My Kind of Livin
Craig Morgan was seen as just another also-ran with his eponymous first album in 2000, even as there was much about his debut that promised more. Then, when no one was looking, his second album,I Love It, yielded "Almost Home," which garnered a buzz in even the most jaded Nashville circles. Now comes CD number three. An album track, "That's What I Love About Sunday," a soulful melody wedded to a lyric about the joys of a lazy weekend--church, coupon clipping, loving--surprised a lot of folks by grabbing the No. 1 spot on the singles charts for four straight weeks, marking the first time an indie single had done so since theKendalls' "Heaven's Just a Sin Away" in 1977. Chances are, several songs from this lively CD will follow on the charts, particularly "Blame Me," which findsBrad PaisleyandJohn Conleejoining forces to take credit (hopefully tongue-in-cheek) for country's current popularity. Several tracks ("I'm Country," "Redneck Yacht," and "In My Neighborhood," which references a plastic coon dog as a hood ornament) work the populist theme to death. But Morgan, who wrote 8 out of the 12 cuts, also knows how to deliver a hurtin' ballad ("That's When I'll Believe That You're Gone") and a grateful love song ("I Got You"). Watch this ol' boy finally take his rightful place as a cornbread contender.--Alanna Nash