Clint Black's new CD – Drinkin' Songs & Other Logic is in stores now. The all new music written by Black – a 12-song collection that has the flavor and flair of the music Black grew up listening to – is a deliberate return to his past.
Black is scheduled to appear on CNN Showbiz Tonight on Tuesday, October 4; "Regis & Kelly" on Wednesday, October 5; "Fox and Friends" on Fox on Thursday, October 6; and "The Tonight Show" on Tuesday, October 11. Check your local listings for airtimes in your area.
"I went out and bought all the music I grew up on that I didn't already have and spent three months listening to only that," Black said. "Only stuff from before I started making records, so it was pre-1989 Waylon, Willie, Buck Owens, Haggard, Don Williams, Jim Croce. And what I discovered was a simplicity in song that I had moved away from. It was quite an emotional journey, because these were all songs that moved me and inspired me to do what I've been doing ever since." Experience the journey for yourself as Clint takes us on a cut-by-cut tour of the new album:
Drinkin' Songs & Other Logic
Clint Black/Hayden Nicholas/Steve Wariner
We were in the process of recording and one of the songs we had wasn't fitting the theme of the album and wasn't worth keeping despite that, like "Back Home In Heaven." So at the last minute I called Steve Wariner and he, Hayden and I wrote that in my home office. We had it finished in about two or three hours. He came back with his guitar another day and we cut it. The recording ended up being just what it was intended to be. The whole idea of the album was really supposed to be songs about drinking, songs that are good for drinking or songs we wrote while drinking. It was fun coming up with all the references to drinking songs or the people who made them. My favorite verse is the one about Willie burning a hole in his guitar.
Heartaches
Clint Black
I worked that out in my head in the shower where a lot of my ideas come to me. There's something about the sound of the water. When a song comes to me in the shower I have to stay in there and work it through, because as soon as the water's off the idea seems to dry up. It took a lot of thought to figure out how to comfortably go from 3/4 to 4/4 and then get back to 3/4 again. Once I had the structure in my head the lyrics started pouring out. I love that it's a great surprise for the dancers in the clubs. All the people who don't like to two-step but like to fake their way through a slow dance as an excuse to hold somebody close will be forced to actually dance. This is also in the fine tradition of Ray Price or Bob Wills. I really miss that swing-shuffle music.
Code of the West
Clint Black/Hayden Nicholas
This was a line in my head, but it had no direction. I'm not a cowboy, but all my life I've been one in my heart. I think I was watching a documentary on cowboys and this started to come together. Hayden and I got together and tried to take that meaning and apply it to those old cowboys in the movies and to the cowboys of today who are out defending us. Our brothers and sisters in arms. We wanted to put our stamp on a Marty Robbins style song — have that strong imagery. As we were writing it, the song wanted to run off in several directions all at once, but we really forced ourselves to stay at home with it.
Rainbow In The Rain
Clint Black/Hayden Nicholas
I was kind of dragged kicking and screaming into this being the first single. I love the song, but I've had to stop trusting my own objectivity. Equity's Mike Kraski made a good case, saying it says something profound in a very simple way. I've always written songs I really liked but didn't necessarily think everybody else would. Other songs I've written and knew they'd appeal to just about everyone. This was in the former category, but what I ran into was that I didn't have a clear perspective on it. The reaction has surprised me, it's already doing well and getting traction at radio. And that's great because they're all my little childrens, and this one has some really deep, important lines.
Undercover Cowboy
Clint Black
This was born of my old club days watching the parade of guys and girls all chasing each other. It's fun to expose the underbelly of that whole scene in a fun way, not a dark way. The undercover cowboy is the guy who takes his wedding ring off and sticks it in his pocket. I love the way it turned out, but it wasn't easy to record. I wanted a certain thing to happen with the guitar, but I didn't want it to become redundant or hokey. We found a way to answer the vocal with a guitar part that we echoed to create an effect that was just what I was looking for.
Go It Alone
Clint Black/Hayden Nicholas
Hayden and I have had this around for quite a while. It's really meant to be about two cowboy buddies who, like characters in Lonesome Dove, spent their lives together, find one is dying and have to say goodbye. In terms of my body of work, it's the classic cowboy song. Really sad, but one of the strongest songs lyrically we've ever written. The chorus keeps bringing it back home that there's one trip you have to make alone. And it's the last one you make.
