Essentials: The Top Ten Songs That Name-Drop Other Artists

It has long been a tradition in music for artists to cover their favourite songs. Some take the original to the next level, while others are straight copies; some are plain weird, and finally, there are feeble imitations. Another way to honour those you admire is to name-drop. Here are ten of the best Americana songs that mention other artists, many of them reference more than one, and all because the performer loves the people they’re singing about. There are so many to choose from, and no doubt some amazing songs are missing that didn’t make this list. A few notable gems that didn’t make this top ten. Georgia Brown and ‘George Jones on the Jukebox’ is the first one that comes to mind. Neil Young and ‘Downtown’, which is a heavy affair drifting, no, that’s the wrong word, positively swaggering into Jimmy Page and Led Zeppelin territory, with both cited in the lyrics. Garth Brooks and his ‘Much Too Young (To Feel This Damn Old)’ is missing. This one mentions former rodeo champion and country singer Chris LeDoux.

The main reason for capturing some of these is that a great song can inspire us to explore others and often lead us down a deep and wonderful rabbit hole of new music. Please comment below and let us know your favourites that declare love or otherwise for a different artist and the tunes they are featured in.

Number 10: Liz Longley ‘Outta My Head’  from “Liz Longley” (2015)

From her self-titled album, “Liz Longley”, we begin our name-drop journey. Longley sings about packing to move home and finding old memories hidden amongst her things. That’s the simple reason why packing and moving house can take so long. Little things can spark old memories, good, bad, funny or sad. Longley sings “’Cause I found your letters / And that John Martyn record / That we spun ‘til it was dead”—a heavyweight name drop to start us off. John Martyn was a 1960s folk hero who continually reinvented himself throughout the 1970’s and beyond. Martyn was a complex character who wrote some fantastic songs. We can only wonder which Martyn album Longley is alluding to. Most likely, “Solid Air”, which would fit the essence of her song perfectly.

Number 9: American Aquarium ‘When We Were Younger Men’  from “Things Change” (2018)

From the acclaimed album “Things Change”, BJ Barham’s ode to lost friendship. Set in 1989, the year Tom Petty released “Full Moon Fever”, the track cleverly mentions three of Petty’s songs from the record. In the second verse Barham sets the scene perfectly, “When I think about that summer and I still hear the sounds / Petty on the radio ‘I Won’t Back Down’”.

Reference to ‘Runnin’ Down a Dream’ follows further on and the final verse laments “And I think about that summer, how it passed us by / Petty on the radio, us ‘Learnin’ How To Fly’” Poetically stunning with a sentiment a lot of us can relate to.

Number 8: Weezer ‘Buddy Holly’  from “Weezer (Blue Album)” (1994)

More than a clue in the title, probably Weezer’s most famous track. The video released at the height of MTV shows footage from the US comedy classic “Happy Days” featuring all the cast with the band playing in “Arnold’s Diner”. Mary Tyler Moore also gets a mention, so she can join the honorary list. “I look just like Buddy Holly / And you’re Mary Tyler Moore” sings Rivers Cuomo. The single was released on September 7^th, 1994, on what would have been Buddy Holly’s 58^th Birthday. Produced by The Cars band member Ric Ocasek, it nearly didn’t make the album. Ocasek had to convince songwriter Cuomo to include it.

Number 7: Counting Crows ‘Monkey’  from “Recovering The Satellites” (1996)

This is the song that fuelled the idea for this essentials piece. The Counting Crows’ lead vocalist, Adam Duritz, appears to be always fighting with the monkey on his back. On this piece he is singing as if welcoming the simian back after shrugging them off. How many Counting Crows fans were inspired to check out the Ben Folds Five after hearing Duritz sing “Got nowhere but home to go / Got Ben Folds on my radio right now”? The track certainly has that pounding piano in the Ben Folds style, so even the music is a homage to one of America’s finest.

Number 6: Brown Horse ‘Stealing Horses’  from “Reservoir” (2023)

The very first track of the debut album by Suffolk band Brown Horse is at number six.  This name drops the pioneer of americana and country music, Jimmie Rodgers. Rodgers’ yodelling style influenced many, and he is regarded as the “Father of Country Music”. The song references his ‘Blue Yodel No. 8, Mule Skinner Blues’, which was first recorded in 1930. The song talks about an out-of-work mule skinner looking for work. Mule skinner refers to the mule drivers and thankfully doesn’t involve any actual skinning. Credit to the young band for delving into this distant past and weaving the story around it. “But I heard you on the radio late last night / Singing an old Jimmie Rodgers song, went something like / Good morning, captain, good morning, sir / Is there room for one more mule-skinner on this earth?”

Number 5: Taylor Swift ‘Tim McGraw’  from “Taylor Swift” (2006)

At only 14 years of age, Taylor Swift pens this country masterpiece, so the story goes, while sitting in a math class. Released on her debut album, called “Taylor Swift”, it’s a beautiful country ballad of a young lost love. The lyrics are simple but heartfelt. The connection between music and failed relationships, as well as other life events, is a constant. Sparking moments in time.  The song isn’t specifically about Tim McGraw, it’s about his music and songs as part of this young relationship. Tim McGraw doesn’t need an introduction. Married to Faith Hill, they’re the country super couple and now both fine actors. Their performance in the Netflix series “1883” is exceptional. Swift doesn’t get upset shouting “We’re never, ever, ever getting back together”, it is just a simple “But when you think Tim McGraw / I hope you think my favourite song /The one we danced to all night long / The moon like a spotlight on the lake think of me”.

