Allan was born and raised in La Mirada, California, to Harley and Mary Herzberg. To ensure that the family would focus on music, Allan's mother insisted that the family's guitars would always remain visible in the home. At age thirteen, Allan began playing in honky tonks with his father. Two years later, he was offered his first recording contract, from A&M Records, but rejected the deal. His parents wanted him to finish his education and his father felt that Allan had yet to develop his own distinctive style. Despite his commitment to finishing school, Allan reflects that he was rarely alert in class. "I played the bars at night, I was half asleep when I got to school. I thought sleep was what you did when you got to school." After finishing school, he continued to play in the bars with his band, the Honky Tonk Wranglers. Many of the venues they played were packed, and promoters often tried to move them to larger clubs. The moves would have required him to stop playing some of the older country music, such as covers of George Jones songs, so Allan refused.
Allan was introduced to songwriter/producer Byron Hill on August 28, 1993 by a mutual friend and talent-scout Jim Seal at a bar called the Lion D'or in Downey, California, where Allan was already regularly performing. Seal and Hill had asked Allan if they could showcase an unsigned act that they were developing there. Hill had arranged to bring the head of A&R from a major label to the show to see this other act perform. Allan kindly let them use his stage for the event, giving the new act the opening performance slot that night. Hill promised Gary that they would make sure the A&R person remained there to see his portion of the show. Everyone was knocked out with Allan's performance, and very impressed with his voice. From that point on, Hill began sending Allan songs. Without any serious funding at the time, Hill arranged for Allan to go into Seal's small studio in California to try his vocals on some of existing demo tracks that Hill had sent to Allan from Nashville, Tennessee. Meanwhile, Hill became head of A&R at BNA Entertainment on October 29 of that same year and immediately wanted to sign Allan to BNA, but the then current roster conditions and other circumstances related to the planned restructuring of RCA/BNA Nashville stood in the way.
In the meantime, Allan took a job selling cars. He left a demo tape in the glove box of a car purchased by a wealthy couple. When the couple discovered that he was the singer, they wrote him a check for $12,000. This independent funding allowed Allan to go to Nashville to record some of the songs that were on that early demo tape with Hill as producer. On September 11, 1995, they worked at Javelina Studios for a couple of days on the four songs that Hill immediately showed to labels. Allan's recordings brought serious responses from several labels including Mercury, RCA, and Decca. A meeting was then held at a Nashville hotel among Hill, Allan, and friend of Allan's, who was a program director for a radio station in California, to arrange two showcases in Los Angeles, California, to put Allan on stage at two of the radio station's regular nights at a local club. Byron arranged for staffers at the Nashville office of Decca Records to attend the first showcase held on November 1, 1995. Decca immediately wanted to sign Allan, and knowing that Byron was lining up other labels to see Gary, Decca asked them to cancel the second showcase. A rep from RCA was already booked to see the second showcase the following week, but the "bird-in-hand" deal offer was too tempting for both Hill and Allan, so they committed to the Decca offer.
His first deal, with Decca Records Nashville, produced the 1996 album Used Heart for Sale. The album was named "Best of the Month" by Stereo Review. It advanced to the top 20 of the charts, and produced a Top 10 country hit with the track Her Man (previously recorded by Waylon Jennings). Other tracks from the album, however, proved less successful.
His second album, It Would Be You, was released in 1998. Although Allan had been writing songs since he was a teenager, he does not hesitate to bump his work from his albums in favor of those written by other songwriters he respects. For his second album, Allan replaced one of his songs with No Judgement Day, written by Allen Shamblin. Although the song was a hidden acoustic track, radio stations began giving it heavy airplay. The song tells the story of a shopkeeper in Texas, whose children killed him in search of money. The title track of the album became Allan's second top 10 hit of the year, remaining in the top 10 after 21 weeks of radio play, "way beyond the tenure of most disposable radio hits." At the beginning of 1999, Decca Records folded, and when Allan moved to the parent label, MCA Nashville, It Would Be You was left in limbo.
In 1999, Allan released Smoke Rings in the Dark, an album he recorded while in the midst of a divorce from his second wife, Versace model Danette Day, after only seven months of marriage. Unlike his first two albums, Smoke Rings in the Dark made fuller use of background singers and stringed instruments, "resulting in a lusher, fuller sound." The new album avoided the "devil-may-care brashness" of the first two, instead presenting a tone balanced between youthful optimism and "the knowledge that some of life's experiences exact a high toll." Smoke Rings in the Dark was certified platinum, and it included two successful singles.
