About Mac McAnally
Lyman Corbitt McAnally Jr. , known professionally as Mac McAnally, is an American singer-songwriter, session musician, and record producer. In his career, he has recorded ten studio albums and eight singles. Two of his singles were hits on the Billboard Hot 100, and six more on the Hot Country Songs chart. His ninth chart entry came in late 2008-early 2009 as a guest vocalist on Kenny Chesney's cover of his 1990 single "Down the Road".
In addition to his work as a solo artist, McAnally has written number-one singles for Alabama and Shenandoah, as well as songs for Sawyer Brown and T.G. Sheppard among others. He also holds a number of credits as a session musician, and has produced for Sawyer Brown, Restless Heart, and Jimmy Buffett. McAnally was also a longtime member of Buffett's backing band, the Coral Reefer Band, until Buffett's death in 2023.
Lyman Corbitt McAnally Jr. was born in Red Bay, Alabama. As a child, he began playing piano and singing in church at the Belmont First Baptist Church in Belmont, Mississippi, and by age fifteen, he had composed his first song. From there, he went on to become a session musician in Muscle Shoals, Alabama. During a session break, McAnally began to perform original material. The producers there encouraged him, and by 1977 he was signed to Ariola Records. His self-titled debut album produced the single "It's a Crazy World" which reached No. 37 on the Billboard Hot 100. Reviewing it in Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies , Robert Christgau said, "although it does often sound pat, as folk stoicism will in a post-folk context, the first side comes across pretty outspoken for a Mississippi singer-songwriter with royalties in the bank—the heroine of one song is a rape victim who murders both assailant and judge after the latter lets off the former. Side two is Joe South."
A second album, No Problem Here, was issued in 1978, followed in 1980 by Cuttin' Corners on RCA Records. These latter two albums produced no chart singles. However, he found success as a songwriter for Jimmy Buffett, in addition to co-writing Alabama's Number One hit "Old Flame".
McAnally continued to record even while writing for Buffett. Mac eventually signed with Geffen Records with two albums being issued in 1983 and 1988, respectively. He and Walt Aldridge co-wrote Ricky Van Shelton's 1987 single "Crime of Passion".
In 1990, McAnally signed to Warner Bros. Records, releasing Simple Life that year. This album produced his first Top 40 country hit in the No. 14 "Back Where I Come From." Kenny Chesney would also record McAnally's "Back Where I Come From" for his 1996 album Me and You. Also in 1990, Steve Wariner released a McAnally co-write, the Top Ten hit "Precious Thing." The only other single from Simple Life was the No. 70 "Down the Road", and by year's end, he exited Warner Bros.' roster.
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