Montgomery Gentry’s Something To Be Proud Of: The Best of 1999-2005, released November 1, 2005, collects the hits that have built one of country music’s present-day most storied careers, a career that continues to grow at breathtaking speed.
“It feels like we just put out ‘Hillbilly Shoes,'” says Eddie Montgomery. “I can’t believe we’ve got a Greatest Hits album out. It absolutely blows my mind, and in a sense it feels like we’re just now getting started.” Montgomery Gentry have released two gold and two platinum albums, performed live for millions of people, and have earned fan acclaim and critical respect on par with their heroes in country’s fabled Outlaw movement.
Since the release of “Hillbilly Shoes” in 1999, they”ve had 8 Top 5 singles, including their fastest-riser, “If You Ever Stop Loving Me,” which hit #1 on both the Billboard and R&R charts, while their current single, “Something To Be Proud Of,” just went #1 on both charts.
Eddie Montgomery and Troy Gentry were named CMA’s Duo of the Year in 2000, received that year’s American Music Award for Favorite New Artist–Country, the Academy of Country Music Award for Top New Vocal Group or Duo and the 2000 and 2001 Radio & Records Readers’ Poll award for Top Country Duo.
With an extensive touring history, Montgomery Gentry joined the Brooks & Dunn Neon Circus & Wild West Show in 2001 and Kenny Chesney’s “No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems” tours in 2002 and 2003, before assuming their own headline status.
Something To Be Proud of: Best of 1999-2005 cut-by-cut:
1. SHE DIDN’T TELL ME TO
Troy: “Rivers Rutherford played the first verse and chorus on guitar, which was all he had, and Eddie and I flipped over it. We said, “Dude, you’ve gotta finish this song!” For me, having screwed up so many times in relationships, this was a song about a hero, a guy who steps up to the plate and does the right things without being told to; an inspirational song for me.”
Eddie: “There’s not a good man without a great woman beside him, and my wife has always backed me 100 percent. She never told me to quit believing in my dreams. This song really hit home when I heard it.”
2. SOMETHING TO BE PROUD OF
Eddie: “We were talking with Jeffrey Steele about our heroes, recalling stories from our dads about America and what a great country it is. Jeffrey said, “That’s something to be proud of–there’s your song right there!” He wrote this with Chris Wallin and we knew we had one. When we play this song live, the crowd goes ballistic. When you start to sing a song before it’s even a single and you’ve got thousands of people singing along, you think, “This could be a monster.”
Troy: “At the end of the day, whether you’re digging ditches, pouring concrete or work as a doctor or lawyer, if you do it with all you’ve got, you’ve earned the right to sleep peacefully at night, and that’s something to be proud of.”
3. GONE
Troy: “When we heard that chorus–“Gone like a freight train, gone like yesterday”–it was just so catchy we knew it was a hit right off the bat. We started doing this one when the album first came out and before it had ever been considered for a single. We played it on the first night of tour and by the second chorus the fans were singing it back to us. Eddie and I just looked at each other in amazement, thinking, “Wow! This is gonna be huge.”
4. IF YOU EVER STOP LOVING ME
Eddie: “We had never done lovey-dovey songs, but this one was dedicated to our wives, letting them know that we wouldn’t be where we are right now if they had ever stopped loving us. They’ve always been good at keeping us grounded. And I think T-Roy’s performance on this was absolutely unbelievable.”
5. HELL YEAH
Troy: “This is one of our American blue-collar worker songs, but it’s something we dedicate to everybody. There’s so much stress in society these days and people need to blow off steam. When you’re busting your butt all week long, you want to be able to let it all go and have a good time on the weekend, say, “Hell, yeah, we’re going to enjoy ourselves.”
6. MY TOWN
Troy: “We wanted to do a song paying tribute to our home town because of all the support we get from our families, friends and fans around that area. A song couldn’t get much more perfect than this.”
