Lucky Old Sun

Lucky Old Sun
Studio album by Kenny Chesney
Released	October 14, 2008 (2008-10-14)
Recorded	2007–08
Studio	Emerald Studio A, Masterfonics, Sound Emporium, East Iris Studios.[1] Additional Recording at The Tracking Room, Catacomb Studio, Working Class Industry, The Tone Dock, Westwood Sound Studios, Starstruck Studios and Love Shack Studios. The Wailers recorded at A Time and Place Bar in Jamaica
Genre	Country
Length	43:28
Label	Blue Chair, BNA
Producer	Buddy Cannon Kenny Chesney
Kenny Chesney chronology
Super Hits (2008) Lucky Old Sun (2008) Greatest Hits II (2009)
Singles from Lucky Old Sun
"Everybody Wants to Go to Heaven" Released: August 11, 2008 "Down the Road" Released: November 10, 2008

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	60/100[2]
Review scores
Source	Rating
About.com	[3]
AllMusic	[4]
BBC Music	mixed[5]
Billboard	favorable[6]
The Boston Globe	positive[7]
Entertainment Weekly	B[8]
Los Angeles Times	[9]
The New York Times	(positive)[10]
PopMatters	[11]
Slant	[12]

Lucky Old Sun is the twelfth studio album by American country music artist Kenny Chesney. It was released on October 14, 2008 as the first release for Blue Chair Records, Chesney's personal division of the BNA Records record label. The album produced two singles in "Everybody Wants to Go to Heaven" and "Down the Road", which were both number ones on the country charts. Chesney's versions of those two songs are duets with The Wailers and Mac McAnally respectively. This was Kenny's first album since 1997's I Will Stand to not have a Top 40 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

Content

The lead-off single, "Everybody Wants to Go to Heaven", was released on August 11, 2008. In October, this song became a Number One hit on the Billboard country charts. The next single, "Down the Road", is a duet with Mac McAnally. MacAnally had previously released this a single for himself from his 1990 album Simple Life. This rendition has also reached Number One.

Two of this album's songs were previously recorded by Willie Nelson: "Ten with a Two" was previously a single in 1990 from his album Born for Trouble and "I'm Alive" was recorded on his album Moment of Forever. "That Lucky Old Sun", recorded as a duet with Nelson, is a cover of the 1949 pop standard made famous by Frankie Laine. Chesney's version of "I'm Alive", a duet with Dave Matthews, also appears on his 2009 compilation album Greatest Hits II, from which it was released as its second single in August 2009.

Commercial performance

Lucky Old Sun debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200 selling 176,000 copies in its first week.^[13] It was also his fifth consecutive album to top the US Top Country Albums chart. As of July 2009, the album sold 720,000 copies in United States. On February 13, 2017, the album was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for sales of a million copies in the United States.^[14]

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"I'm Alive" (duet with Dave Matthews)	Kenny Chesney, Dean Dillon, Mark Tamburino	3:19
2.	"Way Down Here"	Chesney, Casey Beathard, Tony Martin	5:52
3.	"Boats"	Chesney, Dillon, Scotty Emerick	4:36
4.	"Everybody Wants to Go to Heaven" (featuring The Wailers)	Jim Collins, Marty Dodson	4:13
5.	"Down the Road" (duet with Mac McAnally)	Mac McAnally	3:01
6.	"Spirit of a Storm"	Chesney, Brett James	3:36
7.	"Ten with a Two"	Jack Mack, Bill Nosworthy, Bo Roberts, Mack Vickery	3:11
8.	"The Life"	Beathard, James T. Slater	4:27
9.	"Key's in the Conch Shell"	Aaron Barker, Dillon, Emerick, Tom Gross	4:11
10.	"Nowhere to Go, Nowhere to Be"	Chesney	3:41
11.	"That Lucky Old Sun (Just Rolls Around Heaven All Day)" (duet with Willie Nelson)	Beasley Smith, Haven Gillespie	4:15
Total length:			43:28

Deluxe Edition bonus tracks

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
12.	"Boston" (live)	Chesney, Tamburino	5:22
13.	"Got a Little Crazy" (live)	Chesney, Chris Wallin	4:58
14.	"Soul of a Sailor" (live)	Chesney, Dillon, Emerick	5:40
15.	"Guitars and Tiki Bars" (live)	Chesney, Dillon, Tamburino	4:11

Personnel

As listed in liner notes^[15]

