A decade into a middle-management career, Montgomery Gentry scored back-to-back No.1 singles last year, “Back When I Knew It All” and “Roll with Me,” a testament to their enduring popularity with radio programmers nationwide. However, sales of their current album (Back When I Knew It All) are tepid at best, with only 150,000 copies sold since the disc’s debut last June. The duo has slipped into the trap of many acts who presently dominate the airwaves. Their radio releases serve as the perfect companion on evening commutes, but they don’t boil the blood of the potential recordbuyer.
“One in Every Crowd” (no relation to the flaccid 1975 Eric Clapton album) is another standard-issue story of the party boy who sets the good-timin’ tone every Friday night. The usual ingredients are here—a six-pack, a pissed-off barkeep, a rowdy house band—for a honky-tonk tonic. As a (worn-out) reference to their hillbilly heroes, the boys toss off mentions of “Free Bird” and “Gimme Three Steps.” (Newcomers to country music would be forgiven for believing that Lynyrd Skynyrd created the heaven and the earth. Let there be light and greasy guitar licks.)
The whole point of this hook is to grab the listeners by their blue collars, but it fails spectacularly in that regard (“There’s one in every crowd, and it’s usually me,” they admit.). The chorus’ coda (a disconcerting growl of “Hey, y’all! Hey, y’all!”) is designed to promote audience participation, but it only sends the melodic structure to its death.
In 2000, Montgomery Gentry was riding the crest of a wave, basking in the glory of their CMA win for Vocal Duo of the Year. Now, with Sugarland shooting towards superstardom and Brooks & Dunn maintaining their prime presence in the genre, Eddie and Troy have lapsed into journeyman status. With redneck recipes like “One in Every Crowd,” they don’t stand out in any crowd.
Grade: C-
Written by Ira Dean, Kim Tribble and Eddie Montgomery
Listen: “One in Every Crowd”
I couldn’t have said it better myself. Excellent review, Blake. I am not really surprised that this is an Ira Dean co-write. It sounds like the kind of schlock that dominated Trick Pony’s R.I.D.E. album.
Great review, Blake. I haven’t heard the song yet, but I guess I shouldn’t get my hopes up. To be honest, I never do when it comes to Montgomery Gentry. I think their best days are behind them and now they’re just a “filler” act (if that makes any sense).
What happened with Montgomery Gentry. I have the album, and kind of like this song, but I didn’t think it was single worthy. I got into them all those years ago when I heard the song “She Couldn’t Change Me” (Probably still my favorite Montgomery Gentry Song) and then heard some of their other stuff like Hillbilly Shoes, Gone, Daddy Won’t Sell the Farm, and You Do Your Thing. I don’t think they’ve released a single of those songs’ quality in a long time. It’s kind of sad too because I really like their sound and hoped they would do well.