In 2001 the album Alright Guy was released. It contained the singles The One, Man of Me, and Man to Man, the latter of which became his first Billboard No. 1 hit. The same year, Allan married for the third time, to Angela, a flight attendant he met on an airplane.
Despite his previous success and eight years in the music business, Allan was nominated for the Country Music Association's Horizon Award, typically given to newcomers, in 2003. The same year he released his fifth album, See If I Care. Allan had to fight to keep the title, which he felt epitomized his attitude towards the music business, that he would continue to make the music that he wanted to make regardless of whether the record label chose to back him or people chose to buy the album. See If I Care included his second and third Number One singles, Tough Little Boys and Nothing On but the Radio. Songs About Rain was a top 15 hit.
In 2003, Allan and his wife, Angela Herzberg, moved to Tennessee from California. On October 25, 2004, Angela Herzberg committed suicide after suffering from depression and migraines. Allan initially put his career on hold, but soon turned to music to deal with the loss of his wife. This resulted in 2005's "heart-wrenchingly personal album," Tough All Over. He included several songs which he wrote or cowrote, including Puttin' Memories Away and I Just Got Back from Hell, which dealt directly with his grief. Several years later, Gary discussed his wife's suicide on The Oprah Winfrey Show.
Tough All Over sold over 99,000 copies in its first week, debuting at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 and No. 1 on the magazine's Top Country Albums chart. It was subsequently certified gold by the RIAA as of December 20, 2006, and contained the top 10 singles Best I Ever Had (written by Vertical Horizon's Matt Scannell) and Life Ain't Always Beautiful, co-written by country singer Cyndi Thomson (under the name Cyndi Goodman).
Allan's first Greatest Hits collection was released on March 6, 2007. A Number One album on the Billboard Top Country Albums charts, the album reprised the greatest hits from his first six albums, as well as two new songs. One of these, titled A Feelin' Like That, was co-written by David Lee Murphy and Ira Dean (the latter a former member of Trick Pony); the single peaked at #12 on the country singles charts.
Allan's album titled Living Hard, was released on October 23, 2007. Serving as its lead-off single was the song Watching Airplanes, which spent more than thirty weeks on the country charts, where it reached a peak of #2 and went #1 on the Mediabase Chart. The song's music video was filmed during live concerts, including one at the Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Morrison, Colorado. Second single Learning How to Bend – co-written by Allan – quickly became another hit song, peaking at #13. The video was filmed during a live performance at the House of Blues in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Following this song is third single She's So California, which Allan co-wrote with Jaime Hanna (of Hanna-McEuen) and Jon Randall, and it peaked at #24, becoming his first single to miss the top 20 since Lovin' You Against My Will in 2000.
Today was released on June 12, 2009, serving as the lead-off single to Allan's studio album, Get Off on the Pain, which was released on March 9, 2010. Title track, Get Off on the Pain, was the album's second single. It debuted at #42 on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs chart, the highest-debuting single of his career. Kiss Me When I'm Down the album's third single released to radio in 2010. It debuted at #52 on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs chart.
http://www.garyallan.com/pain/
Alright Guy
Gary Allan Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I was hanging around in my house
I had that old book with picutres of Madonna naked
And I was checkin' it out
Just then a friend of mine came to the door
She said she never pegged me for a scumbag before
Said she didn't ever want to see me no more
And I still don't why/
I think I'm an alright guy
I think I'm an alright guy
Well I just want to live until I gotta die
I know I ain't perfect but God knows I try
I think I'm an alright guy
I think I'm alright
This one time for medicinal purposes they forced me to smoke some dope
I'm pretty sure I can still be the President
But I don't think I'll ever get to be the Pope
Well I get wild and I know I get drunk
It's not like I got a bunch of bodies in my trunk
My old man used to call me a no-good punk
And I still don't know why
I think I'm an alright guy
I think I'm an alright guy
Well I just want to live until I gotta die
I know I ain't perfect but God knows I try
I think I'm an alright guy
I think I'm alright
You know just the other night
The cops pulled me over outside the bar
When they turned on their lights
And they ordered me out my car
Man I was only kiddin' when I called 'em a couple of dicks
But still they made me do the stupid human tricks
Now I'm stuck in this jail with a bunch of dumb hicks
And I still don't know why
I think I'm an alright guy
I think I'm an alright guy
Well I just want to live until I gotta die
I know I ain't perfect but God knows I try
I think I'm an alright guy
I think I'm alright
In this song, Gary Allan is describing how he sees himself as an "alright guy," despite how others may perceive him. The opening verse depicts a casual and playful moment when he was admiring a book of Madonna photos, but his friend seems to have misinterpreted it as something more sinister, leading to their falling out. Gary is left wondering about his friend's perception of him, but maintains that he's an "alright guy." He goes on to describe how he's experimented with drugs, likes to have a wild time, and has had run-ins with the law, yet he doesn't believe any of these things make him a bad person. In his mind, he's still an "alright guy" who tries his best and just wants to live life until it's his time to go.
