Last year, Ronald Reagan got a Dennis Quaid film.
This year, the 40th President of the United States gets a soundtrack packed with songs featured in the film.
The various artists compilation was released on August 29, and is a cover album unlike any other.
Bob Dylan, B.J. Thomas, and Creed’s Scott Stapp all stepped up. As did KISS bassist Gene Simmons.
Far from the usual rock and flares, Simmons pulled off a chilled-out version of the 1930s Jazz classic, Stormy Weather.
There’s also an unexpected pithy rendition of Swinging on a Star, by Scott Stapp, doing what few rock vocalists ever dare: reach for their inner crooner.
Bob Dylan had his choice of songs and went full Cole Porter.
Quaid told Spin magazine, “It was an honour having Dylon join the film.”
He was given the freedom to do any song he wanted, whether original or borrowed. Dylon chose “Don’t Fence Me In.”
Both the Simmons, Stapp, and Dylan covers are fresh recordings.
Headlining the set list is Molly Jenson’s contemplative throwback to 1985, with Everybody Wants to Rule the World.
Jenson’s version is another fresh take on the Tears for Fears song, which was reinvented in the early 2010s by Lorde’s low octave “atmospheric” performance for The Hunger Games.
MORIAH and The Imagineres also contributed tunes. As did Love-Lies & Fiction, with This is How the World Ends.
Actor Robert Davi (Stargate Atlantis, Die Hard, Goonies) was the biggest surprise.
He didn’t just play the role of Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev; Davi contributed two Sinatra covers.
Davi is the only artist to be featured both in the film and the film’s soundtrack.
Peak geek for me, though, was hearing Phil Keaggy play Sweet Child O’ Mine.
A bonus was seeing the CCM pioneering guitarist join forces with – former Guardian, now Kalamity Kills frontman – Jamie Rowe.
The pair’s practice run before performing the Guns and Roses classic at an early August release party is up on YouTube.
Closing out the soundtrack is country music’s Clint Black. He contributed two Country Roads renditions.
Black’s 2nd and final track is a deep feeling – orchestra meets the Grand Ole Opry – reimagining of the Denver song, that takes the eclectic Reagan compilation all the way home.
The August release will not be a standalone.
Curb Records will release REAGAN: Songs Inspired by the Film in September.
According to Music Row, the 2nd album’s lineup will include Travis Tritt, The Commodores, Alabama, Lee Greenwood, Kathie Lee Gifford, and the Sweet Comfort Band.
Speaking about the albums and the Sean McNamara film, Mike Curb said,
“I know Ronald Reagan enjoyed music and was always particularly interested in the relationship between film and music.”
Both compilations will complement John Coda’s just as memorable motion picture score for the film released to streaming services last November.
This isn’t just clever marketing, it’s a considerable tribute, padded with profound appreciation for the Reagans’ positive impact on the world.
To paraphrase the great man,
“Let no one say that this nation cannot reach the destiny of our dreams.
“The American dream is a song of hope that rings through the night winter air. It is that vivid, tender music that warms our hearts, daring us to venture forth, even when all seems lost.
“To unearth new beauty in music, literature, and art; to discover a new universe inside a tiny silicon chip or a single human cell.” – Reagan, February 1986
