John Anderson Brings Country Hits to Clinton's Chuckwagon Races

by Julian Spivey
Country music singer John Anderson thrilled a packed audience at the Bar of Ranch in Clinton, Ark. on Thursday, Sept. 2 as part of the festivities for the annual National Championship Chuckwagon Races.
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Anderson, a native of Apopka, Fla., has had a successful country music career that has spanned 30 years, 19 studio albums and seven number one hits.

Anderson kicked off the almost 90-minute set with his most recent number one single “Money in the Bank” from 1993. He followed with one of his many fan-favorites “I’m Just an Old Chunk of Coal (But I’m Gonna Be a Diamond Someday),” a song written by Billy Joe Shaver, from 1981. After performing his fourth song his 1992 hit “When It Comes to You,” there was about a 10 minute delay in the concert to fix a malfunctioning microphone.

Once the microphone problem was taken care of, Anderson sounded better than ever with his genuine twangy voice that emanates honky tonk music at its finest.

Anderson and his band, aptly titled the John Anderson Band, ripped through classic Anderson hit after hit which kept the majority of the crowd tapping their toes in their lawn chairs and even had a few swinging their partners back and forth on the green pasture of Bar of Ranch.

One of the biggest crowd reactions of the night came when Anderson performed the song “Shuttin’ Detroit Down” from his 2009 album “Bigger Hands.” The song was co-written by Big & Rich star John Rich and released as a single by Rich in 2009 and became a huge hit.

During the midpoint of the concert Anderson played a medley of his hits which included his first hit single “Your Lying Blue Eyes” from 1979, his 1982 hit “Would You Catch a Falling Star, “1959,” and 1981’s “Chicken Truck.”

Anderson included the song “An Occasional Eagle,” which was never released as a single, but he said was one of his favorite songs. The song talks of the importance of eagles in America and preaches the conservation of the endangered national bird.

The best Anderson performances of the night were generally the biggest hits of his career like 1982’s number one hit “Swingin’,” which is arguably his biggest and has recently seen a resurgence as LeAnn Rimes’ new single, albeit Anderson’s version is infinitely better. His other finest performances included 1991’s number one hit “Straight Tequila Night,” 1983’s number one hit “Black Sheep,” 1995’s “Bend It Until It Breaks,” his emotional 1994 single “I Wish I Could Have Been There” and his finale of “Seminole Wind.”

“Seminole Wind” from his 1992 album of the same name is close to Anderson’s heart as a native Floridian as it deals with conservation issues surrounding the Everglades. The music video for the song was named by CMT as one of the 100 greatest country music videos of all time.

The only disappointment from Anderson’s concert was that one of his biggest singles in his career and a personal favorite of mine, “She Just Started Liking Cheating Songs” was left off of the setlist. 

The National Chuckwagon Races was a week filled with country music entertainment with Jason Boland and the Stragglers on Sunday, August 29, Neal McCoy on Wednesday, Sept. 1 and Gene Watson on Friday, Sept. 3 in addition to Anderson.