Overall, the song's message is one of self-acceptance and not being too hard on oneself. Gary Allan acknowledges that he's not perfect, but he still sees himself as a good person despite what others may think. He's not afraid to be honest about his flaws and past mistakes, but at the same time, he doesn't believe they define him. Instead, he emphasizes that what matters most is how he sees himself and how he treats others.
Line by Line Meaning
You know just the other morning
Recently, one morning
I was hanging around in my house
I was relaxing at home
I had that old book with pictures of Madonna naked
I had an old book with nude photos of Madonna
And I was checkin' it out
And I was looking at it
Just then a friend of mine came to the door
Suddenly, a friend arrived at my door
She said she never pegged me for a scumbag before
She said she had never thought of me as a bad person before
Said she didn't ever want to see me no more
She said she never wanted to see me again
And I still don't why/
And I still don't know why she said that
I think I'm an alright guy
I believe that I am a decent person
Well I just want to live until I gotta die
I just want to live my life until I die
I know I ain't perfect but God knows I try
I know I'm not perfect, but I do my best
This one time for medicinal purposes they forced me to smoke some dope
For medical reasons, they made me smoke marijuana once
I'm pretty sure I can still be the President
I still think I could be the President
But I don't think I'll ever get to be the Pope
But I don't think I will ever become the Pope
Well I get wild and I know I get drunk
I admit that I sometimes act wild and drink too much
It's not like I got a bunch of bodies in my trunk
I don't have any dead bodies in my car trunk
My old man used to call me a no-good punk
My father used to call me a worthless young person
And I still don't know why
And I still don't know why he said that
The cops pulled me over outside the bar
The police stopped me outside the bar
When they turned on their lights
When they turned on their police lights
And they ordered me out my car
And they told me to get out of my car
Man I was only kiddin' when I called 'em a couple of dicks
I was just joking when I called them a couple of idiots
But still they made me do the stupid human tricks
But they still made me do silly tests
Now I'm stuck in this jail with a bunch of dumb hicks
Now I'm in jail with some ignorant people
And I still don't know why
And I still don't know why I'm in here
I think I'm an alright guy
I still believe that I am a decent person
Well I just want to live until I gotta die
I just want to keep living until I die
I know I ain't perfect but God knows I try
I know I am not perfect, but I always try my best
I think I'm an alright guy
I truly believe that I am a decent person
I think I'm alright
I think everything will be fine
Lyrics © KEITH SYKES MUSIC
Written by: TODD SNIDER
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@amandawilson2021
I had forgotten how really awesome this song is .... hadn't heard it in years . Gary is brilliant !!!
@johnmeredith7536
Unfortunately tod shinder did it 1st but Gary Allen did it better
@diannawalterman4286
Yep todd snider rules
@diannawalterman4286
It was written by todd snider 1994
@ericparrish1515
Well at least the couple dicks are ok I reckon. Smack
@jfinney225
This is a cover written by a guy named Todd Snider. The song Long Year that Gary plays is also another cover thats a Todd song. If you have Never heard of Todd Snider you should check him out. Hes a singer songwriter outta East Nashville. IMO, hes one of the best songwriters in past few decades. You wont be let down. If you like these songs you should check him out. Take Care All
@crookdeezy
I love Todd Snider and I never knew this. Amazing singer songwriter, Ballad of the Devils Backbone Tavern was really inspirational for me.
@christhomas7024
I love Todd Snider but he is a comedian and a ghostwriter. That does not make this a cover. But thank you very much for reminding me he existed. I'm going to go back and look at his comedy songs.
@toddbertram462
Agreed Todd snider rules
@DennetteLivingston
This is Gary's best song ever