Too Much Rock
Clint Black/Hayden Nicholas
Hayden and I were driving somewhere around Nashville and he happened to say, "There's an awful lot of rock in this country." And I said, "No, there's too much rock in this country." Like "Killin' Time," we kind of paralleled the life of a farmer with that of a songwriter. The first verse is a farmer struggling with that life who, by the second verse, puts the hoe down to plant some seeds on Music Row. And of course, he finds out that's just as hard. The best part is it plays to my dad's concerns that I never had a fallback position if the music thing didn't work out. That's where the bridge comes in. This is one of Lilly's favorites. She gets in the truck and says, "Play number seven, dad."
A Big One
Clint Black/Tim Nichols
This is an idea I developed. The beginning of the chorus is what I had in mind. Tim Wipperman at Equity thought Tim Nichols and I would do well writing together. And I do like to write here and there with people other than Hayden because I always end up with something unexpected. Figuring out how the verses would juxtapose to the chorus took some time, so putting it together was really hard on the brain. During Country Radio Seminar we had a bunch of radio guys over to the house for lunch and we brought them out to the studio to be the drunken crowd for this song. We had the lyrics printed up and the first time through they did amazingly well. Too well. I had to tell them to ease up on the quality. You guys sound a little sober. So they cut loose and had fun with it. We got some great drunk singing and it was just right for the record.
I Don't Wanna Tell You
Clint Black/Hayden Nicholas
This is one of my favorite styles, the swing shuffle. This is traditionally what you would hear a lot of in the Texas clubs. It's kind of what I grew up with — Ray Price, Faron Young type stuff. And it turned out to be a real easy song to record. The vocals were difficult, though. It was hard to find my voice in it. Once I finally found a way to sing it, it really picked up. There have been times in the past I've given up on a song because I couldn't find my way through it vocally. This one was very close to that point, but I'm glad I didn't give up because I love the style so much and it fits so well with the album's theme.
Back Home In Heaven
Clint Black/Hayden Nicholas
Hayden's mother died recently and fortunately we have enough guitar players in the band to cover for him. He was able to spend a lot of the year at home and was there to hold her hand when she passed. I keep lots of songwriting notes and every day we're working in the studio I'm very careful to gather them all up in my notebook and take them with me. I keep them right by the bed because I wake up sometimes and a song will have sorted itself out. So I'm very particular about keeping all those notes with me. I've had the idea for "Back Home In Heaven" for a while, and it was going to be about coming home to my girls, Lisa and Lilly, from being out of town. And I planned to write it alone. For some reason I really can't explain, the scrap of paper with that title on it didn't make it back into my notebook one night. I came into the studio the next morning and Hayden was sitting there holding it. I'm trying to figure out how I could have possibly made a mistake I never make, and he says, "After my mom died your mom sent me a card that said, 'Your angel is in heaven watching over you.'" And we both about lost it. I told him this had to be providence. Something I never do just happened to relate to a note my mom sent him. He turned the line of the song around and it was just perfect. When it came time to record background vocals I wanted to bring in Little Big Town because I love their sound. Before the session, Kimberly's husband died unexpectedly. I called the label and said just mark that off the schedule. We can address it down the road. They called back and said Kimberly had heard the song and wanted to be a part of it?that this song meant a lot to her. It was going to be the first thing they did when she went back to work. So I said, fine, but if at any point they want to cancel — if they pull up in the driveway and she has second thoughts, cancel it. Well, they showed up and, to be recording anything was remarkable. But with the content of this song it had to be so personal to her. And she lost it several times during the session. I went into clown mode and tried to keep everyone distracted. It turned out to be a really good evening for her. She gave every indication that, even though it was tough, it was what she needed to be doing. They did an incredible job, and just added one more layer of meaning to a song that has plenty.
Thinking Of You (Familiar Drinkin' Song)
Clint Black
That was inspired by a friend who was going through hard times. The opening line is what inspired the rest of the song. I couldn't really write about what he was going through, so instead I decided to write it from the lover's point of view — somebody being able to get through a hard time because of a familiar drinkin' song. And I deliberately blurred the meaning. Is he singing about a song or just drinking, period? The line about mixing gin and misery is a play on Merle's "Misery and Gin."
Longnecks & Rednecks
Clint Black/Hayden Nicholas
This is another idea I had for going from 3/4 to 4/4, but this one stays in 4/4. It's just a fun look at what two very different people might call class. High society would consider it one thing, while rednecks would consider it something else. Having class in a redneck bar means drinking your beer from a bottle — anyone who pours it in a glass has none.
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