''Live Like You Were Dying'' is the eighth studio album by American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

artist

Tim McGraw Samuel Timothy McGraw (born May 1, 1967) is an American country singer, songwriter, record producer, and actor. He has released 16 studio albums (11 for Curb Records, four for Big Machine Records and one for Arista Nashville). 10 of those album ...

. It was released on August 24, 2004, by

Curb Records Curb Records (also known as Asylum-Curb and formerly known as MCG Curb) is an American record label started by Mike Curb, originally as Sidewalk Records in 1963. From 1969 to 1973, Curb merged with MGM Records where Curb served as President of ...

and was recorded in a mountaintop studio in

upstate New York Upstate New York is a geographic region consisting of the area of New York State that lies north and northwest of the New York City metropolitan area. Although the precise boundary is debated, Upstate New York excludes New York City and Long Is ...

. It entered the ''Billboard'' 200 chart at number one, with sales of 766,000 copies in its first week. The album was certified 4 x Platinum by the

RIAA The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

for shipping four million copies, and was nominated for two Grammies in 2005 for Best Country Vocal Performance Male and Best Country Album, winning for Best Country Vocal Performance. Five singles were released from the album, all were top 15 hits on the

Hot Country Songs Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data from Nielsen BDS along with digital sal ...

chart, two of which hit #1.

Content

The

title track A title track is a song that has the same name as the album or film in which it appears. In the Korean music industry, the term is used to describe a promoted song on an album, akin to a single, regardless of the song's title. Title track may al ...

was the first single from the album. The song peaked at number 1 on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

chart, held it for seven weeks, and peaked at number 29 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. The song won a

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

for

Best Male Country Vocal Performance The Grammy Award for Best Male Country Vocal Performance was awarded between 1965 and 2011. The award has had several minor name changes: *From 1965 to 1967 the award was known as Best Country & Western Vocal Performance - Male *In 1968 it was a ...

. The music video for the title track prominently featured McGraw's father, former baseball player

Tug McGraw Frank Edwin "Tug" McGraw Jr. (August 30, 1944 – January 5, 2004) was an American professional baseball relief pitcher and long-time Major League Baseball (MLB) player, often remembered for coining the phrase "Ya Gotta Believe", which became th ...

, who had died of brain cancer. This song was also the number one country song of 2004 according to

Billboard Year-End ''Billboard'' Year-End charts are cumulative rankings of entries in '' Billboard'' magazine charts in the United States in any given chart year. Several hundred Year-End charts are now published by ''Billboard'', the most important of which are ...

. The next single from this album is "

Back When "Back When" is a song written by Stan Lynch, Stephony Smith, and Jeff Stevens and recorded by American country music singer Tim McGraw. It was released in August 2004 as the second single from McGraw's 2004 album ''Live Like You Were Dying ''Li ...

", which also reached #1 on ''Billboard'' Hot Country Songs chart. The third single, " Drugs or Jesus" peaked at #14, making it the first McGraw single since 1993 not to reach the country Top 10 (not counting "

Tiny Dancer "Tiny Dancer" is a song written by English musician Elton John and songwriter Bernie Taupin, and performed by John. It was originally released on John's 1971 album ''Madman Across the Water,'' and was later released as a single in 1972. It was ...

"). "

Do You Want Fries with That "Do You Want Fries with That" is a song written by Casey Beathard and Kerry Kurt Phillips, and recorded by American country music artist Tim McGraw. It was released in May 2005 as the fourth single from McGraw's 2004 album ''Live Like You Were Dyi ...

" was the fourth single and peaked at #5, and the fifth and final single, "

My Old Friend "My Old Friend" is a song written by Craig Wiseman and Steve McEwan, and recorded by American country music artist Tim McGraw. It was released in September 2005 as the fifth and final single from his album ''Live Like You Were Dying ''Live Like ...

", peaked at #6. "How Bad Do You Want It" was featured as the theme song to CMT's

Trick My Truck ''Trick My Truck'' is an American reality television program that premiered on February 3, 2006, on CMT. Created by Varuna Films, the series features a group of vehicle hackers known as the "Chrome Shop Mafia" who renovate the trucks of "deservin ...

. "Can't Tell Me Nothin'" was previously recorded by

Travis Tritt James Travis Tritt (born February 9, 1963) is an American country music singer and songwriter. He signed to Warner Bros. Records in 1989, releasing seven studio albums and a greatest hits package for the label between then and 1999. In the 20 ...

on his 2002 album '' Strong Enough''.

Track listing

Personnel

Tim McGraw & The Dance Hall Doctors *

– lead vocals * Jeff McMahon – acoustic piano,

Rhodes Rhodes (; el, Ρόδος , translit=Ródos ) is the largest and the historical capital of the Dodecanese islands of Greece. Administratively, the island forms a separate municipality within the Rhodes regional unit, which is part of the So ...

Wurlitzer electric piano The Wurlitzer electronic piano is an electric piano manufactured and marketed by Wurlitzer from the mid-1950s to mid-1980s. Sound is generated by striking a metal reed with a hammer, which induces an electric current in a pickup. It is conceptua ...

Hammond B3 organ The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert and first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding #Drawbars, drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, Hammond organs ...

