Terpene

R.I.D.E.
Studio album by
ReleasedAugust 23, 2005 (2005-08-23)
Recorded2003–2005[1]
Studio
GenreCountry
Length43:38
LabelAsylum-Curb
Producer
[2]
Trick Pony chronology
On a Mission
(2002)
R.I.D.E.
(2005)
The Best of Trick Pony
(2009)
Singles from R.I.D.E.
  1. "The Bride"
    Released: June 21, 2004
  2. "It's a Heartache"
    Released: January 31, 2005
  3. "Ain't Wastin' Good Whiskey on You"
    Released: September 12, 2005
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[3]

R.I.D.E. (pronounced "ride") is the third and final studio album by American country music group Trick Pony, released on August 23, 2005 via Asylum-Curb Records. The album's name is an abbreviation for "Rebellious Individuals Delivering Entertainment".[4] After the underwhelming success of their previous album On a Mission (2002) and many management changes, the group officially left Warner Bros. Nashville in late 2003 and bought out their masters. Almost immediately, they were signed to Curb Records before being moved to the Asylum-Curb division.

Three official singles were released from the album, with the highest peaking being a cover of Bonnie Tyler's 1977 hit song "It's a Heartache". The album also peaked within the top ten of the Top Country Albums chart. This was the group's last album to feature Heidi Newfield and was actually their last studio album; they did however release an EP in 2016 titled Pony Up sans member Ira Dean.

Songs[edit]

R.I.D.E. has been described as Trick Pony's most diverse album.[5] The album opens up with "Ain't Wastin' Good Whiskey on You", which features an all-star chorus featuring Tracy Byrd, Joe Diffie, Mel Tillis, Tanya Tucker, Darryl Worley, and a few of Ira Dean's friends from Cincinnati.[6] The third track, "It's a Heartache" is a cover originally sung by Bonnie Tyler. "When I Fall" was written by member Keith Burns and country artist Billy Dean, who is actually Dean's brother.[7] Burns described the song as a "big, huge ballad."[8] Track six, "The Bride" was the first single from the album and features Heidi Newfield's "throaty vocals turn on a dime."[9] "Sad City" was a song co-written by Burns that was originally recorded by Sammy Kershaw. The song features Hootie & the Blowfish lead singer and eventual country star Darius Rucker; the group originally met Rucker at Farm Aid. Burns began playing the song in Rucker's tour bus which caught Rucker's attention; he stated to the group that if they were to ever cut it, he would want to be featured in it.[5][6] "Stand in the Middle of Texas" was co-written by famed Nashville songwriter Matraca Berg.[10] "Señorita" was a song originally recorded by rock music group Los Lonely Boys for their self-titled debut album (2004). In this song, Ira Dean and Keith Burns sing lead vocals.[9] "Hillbilly Rich" is a "typical Trick Pony party song" that also features Dean and Burns on lead vocals;[8] lyrically, it is a tale of a redneck who "hit it big on the lottery."[9] This is also the only song on the album that the group's longtime producer Chuck Howard did not produce, instead being produced by co-writer Anthony Smith.[10] "Cry, Cry, Cry" features a big-band inspired horn arrangement written by Branford Marsalis.[8] The closing track, "Maryann's Song" is the only track co-written by Newfield and is a gospel song dedicated to her mother, who passed away in 2004 due to MS. The song features country legend Kris Kristofferson reading a recitation.[6]

Singles[edit]

"The Bride" was chosen as the lead single from the record on June 21, 2004, over a year before the album was actually released. It peaked at number 27 on the US Hot Country Songs chart. The group's cover of Bonnie Tyler's 1977 hit song "It's a Heartache" was released on January 31, 2005, as the second single. It was the most successful, hitting number 22 on the Billboard country chart and number 18 on the Radio & Records country chart. "Ain't Wastin' Good Whiskey on You" was the third and final single, released to airplay on September 12, 2005; it was less successful, failing to reach the top forty.

Commercial performance[edit]

R.I.D.E. debuted at number four on the Top Country Albums chart with first week sales of 34,000 copies, becoming the highest debut of the week and Trick Pony's only top ten album to date.[11] The album also debuted at number 20 on the Billboard 200. By the next week however, the album had fallen to number 11 on the former and number 85 on the latter. It spent only 10 weeks on the former chart and 4 weeks on the latter.

