Willie Nelson & Charley Crockett Hit Pay Dirt with New Song

Here we are at the beginning of 2024, and you may be wondering if independent country artists and country legends will continue to see the same success and resurgence that they saw in 2023. We’ll if this new song partnering Charley Crockett with Willie Nelson is any indication, 2024 could be a very good year.
Though the first week of the year is always relatively slow for new singles, 2024 was slightly different. Mainstream country star Gabby Barrett released a big single called “You’re My Texas” that created a lot of buzz since it was co-written with Miranda Lambert. Megan Moroney is one of the fastest-rising country stars at the moment, and she released the song “What Are You Listening To?” originally recorded and written by Chris Stapleton.
There were a slew of other anticipated singles as well. But the one that far and away got the most spins via streaming networks and social media buzz was Charley Crockett’s traditional country song “That’s What Makes The World Go Around” featuring Willie Nelson. It received over 140,000 spins on Spotify, another 100,00 on YouTube, and became the biggest single of the first week of 2024.
Don’t expect the positive reception to result in mainstream country music stations scrambling to add the song to their playlists. But in 2024, none of that matters. People stream what they want to hear as opposed to being spoon fed, and they clearly want to hear a 90-year-old singing with an independent country crooner.
“Willie called me up, said he was out at Pedernales cuttin’, and asked if I had any songs ready he could jump on,” Crockett says. “I told him I had plenty. Hung up the phone, drove out to Billy Horton’s place, and wrote a couple on the spot. We fired ’em off to Spicewood, where he sang and took a ride on one that very next day. When I heard him come in singing on his first line, I shed a tear. Then his leads on Trigger hit, and I was crying!”
Charley Crockett is regularly invited to participate in Willie Nelson events, including Outlaw Fest and Farm Aid, and he sang “Yesterday’s Wine” at Willie Nelson’s 90th Birthday celebration in April, though Crockett was left off the televised portion of the recent CBS Special of the event.
Crockett wrote “That’s What Makes The World Go Around” with his keys/trumpet player Kullen Fox, guitarist Rich Brotherton, and Taylor Grace. Crockett usually releases new albums at a two-per-year pace, but 2023 only saw his Live from the Ryman release, and a redux version of his 2022 album The Man From Waco. That means you can be assured a new album of original songs is likely on the way from Crockett for 2024.
January 8, 2024 @ 12:30 pm
When we read your reply comment (on your earlier post this morning) about Charley and Willie’s most streamed country song this past week, we found it and have had it on replay. What a great song, and what a great combo of talents.
January 8, 2024 @ 2:11 pm
Have mercy, what a unexpected treat and endorsement of Willy’s continuing support of worthy deserving talent.
January 8, 2024 @ 3:10 pm
Great song.
January 8, 2024 @ 3:41 pm
I was surprised and happily so when I saw this song new years day. Love it. Makes me very hopeful for news of a new album soon. I’m a huge Crockett fan. I owe this site for introducing him to me, otherwise I wouldn’t know who he even was. I’m hopeful that sooner or later he will come close enough for me to see him.
January 8, 2024 @ 4:56 pm
Trigger, I know you’ve put out a lot of content in the last few days, but did you see where Larry Collins – the ’50s rockabilly and country guitarist who went on to co-write “Delta Dawn,” “You’re the Reason God Made Oklahoma,” and more – passed away?
Anyway, I am surprised that to see that this was the biggest single of the week but I am happy to see it. It’s great to see Willie collaborating with people like Charley and with Billy Strings last year on California Sober.
January 8, 2024 @ 5:16 pm
Working on something about Larry Collins.
January 8, 2024 @ 5:12 pm
This collaboration is downright adorable.
The instruments are great.
Willie and Charley, too cute for words.
So happy they were able to do this.
January 8, 2024 @ 5:48 pm
Speaking on Charley here, I just read a article, month old
Now but new to me with him and Vincent Neil Emerson. Got me to want to see what he is about and I like his sound. I tend to be picky but it’s pretty dang good.
January 8, 2024 @ 7:07 pm
I’ve never gotten into Crockett. A lot of my friends love him. He was in my top handful on the Willie 90th birthday concert. I was absolutely impressed.
January 8, 2024 @ 7:07 pm
“What are you Listening to?” Is a fantastic song. Great to see Megan put it out there. With her massive fanbase this song will finally get it’s due.
January 8, 2024 @ 8:41 pm
I wish I could enjoy Charlie Crockett, but I can’t get around his vocals. He slurs his consonants in a weird way that reminds me of the way people with hearing loss can struggle with consonants.
January 8, 2024 @ 9:19 pm
I’m shocked most people CAN get around that.
January 10, 2024 @ 8:31 pm
I love Charlie
So much
But I know what you mean
He sounds a bit like “Buttwheat” (Eddie Murphy) but he’s fantastic
And a pistol on stage.
January 18, 2024 @ 7:26 am
He doesnt slur any more
January 9, 2024 @ 5:04 am
I get around it just fine. He’s growing on me as a singer because he’s distinctive.
What I can’t get around is how boring the words to his songs are, and for me that’s the largest part of what makes them strangely lifeless. Crockett is practicing a kind of musical taxidermy: accurate, remarkable, but frozen and detached.
He’s not the only one. This is 2024, and young people are used to oversharing. I hope Crockett writes songs that connect to lived experience more specifically, more tangibly. Cut out every cliche.
And a toast to Willie, whose rhythmic placement is well into its “impossible to transcribe” phase. Floyd Tillman is up there grinning, no doubt.
January 9, 2024 @ 10:28 am
Mans a walking cliche, so not sure what else one should expect from the lyrics.
January 9, 2024 @ 7:30 am
din’t knew Megan Moroney covered “what are you listening to” , the very first Stapleton song i ever heard and always wondered why he never officialy released it.
January 9, 2024 @ 10:23 am
He actually released it as a lead single of a project that was scrapped pre-Traveller. Only got to like #46 or something on the charts. Megan’s cover is very good and true to the original. She even sings “Girl what are your listening too” instead of changing it to “boy.” She’s got a little smoke in her voice so the perfect female to do that song imo
January 9, 2024 @ 8:07 am
great song. but how did it get the most spins when gabby’s came out a whole week later and still has a few thousand more plays more on spotify?
January 9, 2024 @ 8:14 am
The Charley Crockett/Willie Nelson song came out on the 1st. Gabby’s came out on the 5th. Saying Willie/Charley was the most streamed new song the first week of 2024 is true. It got a head start, now Gabby’s is getting lots of spins and it’s been two days since the end of the first week. I’m not trying to play a shell game here, that’s just how the math and timeline works out.
January 9, 2024 @ 10:23 am
I saw Charley a few years ago, and he was lamenting that he didn’t think Willie even knew who he was. Definitely not an issue now. Charley and Snoop Doggy Dog collaboration imminent.
January 9, 2024 @ 11:00 am
Brings back memories of sitting in dive country bar with live band and music like “Silver Wings” and “Seven Spanish Angels” playing while you drank a cold beer. Man, they don’t make em like that no more.
January 9, 2024 @ 3:04 pm
I still would trade Willie for Waylon, Pride, and dozens of other legends we lost too soon.
January 9, 2024 @ 8:34 pm
One word “WOW”!!
January 10, 2024 @ 8:27 am
Charley must’ve been thrilled to record with Willie.
Charley’s covers of early Willie Nelson songs has made me appreciate Willie’s earlier music. I know it gets overshadowed but he wrote some excellent songs during that early 60s era.
January 10, 2024 @ 11:22 am
I wish I could sing for Willie, I do some Waylon songs he’d love