We’ve been dying for this John Anderson tribute album since the second it was announced, as it’s slated to drop August 5th.
I mean c’mon, it’s a tribute to one of the greatest mainstays in all of country music in the ’80s and ’90s, as Anderson had a whopping 60 charting singles in four different decades as well. That’s some legendary stuff right there.
Not to mention, the lineuo of artists is PHENOMENAL.
Artists like Brothers Osborne, Tyler Childers, Eric Church, Luke Combs, Sierra Hull, Brent Cobb, Jamey Johnson, Ashley McBryde, Del McCoury, John Prine, Nathaniel Rateliff, Sturgill Simpson, and Gillian Welch & David Rawlings are all featured on the album.
Singer/songwriter Brent Cobb was one of the first to release his song in the tribute album, as he covered the hell out of Anderson’s “Wild and Blue,” the title track off his 1982 album.
Gillian Welch and David Rawlings also covered Anderson’s “I Just Came Home To Count The Memories” as another installment to the album.
With that being said, Sierra Ferrell is next in line, as she covered Anderson’s “Years,” the title track to his acclaimed 2020 album.
The song and album was produced by Dan Auerbach and David Ferguson, and Anderson himself couldn’t contain his excitement for Ferrell’s cover, along with the other stars who are taking part in the tribute:
“Listening to everybody do their own takes on the songs shows how the songs really come through. And I thought to myself, ‘You might have been young and foolish back then, but you sure did pick some good songs.’
It’s very gratifying to know that some things really do not change, and a great country song remains a great country song. Any one person on the record would be a real tribute, but all of them together? It’s a pretty big deal for me personally.”
Auerbach also added:
“We weren’t trying to piddle around and make the normal tribute record. It had to be the best singers with the best songs and the best arrangements, and they had to come into the studio.
This wasn’t like, ‘Mail me the song, and we’ll put it together.’ I think it makes this record unique. I don’t think most tribute records are done like this. I think that’s why it sounds like a cohesive album. It feels like an amazing mix tape.”
Check it out:
And of course, the original:
