This time around we are taking a look at Swings Both Ways’ tenth track, the Country Music classic Little Green Apples. Robbie fell in love with this song after discovering it on the Readers’ Digest Country Greats compilation album given to him for his birthday by his guitarist and friend, Gary Nuttall.
“I pressed play and on came this song Little Green Apples, and from that moment on its become one of my favourite songs. It’s just a tune. Quality tune.”
Originally written by Bobby Russell in 1968, this song has become a Country standard performed by the biggest names in music over the years, including legends like Frank Sinatra, Glenn Campbell and Tony Bennett. Inspired by this, Robbie decided to ask one of the biggest names in contemporary music, Kelly Clarkson, to sing Little Green Apples with him for Swings Both Ways.
“Kelly Clarkson’s a very, very, very strong singer, and she has a great personality to go along with that voice. She makes me smile every time I see her perform. I get a good feeling from her.”
Whilst he loved recording Little Green Apples with Kelly Clarkson, Robbie admits that he did have his doubts about asking her to sing with him on Swings Both Ways. Despite his own global success he wasn’t sure that she would know who he was.
“I don’t even know if she knows me. She might’ve heard of me I suppose. But she graciously said ‘yes’ to doing the record, and I have got one of the world’s greatest voices on it.”
Robbie and Kelly combine beautifully in their smooth and evocative take on this classic song, with its gentle melodies, beautiful lyrics and flowing, airy string arrangement floating above. This soothing and dreamy feeling is something which Robbie has always associated with Little Green Apples.
“It’s like a pain killer for me this song. I put it on and I’m transported to some velvet room with plush seats and a bowl of Maltesers. It’s got an other-worldly soporific quality about it.”
Swings Both Ways is out now; use the links below to buy your copy.
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