Alan Jackson Lends Voice to “A Million Ways to Die In The West”
You wouldn’t think of the straight-laced Alan Jackson to be one for show tunes and Hollywood hobnobbing, but when comedian and cartoonist Seth McFarlane came calling for someone to lend a husky, country voice to the soundtrack of his upcoming movie A Million Ways to Die In The West, Jackson fit the bill.
If you’ve ever been a fan of any of McFarlane’s cartoons like Family Guy or American Dad, you know the Seth has a hankering for Golden Age big band-style show tunes, and that’s the style the Million Ways to Die title track is cut in; somewhat indicative of Marty Robbins and the early silver screen cowboys like Gene Autry who had just as much to do with country becoming a genuine American music genre as anyone.
And don’t think funny man McFarlane is a slouch when it comes to shaping notes; he a noted singer and released an album in 2011 called Music Is Better Than Words covering classic swing and jazz tunes from the 40’s and 50’s. An accomplished piano player as well, he’s previously performed at Carnegie Hall and Royal Albert Hall. Seth has also been pretty successful at releasing movies. His 2012 comedy Ted became the highest-grossing R-rated original comedy of all time. A Million Ways to Die In The West promises to have a heavy musical component, and since they won’t play him on the radio anymore, it’s good to see Jackson get the nod.
A Million Ways to Die in the West starring McFarlane, Charlize Theron, Amanda Seyfried, Giovanni Ribisi, Neil Patrick Harris, Sarah Silverman and Liam Neeson is set to be released on May 30th by Universal Pictures.
April 29, 2014 @ 8:56 am
It’s kind of a sad statement when Seth MacFarlane knows country music better than the industry itself.
Even in a parody, it’s still better than half of what’s on the radio.
April 29, 2014 @ 9:36 am
Way to go Seth and Alan! Harking back to the Sons of the Pioneers and the great Cowboy singers.Ain’t gonna hear that crossing over into pop, huh BRO?
April 29, 2014 @ 9:37 am
Alan Jackson and Seth MacFarlane working together? There’s a team up I thought would never happen.
As for the song itself, I like it. It goes without saying its better than anything on the radio right, but I can’t be the only person who gets a Ghost Riders vibe from this.
April 29, 2014 @ 9:53 am
Good for Alan! It’s a shame he’s been pushed off the radio. Alan is one of the main reasons I became a country music fan growing up. While past generations had Cash, Waylon and Jones to grow up with, I had Strait and Jackson. Thank you Seth for letting him cut a pretty good tune for your move.
If you watch Family Guy, you know Seth is also a Conway Twitty fan. In fact it’s turned some Family Guy fans into Twitty fans because if you look at the YouTube comments section on Twitty videos, many say Family Guy brought them there. Seth actually educates people more on past country music than Nashville!
April 29, 2014 @ 10:34 am
Funny stuff — reminds me quite a bit of “The Ballad of Rock Ridge” and the title song from ‘Blazing Saddles.’ It wouldn’t surprise me at all if that’s what Seth was going for. 😀
April 29, 2014 @ 12:22 pm
Fun fact…both Alan and George Strait made a guest appearance on the show King of the Hill which also aired on Fox. Just goes to show Alan ain’t a stranger to doing comedy.
April 29, 2014 @ 12:25 pm
So did Randy Travis. That episode about Travis stealing Peggy’s song might be the best country music cartoon ever spun.
April 29, 2014 @ 2:33 pm
Don’t forget Willie was on an episode as well. Bobby hits him in the head with a golf club.
April 30, 2014 @ 5:19 am
Lyle Lovett AKA “Rooster Boy”
April 30, 2014 @ 1:17 pm
As well as Clint Black, Brooks & Dunn, Wynonna and Charlie Daniels. Great episode.
May 1, 2014 @ 10:16 pm
Portraying nice guy Randy Travis as a lying, egomaniacal jerk who was the villian of the episode was a stroke of brilliance.
April 30, 2014 @ 12:53 am
And the Christmas episode, “Livin’ on Reds, Vitamin C and Propane”, featured Brad Paisley, George Strait, Trace Adkins, Deana Carter, and Travis Tritt!
April 30, 2014 @ 3:40 pm
Trace Adkins was a semi recurring character in the last season or two. His character was buddies with Tom Petty’s.
April 29, 2014 @ 12:37 pm
Meh. It’s Ghost Riders in the sky, only contrived and monotonous.
April 29, 2014 @ 6:34 pm
That’s Seth McFarlane in a nutshell.
April 29, 2014 @ 9:50 pm
I think McFarlane should spoof current country on a Family Guy episode.
April 30, 2014 @ 12:54 am
Excellent!!
April 30, 2014 @ 5:04 am
Seth MacFarlane is one of the best of the best.
And to think we almost lost him . . .
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seth_Mcfarlane#September_11.2C_2001_experience
April 30, 2014 @ 1:24 pm
I have a love/hate relationship with MacFarlane’s work. I think that American Dad! is some of the best and (at times) wittiest adult animated comedy ever written. But then, on the other hand, you have Family Guy and The Cleveland Show which, despite having moments of greatness, both regularly fall flat. It’s one thing to have some jokes based on shock value, but it’s quite another when 95% of them are just intended to gross out the audience. Not that the content itself bugs me, but as a film advocate, the lazy screenwriting and predictability of the gags gets on my nerves. In a given episode of Family Guy, you can bet the farm that there will be about three gross-out gags, a joke about Meg, Lois scolding Peter, a vague celebrity flame and an ’80s reference. Unfortunately, from what I saw of Ted and MacFarlane’s horrible stint at the Oscars, he doesn’t practice any other type of comedy. I want to see A Million Ways to Die in the West, but I’m not expecting to be impressed by it.
May 1, 2014 @ 6:27 pm
Like, reminds of Micheal Martin Murphy.
May 1, 2014 @ 9:52 pm
Jackson is trying to do Frankie Laine here, but that’s a tall order for anyone–and Alan’s voice does not seem to be in top form.
July 21, 2014 @ 9:41 am
I can’t stand Seth MacFarlane at all. His shows on FOX are trash and his movie TED was grouse and raunchy but since this song is sung by Alan Jackson I like it and it is funny when he says “They’ll eat you up and shit you out again” ha, ha, ha, its just to comical every time I hear that line I start laughing hard