"Holding an instrument that carries so much musical history and significance was surreal, you could almost feel the stories resonate from it as I played it," Bentley said in a press release. "Tom Petty's lyrics and delivery were a huge part of what made his music so impactful."
Bentley's cover is part of an upcoming tribute album, PETTY COUNTRY: A Country Music Celebration of Tom Petty.
Petty's "American Girl," which became a staple of his set lists, appeared on the Heartbreakers' debut, self-titled album.
"I was living in an apartment where I was right by the freeway," Petty would later recall for 2005's Conversations With Tom Petty. "And the cars would go by. In Encino, near Leon [Russell's] house. And I remember thinking that that sounded like the ocean to me. That was my ocean. My Malibu. I think that must have inspired the lyric. ... I would have written that on my Gibson Dove, because I wrote everything on that then. It was the only guitar I had."
Among the contributors are Willie Nelson, Dolly Parton, Chris Stapleton, Marty Stuart, Margo Price and many more. Two former Heartbreakers, Mike Campbell and Benmont Tench, also appear on the album.
Ahead of the album's release, the first track, Dierks Bentley's cover of "American Girl," is available below.
Track listing:
1. “I Should Have Known It” – Chris Stapleton
2. “Wildflowers” – Thomas Rhett
3. “Runnin’ Down a Dream” – Luke Combs
4. “Southern Accents” – Dolly Parton
5. “Here Comes My Girl” – Justin Moore
6. “American Girl” – Dierks Bentley
7. “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around” – Lady A
8. “I Forgive It All” – Jamey Johnson
9. “I Won’t Back Down” – Brothers Osborne
10. “Refugee” – Wynonna Judd & Lainey Wilson
11. “Angel Dream #2” – Willie Nelson & Lukas Nelson
12. “Learning to Fly” – Eli Young Band
13. “Breakdown” – Ryan Hurd feat. Carly Pearce
14. “Yer So Bad” – Steve Earle
15. “Ways to Be Wicked” – Margo Price & Mike Campbell
16. “Mary Jane’s Last Dance” – Midland
17. “Free Fallin’” – The Cadillac Three feat. Breland
18. “I Need To Know” – Marty Stuart And His Fabulous Superlatives
19. “Don’t Come Around Here No More” – Rhiannon Giddens feat. Benmont Tench
20. “You Wreck Me (Live)” – George Strait
