Hot damn, I love me some John Anderson.
An absolute staple of the country music scene in the ’80s and ’90s, he brought us hits like “Seminole Wind,” “Straight Tequila Night,” “Swingin’,” “Black Sheep,” and more.
The man has put out 40 years of great country music (and counting), and it’s only right to honor him now with a good old fashioned tribute album.
And they BROUGHT IT, on this one.
Featuring Eric Church, Tyler Childers, Luke Combs, Ashley McBryde, Sierra Ferrell and more, the album even features a recording from the late, great legend, John Prine.
One of my early favorites however is Sturgill Simpson’s rendition of John’s 1992 hit single, “When It Comes To You.”
Written by Mark Knopfler, the song was originally recorded by the rock band Dire Straits for their 1991 album On Every Street. However, when it came time to put that ol’ Seminole Wind record together, John recorded the song with Mark on guitar.
It was released as the third single from the album in April of 1992, and wound up finishing just shy of a #1 on the Billboard country charts.
Stu’s cover stays pretty true to the original, while trading those lead licks for a more a subtle bluegrass approach with some fiddle. But with that haunting vocal tone from Stu, you can really feel that despair coming through somethin’ fierce.
Anytime Sturgill is participating in a project, you know it’s bound to be fantastic, and this one definitely doesn’t disappoint.
And with the vocal chord problems he was having after the release of Dood & Juanita, not to mention saying it was his last Sturgill Simpson record, who knows when we’ll hear more from him again.
And of course, the original:
