# Cheating at Solitaire

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> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheating_at_Solitaire
> Source revision: 1321866530
> License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)

{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2025}}
{{Infobox album|
| name         = Cheating at Solitaire
| type         = [Album](/source/Album)
| artist       = [Mike Ness](/source/Mike_Ness)
| cover        = CheatingAtSolitaire.jpg
| alt          = 
| released     = April 13, 1999
| recorded     = 1998
| venue        = 
| studio       = 
| genre        = [Rock](/source/Rock_music), [rock and roll](/source/rock_and_roll), [folk](/source/Folk_music), [country](/source/Country_music), [roots rock](/source/roots_rock), [Americana](/source/Americana_(music)), [Cowpunk](/source/Cowpunk)
| length       = 
| label        = [Time Bomb](/source/Time_Bomb_Recordings)
| producer     = [Mike Ness](/source/Mike_Ness), James Saez
| prev_title   = 
| prev_year    = 
| next_title   = [Under the Influences](/source/Under_the_Influences)
| next_year    = 1999
}}
{{Music ratings
|rev1 = [AllMusic](/source/AllMusic)
|rev1score = {{Rating|4|5}}<ref>[{{AllMusic|class=album|id=r401773|pure_url=yes}} AllMusic review]</ref>
|rev2= [Robert Christgau](/source/Robert_Christgau)
|rev2score={{rating-Christgau|neither}}<ref>[http://robertchristgau.com/get_artist.php?name=mike+ness Mike Ness Reviews]</ref>
}}
'''''Cheating at Solitaire''''' is the first solo [album](/source/album) from [Social Distortion](/source/Social_Distortion) frontman [Mike Ness](/source/Mike_Ness). Released in 1999, it is a roots-oriented approach to [rock and roll](/source/rock_and_roll). It features cameos by [Bruce Springsteen](/source/Bruce_Springsteen), [Brian Setzer](/source/Brian_Setzer), and members of [Royal Crown Revue](/source/Royal_Crown_Revue). [Johnny Cash](/source/Johnny_Cash) was invited to perform on the song "Ballad of a Lonely Man", but was too ill to record at the time.

"Dope Fiend Blues" and "I'm In Love w/My Car" were originally written/recorded in 1994 as a demo of [Social Distortion](/source/Social_Distortion)'s fifth album ''[White Light, White Heat, White Trash](/source/White_Light%2C_White_Heat%2C_White_Trash)''.<ref>[http://course1.winona.edu/mhauge/personal/sxdx/sets_art/demos/#losttracks2 Social Distortion & Mike Ness Trade List] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170110065515/http://course1.winona.edu/mhauge/personal/sxdx/sets_art/demos/#losttracks2#losttracks2 |date=2017-01-10 }}. Retrieved on July 29, 2006.</ref> Ness also originally wrote some of the songs on this album around 1997 while Social Distortion was planning their sixth album.

== Track listing ==
{{Track listing
| all_writing = Mike Ness, except where noted
| title1 = The Devil in Miss Jones
| length1 = 3:49
| title2 = [Don't Think Twice](/source/Don't_Think_Twice%2C_It's_All_Right)
| length2 = 3:47
| writer2 = [Bob Dylan](/source/Bob_Dylan)
| title3 = Misery Loves Company
| length3 = 3:47
| title4 = Crime Don't Pay
| length4 = 3:31
| title5 = Rest of Our Lives
| length5 = 3:44
| title6 = You Win Again
| writer6 = [Hank Williams](/source/Hank_Williams)
| title7 = Cheating at Solitaire
| length7 = 3:53
| title8 = No Man's Friend
| length8 = 4:57
| title9 = Charmed Life
| length9 = 3:38
| title10 = Dope Fiend Blues
| length10 = 5:17
| title11 = Ballad of a Lonely Man
| length11 = 3:25
| title12 = I'm in Love with My Car
| length12 = 4:41
| title13 = If You Leave Before Me
| length13 = 4:19
| title14 = [Long Black Veil](/source/Long_Black_Veil)
| length14 = 4:04
| writer14 = [Danny Dill](/source/Danny_Dill), [Marijohn Wilkin](/source/Marijohn_Wilkin)
| title15 = Send Her Back
| length15 = 2:57
| writer15 = Al Ferrier
| total_length = 59:00
}}

=== Vinyl Version ===
{{Track listing
| title16 = Company C
| length16 = 5:03
| total_length = 1:04:03
}}

== Personnel ==
* Bob Breen – assistant engineer
* Jolie Clemens – artwork
* Tom Corbett – mandolin
* Mando Dorame – tenor saxophone
* Paul Ericksen – assistant engineer
* [Josh Freese](/source/Josh_Freese) – drums, snare drums
* [Daniel Glass](/source/Daniel_Glass_(drummer)) – drums, snare drums
* Martin Klemm – mixing assistant
* Chris Lawrence – guitar, pedal steel
* Veikko Lepisto – electric bass, upright bass
* [Jamie Muhoberac](/source/Jamie_Muhoberac) – keyboards, Hammond organ
* Mike Ness – acoustic guitar, guitar, vocals, producer, artwork, mixing
* James Saez – acoustic guitar, guitar, percussion, keyboards, producer, engineer, slide guitar, mixing
* F. Scott Schafer – photography
* Eddy Schreyer – mastering
* [Brian Setzer](/source/Brian_Setzer) – guitar (on "Crime Don't Pay")
* [Bruce Springsteen](/source/Bruce_Springsteen) – guitar, vocals (on "Misery Loves Company")
* [Billy Zoom](/source/Billy_Zoom) – guitar (on "Dope Fiend Blues")

==Charts==
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"
|-
! scope="col"| Chart (1999)
! scope="col"| Peak<br />position
|-
{{album chart|Billboard200|80|artist=Mike Ness|rowheader=true|accessdate=March 12, 2025}}
|}

== References ==
<references/>

{{Authority control}}

Category:Mike Ness albums
Category:1999 debut albums
Category:Time Bomb Recordings albums

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Cheating at Solitaire](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheating_at_Solitaire) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheating_at_Solitaire?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.