on-this-day-brad-paisley-releases-debut-single-in-1999

On This Day: Brad Paisley Releases Debut Single in 1999

The first of what would be many great songs released by Brad Paisley came out 22 years ago today (Monday, Feb. 22).

According to an article on TheBoot.com, the song was titled “Who Needs Pictures” and it was released in 1999. The song was the first to be released from the future country star’s first album. It was the album’s title track. The album was officially released in June of 1999.

Brad Paisley reportedly wrote the song “Who Needs Pictures” with Frank Rogers and Chris DuBois. Both Rogers and DuBois were close friends of Paisley’s, according to the article. It’s a song about how the moments that mean the most to us live on so clearly in our memories that we don’t need photographs to remind us of them.

Some of the lyrics from “Who Needs Pictures” are: “When we were down in Baton Rouge / And there wasn’t much to do / So we drove into New Orleans / Every afternoon / And I swear that you would think / That it was only yesterday / ‘Cause I can still see everything just fine / Who needs pictures / With a memory like mine.”

Unfortunately, those memories can also make us very sad when a relationship ends. Check out these lyrics from the song: “Somewhere in my closet there’s a cardboard box just sittin’ on a shelf / It’s full of faded memories / And it’s been there ever since the night you left.”

You can watch Brad Paisley’s music video for “Who Needs Pictures” below.

Success of First Song, Album Continued During Brad Paisley’s Career

According to the article, Brad Paisley’s “Who Needs Pictures” album received a CMA nomination for Album of the Year. The title track wasn’t the only popular song from the album.

The song “He Didn’t Have to Be,” was the next song released from the album. It was the first of Paisley’s songs to hit the top of the charts. Also, his song “Me Neither” reached the Top 20 on the charts. Another song, “We Danced,” was another chart-topping single for Brad Paisley.

Since his first song and album were released in 1999, Paisley was released 11 albums. And, according to the article, he remains happy that “People (still) want to come see you play these songs they love.” That, he has said, hasn’t changed since he broke into the music business more than 20 years ago.

The article also quotes Paisley as saying, “Almost everything else has changed, the way that you go about providing them that music … When I did ‘Who Needs Pictures,’ they pressed a few in vinyl. That was about the last time. And now, I don’t know how many people listen on CD anymore. They might buy the CD, but before they’re done with it, it will end up on some other format in a headphone device as an MP3,” Paisley reportedly said to CMT. “But that’s the thing that’s good about it: The business doesn’t change in terms of live music. People still go see you play.”