Did You Know Clint Eastwood Recorded Two Songs With Merle Haggard and Ray Charles?

The highlight of Clint Eastwood’s illustrious career is his spaghetti Western roles. A Fistful of Dollars, Joe Kidd, and Rawhide are just a few of the Western movies Eastwood starred in that made him a household name. Given his prominence on Western’s silver screen, it makes a whole lot of sense that Eastwood has an affection for country and blues music. An affection he would carry out on the biggest stage.

Videos by American Songwriter

With that in mind, Eastwood recorded and released two songs alongside Ray Charles and Merle Haggard for two of his movies. Both songs fit into the country/Western genre in order to better match the tonal vibe of the films. However, they both are still phenomenal standalone pieces of music created by three of the biggest pop culture icons of the 20th century. Frankly, it’s a collaboration you’d have never expected to happen, but we are all reaping the benefits from it.

Clint Eastwood’s Cinematic Country Music Stint

If one is familiar with Eastwood and his movies, they know his definable trait is his voice. Gravely, gritty, and intimidating are just a few words to describe his unique tone. That being so, Eastwood knows his voice is not for singing, rather, it is very striking fear into his fictional enemies. Though, he still gave it a shot.

Despite his voice, Eastwood and Haggard wrote and released “Bar Room Buddies” for Eastwood’s film, Bronco Billy. Matter of fact, the song was just as successful as the film, as upon its release it reached No. 1 on the country charts both in the US and Canada. The song is not profound country poetry, but it is a happy, wholesome, and cheerful barroom song for drinking buddies.

Merle Haggard’s hit sits in stark contrast to Eastwood’s collaboration with Ray Charles, as the latter collaboration was not nearly as successful. Nonetheless, the two wrote and released “Beers to You” for Clint Eastwood’s 1980 film, Any Which Way You Can. The film is not a prototypical Western flick, though, the song is, and maybe that’s why it wasn’t entirely too successful. However, there is no way to truly know.

Following these two collaborations, Eastwood never publicly released music for films again. There is no robust answer as to why that is, but maybe the actor realized where his premier talents resided. Regardless, these songs are a testament to Clint Eastwood’s versatility as an entertainer. Also, it’s just pretty cool to know that three generational talents teamed up for some fairly popular films.

Photo by CBS/Getty Images