The Bus Songs Explained

The Bus Songs
Type:	compilation
Artist:	Toby Keith
Cover:	Toby Keith The Bus Songs album cover.jpg
Alt:	Official album artwork, contains a drawing of a multi-coloured semi-psychedelic tour bus.
Studio:	Sound Emporium (Nashville, Tennessee) QUAD/Sienna Studios Blackbird Ocean Way Riverbend Music Center
Genre:	Country
Length:	42:02
Label:	Show Dog Nashville
Producer:	Toby Keith
Prev Title:	35 MPH Town
Prev Year:	2015
Next Year:	2019

The Bus Songs is a compilation album from American country music artist Toby Keith. The album was announced July 14, 2017, and was released September 8, 2017.^{[1] [2]} It is a combination of new and older songs written by Keith. The album contains twelve songs: two new, five re-recorded, and five previously released songs. The new songs on the album are "Shitty Golfer" and "Wacky Tobaccy". The songs "Runnin' Block", "Hell No", "The Critic", "Ballad of Balad", and "Weed with Willie" have been re-recorded and are referred to as "fresh takes on old favorites" by Rolling Stone magazine.

Background

According to CMT News, the album gets its title from the late night recording sessions Keith has had on his tour bus.^[3] The album has been said to be focused more towards the adult fans of Keith and not likely to be broadcast on mainstream radio^[4] due to the "adult humor, drinking and self-deprecation" present within the songs included in the album.^[5]

The album was announced on July 14, 2017. Prior to the announcement of the album, on June 23, 2017, Toby released the music video of the track "Wacky Tobaccy" – a song about cannabis – on his YouTube channel.^[6] The music video for "Wacky Tobaccy" was filmed on Keith's tour bus and contained a cameo appearance of Willie Nelson smoking cannabis. Rolling Stone called the music video "suitably silly," containing video of a jam session in Toby's tour bus "surrounded by posters of Jamaica and smoky looking graphics." On October 19, 2017 a promotional video for "Shitty Golfer" was added to Keith's official Vevo account.^[7]

Commercial performance

The album debuted at No. 6 on Top Country Albums, which is Keith's 23rd Top 10 album on the chart, with 12,000 copies sold.^[8] It sold a further 3,600 copies the following week.^[9] It has sold 29,700 copies in the United States as of January 2018.^[10]

Track listing

• "Brand New Bow", "Hell No", and the original version of "Runnin' Block" appeared on the 2006 album White Trash with Money.
• "Call a Marine" appeared on the deluxe edition of the 2013 album Drinks After Work.
• The original version of "The Critic" and the original version of "Weed with Willie" appeared on the 2003 album Shock'n Y'all.
• "The Size I Wear" appeared on the 2012 album Hope on the Rocks.
• "Ballad of Balad" appeared on the 2009 album American Ride.
• "Rum Is the Reason" appeared on the 2015 album 35 MPH Town.^[11]
• The original studio version of "Get Out of My Car" appeared on the 2010 album Bullets in the Gun, the live version appeared on the deluxe edition of Hope on the Rocks.

Personnel

The following musicians performed on the album:^[12]

• Greg Barnhill – background vocals
• Josh Bertrand – pedal steel guitar
• Bruce Bouton – pedal steel guitar
• Carl Murr – trombone
• Dave Cohen – accordion, Hammond B-3 organ, piano, Wurlitzer
• Perry Coleman – background vocals
• J.T. Corenflos – electric guitar
• Chad Cromwell – drums
• Eric Darken – percussion
• Roman Dudok – saxophone
• Rich Eckhardt – electric guitar, background vocals
• Scotty Emerick – acoustic guitar, finger snaps, background vocals
• Joey Floyd – acoustic guitar, background vocals
• Chuck Goff - bass guitar
• Dink Cook – bass guitar
• Kevin "Swine" Grantt – bass guitar
• Kenny Greenberg – electric guitar
• Robert Greenidge – steel drums
• Doyle Grisham – pedal steel guitar
• Roger Guth – drums
• Rob Hajacos – fiddle
• Aubrey Haynie – fiddle
• The Hogliners – background vocals
• Jay Jennings – trumpet
• Charlie Judge – Hammond B-3 organ, Wurlitzer
• Toby Keith – acoustic guitar, lead vocals
• Mills Logan – programming
• Brent Mason – electric guitar
• Rex Mauney – piano, background vocals
• Jim Mayer – bass guitar
• Dave McAfee – drums
• Mac McAnally – acoustic guitar, background vocals
• Chris McHugh – drums
• Rob McNelley – electric guitar
• Miles McPherson – drums
• Steve Nathan – Hammond B-3 organ, piano, Wurlitzer
• Russ Pahl – Dobro, pedal steel guitar
• Bobby Pinson – background vocals
• Lucy Pinson – background vocals, backflips
• Danny Rader – acoustic guitar
• Mica Roberts – background vocals
• David Santos – bass guitar
• Randy Scruggs – banjo
• Steve Sheehan – acoustic guitar
• Jimmie Lee Sloas – bass guitar
• Bobby Terry – acoustic guitar
• The TKokies – background vocals
• Ilya Toshinsky – acoustic guitar

Notes and References

1. News: Toby Keith Plots New Album 'The Bus Songs'. Rolling Stone. July 20, 2017.
2. News: Toby Keith Announces New Album, 'The Bus Songs'. July 19, 2017. Sounds Like Nashville. July 20, 2017. en-US.
3. News: Toby Keith Taking Alternate Route With The Bus Songs. https://web.archive.org/web/20170715022328/http://www.cmt.com/news/1783967/toby-keith-taking-alternate-route-with-the-bus-songs/. dead. July 15, 2017. CMT News. August 7, 2017.
4. News: Toby Keith Announces New Album, 'The Bus Songs'. July 19, 2017. Sounds Like Nashville. August 7, 2017. en-US.
5. News: Toby Keith announces 'The Bus Songs' 12 song LP. July 14, 2017. The Music Universe. July 20, 2017. en-US.
6. News: See Willie Nelson Smoke Weed in Toby Keith's New 'Wacky Tobaccy' Video. Rolling Stone. July 20, 2017.
7. Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: Web site: Toby Keith - Shitty Golfer . YouTube.
8. Web site: Thomas Rhett on Being First Country Act to Top Billboard 200 This Year: 'It Blows My Mind' . September 19, 2017 . Jim . Asker . Billboard.
9. News: TOP 10 Country Album Sales Chart: September 25, 2017 . Matt . Bjorke . September 27, 2017 . Roughstock .
10. News: Top 10 Country Albums Chart, January 2, 2018 . Matt . Bjorke . January 2, 2018. Roughstock . January 14, 2018.
11. Web site: Toby Keith Rolls out the Road for New Album. PopCulture.com. July 20, 2017.
12. Web site: The Bus Songs - Toby Keith | Credits | AllMusic. AllMusic.