''Stoned Cold Country'' is a tribute album to

the Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for over six decades, they are one of the most popular, influential, and enduring bands of the Album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the band pione ...

featuring covers performed by

country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

artists. It was released on March 17, 2023 by This Is Hit and was produced by Robert Deaton.

Background

The album, made to celebrate the Stones' 60th anniversary as a band, will feature

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may refer to a sovereign state, state with limited recognition, constituent country, ...

artists such as

Eric Church Kenneth Eric Church (born May 3, 1977) is an American country music singer-songwriter. He has released seven studio albums through Capitol Nashville since 2005. His debut album, 2006's '' Sinners Like Me'', produced three singles on the ''Billb ...

Maren Morris Maren Larae Morris (born April 10, 1990) is an American singer-songwriter. Rooted in the country genre, her music blends in elements of pop and R&B. Her accolades include a Grammy Award, an American Music Award, five Country Music Associatio ...

, and

Ashley McBryde Ashley Dyan McBryde (born July 29, 1983) is an American country music singer–songwriter. She grew up in Arkansas and she was drawn to various types of music from a young age. She also developed a passion for writing songs and later moved to Nash ...

, covering the band's songs. The project was helmed and produced by Robert Deaton, who called the album "country music's thank you to the Rolling Stones for 60 years of inspiration and providing the soundtrack of our lives." Deaton said the album, and his country music-centered career, were partly inspired by the Stones, explaining that he heard

Ronnie Milsap Ronnie Lee Milsap (born Ronald Lee Millsaps; January 16, 1943) is an American country music singer and pianist. He was one of country music's most popular and influential performers of the 1970s and 1980s. Nearly completely blind from birth, h ...

live cover of "

Honky Tonk Women "Honky Tonk Women" is a song by the English rock band the Rolling Stones. It was released as a non-album single in July 1969 in the United Kingdom, and a week later in the United States (a country version called "Country Honk" was later includ ...

" from 1976 and believed it to be "one of the greatest country music songs of all time." The lead single,

Brothers Osborne Brothers Osborne is an American country music duo from Deale, Maryland. The duo consists of brothers TJ Osborne (lead vocals, rhythm guitar) and John Osborne (lead guitar, background vocals). They signed a recording contract with EMI Records ...

and

the War and Treaty The War and Treaty are an American husband and wife duo consisting of singer-songwriters Michael Trotter Jr. and Tanya Trotter. Their debut studio album '' Healing Tide'' (2018), received critical acclaim upon its release. Soon afterwards, they ...

's rendition of "

It's Only Rock 'n Roll (But I Like It) "It's Only Rock 'n Roll (But I Like It)" is the lead single from English rock band the Rolling Stones' 1974 album ''It's Only Rock 'n Roll''. Writing is credited to Mick Jagger and Keith Richards and the single reached the top ten in the UK charts ...

", released November 4. The second single,

Elvie Shane Elvie Shane (born May 22, 1988) is an American country music singer. He is signed to BBR Music Group and in 2020 he released his debut single "My Boy", which has charted on Country Airplay. Shane was born in Caneyville, Kentucky, where he grew u ...

's cover of "

Sympathy for the Devil "Sympathy for the Devil" is a song by English rock band the Rolling Stones. The song was written by Mick Jagger and credited to the Jagger–Richards partnership. It is the opening track on the band's 1968 Studio album, album ''Beggars Banquet ...

", was released January 13.

Lainey Wilson Lainey Denay Wilson (born May 19, 1992) is an American country music, country singer-songwriter. She performed at an early age, before going to Nashville, Tennessee, Nashville to pursue a career as a country performer. In 2014, she released her f ...

's version of "You Can't Always Get What You Want" was released as the third single on February 17. The fourth single,

Jimmie Allen James Edward Allen (born June 18, 1985) is an American country music singer and songwriter. He was signed to Broken Bow Records imprint Stoney Creek, for which he released the two singles " Best Shot" and " Make Me Want To" and the 2018 album '' ...

's version of "Miss You", was released on March 3, 2023.

