Whitey Ford Sings the Blues

Whitey Ford Sings the Blues is the second solo studio album by American recording artist Everlast, and the first one following his departure from House of Pain. It was released on September 8, 1998 via Tommy Boy Records, a full eight years after his solo debut album Forever Everlasting and after he had a major heart attack.[4][5] "Whitey Ford" in the album title refers to the New York Yankees pitcher with that name.[4]

Whitey Ford Sings the Blues
Studio album by Everlast
Released	September 8, 1998
Recorded	1997–98
Genre	Blues, rock, blues rock, hip hop
Length	55:07
Label	Tommy Boy
Producer	Carl Stubner (exec.) Everlast (also exec.) Dante Ross (also exec.) John Gamble Divine Styler Siba-Giba E-Swift
Everlast chronology
Forever Everlasting (1990) Whitey Ford Sings the Blues (1998) Eat at Whitey's (2000)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[1]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music	[2]
Robert Christgau	[3]

The record was both a commercial and critical success (selling more than 3 million copies) and went 2x Platinum according to RIAA. It peaked at No. 9 on the Billboard 200. Its hit single "What It's Like" became the artist's most popular and successful song, which received him a Grammy Award nomination for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance at 42nd Annual Grammy Awards. has reached No.1 on Billboard Alternative Songs.

Whitey Ford Sings the Blues blended rap with acoustic and electric guitars, developed by Everlast together with producers Dante Ross and John Gamble. The album primarily incorporates a mix of musical styles such as blues, rock and hip hop.

Singles

Whitey Ford Sings the Blues produced five singles: "What It's Like", "Painkillers", "Money (Dollar Bill)", "Ends", and "Today (Watch Me Shine)". Its lead single "What It's Like" peaked at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks and Hot Modern Rock Tracks. "Ends" peaked at No. 7 on the Billboard Alternative Songs, "Today (Watch Me Shine)" peaked at No. 12 on the Ö3 Austria Top 40, and the other two did not appear in main music charts. "Painkillers" appeared in 1999 Jet Li starring-in film Black Mask.

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"The White Boy Is Back"	Kurtis Walker Mark Morales Damon Wimbley Darren Robinson	Dante Ross John Gamble	0:45
2.	"Money (Dollar Bill)" (featuring Sadat X)	Erik Schrody Ross Russell Simmons Jimmy Spicer David Reeves Larry Smith Pete Wingfield Joe Jammer DeLisle Harper Glen Lefleur Mike Vernon	Ross Gamble	3:14
3.	"Ends"	Schrody Ross Clifford Smith Corey Woods Dennis Coles Gary Grice Jason Hunter Lamont Hawkins Robert Diggs Jr. Russel Jones Isaac Hayes David Porter	Ross Gamble	4:33
4.	"What It's Like"	Schrody	Ross Gamble	5:03
5.	"Get Down"	Schrody	Ross Gamble	3:59
6.	"Sen Dog"	Senen Reyes	Ross Gamble	0:15
7.	"Tired"	Schrody Ross John Gamble	Ross Gamble	2:22
8.	"Hot to Death"	Schrody Mark Richardson	Divine Styler	3:49
9.	"Painkillers"	Schrody	Siba Giba	3:23
10.	"Prince Paul"	Paul Huston	Ross Gamble	0:59
11.	"Praise the Lord"	Schrody Eric Brooks Keith Elam Chris Martin Greg Mays Darryl Barnes	E-Swift	3:05
12.	"Today (Watch Me Shine)" (featuring Bronx Style Bob)	Schrody	Ross Gamble	5:02
13.	"Guru"	Elam	Ross Gamble	0:17
14.	"Death Comes Callin'"	Bill Curtis Richard Cornwell Schrody Ross	Ross Gamble	4:16
15.	"Funky Beat" (featuring Casual and Sadat X)	Schrody John Owens Derrick Murphy Ross Sekou Bunch Al Diaz Malik Johnson Stephan Piccarell	Ross Gamble	4:03
16.	"The Letter"	Schrody Ross	Ross Gamble	2:06
17.	"7 Years"	Schrody Ross	Ross Gamble	4:04
18.	"Next Man"	Schrody Ross	Ross Gamble	3:52
Total length:				55:07

Notes

• "The White Boy Is Back" is a cover song of "The Fat Boys Are Back" by Fat Boys, performed by Kia Jeffries
• "Ends" features background vocals by Bronx Style Bob

Samples[6]

• "The White Boy Is Back" contains samples of "The Fat Boys Are Back" by Fat Boys (1985)
• "Money (Dollar Bill)" contains samples of "Go No Further" by Olympic Runners (1975) and "Money (Dollar Bill Y'all)" by Jimmy Spicer (1983)
• "Ends" contains samples of "Rebirth" by Gershon Kingsley (1970), "C.R.E.A.M." by Wu-Tang Clan (1993), and "Friends" by Whodini (1984)
• "What It's Like" contains samples of "Say It Loud, I'm Black and I'm Proud" by James Brown (1968)
• "Get Down" contains samples of "Bumpin' Bus Stop" by Thunder and Lightning (1974) and "Impeach the President" by the Honey Drippers (1973)
• "Tired" contains samples of "Kool Is Back" by Funk, Inc. (1971)
• "Painkillers" contains samples of "Until It's Time for You to Go" by Grover Washington Jr. (1971)
• "Praise the Lord" contains samples of "DWYCK" by Gang Starr & Nice & Smooth (1992)
• "Today (Watch Me Shine)" contains samples of "Everybody Loves the Sunshine" by Roy Ayers Ubiquity (1976)
• "Death Comes Callin'" contains samples of "Gotta Learn How to Dance" by the Fatback Band (1975), "Funky Drummer" by James Brown (1970), "Change the Beat (Female Version)" by Beside (1982)
• "Funky Beat" contains samples of "Beat Bop" by Rammellzee & K-Rob (1983)
• "7 Years" contains samples of "Hard to Handle" by Otis Redding (1968) and "Spoonin' Rap" by Spoonie Gee (1979)
• "Next Man" contains samples of "Tropical Scene" by The Jonny Teupen Group (1977)

