Richie Furay, the country-rock pioneer who co-founded both Buffalo Springfield and Poco, has debuted a new cover of the 1958 Ricky Nelson hit “Lonesome Town” from his forthcoming covers album, In the Country, which will be released Friday, July 8.
Furay’s rendition of the memorable song premiered Tuesday at TheBluegrassSituation.com and on his official YouTube channel.
“Ricky Nelson was an idol and musical hero of mine. This song (or any) by Ricky had to be included on this record because of his influence on me,” Furay explains. “I remember watching and waiting for him to play on the old Ozzie and Harriet TV show. One such performance was the one that prompted me — I want to do this; I want to be a musician. Ricky was singing ‘Be-Bop Baby,’ and that was the clincher; I never looked back.”
The track features harmony vocals from country star and current Eagles touring member Vince Gill. Richie notes that his former Poco bandmate and longtime Eagles bassist Timothy B. Schmit, who also sings on In the Country, suggested that Furay use Gill on the song.
“What a thrill it is to have one of the greatest singers/musicians of our day perform on that special song,” Furay says.
As previously reported, In the Country is made up mainly of Furay’s interpretations of various well-known country songs and also includes a few notable crossover hits, like Marc Cohn‘s “Walking in Memphis” and John Denver‘s “Take Me Home, Country Roads.”
In the Country can be preordered now, and Furay has already released a couple of advance tracks from the album — covers of “Walking in Memphis” and Keith Urban‘s “Somebody Like You.”
Richie currently has just a few upcoming concerts lined up. Visit RichieFuray.com to check out his full schedule.
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