Joe Nichols and Blake Shelton have been friends long enough that they can look back on some of their rowdier behavior and laugh. Well, Joe can, at least.
Shelton joins Nichols for a song called “I Got Friends That Do” on the latter’s new Good Day for Living album. It’s an easy, pure country collaboration that finds the men appreciating the kind of friends you can count on for help and a good time. This is to say, it fits their relationship — a relationship that goes back nearly 25 years — perfectly.
Talking to Taste of Country Nights, Nichols revisited his days on Giant Records with Shelton, and that one time they were supposed to be writing a song together. The full Unfiltered video package is below, but if you’re anxious, skip ahead to about the 3:00 mark:
“I got a lot of Blake stories, and he’s probably got a lot about me,” Nichols tells ToC Nights Evan Paul, smiling. It’s clear there’s nothing but love between them. The “Good Day for Living” singer affirms what so many have said before: What you see is what you get with Blake.
“We wrote for about 30 minutes — probably some of the dumbest ideas you could imagine, even for then,” Nichols recalls of their first co-write. Then, they cut out for lunch at a local sandwich spot on Music Row.
“And then we ordered a beer,” the hitmaker continues. “And then we ordered about six beers. We got a good little tipsy and went, ‘I got the perfect idea!'”
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After sauntering back to the writing room, they realized they’d forgotten their great idea, so they packed up the guitars and went back to the bar until about midnight. For a moment, they panicked about what they’d tell the A&R person who set them up.
“‘We didn’t do anything today but get drunk!'” Nichols recalls saying, going on to describe a time on Music Row when this wasn’t just acceptable, it was expected.
After this story, Nichols reflects on the song of his that Shelton turned into a hit, because his record label at the time refused to release it as a single. There were no hard feelings then or now about this amazing ballad, now considered among Shelton’s all-time great songs.
The Good Day for Living album is out now and includes Nichols’ single “Good Day for Living,” the Shelton duet and a cover of Mark Chesnutt‘s “She Was,” recorded for the head of his Quartz Hill Records label, Benny Brown. Nichols tells that story at about 1:20 above.
Look for the full interview with Nichols on Taste of Country Nights On Demand on Thursday (Feb. 17).
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