Don Henley Covers a Garth Brooks ‘Chris Gaines’ Song During Nashville Show

Don Henley's new Cass County LP features guest appearances from some of Nashville's biggest stars, and when he stopped at the city's Ryman Auditorium for a show Oct. 18, he paid tribute to yet another country legend — sort of, anyway.

Rolling Stone reports that Henley's set list for his night at the Ryman included a somewhat surprising cover: "It Don't Matter to the Sun," a song that originally appeared on Garth Brooks' much-maligned 1999 release Garth Brooks in ... The Life of Chris Gaines. Originally conceived as the musical lead-in to a movie starring Brooks as an Australian pop star, the record was widely regarded as a costly creative folly — even though it peaked at No. 2, went double platinum and spun off a Top 5 hit in "Lost in You."

However roundly Brooks might have been mocked for the whole Gaines concept, the album had a solid creative pedigree, with a track listing largely penned by the songwriting triumvirate of Gordon Kennedy, Wayne Kirkpatrick and Tommy Sims — the same trio responsible for Eric Clapton's massive hit "Change the World." They clearly have a fan in Henley, who's been adding a number of clever cover choices to the set list for his Cass County dates.

Even though "It Don't Matter to the Sun" might have been the biggest surprise of his Ryman performance, Henley started raising eyebrows earlier in the tour, when he debuted his take on the 30-year-old Tears for Fears hit "Everybody Wants to Rule the World." Other covers include Randy Newman's "Let's Burn Down the Cornfield" and the Screamin' Jay Hawkins classic "I Put a Spell on You" — as well as his set-opening rendition of Steve Young's "Seven Bridges Road," which he first covered with the Eagles.

Henley remains on the road in support of Cass County until mid-November, with singer-songwriter Shawn Colvin offering support at all shows. For a complete listing of tour dates, check Henley's official site.

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