BIGSONG:
Craig Morgan Greer (born July 17, 1964) is an American country music artist. A veteran of the United States Army as a forward observer and current member of the United States Army Reserve, Morgan began his musical career in 2000 on Atlantic Records, releasing his self-titled debut album for that label before the closure of its Nashville division in 2000. In 2002, Morgan signed to the independent Broken Bow Records, on which he released three studio albums: 2003’s I Love It, 2005’s My Kind of Livin’, and 2006’s Little Bit of Life. These produced several chart hits, including “That’s What I Love About Sunday”, which spent four weeks at the top of the Billboard country charts while also holding the No. 1 position on that year’s Billboard Year-End chart for the country format. A greatest hits package followed in mid-2008 before Morgan signed to BNA Records and released That’s Why later that same year. After exiting BNA, Morgan signed with Black River Entertainment and released This Ole Boy in 2012, followed by A Whole Lot More to Me in 2016.
Morgan has charted seventeen times on the Billboard country charts. Besides “That’s What I Love About Sunday”, six more of his singles have reached that chart’s top ten: “Almost Home”, “Redneck Yacht Club”, “Little Bit of Life”, “International Harvester”, “Love Remembers”, and “Bonfire”.
Biography
Craig Morgan Greer was born in Kingston Springs, Tennessee, on July 17, 1964. He became an emergency medical technician at age 18. He served on active duty for nine and a half years in the US Army as a member of the 101st and 82nd Airborne Divisions and remained in the reserves for another six and a half years. On July 29, 2023 Morgan re-enlisted in the US Army Reserve while on stage at the Grand Ole Opry. The oath of enlistment was administered by Gen. Andrew Poppas, commander of the United States Army Forces Command while Command Sergeant Major Todd Sims and Senator Marsha Blackburn stood by him on stage. It was in fact Senator Blackburn who played a key role in Morgan’s re-enlistment.
Musical career
Upon his return home to Tennessee, he worked various jobs to support his family, including as a construction worker, a security guard and a Wal-Mart employee. He would later land a job in Nashville singing demos for other songwriters and publishing companies. The demos led to releasing his first album with Atlantic Records, the self-titled Craig Morgan in 2000. It produced three singles including “Something to Write Home About”, which reached number 39 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks (now Hot Country Songs) charts. The album was produced by Buddy Cannon and Norro Wilson, with co-writing credits from Cannon, Bill Anderson and Harley Allen among others. The album’s final track, “I Wish I Could See Bakersfield”, included a recitation from Merle Haggard. Country Standard Time critic Jon Weisberger gave the album a mixed review, saying that Morgan had a strong singing voice but that most of the songs were “by-the-numbers”. Jim Patterson of The Ledger said that lead-off single “Something to Write Home About” was “pedestrian”, but that the rest of the album was “an uncommonly assured hard-country effort”. Late in the year, Morgan charted a Christmas single entitled “The Kid in Me”. Morgan left Atlantic Records in early 2001 when the label closed its Nashville branch, but said that he was not afraid of his musical future because he still had a publishing contract at the time.
