On November 4, Justin Timberlake joined his good friend Chris Stapleton (who was up for and later won three awards that night) on the CMA Awards stage for a killer eight minutes plus performance. Beginning with the smooth and soulful ‘Tennessee Whiskey’ (from Chris’ album ‘Traveller’), before seguing into Justin’s own Memphis blues ‘Drink You Away’ (from his most recent album ‘The 20/20 Experience Part 2’), the performance was the highlight of the show and led to Chris’ sales and visibility ballooning literally overnight. ‘Drink You Away’ was never a single for Justin, but a cover ‘country’ version was released by new artist David Fanning back in 2014, as his debut single. It peaked at #58 on country radio and David is still struggling to get his career off the ground, but it laid something of a foundation for Justin to slowly transition into the rootsier genre.
Following the CMA Awards, many radio programmers looked to capitalize on the sudden success of Chris Stapleton and the joint performance by playing the two tracks that had gone down so well with the public. Unfortunately ‘Drink You Away’ is 5:31 in length and some, having not been sent the song, were pulling the live audio from the performance and/or trying to cut it down to size. Justin’s label responded by sending a radio edit of the studio version to country radio, although they stressed that they would not be promoting it, it was just for ease of use for those who did want to play it. So, this is not an official launch to country radio.
And, to all intents and purposes, ‘Drink You Away’ is not exactly a country song. Some have referred to it as “country pop” but that would be a gross misunderstanding of genres and styles. It’s actually something of a mish mash; blues, soul, gospel, R&B and 70s rock come together to form a groove, a melody and a fascinating arrangement that – lo and behold – has a country lyric. “I can’t drink you away,” he sings on the chorus. “I’ve tried Jack, I’ve tried Jim, I’ve tried all of their friends.” Later he laments, “I just can’t forget, the way we turned out this bed, and now the only thing that sleeps here is the ghost of you instead.” Read in isolation, one might assume this was a real honky-tonkin’ song from one of the stalwarts of traditional country music, but it’s far from it.
It’s interesting in this case to listen to the David Fanning version and see how one producer interpreted the song specifically for country radio. David’s rendition is far less groove-laden and, with its multitude of electric guitars, is more akin to southern rock than the blues and soul of its origin. I definitely think there are more ‘country’ ways to record ‘Drink You Away’, but as it stands none of those ways have been attempted.
Justin’s version is certainly designed to make you move and has one of the more compelling grooves I’ve heard recently. It might slot right into country’s shift towards R&B, although it’s more akin to southern blues and gospel than it is to the commercial pop form of rhythm and blues. It’s an odd fit for country radio all things told, although given the popularity of the CMA performance it also has the potential to do really well, promotion or no promotion. Justin has the respect of many critics as well as fans from multiple genres, and so as long as his inevitable foray into country music is honest and true and actually country, he could be another displaced superstar welcomed in.
So while ‘Drink You Away’ is not country, it is a good song, and could signal the beginning of something big for Justin Timberlake and country music.
Originally posted here.
