Robbed hit of the week 2/27/23 - Trace Adkins' "I'm Tryin'"...
"I'm Tryin'" - Trace Adkins
from the album Chrome (2001)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #44
This week's "robbed hit" comes from singer Trace Adkins. who grew up in rural Louisiana, where he went to school and worked various jobs before moving to Nashville for a country music career. It was there that he was signed to Capitol Records, where he released his debut album Dreamin' Out Loud in 1996. The first single from the record which Adkins co-wrote, the midtempo track "There's A Girl In Texas", placed on Billboard magazine's Country Songs radio chart at #20. Despite its modest peak, the song got a lot of buzz, and set him up for his follow-up, the breakup ballad "Every Light In The House", which spent a week at #3 on the Country radio list, while also becoming his first to make Billboard's Hot 100 at #78. The third release from the debut, "(This Ain't) No Thinkin' Thing", made it all the way to the top of the Country Songs chart for a week. It definitely deserved it, with the minor-chord groove perfectly matching Trace's baritone. Lastly, the silly song "I Left Something Turned On At Home" took two weeks at #2 on the Country radio list. The Dreamin' album went to #53 on the Billboard 200 sales tally spending over a year on the chart, and #6 on the Country Albums list, with two years on that chart, going on to sell over a million copies.
With three top ten country hits under his belt already from his debut, Trace returned the following year with his sophomore effort Big Time. While the lead single from the record, the waltz of "The Rest Of Mine", hit #4 on the Country Songs chart and returned him to the Hot 100 at #70, it was the only song from the set to make the top ten. The album hit the top ten on the Country Albums chart yet again at #7, while peaking at #50 on the Billboard 200, going on to sell over a half-million copies.
Adkins' third disco on Capitol, More..., scored a third top ten on the Country Albums list at #9, but only spent three weeks on the main Billboard 200 with a high of #82. The second single from the record, "More", at least kept his streak of at least one top ten hit alive at #10, while getting higher on the Hot 100 at #65.
Nevertheless, Capitol stuck with Trace, and in 2001 he released his fourth studio album Chrome, despite being arrested for a DUI that summer (he would complete a rehab program at the start of 2003). The first single from the set though was his best effort to date, the inspirational power-ballad of the downtrodden man, "I'm Tryin'". Written by fellow country artists Jeffrey Steele and Anthony Smith along with Chris Wallin, the song tells the story of a man overwhelmed by his responsibilities that include those from his ex-wife (something the then thrice-married Adkins knew about). It doesn't make any moral judgments, it's just a plea from a man that he's doing all he can. But what shines on the record is Adkins' vocal performance, which is simply stunning as he belts it out with all his heart. The production matches the bombast of the singing, becoming the closest thing to a "male Martina McBride" record that I could recall, and the instrumental intro is just amazing. In response, Adkins returned to country radio big and got even closer to the top-40 mark on the pop chart. The music video goes big for one of those "message" style clips, using Trace's tall frame as an asset...
"I'm Tryin'" just missed the top-40 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the last week of 2001, while reaching #6 on their Country Songs radio chart, spending a hefty 32 weeks on the list. The Chrome album, released in October of that year, came in at #59 on the Billboard 200 sales tally, and a new high of #4 on the Country Albums list, going on to sell over a half-million copies.
The second single from Chrome was "Help Me Understand", which was written by pop songwriters Steve Mac, Wayne Hector, and Chris Ferren, which peaked at #17 on the Country Songs chart and popped on to the Hot 100 at #80. That was followed by title track "Chrome", which was written by Steele and Smith and put Trace back into the country airplay top ten at #10. Eventually, Trace will make the top-40 and make my main "song of the day" series.
(10/10)
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And lastly, Adkins on the Circle All Access Soundstage show...
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