
Achy Breaky Heart
Don Von Tress wrote it; the Marcy Brothers cut it first, then Cyrus's video sent line dancing worldwide.

Don Von Tress wrote it; the Marcy Brothers cut it first, then Cyrus's video sent line dancing worldwide.

Written after Cochrane's famine-relief trip to Africa, and reborn as a Pixar road anthem by Rascal Flatts.

Crow's label blocked the radio rights, so Allison Moorer re-cut the female vocal; it still became Kid Rock's biggest hit.

Buffett was twenty-seven when he wrote it, about a Chart Room regular in Key West and a life at sea.

Duane heard Betts's song, told him to sing it himself, and traded solos on one of his last sessions.

Tempchin wrote it on a poster back while sleeping on a club floor; Leadon's B-bender guitar does the rest.

Jeff Trott's hook arrived first, the country arrangement went out, and Crow won a Grammy singing her own backlash.

Norbert Putnam moved the sessions to Miami for the beachfront air, and Buffett turned one ruined afternoon into the chorus.

Three generations of moonshine, Vietnam and the drug trade, named an official Tennessee state song in 2023.

A Boston fan's poem, reworked by Parsons, Emmylou Harris on harmony, and an album out four months after his death.
Betts wrote and sang it, borrowing Hank Williams' title; Oakley's bass line was among his last recordings.

Hunter's lyric folds in a 1970 New Orleans bust, and the Library of Congress declared the record a national treasure.

James Taylor picked up a six-string banjo he had never played, Ronstadt harmonised, and Young's ranch caretaker got a song.

An airsickness bag, a film producer's request, and a single cut live at a club over two Austin nights.
Written in Topanga during a 103-degree fever, double drop D tuning, and a solo that stays on one note.

Taupin wrote it about Maxine Feibelman, the seamstress who toured with the band, and Almost Famous made it a singalong.

Joplin taped the vocal days before her death; Kristofferson did not hear it until the day after.
Browne could not finish the second verse, Frey did, and Leadon's double-time banjo drives the Eagles' debut single.
Cut at Muscle Shoals in December 1969, with Jim Dickinson on tack piano after Ian Stewart refused the minor chords.

A back injury kept Young seated with an acoustic guitar; Taylor and Ronstadt were in Nashville and sang behind him.