Eddie: “I just got a phone call saying that there was a convoy of National Guardsmen and volunteers going into New Orleans after the flooding with “My Town” playing as loud as they could play it. Whether you’re from New Orleans, Lexington, Los Angeles or New York, where you’re from is your town, and it’s great to be a part of a song that celebrates it as well as this one does.”
7. SPEED
Troy: “This is another Jeffrey Steele song, and it’s one that Eddie immediately latched onto. I remember Jeffrey played three songs for us & Eddie heard “Speed” and, growing up around cars, just loved it. When Eddie gets up there, he lets go of the chorus, while the crowd sings it word for word.”
Eddie: “It’s so different because it’s not really country and not really rock, but it’s one of those songs that just pulls you in. It’s got an eerie feeling that sucks you in like a haunted house in the movies, where you’re thinking, “Don’t go behind that door,” but when it gets to the chorus it just blows you away.”
8. DIDN’T I
Troy: “We were approached to be part of a soundtrack for the Mel Gibson movie “We Were Soldiers,” which made perfect sense since we”re big supporters of our troops, especially of Vietnam Vets, a lot of whom we’ve made friends with over the course of our career. The Vietnam soldiers were the ones that went over to do a job our government asked them to do and returned to unfair treatment. We just thought this song said everything the Vietnam soldiers were saying that wasn’t being heard.”
Eddie: “Just watching that movie, seeing what our heroes went through in Vietnam, was unbelievable. This is one song I have a hard time singing on stage without getting broken up because it’s a very emotional song. Growing up, I’d go in the VFW clubs with my parents and remember seeing everybody coming back from ‘ Nam and listening to their stories and not knowing what they meant at the time. I guess that’s why I’ve always supported our American heroes.”
9. SHE COULDN’T CHANGE ME
Eddie: “I can put it in a nutshell: This is my wife’s favorite song. I’m my father’s son and I’m never going to change. I was taught to live life because life is very very short–you might not be here tomorrow–and I have lived. When I get done with life I’m not going to say, “I wish I’d have tried this or done that.” In fact, I might say, “I sure wish I wouldn’t have tried that one!”
10. DADDY WON’T SELL THE FARM
Eddie: “All my forefathers were farmers. I was raised on a farm and actually still live on one. When I was a kid growing up, I was out there bailing hay and cutting and hanging tobacco. That’s some of the hardest work for the lowest pay in the world, and the farmer is pretty much the only one that still buys retail and sells wholesale. I tell you, we don’t thank them enough.”
Troy: “You can
take this as a farming deal, or apply it to any kind of situation where the bottom line is that people aren’t selling out what they believe in. It’s about hanging in there and sticking with it if you believe in yourself and what you do.”
11. LONELY AND GONE
Eddie: “We’re gonna sing about the good, the bad, the ugly, and the party on the weekend, and “Lonely and Gone” is one of those real, true-life story songs. We’ve always believed that as long as you’re singing about what people are living and it’s real, then people are going to get it. It’s going to come out saying “I’ve lived this life,” and that’s what we always want to stand for.”
12. HILLBILLY SHOES
Troy: “The song that kicked off everything for Montgomery Gentry…it opened a lot of eyes at radio that Montgomery Gentry were in town and here to stay.”
Eddie: “A lot of people in Nashville had seen us perform, but they weren’t pitching to who we were. We heard this and said, “That’s exactly the music we’re wanting to cut.” It’s real, it’s up, and it’s in your face. It set the tone for everything that came afterward.”
13. MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM THE FAMILY
Troy: “Coming out of the box, Eddie & I were bad-asses and hell-raisers and definitely not the “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” type. But this song was one of those fun, partying songs that talked about the bad in-laws and the aunt that’s a chain-smoker. It seemed to fit the Montgomery Gentry image & really, fits a lot of American families.”
Eddie: “I love this song because it represents everybody’s family. I don’t know any family that isn’t just a little bit messed up.”
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