Ryan Adams Scores Career-Best Chart Debut

Kelly Clarkson< may have had a solid (but slightly disappointing) chart debut, but Ryan Adams has plenty to celebrate: His 758th album (okay, his ninth studio effort) Easy Tiger debuted at number seven, selling 61,038 copies. This marks the scruffy rocker's highest chart debut of his career, besting Cold Roses, which hit the chart at number 26. Just last week the White Stripes earned the same distinction; this week Jack and Meg stayed near the top of the chart (at number four) plus albums by Amy Winehouse and Paul McCartney also made the top ten. So was it Adams' new career as a homemade rap star or his penchant for taking the stage in a shower cap that boosted his profile?

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Song Stories

“(We're Not) The Jet Set”

George Jones and Tammy Wynette | 1973

George Jones and Tammy Wynette were still married when they recorded the tongue-in-cheek "(We're Not) The Jet Set." The lyrics, written by Nashville songwriter Bobby Braddock, who also penned Wynette's "D-I-V-O-R-C-E" and Jones' "He Stopped Loving Her Today," make fun of the good life by declaring, "We're not the Jet Set/We're the old Chevrolet set." Braddock recalled that while writing the song, he needed the name of a city that evened out the rhyme he had with "Riviera" and "Missourah." “I got out a Rand McNally atlas," he said. "In the first part are the maps. The last part is an alphabetical listing of cities. I wanted a rustic, small-time sound. I went to the listing for Missouri. And I found 'Festus.' I loved the sound of it."

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