An Acoustic Evening with John Anderson

John Anderson pushed himself to complete his vocals for Years, telling producer Dan Auerbach, “Let’s get everything because I might not wake up.” 

It’s not an overstatement. In a risky procedure a few months earlier, when anesthesia was used, Anderson was told by doctors that he’d died on the operating room table. His wife told him that it had happened three times. That knowledge weighed heavily on the legendary country singer while writing and recording Years because he knew that his next appointment – just a few days after the sessions — would require the same anesthesia.  

Remarkably, Anderson kept his health crisis a secret from his touring band and the music industry, and even now he prefers not to get into all of the details. However, his recovery has become his testimony. 

During his period of recovery, Anderson got a phone call out of the blue from Auerbach, who was simply calling as a fan, inspired by a conversation with David Ferguson (co-producer) about great singers. When Anderson later met them both in person at Auerbach’s Easy Eye Sound studio in Nashville, they clicked as a unit immediately. On the spot, Anderson – a Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame inductee — accepted an invitation to write the next day. 

That first co-write yielded “Years,” an emotional centerpiece of the album sung from the perspective of a man with some miles on him.