M-E-D-L-E-Y Of The Hillbilly Jedi

Album: Hillbilly Jedi (2012)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • It was Jon Bon Jovi who suggested the album title when he was collaborating with the Big & Rich pair on the record. However, when the duo proposed the idea to their label, Warner Bros. Nashville, the suits put a spanner in the works. "They said, 'Oh, we're gonna have to run this by our legal department... because the word Jedi is owned by George Lucas (LucasFilms)'," Rich recalled to Billboard magazine. "We went, 'Oh crap, we didn't even think of that. So sure enough, legal says, 'No, they can't use that.'"

    Rich continued: "Kenny called Jon and told him, and Jon said, 'Hang on a second. I'm gonna call George.' And Kenny says 'George who?' and Jon says, 'George Lucas, dude.' So he picks up his cell and calls George Lucas... at a race car event in Morocco and says 'Hey man, my buddies Big & Rich want to call their record 'Hillbilly Jedis' and the legal department is telling them they can't. Would you do a favor and just be cool about it and let 'em call it that?'"

    Lucas agreed, but with one condition. "He said, 'I have no problem if they want to use the word, but it's not Jedis. There's no 's' in Jedi, ever. Jedi is singular and plural, like deer,'" recalled Rich. "And we're like, 'Fine.' Sure enough, the next day we got paper from New York saying 'You guys can use it.'"

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Tommy James

Tommy JamesSongwriter Interviews

"Mony Mony," "Crimson and Clover," "Draggin' The Line"... the hits kept coming for Tommy James, and in a plot line fit for a movie, his record company was controlled by the mafia.

Steely Dan

Steely DanFact or Fiction

Did they really trade their guitarist to The Doobie Brothers? Are they named after something naughty? And what's up with the band name?

David Gray

David GraySongwriter Interviews

David Gray explains the significance of the word "Babylon," and talks about how songs are a form of active imagination, with lyrics that reveal what's inside us.

JJ Burnel of The Stranglers

JJ Burnel of The StranglersSongwriter Interviews

JJ talks about The Stranglers' signature sound - keyboard and bass - which isn't your typical strain of punk rock.

Tim McIlrath of Rise Against

Tim McIlrath of Rise AgainstSongwriter Interviews

Rise Against frontman Tim McIlrath explains the meanings behind some of their biggest songs and names the sci-fi books that have influenced him.

George Clinton

George ClintonSongwriter Interviews

When you free your mind, your ass may follow, but you have to make sure someone else doesn't program it while it's wide open.