When Somebody Loves You

Personnel: Alan Jackson (vocals, guitar); Bruce Watkins (acoustic guitar); Brent Mason (electric guitar); Paul Franklin (steel guitar, dobro); Stuart Duncan (mandolin, fiddle); Terry McMillan (Jew's harp, harmonica); Larry Franklin (fiddle); Gary Prim (piano, keyboards); Keith Stegall (piano); Glenn Worf (bass); Eddie Bayers (drums); John Wesley Ryles, Rhonda Vincent (background vocals).
Recorded at The Castle, Franklin, Tennessee and The Sound Station, Nashville, Tennessee.
Personnel: Bruce Watkins (acoustic guitar); Brent Mason (electric guitar); Paul Franklin (steel guitar, dobro); Stuart Duncan (mandolin, fiddle); Larry Franklin (fiddle); Terry McMillan (harmonica, Jew's harp); Gary Prim (piano, keyboards); Keith Stegall (piano); Eddie Bayers (drums); John Wesley Ryles, Rhonda Vincent (background vocals).
Audio Mixer: John Kelton.
Recording information: The Castle, Franklin, TN; The Sound Station, Nashville, TN.
Photographer: Russ Harrington.
It might seem ironic that traditionalist Alan Jackson would write a song about the Internet, but he's smart enough to realize that fans have always counted on country music to reflect their lives. With "www.memory," the first single from WHEN SOMEBODY LOVES YOU, Jackson sets computer-age lyrics against the most traditional of arrangements, and comes up with a heartbreaking love song that techno-geeks and technophobes alike can enjoy.
Jackson's packed the rest of WHEN SOMEBODY LOVES YOU with a mixture of down-home ditties ("It's Alright To Be A Redneck," "Meat & Potato Man"), and tender, romantic ballads. Listening to him croon "I'm liking how my Jack & water/mixes with your Estee Lauder" (on "Maybe I Should Stay Here") is worth the price of admission alone. But Jackson bites the hand that feeds him on the final track, "Three Minute Positive Not Too Country Uptempo Love Song." This putdown of radio programmers who'd like to see all country songs reduced to feel-good romantic mush is hilarious and, sadly, all too true.
WHEN SOMEBODY LOVES YOU is proof that real country still matters in the age of cyberspace and focus groups--and Jackson's the one you can count on to deliver it.