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"A Real Fine Place to Start"
Single by Sara Evans
from the album Real Fine Place
Released	May 9, 2005 (2005-05-09)
Recorded	2005
Genre	Country pop
Length	4:00
Label	RCA Nashville
Songwriter(s)	Radney Foster George Ducas
Producer(s)	Sara Evans Mark Bright
Sara Evans singles chronology
"Tonight" (2004) "A Real Fine Place to Start" (2005) "Cheatin'" (2005)
Music video
"A Real Fine Place to Start" at CMT.com

"A Real Fine Place to Start" is a song co-written and originally recorded by American country music artist Radney Foster, taken from his fifth studio album Another Way to Go (2002). Foster wrote the track with George Ducas and produced it as well.

The track was then recorded by singer Sara Evans, released on May 9, 2005, as the lead single and title track to her fifth studio album Real Fine Place (2005) by RCA Nashville Records. Evans's version was produced by she and Mark Bright. It received positive reception and became her fourth number one single on the US Billboard Hot Country Songs chart, spending two weeks atop the chart. The track has been certified Gold by the RIAA for digital sales of 500,000 copies.

Content

Foster's version is played in the key of A-flat major. "A Real Fine Place to Start" is an up-tempo contemporary country song, with prominent electric guitar and steel guitar fills. The song's narrator tells about being in love and getting to know a person from the beginning, describing this as "a real fine place to start."

Critical reception

Deborah Evans Price of Billboard magazine gave the song a positive review, saying "the lyric has a joyful, buoyant take on love, and Evans' voice soars with every celebratory note The last couple of years have seen her hit her stride as a hitmaker, and this gorgeous single should continue that momentum."

Chart performance

"A Real Fine Place to Start" debuted on the US Billboard Hot Country Songs chart the week of May 7, 2005 at number 57, the third highest debut of the week. It rose quickly and was one of the biggest hits that summer. It entered the top-ten of the chart the week of August 13, 2005, becoming her eighth top-ten single. On September 24, 2005, the track would top the chart, displacing Brooks & Dunn's "Play Something Country", becoming her fourth number one single (her first since 2004's "Suds in the Bucket") and her fastest run to the top spot. It spent two weeks atop and 25 weeks overall on the chart. In August 2005, the track would receive a Spin Award from Broadcast Data Systems for 50,000 confirmed spins.

Music video

Peter Zavadil directed the music video for "A Real Fine Place to Start", which was filmed at the Grand Canyon National Park in Flagstaff, Arizona. It premiered to CMT on June 13, 2005. It would reach the top spot of the network's Top Twenty Countdown for the week of October 6, 2005.

Synopsis

The music video is mainly set in a desert with Evans singing the song in various places around the desert. In the beginning of the video a motorcycle is shown driving along a road in the middle in the desert with a couple in it. The couple then stops on the roadside and the video then shows the two holding hands and sitting on rocks in the desert. The couple exemplifies what the song is talking about. The video regularly shifts between Evans and the couple in the music video. While the video isn't showing the couple, it is showing Evans singing in various places in the desert, including desert rocks and by a bonfire. Towards the middle of the song, the video shows Evans performing with a band at night. The video also shows Evans playing her rhythmic guitar for a brief period of time.

Charts

References

1. "New Music Weekly: For the Week of May 9". Billboard Radio Monitor. Vol. 13, no. 18. May 6, 2005. p. 16.
2. Contemporary Country. Backbeat Books. 2007. p. 47. ISBN 9780879309183. ...lead single "Real Fine Place to Start" is a breezy foot-tapper that shows off Evans' throaty vocal over steady pop percussion.
3. Another Way to Go (album liner notes). Radney Foster. Dualtone Records. 2002. 80302.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
4. George, Ducas; Radney, Foster (July 17, 2006). "A Real Fine Place To Start". Musicnotes. Retrieved November 13, 2024.
5. Price, Deborah Evans (May 7, 2005). "Reviews: Singles". Billboard. Vol. 117, no. 19. Nielsen Business Media. p. 47. ISSN 0006-2510.
6. Sara Evans - "A Real Fine Place to Start" reaches #1 on the Country chart
7. "Hot Country Songs". Billboard. Vol. 117, no. 33. Nielsen Business Media. August 13, 2005. p. 67. ISSN 0006-2510.
8. Jessen, Wade (September 24, 2005). "Chart's Peak Is 'Fine Place' For Evans". Billboard. Vol. 117, no. 39. Nielsen Business Media. p. 79. ISSN 0006-2510.
9. "Announcing This Month's Recipients of BDSCertified Spin Awards". Billboard. Vol. 117, no. 39. Nielsen Business Media. September 24, 2005. p. 54. ISSN 0006-2510.
10. The Video Collection (DVD liner notes). Sara Evans. RCA Nashville Records, Sony BMG Music Entertainment. 2006. 82876-89999-9.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
11. "National Music: CMT". Radio & Records. No. 1612. June 24, 2005. p. 35.
12. "R&R Canada Country Top 30". Radio & Records. No. 1625. September 23, 2005. p. 58.
13. "Sara Evans Chart History (Hot Country Songs)". Billboard.
14. "Sara Evans Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard.
15. "Sara Evans Chart History (Radio Songs)". Billboard.
16. "R&R Country Top 50". Radio & Records. No. 1624. September 16, 2005. p. 65.
17. "R&R Most Played 2005: Canadian Formats". Radio & Records. No. 1636. December 9, 2005. p. 30.
18. "Best of 2005: Country Songs". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. 2005. Retrieved June 16, 2012.
19. "R&R Most Heard 2005: Country". Radio & Records. No. 1636. December 9, 2005. p. 58.
20. "American single certifications – Sara Evans – A Real Fine Place to Start". Recording Industry Association of America.

• 2005 singles
• Sara Evans songs
• Radney Foster songs
• Songs written by Radney Foster
• Songs written by George Ducas (singer)
• RCA Records Nashville singles
• Music videos directed by Peter Zavadil
• Song recordings produced by Mark Bright (record producer)
• 2005 songs