Number 4: Eric Church ‘Mr, Misunderstood’ from “Mr. Misunderstood” (2015)

Out of the blue, Church released the incredible album, “Mr Misunderstood”, in 2015. Originally released to his fan club only, but then dropped onto iTunes the next day. Written quickly, in twenty days, Church explores his own influences and musical preferences along with some of his heroes. There’s name-dropping throughout, but this title track mentions three of the best. You have to listen closely as Church rolls all three together very quickly in an early verse before the song kicks off, and it’s a trio of heavyweights as the lyrics reveal “ Elvis Costello, Ray Wiley Hubbard, and think Jeff Tweedy is one bad mother”. The tune is a tale of a kid on the margins who turns to his dad’s vinyl collection for inspiration rather than the top 40. All three artists mentioned here have extensive discographies, perfect for a young musician looking for motivation. The album also includes the track ‘Record Year’, which also drops a few names, including Waylon Jennings, George Jones and Stevie Wonder. To include two Church-penned titles in the same ten may be seen as overkill, but both could easily have made it.

Number 3: Ben Folds Five ‘On Being Frank’ from “The Sound Of The Life Of The Mind” (2012)

Ben Folds again, but this time it’s his turn to mention another, and it’s the popular crooner Frank Sinatra. As Folds says, “It’s a long way from the dustbin of New Jersey to the top”. Folds put together an extensive retrospective collection in 2011. This included old cuts, live versions and remixes from throughout his career. As part of the recording, he got together with his old band members, Robert Sledge and Darren Jesse. They produced three new tracks, ‘House’, ‘Tell Me What I Did’ and ‘Stumblin Home Winter Blues’, and enjoyed themselves so much that they went on to record a new album and took it on tour.

The album “The Sound of the Life of the Mind” included this cut. The subject of the song is one of Sinatra’s backroom staff after his death, and how their career ended with his passing. The premise can be summed up with the lyrics “I rode the wind, the wind stopped blowing / Set me on the roadside, thumbing home / But home, for me, was always someone else / You know that shadows always fall when the sun goes down”. Played over a dramatic piano with sparkling minor notes and a terrific baseline, a fitting tribute and time to hang up Sinatra’s hat for the last time.

Number 2: The National  ‘New Order T-Shirt ’ from“First Two Pages of Frankenstein” (2023)

Just nudged out of the number one spot, The National name drops in fine style. We can’t quite squeeze New Order into the americana genre, but The National are certainly firmly in there. AUK writer Jonathan Aird described them as “not just any old americana band, they are also one of the most significant bands of the 21st century”. ‘New Order T-Shirt’, the second single from the album “First Two Pages of Frankenstein”, is simple, beautiful and reflective. For anyone who has loved and lost, had friendships dissolve, and let’s face it, that is all of us, it is a commentary on what we can hold onto. Matt Berninger’s vocals soar and fall in just the right places, and there is a perfect pace to the music. Berninger co-wrote the song with guitarist Aaron Dressner, and lyrically, it is stunning. “I keep what I can of you / Split-second glimpses and snapshots and sounds / You in my New Order T-shirt / Holding a cat and a glass of beer.”

Number 1: Drive By Truckers ‘Carl Perkins’ Cadillac’ from “The Dirty South” (2004)

It had to be the Truckers who name-dropped some heavyweights from their 2004 opus “The Dirty South”. The fifth album from the band and a second concept album after “Southern Rock Opera”. Written by Mike Cooley, the track recalls disc jockey and record company owner Sam Phillips and his role in the American music scene. Managing Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash, and a shy young man from Tupelo, Mississippi, called Elvis Presley.  The four became known as the Million Dollar Quartet. Just before Christmas, 1956, Lewis was playing piano for Perkins when Presley arrived. Phillips called up Cash, and the quartet was challenged to achieve gold record sales. As an incentive, Phillips offered a free Cadillac to the one who made it first. Perkins won the prize with his version of ‘Blue Suede Shoes’. Phillips later sold Presley’s contract to RCA and said that he never regretted it, as he needed the money.

The Drive By Truckers’ account of events is brilliantly written and drives along with Perkins in his Cadillac, following the outside lane. The song is more complex than you think on first listen. The way Cooley delves into the insecurities and the crutches these early musical pioneers had underlies the almost playful nature of the Cadillac tale. Cash’s struggle with pills and with Presley the line “Dammit Elvis, I swear son I think it’s time you came around / Making money you can’t spend ain’t what being dead’s about” should be a wake up call to many.

Although Perkins was presented with the Cadillac, as promised by Phillips, for being the first Sun artist to sell a million records, it is rumoured that the cost was deducted from the royalties. Well you earned it Mr, Phillips.