Personnel

Adapted from Discogs[7]

Vocalists

• Eric Francis Schrody - vocals (tracks 2-5, 7-9, 11-12, 14-18)
• Derek Murphy - vocals (track 2, 15)
• Bob Khaleel - vocals (track 12), backing vocals (track 3)
• Jon Owens - vocals (track 15)
• Kia Jeffries - vocals (track 1)
• Senen Reyes - voice (track 6)
• Paul Edward Huston - voice (track 10)
• Keith Edward Elam - voice (track 13)

Instrumentalists

• Eric Francis Schrody - guitar (track 3-4, 14, 17), scratches (track 5, 12), keyboards (track 14)
• Dante Ross - drum programming & scratches (track 15); piano, bass & strings (track 16)
• Keith "Keefus" Ciancia - keyboards (track 1, 5, 17)
• Nightrain Merlot - bass (track 3, 8, 12)
• Giovanni Loria - string arrangement (track 4), bass (track 5, 17)
• Ben Bocardo - bass (track 4)
• Elizabeth Wright - cello (track 4)
• Stephan Cullo - keyboards (track 4)
• John Wang - viola (track 4)
• Alen C. Agadhzhanyan - first violin (track 4)
• Jacqueline Suzuki - second violin (track 4)
• Darren Robinson - guitar (track 12)
• John Norwood Fisher - bass (track 14)
• Melvin Babu - scratches (track 14)
• DJ Daz - scratches (track 14)
• John Gamble - bass (track 15)
• Geoff Gallegos - tenor saxophone (track 17)
• Dan Osterman - trombone (track 17)
• Todd M. Simon - trumpet (track 17)

Technicals

• John Gamble - producer (tracks 1-7, 10, 12-18), mixing (track 3-5, 7, 9, 12, 14-18), engineer (tracks 1-5, 7-8, 11-12, 14-18)
• Dante Ross - producer (tracks 1-7, 10, 12-18), mixing (track 3-5, 7, 12, 14-17), executive producer
• Jamie Staub - mixing (tracks 3-5, 8, 11-12, 14-15, 17)
• Mark Richardson - producer & mixing (track 8)
• Eric Brooks - producer & mixing (track 11)
• Siba Giba - producer (track 9)
• Eric Francis Schrody - executive producer
• Carl Stubner - executive producer

Additional

• Dante Ross - A&R direction
• Max Nichols - A&R direction
• Jason Rand - art direction, design
• Keith Carter - photography

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (1998-2000) Peak position Australian Albums (ARIA)[8] 29 Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[9] 14 Canadian Albums (Billboard)[10] 8 Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[11] 66 German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[12] 12 New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[13] 28 Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[14] 20 UK Albums (OCC)[15] 19 US Billboard 200[16] 9 US Independent Albums (Billboard)[17] 14 US Heatseekers Albums (Billboard)[18] 1

Year-end charts Chart (1999) Position Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[19] 38 German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[20] 40 US Billboard 200[21] 24

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
United States (RIAA)[22]	2× Platinum	2,000,000^^
^^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

1. Henderson, Alex. "Whitey Ford Sings the Blues – Everlast". AllMusic.
2. Larkin, Colin (ed.) (2011). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th edn). London: Omnibus Press. p. 1018. ISBN 978-0-85712-595-8.CS1 maint: extra text: authors list (link)
3. Christgau, Robert. "Robert Christgau: Album: Everlast: Whitey Ford Sings the Blues". Robert Christgau.
4. Mukherjee, Tiarra (September 29, 1998). "Everlast's White Boy Blues". Rolling Stone.
5. Rabin, Nathan (March 29, 2002). "Everlast: Whitey Ford Sings The Blues". The A.V. Club.
6. "Whitey Ford Sings the Blues by Everlast: Album Samples, Covers and Remixes". WhoSampled. Retrieved 2017-03-07.
7. "Everlast - Whitey Ford Sings The Blues". Discogs.
8. "Australiancharts.com – Everlast – Whitey Ford Sings the Blues". Hung Medien. Retrieved April 24, 2019.
9. "Austriancharts.at – Everlast – Whitey Ford Sings the Blues" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved April 24, 2019.
10. "Everlast Chart History (Canadian Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved April 24, 2019.
11. "Dutchcharts.nl – Everlast – Whitey Ford Sings the Blues" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved April 24, 2019.
12. "Offiziellecharts.de – Everlast – Whitey Ford Sings the Blues" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved April 24, 2019.
13. "NZ Top 40 Albums Chart". Recorded Music NZ. Retrieved April 24, 2019.
14. "Swisscharts.com – Everlast – Whitey Ford Sings the Blues". Hung Medien. Retrieved April 24, 2019.
15. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved April 24, 2019.
16. "Everlast Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved April 24, 2019.
17. "Everlast Chart History (Independent Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved April 24, 2019.
18. "Everlast Chart History (Heatseekers Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved April 24, 2019.
19. "Jahreshitparade Alben 1999". austriancharts.at. Retrieved September 12, 2020.
20. "Top 100 Album-Jahrescharts". GfK Entertainment (in German). offiziellecharts.de. Retrieved September 12, 2020.
21. "Top Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 1999". Billboard. Retrieved September 12, 2020.
22. "American album certifications – EVERLAST – WHITEY FORD SINGS THE BLUES". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved April 24, 2019. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH.