"One in Every Crowd" is a song recorded 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, ...

duo

Montgomery Gentry Montgomery Gentry is an American country music duo founded by singers Eddie Montgomery and Troy Gentry, both Kentucky natives. They began performing together in the 1990s as part of two different bands with Montgomery's brother, John Michael Mo ...

. It was released in February 2009 as the third single from their album ''

Back When I Knew It All ''Back When I Knew It All'' is the sixth studio album by the American country music duo Montgomery Gentry. It was released by Columbia Records Nashville on June 10, 2008 (see 2008 in country music). The album's lead-off single, also its title trac ...

''. Eddie Montgomery, one-half of the duo, co-wrote the song with

Kim Tribble Kim Chadwick Tribble (November 14, 1951-August 26, 2021) was an American country music songwriter. Active since the mid-1990s, he has written for David Lee Murphy, Montgomery Gentry, Doug Stone, and others. Two songs written by Tribble, " Guys Do ...

and former

Trick Pony Trick Pony was an American country music group, formed in 1999 by Heidi Newfield (lead vocals, acoustic guitar, harmonica), Keith Burns (lead guitar, vocals), and Ira Dean (bass guitar, vocals). They recorded three studio albums: ''Trick Pony'', '' ...

bassist Ira Dean.

Content

"One in Every Crowd" is an up-tempo with

electric guitar An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar (however combinations of the two - a semi-acoustic guitar and an electric acoustic gui ...

accompaniment, written by Eddie Montgomery (one-half of Montgomery Gentry), along with Kim Tribble and Ira Dean, the latter of whom was formerly

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

ist in the group

. Montgomery and Troy Gentry, the duo's other half, both sing

lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of t ...

. The verses describe a male character at a bar who rouses the patrons until they want to party with him. In the verse, the narrator reveals that the character being described is himself ("There's one in every crowd / And it's usually me"). A backup chorus sings "hey y'all" after the choruses, and begins cheering before the final chorus.

Critical reception

Thom Jurek of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

gave the song a favorable description in his review of ''Back When I Knew It All''. He described the song as "an anthemic,

heartland rock Heartland rock is a genre of rock music characterized by a straightforward, often roots musical style, often with a focus on blue-collar workers, and a conviction that rock music has a social or communal purpose beyond just entertainment. The ge ...

er with a crowd-chanting chorus" and "redneck

John Mellencamp John J. Mellencamp (born October 7, 1951), previously known as Johnny Cougar, John Cougar, and John Cougar Mellencamp, is an American singer-songwriter. He is known for his catchy brand of heartland rock, which emphasizes traditional instrument ...

to the extreme." Allen Jacobs of Roughstock gave the song a positive review saying that the song is "adaptable to the saloon, the radio and the iPod, touching all ages as truly feel-good Pop with an honest message."

Charts

"One in Every Crowd" debuted at number 49 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 dated February 7, 2009, and entered the top 40 the next week. It is the group's last top 5 hit.

Year-end charts

References

{{Montgomery Gentry 2008 songs 2009 singles Montgomery Gentry songs Columbia Nashville Records singles Song recordings produced by Blake Chancey Songs written by Kim Tribble