George Jones did the song. So did George Strait. Now check out the video premiere of this new swinging rendition by a country, bluegrass, gospel dream team.
Well I was ruling the roost / Had all the chicks to myself … You’ll hear those famous opening lines to the classic song “Love Bug” and suddenly it will happen: You’ll feel a little feeling that says you need to get on the dance floor immediately — even if it’s just your living room with the rug rolled up.
The new recording Brotherly Love features the jumping “Love Bug” and brings together four renowned country, bluegrass, and gospel artists: Jimmy Fortune, Bradley Walker, Mike Rogers, and Ben Isaacs. Released digitally on May 29, the music will come out on physical CD and DVD on September 4, with a TV special premiering September 2 on Heartland.
Jimmy Fortune rose to fame as a member of the Statler Brothers and penned some of their biggest hits (“Elizabeth,” “Too Much on My Heart”) before forging a successful solo career when the quartet retired. Bradley Walker is a Dove Award-winning artist with a strong following in country, gospel, and bluegrass. Ben Isaacs has performed with his mother and sisters for years as the Grammy-nominated group the Isaacs. Formerly with the legendary Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver, Mike Rogers is one of the most highly respected musicians in bluegrass music. Each member brings his own secret sauce to the new album Brotherly Love.
The four friends shared their close-knit blends with country music singer/songwriter/storyteller Rory Feek, who hosted the live video recording in his concert barn in Columbia, Tennessee. Filmed in-the-round, the upcoming DVD and TV special, Brotherly Love, captures the intimate evening of song and storytelling; it will feature an introduction by Bill Gaither and behind-the-scenes interviews with Feek and the group members, who discuss the music they chose for the performance and share how these songs have touched their lives.
Those songs include the title track, “Brotherly Love,” a country hit for the late Keith Whitley and Earl Thomas Conley; the Statler Brothers’ classic “The Class of ’57”; and Roy Orbison’s “Crying”; as well as such gospel standards as “The Lighthouse,” “Daddy Sang Bass,” and “Where No One Stands Alone.”
And let’s not forget the high-spirited “Love Bug.” Written by Wayne Kemp and Curtis Wayne, the song was famously recorded by George Jones and also got the inimitable George Strait treatment. This new version will undoubtedly join the pantheon of great renditions.
“‘Love Bug’ — what a great song,” said group member Mike Rogers. “We did a different treatment to this particular song and swung it up a little bit. It’s always been one of my favorites. I heard George Strait sing it a long time ago, and I loved it and thought it was really good. Ben and I were playing it one night and he said, ‘Man, let’s swing it up a little bit — make it a little happy … a little bouncy.’ So we did, and we love the ‘Love Bug’!”
“This song has been around for a long time, and it’s a song that we’ve all loved, hearing it from George Jones to George Strait,” group member and producer Ben Isaacs added. “We just threw our own twist on it to make it more swingy, and we loved approaching it as a quartet. This group has so much fun singing together, and we all feel an energy from the blends that we are able to create. We are close friends away from the microphone and stage, and I think you can feel that heart and synergy in this recording."
You’ll see and feel the heart and synergy here in the premiere of the “Love Bug” video — performed by Jimmy Fortune, Bradley Walker, Mike Rogers, Ben Isaacs — filmed at Rory’s Feek’s barn.
“That night there was so much energy in the room and the crowd was involved. It just felt so good,” Rogers said. “The energy was just so incredible, and to sing on stage in-the-round like we did — it was just amazing. It was one of the coolest, if not the coolest, nights that I’ve ever been a part of ever in my whole time of playing music.”
Fortune went beyond the moment to the meaning: “If ever we needed brotherly love, we sure need it in the world today toward one another,” he said. “We need to look at each other with the love of real brotherhood. We’re all in this together. No matter what our differences are, we have more in common than we think we do, and that is love for one another. That’s what this whole project is all about, and that’s why we wanted to call it Brotherly Love.”
The Brotherly Love TV special is set to air on networks including PBS, Heartland, TBN, RFD-TV, GaitherTV, CTN, TCT, The Walk TV, IBN, Proclaim Broadcasting and TLN. In Canada, Brotherly Love will air on Vision TV, CTS, The Miracle Channel and Hope TV. For more information and to preorder, click here.
Brotherly Love
Song Listing (Audio)
“Brotherly Love”
“Go Rest High on That Mountain”
“Love Bug”
“Lighthouse”
“Class of ’57”
“Love Will Keep Us Alive”
“Man of Constant Sorrow”
“I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry”
“Lord, I Hope This Day Is Good”
“Crying”
“Daddy Sang Bass”
“Where No One Stands Alone”
“You’re Only Lonely”
Song Listing (Video)
“Lord, I Hope This Day Is Good”
“Brotherly Love”
“Where No One Stands Alone”
“Daddy Sang Bass”
“Elizabeth”
“Man of Constant Sorrow”
“Lighthouse”
“You're Only Lonely”
“I’ll Fly Away”
“Love Bug”
“Love Will Keep Us Alive”
“I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry”
“Class of ’57”
“Crying”
“Go Rest High on That Mountain”
Photography: Images courtesy Lee Steffen