Production

Per

BMG Rights Management BMG Rights Management GmbH (also known simply as BMG) is an international music company based in Berlin, Germany. It combines the activities of a music publisher and a record label. BMG was formed in October 2008 after Bertelsmann sold its st ...

CEO Hartwig Masuch, Deaton sold him on the album over "three bottles of white wine" at a dinner in Los Angeles. BMG own the publishing rights to

Mick Jagger Sir Michael Philip Jagger (born 26 July 1943) is an English musician. He is known as the lead singer and one of the founder members of The Rolling Stones. Jagger has co-written most of the band's songs with lead guitarist Keith Richards; Jagge ...

and

Keith Richards Keith Richards (born 18 December 1943) is an English musician, songwriter, singer and record producer who is an original member, guitarist, secondary vocalist, and co-principal songwriter of the Rolling Stones. His songwriting partnership wi ...

' songwriting. Deaton confirmed that Jagger and Richards gave their blessing to the project personally, though it wasn't needed. With that, he began the process of selecting artists. He listened to the Stones' songs "over and over, 100 times" so he good decide which songs to pair with which artists, with Masuch setting no rules on who he chose or how many had to be BMG signees. Only three BMG artists – Elvie Shane, Lainey Wilson, and Jimmie Allen – made the cut. Deaton allowed

Zac Brown Zachry Alexander Brown (born July 31, 1978) is an American singer, songwriter, and musician. He is best known as the co-founder and lead singer of the country Zac Brown Band, as well as electronic dance music group Sir Rosevelt. In 2019, Brown ...

to choose "

Paint It Black "Paint It Black" is a song by the English rock band the Rolling Stones. A product of the songwriting partnership of Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, it is a raga rock song with Indian, Middle Eastern and Eastern European influences and lyrics ...

" for his band to record. All musicians recorded live without

click track A click track is a series of audio cues used to synchronize sound recordings, sometimes for synchronization to a Film, moving image. The click track originated in early sound movies, where optical marks were made on the film to indicate precise ...

s. The songs were recorded in various

Nashville Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

-area studios.

Promotion

The War and Treaty and the Brothers Osborne performed their "It's Only Rock 'n Roll" cover together at the 2022 CMA Awards, with the show's co-host

Luke Bryan Thomas Luther "Luke" Bryan (born July 17, 1976) is an American country music singer, songwriter, and television personality. Bryan is a five-time "Entertainer of the Year", being awarded by both the Academy of Country Music Awards and the Count ...

introducing the performance and album.

Style

The album is said not to make pure country out of the Stones' catalogue, but to bring together country artists who have a

rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock-n-roll, and rock 'n' roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from African ...

bent and have them stay close to the original songs, just with added

steel guitar A steel guitar () is any guitar played while moving a steel bar or similar hard object against plucked strings. The bar itself is called a "steel" and is the source of the name "steel guitar". The instrument differs from a conventional guitar i ...

Reception

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

''s Chris Willman wrote that not all fourteen songs pay off, but "highlights abound" including Church, Wilson,

Little Big Town Little Big Town is an American country music vocal group from Homewood, Alabama. Founded in 1998, the group has had the same four members since its founding: Karen Fairchild, Kimberly Schlapman (née Roads), Phillip Sweet, and Jimi Westbrook. Fa ...

, and

blues rock Blues rock is a fusion music genre, genre and form of rock music, rock and blues music that relies on the chords/scales and instrumental improvisation of blues. It is mostly an electric ensemble-style music with instrumentation similar to electri ...

musician

Marcus King Marcus King (born March 11, 1996) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He was initially known as lead singer, guitarist, and founder of The Marcus King Band. His 2020 album ''El Dorado'' recorded under his own name receiv ...

Track listing

Personnel

Musicians

"(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" * Chris Harris – acoustic guitar *

Danny Rader Danny Rader (born November 1, 1981) is a musician from Panama City, Florida. Born into a musical family, he began to play drums at age 2 and branched out into bass, guitar and piano in his early teens. Later he incorporated bouzouki, mandolin, b ...