• Wyatt Beard – background vocals
• Pat Buchanan – electric guitar
• Buddy Cannon – background vocals
• Kenny Chesney – acoustic guitar, lead vocals
• Eric Darken – percussion
• Scott Ducaj – trumpet
• Chris Dunn – trombone
• Kenny Greenberg – electric guitar
• Robert Greenidge – steel drums
• Tim Hensley – background vocals
• Steve Herrman – trumpet
• Steve Hinson – steel guitar
• John Hobbs – piano, synthesizer, Wurlitzer
• Jim Horn – tenor saxophone
• Paul Leim – drums
• B. James Lowry – acoustic guitar
• Mac McAnally – acoustic guitar and duet vocals on "Down the Road"
• Randy McCormick – B3 organ, synthesizer
• Dave Matthews – vocals on "I'm Alive"
• Willie Nelson – vocals on "That Lucky Old Sun (Just Rolls Around Heaven All Day)"
• Larry Paxton – bass guitar, gut string guitar
• Mickey Raphael – harmonica
• Gary Prim – piano, synthesizer, Wurlitzer
• The Wailers – vocals on "Everybody Wants to Go to Heaven"
• John Willis – acoustic guitar, electric guitar, gut string guitar
• Lonnie Wilson – drums

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (2008) Peak position Australian Albums (ARIA)[16] 108 Australian Country Albums (ARIA)[16] 9 Canadian Albums (Billboard)[17] 10 US Billboard 200[18] 1 US Top Country Albums (Billboard)[19] 1

Year-end charts Chart (2008) Position Australian Country Albums (ARIA)[20] 50 US Billboard 200[21] 111 US Top Country Albums (Billboard)[22] 21 Chart (2009) Position US Billboard 200[23] 89 US Top Country Albums (Billboard)[24] 18 Singles Year Single Peak chart positions Certifications (sales threshold) US Country [25] US [26] CAN Country [27] CAN [28] 2008 "Everybody Wants to Go to Heaven" (featuring The Wailers) 1 41 1 49 * US: Gold[29] "Down the Road" (featuring Mac McAnally) 1 47 1 57

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
United States (RIAA)[30]	Platinum	1,000,000^^
^^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

1. Cooper, Peter (1 July 2008). "Nashville Skyline, July 2008". Mix. Retrieved 18 November 2024.
2. "Critic Reviews for Lucky Old Sun". Metacritic. Retrieved April 10, 2013.
3. Sexton, Scott. "Kenny Chesney - 'Lucky Old Sun'". About.com. Retrieved April 10, 2013.
4. Erlewine, Stephen Thomas (October 21, 2008). "Lucky Old Sun - Kenny Chesney". AllMusic. Retrieved August 21, 2012.
5. Quinn, Michael (November 12, 2008). "Review of Kenny Chesney - Lucky Old Sun". BBC Music. Retrieved April 10, 2013.
6. Tucker, Ken. "Lucky Old Sun". Billboard. Archived from the original on October 12, 2008. Retrieved April 10, 2013.
7. Reed, James (October 27, 2008). "Kenny Chesney (Lucky Old Sun)". The Boston Globe. Retrieved April 10, 2013.
8. Chris Willman (October 24, 2008). "Lucky Old Sun Review". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on October 17, 2008. Retrieved September 19, 2011.
9. Randy Lewis (October 15, 2008). "Chesney starts the healing". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved April 10, 2013.
10. Jon Pareles (October 19, 2008). "New CDs (Kenny Chesney: "Lucky Old Sun")". The New York Times. Retrieved April 10, 2013.
11. Dave Heaton (November 6, 2008). "Kenny Chesney: Lucky Old Sun". PopMatters. Retrieved April 10, 2013.
12. Jonathan Keefe (October 26, 2008). "Kenny Chesney: Lucky Old Sun | Music Review". Slant Magazine. Retrieved 2012-08-21.
13. "Kenny Chesney's Lucky Old Sun Rises to Top of Albums Chart". Archived from the original on April 19, 2019.
14. "Gold & Platinum". Recording Industry Association of America.
15. Lucky Old Sun (Media notes). Kenny Chesney. Blue Chair/BNA Records. 2008. 88697-36726-2.
16. "The ARIA Report: Issue 974" (PDF). webarchive.nla.gov.au. August 23, 2006. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2008-11-19. Retrieved December 29, 2011.
17. "Kenny Chesney Chart History (Canadian Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved December 24, 2020.
18. "Kenny Chesney Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved December 24, 2020.
19. "Kenny Chesney Chart History (Top Country Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved December 24, 2020.
20. "Top 50 Country Albums Chart 2008" (PDF). ARIA. Retrieved September 1, 2018.
21. "Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 2008". Billboard. Retrieved September 1, 2018.
22. "Country Albums – Year-End 2008". Billboard. Retrieved September 1, 2018.
23. "Top Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 2009". Billboard. Retrieved December 24, 2020.
24. "Top Country Albums – Year-End 2009". Billboard. Retrieved December 24, 2020.
25. "Kenny Chesney Chart History – Country Songs". Billboard. Retrieved March 3, 2020.
26. "Kenny Chesney Chart History – Hot 100". Billboard. Retrieved March 3, 2020.
27. "Results - RPM - Library and Archives Canada - Country Singles". RPM. Retrieved October 22, 2010.
28. "Kenny Chesney Chart History: Canadian Hot 100". Billboard. Retrieved March 3, 2020.
29. "American single certifications – Kenny Chesney – Everybody Wants to Go to Heaven". Recording Industry Association of America.
30. "American album certifications – Kenny Chesney – Lucky Old Sun". Recording Industry Association of America.