1 2 3 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. p. 19.
  7. ↑ Erik Hage. "Pinmonkey review". AllMusic. Retrieved October 29, 2024.