The Man I Want to Be

{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2025}}

{{Infobox album

| name = The Man I Want to Be

| type = studio

| artist = Chris Young

| cover = The Man I Want to Be.jpg

| alt =

| released = September 1, 2009

| recorded = 2008–09

| venue =

| studio =

| genre = * Neotraditional country

| length = 34:30

| label = RCA Nashville

| producer = James Stroud{{cite web|url=http://www.cmt.com/news/news-in-brief/1614996/nashville-stars-chris-young-releasing-new-album-on-sept-1.jhtml|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090712025550/http://www.cmt.com/news/news-in-brief/1614996/nashville-stars-chris-young-releasing-new-album-on-sept-1.jhtml|url-status=dead|archive-date=July 12, 2009|title=Nashville Star's Chris Young Releasing New Album on Sept. 1|date=June 30, 2009|work=CMT|accessdate=August 8, 2009}}

| prev_title = Chris Young

| prev_year = 2006

| next_title = Neon

| next_year = 2011

| misc = {{Singles

| name = The Man I Want to Be

| type = Studio

| single1 = Voices

| single1date = May 12, 2008

| single2 = Gettin' You Home (The Black Dress Song)

| single2date = February 17, 2009

| single3 = The Man I Want to Be

| single3date = November 16, 2009

| single4 = Voices (re-release)

| single4date = July 19, 2010

}}

}}

{{Music ratings

|rev1 = Allmusic

|rev1score = {{rating|3.5|5}}{{cite web|url={{AllMusic|class=album|id=r1626371|pure_url=yes}}|title=The Man I Want to Be review|last=Jurek|first=Thom|work=Allmusic|accessdate=September 4, 2009}}

|rev2 = Roughstock

|rev2score = (favorable){{cite web|url=http://www.roughstock.com/reviews/chris-young-the-man-i-want-to-be|title=The Man I Want to Be review|last=Bjorke|first=Matt|date=September 2, 2009|work=Roughstock|accessdate=September 4, 2009|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100603191716/http://www.roughstock.com/reviews/chris-young-the-man-i-want-to-be|archivedate=June 3, 2010}}

}}

The Man I Want to Be is the second studio album by American country music artist Chris Young. It was released on September 1, 2009 via RCA Nashville. The album includes the singles "Voices", "Gettin' You Home (The Black Dress Song)", and "The Man I Want to Be", all of which reached Number One single on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart.

Content

"Voices" was released in May 2008 as the album's first single. It peaked at number 37 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart, becoming Young's first Top 40 country hit. The album, originally to have been released in August 2008, was then delayed until September 2009. The second and third singles, "Gettin' You Home (The Black Dress Song)" and the title track, which were released in January 2009 and November 2009 respectively, both reached Number One on the country charts. In July 2010, Young re-released "Voices", his third consecutive Number One hit on the Hot Country Songs chart.

The album also includes cover versions of Waylon Jennings' 1987 hit "Rose in Paradise" (recorded here as a duet with Willie Nelson) and Tony Joe White's "Rainy Night in Georgia." In addition, "It Takes a Man" was previously a single in 2005 for Aaron Lines from his album Waitin' on the Wonderful.

Track listing

{{track listing

| title1 = That Makes Me

| writer1 = {{hlist|Cory Batten|Kent Blazy|Chris Young}}

| length1 = 3:06

| title2 = Voices

| writer2 = {{hlist|Chris Tompkins|Craig Wiseman|Young}}

| length2 = 3:06

| title3 = The Dashboard

| writer3 = Monty Criswell

| length3 = 3:31

| title4 = Gettin' You Home (The Black Dress Song)

| writer4 = {{hlist|Batten|Blazy|Young}}

| length4 = 3:32

| title5 = It Takes a Man

| writer5 = {{hlist|David Frasier|Ed Hill|Josh Kear}}

| length5 = 3:32

| title6 = The Shoebox

| writer6 = {{hlist|Tom Hambridge|Jeffrey Steele}}

| length6 = 3:45

| title7 = Rose in Paradise

| note7 = duet with Willie Nelson

| writer7 = {{hlist|Stewart Harris|Jim McBride}}

| length7 = 3:47

| title8 = Twenty One Candles

| writer8 = {{hlist|Hill|Randy Houser|Mark D. Sanders}}

| length8 = 2:31

| title9 = The Man I Want to Be

| writer9 = {{hlist|Brett James|Tim Nichols}}

| length9 = 3:27

| title10 = Rainy Night in Georgia

| writer10 = Tony Joe White

| length10 = 4:13

}}

Personnel

Chart performance

The Man I Want to Be debuted at number 6 on the U.S. Billboard Top Country Albums chart and number 19 on the U.S. Billboard 200. As of the chart dated February 26, 2011, the album has sold 418,528 copies in the US.{{cite web |url=http://www.roughstock.com/blog/thompson-square-debuts-strong-on-album-charts |title=Thompson Square Debuts Strong on Album Charts |work=Roughstock |date=February 16, 2011 |accessdate=February 19, 2011 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110222163131/http://www.roughstock.com/blog/thompson-square-debuts-strong-on-album-charts |archivedate=February 22, 2011 }}

{{col-begin}}

{{col-2}}

= Weekly charts =

class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"
scope="col"| Chart (2009)

! scope="col"| Peak
position

{{album chart|Billboard200|19|artist=Chris Young|rowheader=true|accessdate=December 19, 2020}}
{{album chart|BillboardCountry|6|artist=Chris Young|rowheader=true|accessdate=December 19, 2020}}

{{col-2}}

=Year-end charts=

class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"
scope="col"| Chart (2009)

! scope="col"| Position

scope="row"| US Top Country Albums (Billboard){{cite web|url=http://www.billboard.com/charts/year-end/2009/top-country-albums|title=Top Country Albums – Year-End 2009|work=Billboard|accessdate=December 19, 2020}}

| 52

scope="col"| Chart (2010)

! scope="col"| Position

scope="row"| US Billboard 200{{cite web|url=https://www.billboard.com/charts/year-end/2010/top-billboard-200-albums|title=Top Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 2010|work=Billboard|accessdate=December 19, 2020}}

| 151

scope="row"| US Top Country Albums (Billboard){{cite web|url=http://www.billboard.com/charts/year-end/2010/top-country-albums|title=Top Country Albums – Year-End 2010|work=Billboard|accessdate=December 19, 2020}}

| 25

{{col-end}}

= Singles =

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
rowspan="2"| Year

! rowspan="2"| Single

! colspan="3"| Peak chart positions

style="font-size:smaller;"

! width="45"| US Country

! width="45"| US

! width="45"| CAN

2008

| align="left"| "Voices"

| 37

| —

| —

rowspan="2"| 2009

| align="left"| "Gettin' You Home (The Black Dress Song)"

| 1

| 33

| 74

align="left"| "The Man I Want to Be"

| 1

| 48

| 81

2010

| align="left"| "Voices" (re-release)

| 1

| 53

| 86

colspan="5" style="font-size:8pt"| "—" denotes releases that did not chart

Certifications

{{Certification Table Top}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=United States|type=album|title=The Man I Want to Be|artist=Chris Young|award=Platinum|relyear=2009|certyear=2018|access-date=August 9, 2018}}

{{Certification Table Bottom | nosales=true | noshipments=true | streaming=true}}

References

{{Reflist}}

{{Chris Young}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Man I Want to Be}}

Category:2009 albums

Category:Chris Young (singer) albums

Category:RCA Records albums

Category:Albums produced by James Stroud