“I Love This Bar”
Toby Keith
Written by Scotty Emerick and Toby Keith
Radio & Records
#1 (6 weeks)
November 7 – December 12, 2003
Billboard
#1 (5 weeks)
November 15 – December 13, 2003
Another Toby Keith smash from this era that has aged like wine.
It felt a bit understated – and maybe even low effort – at the time, coming off the bluster of his “Red, White, and Blue”- fueled persona.
Hearing it today, it sounds assured in its deliberate pace, like he’s taking a slow scan around the room and soaking it all in.
If not quite cinematic, it has the intimacy of hanging with lived in characters that we visit every week, as if “I Love This Bar” is the love child of Dukes of Hazzard and Cheers.
It’s a reminder that Keith’s appeal during this time was a throwback to Willie and Waylon and Merle, but borrowed more heavily from their late seventies and early eighties pop culture personality days than from their identity-defining breakthrough material.
It’s a take on outlaw country that’s suburban friendly enough to launch a casual themed restaurant chain.
This is a groovy little record, and it pairs great with Big T’s Smoked Prime Rib.
“I Love This Bar” gets an A.
Every No. 1 Single of the 2000s
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