Toby Keith might be known – among other things – for his I Love This Bar & Grill Restaurant chain across the U.S. But on October 24, 2011 Toby breaks ground on Clancy’s Tavern.
Clancy’s Tavern, Toby’s newest album, is another musical chapter in the growth of this singer-songwriter-producer. The album’s first single, “Made in America” almost didn’t make the cut. Not because of Toby’s “signature” political vocals … but because of Toby’s own feelings about the subject matter. Well, “Made in America” made well with fans and charted another #1 in Toby’s American made success story.
“The title track of Clancy’s Tavern is almost a prequel to Toby’s 2005 hit “Honkytonk U,” Toby shares at his website.”It’s the same grandmother,” he explains. “‘Honkytonk U’ talked about my mother putting me on a Greyhound and sending me to live with my grandmother for the summer, and how things took off from there. This one is more about the bar and what I saw there. The actual name of the place was Billy Garner’s Supper Club, but her husband teased her and nicknamed her Clancy because she ran a tavern. Every line in the song is true. This isn’t fiction.”
Clancy’s Tavern serves both traditional and deluxe versions. The latter includes four songs from the 2010 Incognito Bandito show at New York’s Fillmore – untouched. “People put so much work into an album to make it the best it can be, but we don’t do jack to the Bandito stuff,” Keith says. “We let them go exposed – no overdubs, no vocals, nothing. We take live tracks, Mills does a mix on them and we stick them on the album. That’s exactly the way they sounded that night, except the mix is perfect.”
Well, all told, Toby Keith, I Love This Bar & Grill and Wild Shot Mezcal (even with its “very small market”) are all American icons…as is Clancy’s Tavern’s most recent concoction, “Red Solo Cup”.
“Red Solo Cup” is indeed exactly what you’re probably thinking, a tip to the American party beverage receptacle – and the one song this singer, songwriter, entertainer and entrepreneur didn’t pen on the 11 tracks of Clancy’s Tavern.
“I don’t remember who played it for me the first time, but it was so stupid I just died laughing,” Toby says of “Red Solo Cup,” which was written by Brett and Jim Beavers with Brad and Brett Warren. “What’s great about this song is it does
everybody the same way it did me: ‘That’s the stupidest song in the world and I can’t get it out of my head.’ I laugh every time I hear it. Sometimes it’s good for the world to hear something like that.”
And the world will hear it from its original creators. Toby brought both the Beavers brothers and Warren brothers into the studio to lay down instrumental tracks and background vocals. But the fun doesn’t stop there. When it came time to create the “Red Solo Cup” visual accompaniment Toby brought in the four songwriters and a cast of cameo guests. TV host Craig Ferguson; sports icons Roger Clemens and Larry Bird; fishing guru Jimmy Houston; entertainers Jeff Dunham (with Bubba J), Carrot Top and Lance Burton; and fellow recording artists Sammy Hagar, Ted Nugent, Eric Church, Joe Nichols, JT Hodges, Carter’s Chord, Rose Falcon and Trailer Choir’s Butter all tip their talents to this frolicking fun icon.
You can whet your curious craving here, but be sure to head over to Toby’s website and order up the edition that fills your Red Solo Cup … served soon at Clancy’s Tavern !
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