Chart W1 W2 W3 W4 W5 W6 W7 W8 W9 W10
Billboard 200 20 85 113 176
Top Country Albums 4 11 18 30 35 37 46 52 62 70

Track listing[edit]

All tracks produced by Chuck Howard except "Hillbilly Rich", produced by Anthony Smith.

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Ain't Wastin' Good Whiskey on You"
2:58
2."What's Not to Love"2:43
3."It's a Heartache"
3:27
4."When I Fall"
3:06
5."I Didn't"
3:23
6."The Bride"
3:00
7."Sad City" (featuring Darius Rucker)
  • Burns
  • Mark Oliverius
3:32
8."Stand in the Middle of Texas"3:49
9."Señorita"Los Lonely Boys3:07
10."Hillbilly Rich"3:04
11."Once a Cowboy"3:48
12."Cry, Cry, Cry"
  • Steele
  • Dean
2:42
13."I Can Live with That"
  • Murphy
  • Tribble
  • Dean
4:18
14."Maryann's Song"
3:38

Personnel[edit]

Taken from the R.I.D.E. booklet.[10]

Trick Pony[edit]

Additional musicians[edit]

Charts[edit]

Weekly chart performance for R.I.D.E.
Chart (2005) Peak
position
US Billboard 200[12] 20
US Top Country Albums (Billboard)[13] 4

Singles[edit]

Year Single Peak chart positions
US Billboard Country US Radio & Records Country
2004 "The Bride" 27 27[14][a]
2005 "It's a Heartache" 22 18[16]
"Ain't Wastin' Good Whiskey on You" 42 36[17]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ "The Bride" peaked at number 25 on the magazine's Country Indicator chart.[15]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Trick Pony trots out something new". Eugene Register-Guard. August 26, 2005. pp. 4, 5. Retrieved June 28, 2024.
  2. ^ "Trick Pony – R.I.D.E. (Rebellious Individuals Delivering Entertainment". Discogs. Retrieved June 28, 2024.
  3. ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. R.I.D.E. at AllMusic. Retrieved February 28, 2020.
  4. ^ Caviness, Crystal. "Trick Pony Rides a Bumpy Road to Maturity". About.com. Retrieved 2007-12-18.
  5. ^ a b Dugger, Brian (September 29, 2005). "Trick Pony's latest album takes group for an exhilarating ride". Toledo Blade. Toledo, OH. p. E5. Retrieved June 28, 2024.
  6. ^ a b c Loy, Robert (November 2005). "Trick Pony pulls off a hat track". Country Standard Time. Retrieved June 28, 2024.
  7. ^ Blackwall, Sam (September 5, 2001). "Trick Pony: An overnight success after 5 1/2 years". Southeast Missourian. p. 10B. Retrieved June 28, 2024.
  8. ^ a b c "Trick Pony trots out something new". Eugene Register-Guard. August 26, 2005. pp. 4, 5. Retrieved June 28, 2024.
  9. ^ a b c Bell, Rick. "Trick Pony - R.I.D.E. (CD Review)". Country Standard Time. Retrieved June 28, 2024.
  10. ^ a b c R.I.D.E. (CD booklet). Trick Pony. Asylum-Curb Records. 2005. 78864
  11. ^ Jessen, Wade (September 10, 2005). "Two Acts See Fastest Starts". Billboard. Vol. 117, no. 37. Nielsen Business Media. p. 84. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved June 28, 2024.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  12. ^ "Trick Pony Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved June 28, 2024.
  13. ^ "Trick Pony Chart History (Top Country Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved June 28, 2024.
  14. ^ "R&R Country Top 50" (PDF). Radio & Records. No. 1574. September 24, 2004. p. 62. Retrieved June 28, 2024.
  15. ^ "R&R Country Top 50 Indicator" (PDF). Radio & Records. No. 1573. September 17, 2004. p. 54. Retrieved June 28, 2024.
  16. ^ "R&R Country Top 50" (PDF). Radio & Records. No. 1618. August 5, 2005. p. 44. Retrieved June 28, 2024.
  17. ^ "R&R Country Top 50" (PDF). Radio & Records. No. 1636. December 9, 2005. p. 62. Retrieved June 28, 2024.

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