On This Day in 2003, Brad Paisley Released His First No. 1 Album

On this day (July 22) in 2003, Brad Paisley released his third studio album, Mud on the Tires. The album saw Paisley moving away from the neotraditional sound of his previous albums and toward a pop-leaning sound that primed him for crossover success. Mud on the Tires was the first of nine No. 1 country albums and eight top 10 entries on the all-genre albums chart.

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Paisley saw some chart success before releasing Mud on the Tires. His 1999 debut album, Who Needs Pictures, peaked at No. 13 on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart. His 2001 sophomore LP, Part II, peaked at No. 3 on the country chart. It was also his album to reach the top 40 on the Billboard 200. His third album marked the beginning of a long line of crossover hits. Excluding his 2006 Christmas record, every studio album he has released since 2003 has gone to No. 1 on the country chart. Only his 2017 album, Love and War, missed the top 10 on the all-genre chart. It peaked at No. 13.

[RELATED: On This Day in 2009, Brad Paisley Performed a Timely New Song at the White House]

Mud on the Tires also produced one of Paisley’s most memorable songs. “Whiskey Lullaby,” his duet with Alison Krauss, was a No. 3 hit on the country chart and peaked at No. 41 on the Hot 100. Krauss was only one of the guests on the album. Dan Aykroyd and James Belushi sing backing vocals on “That’s Love.” The album also contains two skits that feature the Kung Pao Buckaroos: Bill Anderson, George Jones, and Little Jimmy Dickens.

Brad Paisley on the Changes That Mud on the Tires Different

In an interview, Brad Paisley reflected on the sound of Mud on the Tires. “What I ended up doing is playing a lot more unique stuff on the guitar than I played on the first albums because I didn’t have time to scope it in as much,” he explained. They only had a few months to make the album, whereas they had almost a year to cut both of his previous LPs.

“Vocally, you kind of get a sense of who I am in a spontaneous sense. The band sounds fresher and live,” he added. “This is a bigger conglomeration of my band than on the first two albums. This is mostly them with additional musicians that made sense. None of it is having to replace a band member or anything like that. These guys are really good in the studio,” Paisley explained.

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