Remember When Andy Griffith Starred in a Brad Paisley Video?

In 2008, Brad Paisley released “Waitin’ On A Woman”. Written by Wynn Varble and Don Sampson, “Waitin’ On A Woman” is on 5th Gear, Paisley’s sixth studio album. 

The sweet song says in part, “He said the wedding took a year to plan / You talk about an anxious man, I was nervous / Waitin’ on a woman / And then he nudged my arm like old men do / And said, ‘I’ll say this about the honeymoon, it was worth it / Waitin’ on a woman.’”

A No. 1 single for Paisley, he has Andy Griffith to thank for at least some of the song’s success. Griffith stars in the music video for “Waitin’ On A Woman”, an actor Paisley chose for the role of a wise, elderly man. Paisley knew Griffith from his eponymous TV show, which ran from 1960 to 1968.

“Who’s the perfect person to sit next to you on a bench and tell you, ‘Here’s some advice, son’? Andy Griffith,” Paisley later reflects. “I wrote him a letter. I told him, ‘I grew up watching [The Andy Griffith Show]. Your show helped me raise my son. I now know how to raise a boy because of watching that show. If you want to be in the video, that would be great, but if not, thank you for everything you’ve done.’”

Why Brad Paisley Wanted Andy Griffith To Join Him in the “Waitin’ On A Woman” Music Video

For Paisley, there wasn’t another actor who could fulfill the role in the music video like Griffith.

“I told him, ‘You are as responsible for how I’m raising my son as either one of my parents,’” Paisley later tells The LA Times. “Just from watching that show, you can raise a boy with the lessons from The Andy Griffith Show.”

Paisley also reveals what he said to Griffith in the letter, trying to persuade him to be in the music video.

 “I wrote the letter and said, ‘This song epitomizes your character as well as the values and things you celebrate,’” Paisley recalls. “’And I wonder if you wanted to be in a music video.’ His wife, Cindy, was instrumental in this. It’s typical; when a woman likes something, we listen, and that’s the point of the song in some ways.”

Interestingly, Paisley might have reached out to Griffith himself, but he can’t take all of the credit for the casting. Peter Tilden, who produced the video, first reached out to Billy Bob Thornton. It was Thornton who encouraged them to pursue Griffith instead.

Photo by Beth Gwinn/Redferns