– electric guitar,

Hammond B3 organ The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert, first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding #Drawbars, drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, sound was created ...

* Matt Helmkamp – electric guitar * Christian Sancho – bass * Quinn Hill – drums * Maureen Murphy and Nickie Conley – backing vocals "Honky Tonk Women" *

Kix Brooks Leon Eric Brooks III, better known by his stage name Kix Brooks (born May 12, 1955), is an American country music artist, actor, and film producer best known for being one half of the duo Brooks & Dunn and host of radio's ''American Country Cou ...

and

Ronnie Dunn Ronald Gene Dunn (born June 1, 1953) is an American country music singer-songwriter and record executive. Starting in 2011, Dunn has worked as a solo artist following the temporary dissolution of Brooks & Dunn. He released his Ronnie Dunn (alb ...

– lead vocals * Danny Rader – acoustic guitar *

Kenny Greenberg Kenneth S. Greenberg is an American guitarist, songwriter, producer, and session musician. He is known for bringing a rock-and-roll sensibility to Nashville recording sessions. Biography Greenberg was born in Cleveland, Ohio but attended junio ...

and Rob McNelley – electric guitar * Michael Rhodes – bass * Miles McPherson – drums * Gary Morse –

* Maureen Murphy and Nickie Conley – backing vocals "Dead Flowers" * Danny Rader – acoustic guitar, backing vocals *

Steve Mackey Stephen Patrick Mackey (10 November 1966 – 2 March 2023) was an English musician and record producer best known as the bass guitarist for the Britpop band Pulp, which he joined in 1989. As a record producer, he produced songs and albums by ...

– bass *

Greg Morrow Greg Morrow is an American drummer, percussionist, session musician, mixing engineer, and vocalist. Biography Morrow was born in Ripley, Tennessee and raised in Memphis. At age 11, Morrow and his band performed on a local TV show, and he par ...

– drums * Rob McNelley – electric guitar * Mike Rojas – Hammond B3 organ, piano * Mike Johnson – steel guitar "It's Only Rock 'n Roll (But I Like It)" *

John Osborne John James Osborne (12 December 1929 – 24 December 1994) was an English playwright, screenwriter, actor, and entrepreneur, who is regarded as one of the most influential figures in post-war theatre. Born in London, he briefly worked as a jo ...

and Kenny Greenberg – electric guitar * Danny Rader – acoustic guitar * Michael Rhodes – bass * Greg Morrow – drums * Mike Rojas – keyboards * Sam Levine –

baritone saxophone The baritone saxophone (sometimes abbreviated to "bari sax") is a member of the saxophone family of instruments, larger (and lower-pitched) than the tenor saxophone, but smaller (and higher-pitched) than the bass saxophone, bass. It is the lowe ...

tenor saxophone The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor and the alto are the two most commonly used saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B (whi ...

* Roy Agee – trombone * Mike Haynes – trumpet "Miss You" * Danny Rader – acoustic guitar * Kenny Greenberg – electric guitar * Michael Rhodes – bass * Greg Morrow – drums * Mike Rojas – keyboards *

Mickey Raphael Michael Siegfried Raphael (born November 7, 1951) is an American harmonica player, music producer and actor likely best known for his work with Willie Nelson, with whom he has toured as part of The Family since 1973. He has performed or record ...

– harmonica * Maureen Murphy and Nickie Conley – backing vocals "Tumbling Dice" *

Adam Shoenfeld Adam Shoenfeld (born April 29, 1974) is a professional guitarist, songwriter and producer based in Nashville, TN. Primarily focused on modern country music, his guitar playing has been featured on over 500 albums, and is closely associated with Bi ...

and Jerry McPherson – electric guitar * Michael Rhodes – bass * Evan Hutchings – drums * Mike Rojas – Hammond B3 organ, piano *

Dan Dugmore Dan Dugmore is an American session musician known primarily for playing the pedal steel guitar Born in 1949, Dugmore was raised in Pasadena, California. Influenced by the Flying Burrito Brothers, he learned to play steel guitar after Flying Bur ...

