Now, that’s how you reimagine a song when you have creative freedom.
Today, Brooks & Dunn dropped Reboot II, and it is rocking. A follow-up to their 2019 record Reboot, Reboot II features a star-studded guest list. This time, Brooks & Dunn handed over the reins to the featured artist, giving them total creative control over their chosen song.
“Ronnie can tell you, it’s just turning everybody loose. Bring your own bands if you want. Bring your own producer if you want whatever studio you want to work in. We got a great producer and a band.
If you don’t want to deal with that, you can use our stuff and we will be there, after that pick a song and do it however you want.”’
Some artists on the album stuck pretty tired and true to the sound of the original cuts, like Morgan Wallen’s version of “Neon Moon,” but other artists went full throttle, putting their spin on their songs.
Marcus King is one artist who knocked it out of the park with his imagination of “Rock My World (Little Country Girl).”
The track was released on Brooks & Dunn’s 1993 sophomore record, Hard Workin’ Man. It features soulful melody with Kix Brooks taking the lead vocals. With the song already having a rock-forward melody, it was a perfect choice for King to reimagine for Reboot II.
King made this song by bringing the rock and roll soul to the studio for a full-throttle take on the song. When listening to this song, if you hadn’t known Brooks & Dunn originally cut this track, you’d think it was his own; he embodies the lyrics entirely when singing them in the studio.
“We took this track, and we put a little South Carolina red clay on it. No one’s ever going to have as much swagger as Kix Brooks. That’s just a hard fact, but I tried to tap into that and use as much of it as I could. I put some of that Kix Brooks bravado into the vocal itself.”
King said when reflecting on the recording of this track.
From the rip-roaring guitar riffs to his powerful vocal delivery, everything King did when reimagining this song gets a chef’s kiss. While King does not think his swagger lived up to Kix Brook’s when cutting this track, I’d beg to differ. King is right up there with Brooks.
“She’s got a T-Top Camaro with a scoop on the hood
And two big speakers blasting Johnny B. Goode
Looking so sweet it oughta be a crime
She plays with my heart and messes with my mind
Acts like Madonna but she listens to Merle
Rock my world little country girl…”
While I am still reviewing the record, taking in each song, this one is an early standout. King and his band knocked their take out of the park, and Ronnie Dunn even noted how impressed he was with this track during their recent appearance on Whiskey Riff Raff.
Put this one on max volume.
Of course, without the original, we wouldn’t be able to enjoy this reimagined version, so fire that one up while you’re here, too.
