Toby Keith teamed up with Willie Nelson to record “Beer for My Horses” in 2002. The next year, he released the song as the fourth and final single from Unleashed. The song went to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart and stayed there for six weeks. It also peaked at No. 22 on the publication’s all-genre Hot 100 chart, giving Keith and Nelson a crossover hit. Five years later, the two country stars teamed up once again to make a movie based on the hit song.
Videos by American Songwriter
When it came time to start production on the 2008 film Beer for My Horses, Keith was no stranger to being in front of a camera. He had already starred in a long list of music videos. More than that, he was in an episode of the TV show Touched By an Angel in 2001. Then, he made his film debut in 2006 as Bo Price in Broken Bridges. However, Keith didn’t have much experience behind the camera. That changed in the production of Beer for My Horses.
[RELATED: Behind the Meaning of Toby Keith and Willie Nelson’s “Beer for My Horses”]
Keith starred in Beer for My Horses as Joe Bill “Rack” Racklin. He also served as a producer on the movie, making his debut in the position. Additionally, while he was no stranger to writing hit songs, Keith had never written for a film before. That changed when he and Rodney Carrington—a comedian known for his novelty songs—co-penned the screenplay.
Beer for My Horses Gets Mixed Reviews
Beer for My Horses got mixed reviews. It seems that those who sat down expecting a serious modern take on the Western genre were sorely disappointed. However, those who were looking for a fun flick featuring their favorite country stars—Willie Nelson and Toby Keith—were more than happy with what they got.
Today, it is one of the few movies to have a 0% critic score on Rotten Tomatoes. The audience score, on the other hand, sits at 62%.
Toby Keith on His Movie
Toby Keith appeared on The Big Interview with Dan Rather, who also appeared in Beer for My Horses. During their conversation, they talked about the song and the movie it inspired. “The song did very well. The movie—probably because of my brief appearance in it—did not do so well,” Rather said which got a big laugh from Keith.
“Yeah, well, there’s a lot of reasons for people to hate on that movie but it’s hilarious,” Keith said. “The movie’s funny and Rodney Carrington is funny. Me and Rodney wrote it. So, to go out and be a songwriter from Oklahoma, an oil field worker, and decide you’re going to write a whole movie and get all the people involved that we got… and do the movie and finish it, it was a complete joy,” he added. “At the end of the day, me and Rodney had a blast. And the people that watched it who were fans of mine loved it, they said they had a great time doing it. I wouldn’t take it back for nothing.”
Rather jokingly added, “Even if it didn’t win an Oscar. To my recollection, it didn’t even get nominated.” This got another laugh out of Keith who replied, “Did it not get nominated, Dan? I’ll be damned. I thought we were going to Hollywood!”
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