– steel guitar * Maureen Murphy and Nickie Conley – backing vocals "Can't You Hear Me Knocking" *

– lead vocals, electric guitar * Drew Smithers – electric guitar * Stephen Campbell – bass * Jack Ryan – drums * Mike Runyon – keyboards * Christopher Spies – saxophone * Justin Johnson – trumpet, trombone,

tambourine The tambourine is a musical instrument in the percussion family consisting of a frame, often of wood or plastic, with pairs of small metal jingles, called "zills". Classically the term tambourine denotes an instrument with a drumhead, thoug ...

shaker Shaker or Shakers may refer to: Religious groups * Shakers, a historically significant Christian sect * Indian Shakers, a smaller Christian denomination Objects and instruments * Shaker (musical instrument), an indirect struck idiophone * Cock ...

* Maureen Murphy and Nickie Conley – backing vocals "Wild Horses" *

Jimi Westbrook Little Big Town is an American country music vocal group from Homewood, Alabama. Founded in 1998, the group has had the same four members since its founding: Karen Fairchild, Kimberly Schlapman (née Roads), Phillip Sweet, and Jimi Westbrook. Fa ...

Karen Fairchild Little Big Town is an American country music vocal group from Homewood, Alabama. Founded in 1998, the group has had the same four members since its founding: Karen Fairchild, Kimberly Schlapman (née Roads), Phillip Sweet, and Jimi Westbrook. Fa ...

Kimberly Schlapman Little Big Town is an American country music vocal group from Homewood, Alabama. Founded in 1998, the group has had the same four members since its founding: Karen Fairchild, Kimberly Schlapman (née Roads), Phillip Sweet, and Jimi Westbrook. Fa ...

, and Philip Sweet – vocals * Kris Donegan – acoustic guitar * Rob McNelley – electric guitar * Eli Beaird – bass * Evan Hutchings – drums * Akil Thompson – Hammond B3 organ, piano * Paul Franklin – steel guitar "Paint It Black" *

– lead vocals,

nylon-string guitar The classical guitar, also known as Spanish guitar, is a member of the guitar family used in classical music and other styles. An acoustic wooden string instrument with strings made of gut or nylon, it is a precursor of the modern steel-string a ...

Coy Bowles Coy Lamar Bowles is an American musician best known as a member of Zac Brown Band, which won three Emmy awards. He plays guitar, slide guitar, dobro, piano and organ. He joined the Zac Brown Band in 2007, where he also has contributed as a songw ...

– electric guitar * John Hopkins – electric guitar, backing vocals * Matt Mangano – bass *

Chris Fryar Chris Fryar (born November 22, 1970) is an American drummer. He is a member of Zac Brown Band. He has also worked with Oteil and the Peacemakers, led by bassist Oteil Burbridge of the Allman Brothers Band, Charles Neville, Victor Wooten, Joh ...

– drums * Caroline Jones –

bouzouki The bouzouki (, also ; ; alt. pl. ''bouzoukia'', , from Greek , from Turkish ) is a musical instrument popular in West Asia (Syria, Iraq), Europe and Balkans (Greece, North Macedonia, Bulgaria, Turkey). It is a member of the long-necked lute fam ...

, backing vocals *

Clay Cook Douglas "Clay" Cook (born April 20, 1978) is an American songwriter, producer, and musician who is best known as a member of the Zac Brown Band. After dropping out of college, he and classmate John Mayer formed the band Lo-Fi Masters. Cook co-w ...

– Hammond B3 organ, piano, backing vocals * Daniel de los Reyes – percussion * Jimmy de Martini – violin, backing vocals * Paul Franklin – steel guitar "You Can't Always Get What You Want" * Danny Rader – acoustic guitar * Rob McNelley – electric guitar * Steve Mackey – bass * Greg Morrow – drums * Mike Rojas – keyboards * Dan Dugmore – steel guitar * Maureen Murphy, Nickie Conley, and Nikki Conley – backing vocals "Sympathy for the Devil" * Danny Rader – acoustic guitar * Sam Levine – baritone saxophone, tenor saxophone * Rob McNelley and

Tom Bukovac Tom Bukovac (born December 20, 1968) is an American session guitarist and producer. He is also a popular YouTube personality with over 100,000 subscribers. He is a five-time winner of Music Row's Top Ten Album All-Stars award in the guitar categ ...

