Stoned Cold Country is a tribute album to the Rolling Stones featuring covers performed by country music 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 artists such as Eric Church, Maren Morris, and Ashley McBryde, 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 live cover of "Honky Tonk Women" from 1976 and believed it to be "one of the greatest country music songs of all time."
The lead single, Brothers Osborne and the War and Treaty's rendition of "It's Only Rock 'n Roll (But I Like It)", released November 4. The second single, Elvie Shane's cover of "Sympathy for the Devil", was released January 13. Lainey Wilson'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's version of "Miss You", was released on March 3, 2023.
Production Per BMG Rights Management 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 and Keith Richards' 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 to choose "Paint It Black" for his band to record. All musicians recorded live without click tracks. The songs were recorded in various Nashville-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 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 bent and have them stay close to the original songs, just with added steel guitar.
Reception
Varietys Chris Willman wrote that not all fourteen songs pay off, but "highlights abound" including Church, Wilson, Little Big Town, and blues rock musician Marcus King.
Track listing
Personnel Musicians
"(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" Chris Harris – acoustic guitar Danny Rader – electric guitar, Hammond B3 organ Matt Helmkamp – electric guitar Christian Sancho – bass Quinn Hill – drums Maureen Murphy and Nickie Conley – backing vocals
"Honky Tonk Women" Kix Brooks and Ronnie Dunn – lead vocals Danny Rader – acoustic guitar Kenny Greenberg and Rob McNelley – electric guitar Michael Rhodes – bass Miles McPherson – drums Gary Morse – steel guitar Maureen Murphy and Nickie Conley – backing vocals
"Dead Flowers" Danny Rader – acoustic guitar, backing vocals Steve Mackey – bass Greg Morrow – 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 and Kenny Greenberg – electric guitar Danny Rader – acoustic guitar Michael Rhodes – bass Greg Morrow – drums Mike Rojas – keyboards Sam Levine – baritone saxophone, tenor saxophone 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 – harmonica Maureen Murphy and Nickie Conley – backing vocals
"Tumbling Dice" Adam Shoenfeld and Jerry McPherson – electric guitar Michael Rhodes – bass Evan Hutchings – drums Mike Rojas – Hammond B3 organ, piano Dan Dugmore – steel guitar Maureen Murphy and Nickie Conley – backing vocals
"Can't You Hear Me Knocking" Marcus King – 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, shaker Maureen Murphy and Nickie Conley – backing vocals
"Wild Horses" Jimi Westbrook, Karen Fairchild, Kimberly Schlapman, 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" Zac Brown – lead vocals, nylon-string guitar Coy Bowles – electric guitar John Hopkins – electric guitar, backing vocals Matt Mangano – bass Chris Fryar – drums Caroline Jones – bouzouki, backing vocals Clay Cook – 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 – electric guitar Steve Mackey – bass Gordon Mote – 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 Jenee Fleenor – fiddle
"Gimme Shelter" Eric Church and Joanna Cotten – vocals Jay Joyce – 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 – piano Jimmy Bowland – baritone saxophone, tenor saxophone Jeff 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 (4, 5, 11) David Hamilton – arranger, conductor (14) Dan Davis, Evan Wilber, Hank Bachara, Pete Lyman, 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 + Chart performance for Stoned Cold Country Chart (2023) Peakposition
References