Lionel Richie's 2012 CD, Tuskegee. Photo courtesy of UMG Nashville.
When Lionel Richie set out to record his new album Tuskegee, a collaborative project with 13 of country music’s biggest stars out March 26, he was told it would take three weeks. Nine months later, he had a completed project of some of his greatest hit songs recorded as duets.
“I discovered this album to be a labor of love,” Lionel said. “At the same time, how we created this album, what it was supposed to be, is probably the mystery of the studio. How you start an album off and what it ends up being is a journey. Nine months later, I must tell you, Tuskegee is going to be one of the most special albums I’ve ever done in my life. It’s hard enough to pull off one duet, and we did 13 for this album. This is something that’s going to be so special forever because it’s a moment in time when these artists all got together and celebrated some music.”
Each artist appearing on Tuskegee has a connection to Lionel’s music, whether as a fan or in Kenny Roger’s case, as an artist who turned a song written by Lionel into one of the biggest hits of his career. Lionel and his fellow artists shared the stories behind each of the 13 tracks on Tuskegee. The album leads off with “You Are,” featuring Blake Shelton. Blake’s knowledge of the song took Lionel by surprise.
Read our review of Lionel Richie’s Tuskegee >>
“I let him sing the song down by himself to get him comfortable with the song, not realizing he knew the song in great detail, to the point where I had a problem putting my voice on Blake Shelton’s song, ‘You Are,’” Lionel said. “That’s our joke because it was truly an eye opener. I said to all these artists, ‘I want you to make this song your song; don’t worry about me. I can handle me. You just make sure you’re comfortable.’”
“He’d been there for a while, and it’s just a different energy in the room ’cause he’s just talking so much,” Blake said of meeting and recording with Lionel. “He saw me, and he came over and introduced himself and thanked me 50 times for being there. I felt ridiculous with him thanking me.”
Jason Aldean recorded “Say You, Say Me” with Lionel. To better mesh with Jason’s style, Lionel changed up the tempo of the song to include what he refers to as Jason’s ‘nasty rock’ vocals. A longtime fan, Jason was excited to work with Lionel – and to watch him work.
“The day we recorded was the first time I ever met him,” Jason said. “Having been a fan for so long, I was a little starstruck, but then he was so cool and down-to-earth and excited to be doing the project that we got into a groove pretty quickly. Plus, seeing how a guy like that – who has made so many albums – works in the studio is a cool thing. I know how we do it today, but I loved watching him work and record the way he has always done it.”
Darius Rucker sings “Stuck On You” with Lionel on Tuskegee. He considers Lionel one of his musical idols and was blown away when he received the call that Lionel wanted to record with him. He was completely floored when he was told he could also pick the song they would record.
“I’ve been singing along with Lionel on ‘Stuck on You’ since I was a kid, riding around, singing those little harmonies,” Darius said. “I’ve been doing that for as long as I can remember. As soon as I knew we were definitely doing ‘Stuck On You’ together, I knew exactly what part I wanted to sing. This isn’t my favorite Lionel song, but it’s definitely the song that I wanted to sing.” Continue Reading
ShareThis