– electric guitar * Steve Mackey – bass *

Gordon Mote Gordon James Mote (born October 25, 1970) is an American Christian country/ southern gospel singer, piano player, and worship leader. He was born blind. He has released eight studio albums. His album ''Don't Let Me Miss the Glory'' (2007) was hi ...

– Hammond B3 organ, piano * Glen Caruba and Oscar Charles – percussion * Roy Agee – trombone * Mike Haynes – trumpet "Angie" * Caleb Miller – acoustic guitar * Michael Rhodes – bass * Chris Deaton – drums * Mike Rojas – keyboards * Paul Franklin – steel guitar * Ilya Toshinskiy –

mandolin A mandolin (, ; literally "small mandola") is a Chordophone, stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally Plucked string instrument, plucked with a plectrum, pick. It most commonly has four Course (music), courses of doubled St ...

* Jenee Fleenor – fiddle "Gimme Shelter" *

and

Joanna Cotten Joanna Cotten (born in Memphis, Tennessee) is an American country music singer. Cotten's debut single, "The Prize," peaked at number 60 on the ''Billboard'' Hot Country Songs chart. Cotten recorded 21 songs for an unreleased album for Warner Bros ...

– vocals *

Jay Joyce John Joseph "Jay" Joyce is an American record producer, songwriter and session musician. In the 1990s, Joyce, with Chris Feinstein and Brad Pemberton, recorded and toured as Iodine. He also fronted the band Bedlam, featured on the soundtrack to ...

– acoustic guitar, keyboards, percussion * Driver Williams and Jeff Hyde – acoustic guitar * Jeff Cease and Rob McNelley – electric guitar * Lee Hendricks – bass * Craig Wright – drums * Billy Justineau – keyboards "Shine a Light" * Danny Rader – acoustic guitar * Kenny Greenberg – electric guitar * Michael Rhodes – bass * Nick Buda – drums * Gordon Mote – Hammond B3 organ *

Chuck Leavell Charles Alfred Leavell (born April 28, 1952) is an American musician. A member of the Allman Brothers Band throughout their commercial zenith in the 1970s, he subsequently became a founding member of the band Sea Level. He has served as the pri ...

– piano * Jimmy Bowland – baritone saxophone, tenor saxophone *

Jeff Coffin Jeff Stanley Coffin (born August 5, 1965) is an American saxophonist, composer, and educator. He is a three-time Grammy Award winner as a member of Bela Fleck and the Flecktones, with whom he performed from 1997 until 2010. In July 2008, Coffin ...

– tenor saxophone * Ray Mason – trombone * Mike Haynes and Tyler Jaeger – trumpet * April Rucker, Devonne Fowlkes, Kristen Rogers, and Maureen Murphy – backing vocals

Technical

* Robert Deaton – producer * Danny Rader – producer * Marcus King – producer (7) * Oscar Charles – producer (11) * Jay Joyce – producer (13) * Mike "Frog" Griffith – project coordinator * Court Blankenship – project coordinator (13) * Sam Levine –

arranger In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orchestrat ...

(4, 5, 11) * David Hamilton – arranger, conductor (14) * Dan Davis, Evan Wilber, Hank Bachara,

Pete Lyman Pete Lyman is a mastering engineer, and owner of Infrasonic Mastering, an audio and vinyl mastering studio with three locations in United States. He has mastered Grammy-award winning and nominated albums for Chris Stapleton, Tanya Tucker, Jason I ...

, Michael Walter, Jordan Reed, Brandon Towles, Michelle Freetly, Reid Shippen, Austin Brown, Steve Marcantonio, Jason Hall, Jay Joyce, Jimmy Mansfield, Josh Groppel, Joel McKenney – engineers

Charts

References

{{reflist 2023 compilation albums Various artists compilation albums The Rolling Stones tribute albums BBR Music Group compilation albums