Sunshine & Whiskey
Studio album by
ReleasedFebruary 11, 2014 (2014-02-11)
GenreCountry
Length37:57
LabelWarner Bros. Nashville
Producer
Frankie Ballard chronology
Frankie Ballard
(2011)
Sunshine & Whiskey
(2014)
El Rio
(2016)
Singles from Sunshine & Whiskey
  1. "Helluva Life"
    Released: July 29, 2013
  2. "Sunshine & Whiskey"
    Released: April 14, 2014
  3. "Young & Crazy"
    Released: January 12, 2015

Sunshine & Whiskey is the second studio album by American country music artist Frankie Ballard. It was released on February 11, 2014 via Warner Bros. Records.[1][2] The album includes Ballard's debut single "Tell Me You Get Lonely" and "Helluva Life," which became Ballard's first number one hit.[3][4] Unlike its uptempo version on the album, "Don't Tell Mama I Was Drinking" was previously recorded as a ballad under the title "Don't Tell Mama" by three artists: Ty Herndon on his 1996 album Living in a Moment, Gary Allan on his 1999 album Smoke Rings in the Dark, and Doug Stone on his 2007 album My Turn.

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[5]
The Oakland Press[6]
Roughstock[7]
USA Today[8]

Sunshine & Whiskey received generally positive reviews from four music critics. At USA Today, Brian Mansfield rated the album two-and-a-half stars out of four, writing that Ballard's "got an appealing rock delivery, and the songs get more thoughtful as he goes along, right to the tragedy at the end."[8] Gary Graff of The Oakland Press rated the album three out of four stars, stating that it is "evident throughout these 11 songs [are] highly contagious", and they "go down like a well-aged single malt."[6] At AllMusic, Steve Leggett rated the album three-and-a-half out of five stars, saying that "most contemporary country fans should love this album, and there are tracks here where Ballard hits everything right, rising above the commercially generic with energy and intelligence."[5] Matt Bjorke of Roughstock rated the album four stars out of five, stating how Ballard stays true to himself on the album.[7]

Track listing

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Young & Crazy"3:00
2."Sunshine & Whiskey"3:02
3."It Don't Take Much"3:18
4."Helluva Life"3:52
5."Drinky Drink"
  • Johnston
  • Laird
2:59
6."Tell Me You Get Lonely"
3:09
7."Sober Me Up"
  • Connors
  • Davidson
  • Gorley
3:37
8."I'm Thinking Country"2:51
9."Tip Jar"Monty Criswell3:53
10."Don't You Wanna Fall"
3:54
11."Don't Tell Mama I Was Drinking"4:14
Total length:37:57

Personnel

Musicians
Production
  • Marshall Altman – digital editing, overdub engineer, producer, vocal engineer
  • LeAnn Bennett – production coordinator
  • Drew Bollman – mixing assistant
  • Pete Coleman – engineer, mixing
  • Paul "Paco" Cossette – assistant engineer
  • Brandon Epps – editing engineer
  • Shalacy Griffin – production assistant
  • Mike "Frog" Griffith – production coordinator
  • Scott Hendricks – producer
  • Erik "Keller" Jahner – mixing assistant
  • Scott Johnson – production assistant
  • Jaren Johnston – programming
  • Peter King – digital editing
  • Michael Knox – producer
  • Luke Laird – programming
  • Steve Marcantonio – engineer
  • Sam Martin – assistant engineer
  • Andrew Mendelson – mastering
  • Justin Niebank – mixing
  • Reid Shippen – engineer, mixing
  • Angela Talley – assistant engineer
  • Shane Tarleton – creative director
  • Chris Tompkins – programming

Chart performance

The album debuted at No. 5 in the Top Country Albums chart, and No. 35 in the Billboard 200, with sales of 11,000 for the week.[9] As of June 2016, the album has sold 105,000 copies in the US.[10]

Weekly charts

Chart (2014) Peak
position
US Billboard 200[11] 35
US Top Country Albums (Billboard)[12] 5

Year-end charts

Chart (2014) Position
US Top Country Albums (Billboard)[13] 68

References

  1. Shelburne, Craig (January 1, 2014). "Frankie Ballard, Cole Swindell Plan February Albums". Country Music Television. Retrieved January 3, 2014.
  2. Hudak, Joseph (January 2, 2014). "EXCLUSIVE: Frankie Ballard Reveals New Album Cover and Track List". Country Weekly. Retrieved January 3, 2014.
  3. Hollabaugh, Lorie (January 3, 2014). "Frankie Ballard Shares Track Listing For 'Sunshine & Whiskey'". MusicRow. Retrieved January 3, 2014.
  4. Bjorke, Matt (January 3, 2014). "Franke [sic] Ballard "Sunshine & Whiskey" Tracklist and Cover Art". Roughstock. Retrieved January 3, 2014.
  5. 1 2 Leggett, Steve (February 10, 2014). "Sunshine & Whiskey - Frankie Ballard". AllMusic. Retrieved February 11, 2014.
  6. 1 2 Graff, Gary (February 7, 2014). "The Listening Room: Eric Church, Frankie Ballard and more". The Oakland Press. Retrieved February 11, 2014.
  7. 1 2 Bjorke, Matt (February 11, 2014). "Album Review: Frankie Ballard - Sunshine & Whiskey". Roughstock. Retrieved February 21, 2014.
  8. 1 2 Mansfield, Brian (February 10, 2014). "Listen Up: Notable new releases". USA Today. Retrieved February 11, 2014.
  9. Bjorke, Matt (February 19, 2014). "Country Album Chart News: The Week of February 19, 2014: Eric Church Blows Doors Off The Charts With "The Outsiders", Scotty McCreery Passes 200k". Roughstock. Archived from the original on February 26, 2014. Retrieved February 20, 2014.
  10. "Upcoming Releases". Hits Daily Double. HITS Digital Ventures. Archived from the original on June 2, 2016.
  11. "Frankie Ballard Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard.
  12. "Frankie Ballard Chart History (Top Country Albums)". Billboard.
  13. "Top Country Albums: 2014 Year-End Charts". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved January 16, 2015.
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