, synthesizers * Denny Hemingson – electric guitar,

steel guitar A steel guitar ( haw, kīkākila) is any guitar played while moving a steel bar or similar hard object against plucked strings. The bar itself is called a "steel" and is the source of the name "steel guitar". The instrument differs from a conve ...

baritone guitar The baritone guitar is a guitar with a longer scale length, typically a larger body, and heavier internal bracing, so it can be tuned to a lower pitch. Gretsch, Fender, Gibson, Ibanez, ESP Guitars, PRS Guitars, Music Man, Danelectro, Schec ...

slide guitar Slide guitar is a technique for playing the guitar that is often used in blues music. It involves playing a guitar while holding a hard object (a slide) against the strings, creating the opportunity for glissando effects and deep vibratos tha ...

dobro Dobro is an American brand of resonator guitars, currently owned by Gibson and manufactured by its subsidiary Epiphone. The term "dobro" is also used as a generic term for any wood-bodied, single-cone resonator guitar. The Dobro was originally ...

, Melobar guitar * Bob Minner – acoustic guitar,

banjo The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and usually made of plastic, or occasionally animal skin. Early forms of the instrument were fashi ...

mandolin A mandolin ( it, mandolino ; literally "small mandola") is a stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally plucked with a pick. It most commonly has four courses of doubled strings tuned in unison, thus giving a total of 8 ...

(2, 12) * Darran Smith – electric guitar, acoustic guitar (12) * Deano Brown –

fiddle A fiddle is a bowed string musical instrument, most often a violin. It is a colloquial term for the violin, used by players in all genres, including classical music. Although in many cases violins and fiddles are essentially synonymous, th ...

, mandolin * John Marcus – bass * Billy Mason – drums * David Dunkley – percussion Background vocals * Russell Terrell (1, 3, 4, 8, 14) * Steve McEwan (2) * Greg Barnhill (4-7, 11, 16) *

Kim Carnes Kim Carnes (; born July 20, 1945) is an American singer and songwriter. Born and raised in Los Angeles, California, she began her career as a songwriter in the 1960s, writing for other artists while performing in local clubs and working as a sess ...

(4, 6) * Bob Bailey (6) * Kim Fleming (6) * Vicki Hampton (6) *

Rodney Crowell Rodney Crowell (born August 7, 1950) is an American musician, known primarily for his work as a singer and songwriter in country music. Crowell has had five number one singles on Hot Country Songs, all from his 1988 album '' Diamonds & Dirt''. ...

(9) * Wes Hightower (10, 15, 16) *

Faith Hill Audrey Faith McGraw (; born September 21, 1967), known professionally as Faith Hill, is an American singer and actress. She is one of the most successful country music artists of all time, having sold more than 40 million albums worldwide. Hill' ...

(12) * Brett Warren (12) * Gene Miller (13, 16) * Chris Rodriguez (13) Strings on tracks 5, 6, 11 & 15 * David Campbell – string arrangements * Suzie Katayama – string contractor * Larry Corbett and Suzie Katayama –

cello The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a Bow (music), bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), t ...

* Bob Becker and Evan Wilson –

viola The viola ( , also , ) is a string instrument that is bow (music), bowed, plucked, or played with varying techniques. Slightly larger than a violin, it has a lower and deeper sound. Since the 18th century, it has been the middle or alto voice of ...

Charlie Bisharat Charlie Bisharat is an American violinist known as a member of Shadowfax and for his work in film and with other New Age Jazz artists. He was born in Inglewood, CA in 1963 to parents who immigrated to the United States from Palestine in the 1950 ...

, Darius Campo, Susan Chatman, Mario DeLeon, Berj Garabedian, Armen Garabedian, Natalie Leggett and Sara Parkins –

violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

Production

* Byron Gallimore – producer, mixing * Tim McGraw – producer, mixing * Darran Smith – producer * Missi Gallimore – A&R direction * Julian King – tracking engineer (1, 3-13, 15) * David Bryant – second tracking engineer (1, 3-13, 15) * Steve Churchyard – string engineer (5, 6, 11, 15) * Greg Lawrence – additional engineer (5, 6, 11, 15), second string engineer (5, 6, 11, 15) * Jesse Chrisman – assistant engineer * Ricky Cobble – assistant engineer (1, 3-13, 15) * Matt Cullen – assistant engineer * Jason Gantt – assistant engineer, Pro Tools engineer * Erik Lutkins – assistant engineer, Pro Tools engineer * Sara Lesher – assistant engineer * Harry McCarthy – technician assistant * John Prestia – technician assistant * Mike Rector – technician assistant * Hank Williams – mastering * Ann Callis – production assistant * Kelly Clauge Wright – creative director * Glenn Sweitzer – art direction, design *

Mark Seliger Mark may refer to: Currency * Bosnia and Herzegovina convertible mark, the currency of Bosnia and Herzegovina * East German mark, the currency of the German Democratic Republic * Estonian mark, the currency of Estonia between 1918 and 1927 * Finn ...

– cover photography * Tony Duran – back photography Studios * Tracks 1, 3-13 & 15 recorded at Allaire Studios (Shokan, New York). * Tracks 2, 4, 14 & 16 recorded at Blackbird Studio (Nashville, Tennessee). * Strings recorded at

Record One Record One is a recording studio complex in the Sherman Oaks, Los Angeles, Sherman Oaks neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. Originally founded in 1979, the studio has been the site of numerous commercially successful and award-winning record ...

Studio B (Sherman Oaks, California). * Mixed at Essential Sound (Houston, Texas) and Emerald Sound Studio (Nashville, Tennessee). * Mastered at MasterMix (Nashville, Tennessee).

Chart positions

''Live Like You Were Dying'' debuted on the US ''Billboard'' 200 chart at number one, his third number-one album, and on the Top Country Albums at number one, making it his seventh number one on that chart.

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Sales and certifications

References

External links

* {{Authority control 2004 albums Tim McGraw albums Curb Records albums Albums produced by Byron Gallimore Albums with cover art by Tony Duran Albums produced by Tim McGraw