First Kiss

by Kid Rock

Overview

Kid Rock gives away the game in his album titles, making it plain on 2015's First Kiss that he's taking a sepia-tinted look back at his past, thinking back fondly to lost love and old tunes. In short, he's tapping into the nostalgia coursing through his last big hit, 2008's "All Summer Long," and turning it into a full album. Generally, this means leaning hard on his longstanding Bob Seger infatuation and ratcheting up the country inclinations that turned a little too stuffy on the Rick Rubin-produced Born Free. First Kiss is looser than that 2010 affair and, lacking such monuments to tackiness as "Cucci Galore," it's not as raunchy as 2012's Rebel Soul but, bless his heart, Kid hasn't gotten tasteful. When he sings about "Johnny Cash," he's envisioning himself as the Man in Black to his paramour's June Carter, he still snarls out the F word with a smirk and has the best time singing blues songs about booze. Whenever the tempo slows, Kid Rock slips into sentimentality, which he frequently does on the back half of the record. As long as he sticks to a bit of a Southern-fried soul groove, as he does on "Best of Me," he still works up a pulse but the seemingly blasphemous back-porch pair of "Jesus and Bocephus" and "FOAD" don't make nearly as deep an impression as "Drinking Beer with Dad," a heartfelt ode to tradition from the former rebel. Earlier on the album, Kid Rock admits "we can't fight this getting older" and that weary yet warm acceptance of his middle age is why First Kiss works: it's a bit bumpy and sometimes sleepy but it finds old Bob Ritchie settling into his comfort zone, knowing that he's in it for the long haul.

Product Details

Release Date:	02/24/2015
Label:	Warner Records
UPC:	0093624928973
catalogNumber:	547409

Tracks

1. First Kiss
2. Good Times, Cheap Wine
3. Johnny Cash
4. Ain't Enough Whiskey
5. Drinking Beer With Dad
6. Good Time Lookin' For Me
7. Best of Me
8. One More Song
9. Jesus and Bocephus
10. FOAD

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Kid Rock   Primary Artist,Synthesizer,Acoustic Guitar,Percussion,Piano,Drums,Electric Guitar,Keyboards,Tambourine,Turntables,Background Vocals,Shaker,wah wah guitar
Rayse Biggs   Horn
Herschel Boone   Background Vocals
Laura Creamer   Background Vocals
Dan Dugmore   Steel Guitar
Larry Franklin   Fiddle
Dann Huff   Acoustic Guitar,Mandolin,Electric Guitar
Rob Mathes   Conductor
David McMurray   Horn
Shawn Murphy   Background Vocals
Suzanne Ornstein   Violin
Jimmie Lee Sloas   Bass
Elizabeth Lim   Violin
Russell Terrell   Background Vocals
Dorian Crozier   Drums
Jimmie Bones   Piano,Background Vocals
Shannon Curfman   Background Vocals
Sharon Yamada   Violin
Lisa Kim   Violin,Concert Master
Wendy Sutter   Cello
Marlon Young   Acoustic Guitar,Bass,Electric Guitar
Vivek Kamath   Viola
Jung Sun Yoo   Violin
Barbara Payton   Background Vocals
Ed Jurdi   Electric Guitar,Slide Guitar
Adam Shoenfeld   Electric Guitar
Shmuel Katz   Viola
Gordy Quist   Electric Guitar
Richard Millsap   Drums
Annaliesa Place   Violin
Alan Stepansky   Cello
Charlie Judge   Organ,Piano,Accordion
Joanna Maurer   Violin
Trevor Nealon   Organ,Piano,Electric Piano
Stacy Michelle   Background Vocals
Mihai Marica   Cello
Hyunju Lee   Violin
Jessica Wagner-Cowan   Background Vocals
David Southern   Violin
Nathan Young   Electric Guitar
Remi Pelletier   Viola
Laura Frautchi   Violin
Darrel "Peanut" Smith   Bass

Technical Credits

Kid Rock   Producer,drum programming
Dann Huff   Producer
Rob Mathes   String Arrangements
Justin Niebank   Engineer
Sutton   Engineer
Mike E. Clark   Engineer
Niagara   Cover Painting
Marlon Young   Composer
Ed Jurdi   Composer
Jeff Orr   Composer
David Huff   drum programming
Donny Phillips   Art Direction
Gordy Quist   Composer
Robert J. Ritchie   Composer
Seth Morton   Engineer