Juice Newton may have been singing Christmas carols at the Carols by Candlelight in Escondido, Calif. earlier this month, but her new album presents fans with a more unique offering.
'Duets: Friends & Memories,' pairs Juice for the first time ever with a diverse group of musical partners, including Willie Nelson, Gary Morris, Frankie Valli, Randy Meisner, Glen Campbell, Melissa Manchester and the late Dan Seals. The duets were recorded a few years ago, but because of some legal complications they are just now being released. In the meantime, Dan passed away, making the tune 'These Dreams' a poignant memory in Juice's recording history.
The New Jersey native, raised in Virginia, had a string of pop and country hits with 'The Sweetest Thing (I've Ever Known),' 'Angel of the Morning' and 'Queen of Hearts,' but this is the first time she's ever recorded an album of duets. "The underlying idea from the get-go was diversity, because I do a lot of different types of music," Juice explains to The Boot. "I started in pop, then crossed over into country. And I actually do some swing music, so that was the first idea. The second ruling factor was when I went to these artists, I asked them if there were songs they liked that they had not had a chance to record. So that was interesting, to let the individual artist pick the song, almost like they do on their record."
While this might have been great for the duet partners, it put a bit of pressure on Juice, who had to learn all the songs that the other artists chose to record. "The artists are very different," Juice points out. "Melissa is a great vocalist, so to step up and match that
