Sheryl Crow, Barenaked Ladies Drawn Into "King Of The Hill" LP; Sugar Ray's McGrath Talks Willie Nelson Duet
Sugar Ray, Barenaked Ladies, Sheryl Crow, Tonic, and Willie Nelson are among the artists getting animated for a soundtrack album to the Fox comedy series, "King of the Hill," due out via Elektra Records on November 2.
For the record, tentatively titled "King of the Hill: Original Soundtrack," Sugar Ray teamed up with country icon Willie Nelson on "Angel Flying Too Close to the Ground," while Tonic has offered up a new version of Jerry Reed's "East Bound & Down," a song that originally appeared in the 1977 Burt Reynolds-Jackie Gleason film, "Smokey & the Bandit.
The Barenaked Ladies and the Old 97's have both contributed new songs, "Get in Line" and "El Paso," respectively, which the bands specifically wrote for the "King of the Hill" album, while Sheryl Crow has recorded another song, "Straight to the Moon.The album will also feature a number of country artists, as Deana Carter covers Tom Petty's "Free Fallin'," and Faith Hill offers up a new take of the Janis Joplin-BigBrother and the Holding Company classic, "Piece of My Heart.
Other country-flavored covers slated for the "King of the Hill" soundtrack include Travis Tritt and George Thorogood on Hank Williams' "Move It On Over," and Brooks & Dunn teaming up with Bob Seger for a rendition of Seger's "Against the Wind.According to a spokesperson for Elektra Records, additional songs are also currently being recorded for the soundtrack album.MTV News sat down with Mark McGrath last Thursday, right after he and Jennifer Lopez presented a Video Music Award to Madonna, and McGrath recounted the experience of singing along with one his vocal heroes, Willie Nelson.[article id="1439006"]"Dude, Willie Nelson is like one of a my all-time heroes,"[/article] McGrath told MTV News, [article id="1439006"]"and I think he's such a gentleman and a great American icon. A friend of mine, Ralph Sauls, is producing the 'King of the Hill' soundtrack, so [he asked me], 'Mark,what do you want to do?' I go, 'Well, Ralph, you know for three years I've been saying that I want to work with Willie Nelson.'
So divine intervention came down,"[/article] he continued, [article id="1439006"]"and I got to do a track with Willie Nelson, called 'Angel Flying Too Close to the Ground.' I sort of bastardized it, and it's sort of blasphemous, but it happened. I'm on the track and I'm singing with Willie Nelson.It's the punkest thing you can do,"[/article] McGrath said, [article id="1439006"]"I mean, you can go with Fred [Durst] from Limp Bizkit or you can get Kid Rock, but if you do a track with Willie Nelson, you're beyond punk." [RealVideo][/article]Sugar Ray is still out on the road with the Goo Goo Dolls and Fastball, and the joint tour is scheduled to play the First American Music Center in Antioch, Tennessee on September 14.-- David Basham
