Jacksonville City Nights

Jacksonville City Nights is the seventh studio album by American alternative country singer-songwriter Ryan Adams, released on September 27, 2005 on Lost Highway. The album is Adams' second with The Cardinals, and the second in a trilogy of albums released in a seven-month timespan during 2005. By 2007, the album had sold 100,000 copies in the United States and 158,000 worldwide.[11] The album was recorded live in the studio, without overdubs. The title is a reference to Adams' hometown of Jacksonville, North Carolina, which has been referenced throughout his career.

Jacksonville City Nights
Studio album by Ryan Adams and The Cardinals
Released	September 26, 2005 September 27, 2005 (US)
Recorded	New York City, NY. Nashville, TN.
Genre	Country rock, alternative country
Length	46:16
Label	Lost Highway Records
Producer	Tom Schick
Ryan Adams chronology
Cold Roses (2005) Jacksonville City Nights (2005) 29 (2005)

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	(72/100) [1]
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[2]
Chicago Tribune	(favorable) [3]
Entertainment Weekly	C+ [4]
The Music Box	[5]
Paste	(average) [6]
Pitchfork Media	(7.7/10) [7]
PopMatters	[8]
Rolling Stone	[9]
Uncut	[1]
USA Today	[10]

Several limited American releases contained a DVD entitled September (which was originally intended to be the title of the album), which featured a 20 minute documentary about the band on the road and in the studio. Bassist Catherine Popper is featured in the photograph on the album cover.

Reception

The album so far has a score of 72 out of 100 from Metacritic based on "generally favorable reviews".[1] Spin gave it a B+ and said the album "reminds you why Adams was once a big deal."[1] NME gave it a score of seven out of ten and said, "Adams could clearly make use of an editor here--but you can't possibly hate an album that uses pedal-steel on every track."[1] Tiny Mix Tapes gave it a score of three-and-a-half stars out of five and said, "As with most Adams records, the fact that some of the songs made the cut is perplexing."[12] However, Blender gave it three stars out of five and said, "It's the sound of a New Yorker coming home for a breath of country air."[1] Prefix Magazine gave it an average review and said, "Perhaps Adams is just earning cheap sympathy with his strained, tour-weary voice, or maybe it’s just too thrilling to hear him revisit Gram, but Jacksonville City Lights [sic] does seem to come by its sound honestly."[13]

Track listing

All lyrics are written by Ryan Adams; all music is composed by Adams, J.P. Bowersock, Pemberton, Catherine Popper & Jon Graboff except where indicated.

No.	Title	Length
1.	"A Kiss Before I Go"	2:05
2.	"The End" (Adams & Michael Panes)	3:44
3.	"Hard Way To Fall"	4:06
4.	"Dear John" (Adams & Norah Jones)	4:36
5.	"The Hardest Part"	2:52
6.	"Games"	2:11
7.	"Silver Bullets"	2:56
8.	"Peaceful Valley"	3:42
9.	"September"	2:30
10.	"My Heart Is Broken" (Adams & Caitlin Cary)	2:14
11.	"Trains" (Adams & Panes)	4:08
12.	"Pa"	3:52
13.	"Withering Heights"	2:53
14.	"Don't Fail Me Now"	4:27

Bonus tracks

No.	Title	Length
1.	"What Sin Replaces Love" (Demonstration recording)	9:27
2.	"What Sin Replaces Love" (Acoustic version)	3:51
3.	"Jeane"	2:33
4.	"Always on My Mind" (Johnny Christopher, Mark James and Wayne Carson Thompson)	4:41
5.	"I Still Miss Someone" (Johnny Cash cover) (Johnny Cash, Roy Cash)	2:58

Chart positions

Album

Country	Peak position
US[14]	33
Belgium (Flanders)[15]	66
Germany[16]	72
Ireland[17]	43
New Zealand[18]	40
Norway[19]	16
Sweden[20]	27
UK[21]	59

Musicians

The Cardinals

• Ryan Adams - vocals, acoustic guitar, piano
• J.P. Bowersock - electric guitars
• Catherine Popper - bass, piano, background vocals
• Brad Pemberton - drums, percussion
• Jon Graboff - pedal steel, background vocals

Other musicians

• Claudia Chopek: Violin.
• David Gold: Violin & Viola.
• Bob Hoffnar: Pedal steel.
• Byron Isaacs: Background vocals.
• Norah Jones: Piano & vocals.
• Julia Kent: Cello.
• Joe McGinty: Piano.
• Michael Panes: Violin.
• Johnny T: Drums.
• Glenn Patscha: Piano & background vocals.

The Nashville String Machine

The Nashville String Machine perform on the song "My Heart Is Broken" and are:

• Bergen White: Arranger and conductor.
• Violins: Carl Gorodetsky, Pamela Sixfin, Conni Ellisor, Allan Umstead, David Angell, Cathy Umstead & Mary Kathryn Vanosdale.
• Violas: Kris Wilkinson, Gary Vanosdale & Jim Grosjean.
• Cellos: Carole Rabinowitz & Bob Mason.

References

1. Critic reviews at Metacritic
2. Allmusic review
3. Chicago Tribune review
4. Dombal, Ryan (2005-09-30). "Jacksonville City Nights Review". Entertainment Weekly: 94. Retrieved 2013-05-01.
5. The Music Box review
6. Paste review
7. Pitchfork Media review
8. PopMatters review
9. Rolling Stone review
10. USA Today review
11. Hasty, Katie (2007-06-03). "Busy and bored, Adams tames "Tiger"". Reuters/Billboard. Archived from the original on 2007-01-06. Retrieved 2007-06-04. The first of the trio, "Cold Roses," has sold 159,000 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan. "Jacksonville City Nights" has moved 100,000, and "29" has shifted 81,000.
12. "Tiny Mix Tapes review". Archived from the original on September 19, 2006. Retrieved September 19, 2006.CS1 maint: unfit url (link)
13. Prefix Magazine review, mislabelled as "Jacksonville City Lights"
14. "American Charts". Allmusic.com. Retrieved 2008-11-25.
15. "Belgian Jacksonville City Nights position". ultratop.be. Retrieved 2009-11-23.
16. "German Charts" (in German). musicline.de. Archived from the original on 2008-12-11. Retrieved 2008-11-25.
17. "Irish Charts". Irish-charts.com. Retrieved 2009-11-23.
18. "New Zealand Charts". charts.nz. Retrieved 2008-11-25.
19. "Norwegian Charts". Norwegiancharts.com. Archived from the original on 2008-12-10. Retrieved 2008-11-25.
20. "Swedish Charts". Swedishcharts.com. Archived from the original on 2008-12-11. Retrieved 2008-11-25.
21. "UK Chart Log". zobbel.de. Retrieved 2009-11-23.

External links

• Jacksonville City Nights at Metacritic