LOS ANGELES (AP) 鈥� Want to live like ? You're in luck.
On Friday, the country music and entertainment icon will release a new album to partner with her new book, 鈥淣ot That Fancy: Simple Lessons on Living, Loving, Eating, and Dusting Off Your Boots.鈥�
The book, which arrives Tuesday, is a collection of recipes, memoir, photos, and lifestyle tips. The 鈥淣ot That Fancy鈥� album is a collection of acoustic covers of McEntire鈥檚 biggest hits, with a few surprises thrown in. Like , who takes the place of on 鈥淒oes He Love You.鈥�
The book, McEntire explained over the phone, is 鈥渁bout things not having to be so fancy or structured. Whether it鈥檚 a dinner party or going out to eat, having friends over. If you don鈥檛 have your brand-new couch in, you鈥檝e got to cover your old couch, that鈥檚 fine. People don鈥檛 care. They just want to get together and have fun.鈥�
Re-recording some of her most recognizable songs in an intimate fashion just felt like the perfect partner for a book that already crosses mediums. 鈥淚t's not just a cookbook. It's not just a photo album. It's not a storybook. It's an eclectic group of everything,鈥� she explains.
鈥淎nd I had to proofread it, so I went through it several times and never got bored with it. And I have the attention span of a 3-year-old, so for me not to get bored with it is a huge compliment to the book."
McEntire spoke to The Associated Press about her new album, book, and dressing 鈥渢ough sexy.鈥�
This interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.
AP: The book came first, then the album. Where did the idea for acoustic covers originate?
McENTIRE: We had done (the compilation album) 鈥淩emixed, Revised and Revisited,鈥� and so we pulled some of those songs. Working with (producer) Dave Cobb, that was an album that was stripped down, that we wanted to pull from. And we added some more songs to it, brand new songs, which is our new single called 鈥淪even Minutes in Heaven.鈥� And it just worked out really good to be 鈥渘ot that fancy.鈥�
AP: Dolly Parton takes the place of Linda Davis on this version of How did the collaboration come to be?
McENTIRE: Well, we were picking out the songs for the album, 鈥淒oes He Love You鈥� came up and we were all like, 鈥淲ell, if we did it again, who we like to have sing with you?鈥� We all started pitching names and put them in the hat. When somebody said 鈥淒olly,鈥� everybody just said, 鈥淥h, absolutely, we got to ask Dolly.鈥� And she said, yes.
AP: So, it didn't take much convincing?
McENTIRE: I hope not, anyway!
AP: joined you again for 鈥淚f You See Him/If You See Her.鈥�
McENTIRE: We all got in the studio together. Of course, Dolly and I didn鈥檛 get to record together because of the pandemic, but and came in and we love to perform and sing together. We're good friends. So, it was a great day hanging out at the studio.
They are terribly notorious for being pranksters. When we first started our tour in the early '90s, that was my first rule: No pranks. We do not like pranks. And so when Kix and myself, when we were singing 鈥淐otton Fields,鈥� he kind of kept spitting on me. We got off the stage, of course, and we walked back to the dressing room. I said, 鈥淲ould you please quit spitting in my face?鈥� And that鈥檚 when he gave me a big yellow rain slicker the next night.
AP: Ha! Did re-recording these songs transform them, in some way?
McENTIRE: You get used to hearing something a certain way, and then when it is stripped down to just a few instruments, you got to get comfortable with it again. You kind of have to relearn it. And some of the songs we slowed down, changed the tempo, and it just made it a totally different song. So, I thought it was a great idea and a great way to give the fans something different.
AP: In the book, you describe your style as 鈥渢ough sexy.鈥� What is 鈥渢ough sexy?鈥�
McENTIRE: I鈥檓 a tomboy at heart. I grew up on a working cattle ranch. I worked outside with my older sister Alice and my older brother Pake and little sister Susie. We had to do the chores with the men and then come in and us girls had to take care of things with Momma. So, I always considered myself a tomboy, but I still like to dress up and be sparkly with rhinestones and glitter and fringe and all that kind of stuff. So 鈥渢ough sexy,鈥� to me, when they say, 鈥淗ow do you like to dress?鈥� 鈥淚 like tough sexy.鈥� 鈥淲ell, what's that?鈥� 鈥淚n my cowboy clothes with a sexy side of it.鈥� That's my interior design, also.
AP: 鈥淣ot That Fancy鈥� offers simple living advice. What's the best piece of advice you've ever been given, maybe something you've shared on 鈥淭he Voice?鈥�
McENTIRE: I pass on the best advice I鈥檇 ever gotten from a good friend of mine who鈥檚 not with us any longer, a billionaire. He said, 鈥淥verall, have fun.鈥�
And also, don鈥檛 sweat the small stuff. Don鈥檛 worry that you don鈥檛 have eight glasses that match. Use Solo cups or paper plates, whatever you want to use, but have your friends over. Do not postpone a get together because you don鈥檛 have the perfect set up in your house, or maybe the house cleaner didn鈥檛 come, or maybe you didn鈥檛 feel like cleaning your house. Don鈥檛 worry about it. They just want to see you.
Maria Sherman, The Associated Press
