Hear Jerry Castle’s Collaboration With Late Bobby Keys: Premiere
Southern rocker Jerry Castle's new song “With the Band” features one of the last recordings made by Rolling Stones saxophonist Bobby Keys before his death in 2014.
You can listen to the premiere of the song below.
Keys, who's best known for his work on the Stones’ “Brown Sugar," also collaborated with John Lennon, George Harrison, Eric Clapton, Lynyrd Skynyrd and many others. The Castle collaboration came about when he met Keys in Nashville in 2013 and invited him to his studio.
In a statement, Shore Fire Media calls “With the Band” a ‘70s-tinged piece, reminiscent of the Allman Brothers Band, which “captures the family-like bond of musicians … and road crews who go through the tribulations and triumphs of life together. The song comes at a time when many musicians are mourning the connection with their road crews, yet it serves as a reminder that music can get us through anything.”
“Bobby’s saxophone track was originally recorded in 2014, shortly before he went on his last tour with the Rolling Stones," Castle tells UCR. "In late 2019, I pulled up the track and was disappointed that my song didn’t feel like a proper tribute to the musician that Bobby was, so I began the process of rewriting the song around Bobby’s saxophone performance. I knew I was on the path to accomplishing a proper rewrite when the hook ‘with the band’ found its way into the song.”
He added that "anyone who has dedicated their life to music and spent extensive time on the road knows how difficult it is to keep relationships intact. When things in the real world get too overwhelming, we musicians usually have the overwhelming desire to take to the open road. No matter how in love we are with someone, we never love them more than we love music."
Castle released his most recent album, Midnight Testaments, in October, and is planning more new music for next year.