Garth Brooks is targeting fans who can’t wait until Black Friday to buy his new album by giving them a jacked-up box set two weeks early, in an exclusive arrangement with Target. The track list, Billboard has learned exclusively, includes several previously unreleased live performances, a cover of a Randy Travis song and a multiartist version of “Friends In Low Places” that was derailed a year ago in back-room negotiations with music publishers.
Garth Brooks: The Ultimate Collection will be in stores on Nov. 11, packing 121 tracks into a 10-disc box set, favorably priced at $29.99. One of those discs is Gunslinger, due as a stand-alone album Nov. 25 on Brooks’ Pearl imprint.
Additionally, fans who pre-order the package at Target.com will also receive Brooks’ holiday album with Trisha Yearwood, Christmas Together.
“We’ve worked with Garth to create a truly compelling offer at a value that’s simply unbeatable,” said Target executive vice president and chief merchandising officer Mark Tritton in a prepared statement. “Not only will we have Garth’s new album two weeks before it is available anywhere else, we’ve also filled our boxed set with highly anticipated tracks that guests will only ever find at Target. In total, it’s a can’t-miss music moment for Garth’s fans and music lovers of all ages.”
Brooks’ album comes amid a flurry of activity for the Country Music Hall of Famer, who ended his self-imposed retirement from the road in 2014. In September, his song “Pure Adrenaline” debuted as the theme music for SEC football games on CBS, and he launched his own SiriusXM satellite station, the Garth Channel. On Oct. 19, he finally ended his holdout on streaming, announcing a deal with Amazon Music Unlimited.
In addition to Gunslinger, the Target box features two discs of live performances and seven more CDs that adhere to the playlist approach of the streaming era with a dozen songs each supporting a specific theme. “Old School,” for example, leans toward traditional country, “Midnight Fire” focuses on love and sex, and “Cowboys” compiles rodeo songs and western-tinged music. Other themed discs are titled “Anthems,” “The Covers,” “RPMs” and “Turn It Up.”
As he’s done with other box sets, Brooks offers a number of previously unreleased tracks as incentive to purchase The Ultimate Collection, including two Target-exclusive tracks on Gunslinger. One of those is a new version of “Friends In Low Places” featuring George Strait, Jason Aldean, Keith Urban and Florida Georgia Line.
The “Low Places” remake was originally recorded for a 25th-anniversary version of No Fences, an album that spent 41 weeks at No. 1 in 1990 and ’91 and has been certified by the Recording Industry Association of America for shipments of 17 million copies. The recording was originally intended for release in 2015 but was held back when Brooks was unable to reach an agreement with publishers on songwriter royalties for the album. The new version is unlikely to be released outside of The Ultimate Collection.
“The 25th anniversary edition of ‘Friends in Low Places’ with George Strait, Jason Aldean, Florida Georgia Line and Keith Urban is only available in this box and will be gone when the boxes are gone,” Brooks said in a statement. “I applaud Target for making so much music available at such an incredible value. Target has made this boxed set the gift to give and receive this holiday season.”
Four of the previously unreleased tracks originated in concert. They include a version of “Midnight Sun” (the original studio version of that song, which appeared on his 2007 compilation The Ultimate Hits, is included on the “Cowboys” disc), plus a live duet with Yearwood on their 1997 single “In Another’s Eyes.” Two more on-stage collaborations – with Billy Joel on “New York State of Mind” and Don McLean on “American Pie” – are culled from Brooks’ iconic 1997 concert in New York’s Central Park.
An additional unreleased track — a cover of Randy Travis’ first top 10 single, “1982” — is timely. Brooks helped induct Travis into the Country Music Hall of Fame Oct. 16, singing “Three Wooden Crosses,” delivering the induction speech and placing the medallion around Travis’ neck.
“The Target boxed set is the ultimate collection,” Brooks said. “Ten discs, previously unreleased tracks, and never-before audio releases of some of the biggest moments in Garth music history makes me love this collection.”
The full track listing for Garth Brooks: The Ultimate Collection follows (+ indicates previously unreleased track):
Old School
1. Much Too Young (To Feel This Damn Old)
2. If Tomorrow Never Comes
3. 1982+
4. Unwound
5. Longneck Bottle
6. Two Of A Kind, Workin’ On A Full House
7. Good Ol’ Boys Like Me
8. Amos Moses
9. That Ol’ Wind
10. Alabama Clay
11. White Lightning
12. Don’t Close Your Eyes
Midnight Fire
1. Shameless
2. The Red Strokes
3. She’s Every Woman
4. What She’s Doing Now
5. In Another’s Eyes (Duet with Trisha Yearwood)
6. One Night a Day
7. A Friend to Me
8. Anonymous
9. Victim Of The Game
10. Which One of Them
11. More Than A Memory
12. To Make You Feel My Love
Cowboys
1. Good Ride Cowboy
2. Rodeo
3. That Girl Is A Cowboy
4. Rodeo Or Mexico
5. Night Rider’s Lament
6. My Baby No Esta Aqui
7. Cowgirl’s Saddle
8. Cowboy Bill
9. Midnight Sun
10. Rodeo And Juliet
11. In Lonesome Dove
12. The Cowboy Song
The Road (Disc One)
1. Standing Outside The Fire
2. Rodeo
3. Shameless
4. If Tomorrow Never Comes
5. That Summer
6. In Another’s Eyes (Duet With Trisha Yearwood)+
7. Much Too Young (To Feel This Damn Old)
8. Unanswered Prayers
9. Longneck Bottle
10. One Night A Day+
11. To Make You Feel My Love
12. Wrapped Up In You (Featuring Keb’ Mo’)
13. The River
14. American Pie (Featuring Don McLean)+
The Road (Disc Two)
1. The Thunder Rolls (The Long Version)
2. Two Of A Kind, Workin’ On A Full House
3. Two Piña Coladas
4. More Than A Memory
5. Good Ride Cowboy
6. Wild As The Wind (Duet With Trisha Yearwood)
7. Working For A Living (Duet With Huey Lewis In LA)
8. It’s Your Song
9. New York State Of Mind (Duet With Billy Joel)+
10. Midnight Sun+
11. The Dance
Anthems
1. The Dance
2. Standing Outside The Fire
3. Unanswered Prayers
4. Thicker Than Blood
5. How You Ever Gonna Know
6. The Change
7. Belleau Wood
8. People Loving People
9. The River
10. Mom
11. Last Night I Had The Strangest Dream
12. When You Come Back To Me Again
The Covers
1. Against The Wind
2. Sweet Home Alabama
3. Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me
4. Mrs. Robinson
5. Midnight Train To Georgia
6. (Sittin’ On) The Dock Of The Bay
7. Hard Luck Woman (With Kiss)
8. Who’ll Stop The Rain
9. Wild World
10. All Right Now
11. Drift Away
12. Goodnight Saigon
RPMs
1. Against The Grain
2. She’s Tired Of Boys
3. Rollin’
4. Addicted To Love
5. Cold Like That
6. You Move Me
7. Ireland
8. Don’t Cross The River
9. I’ll Be The Wind
10. Doctor My Eyes
11. Working For A Living (Duet With Huey Lewis)
12. Do What You Gotta Do
Turn It Up
1. The Thunder Rolls
2. That Summer
3. You Wreck Me
4. Why Ain’t I Running
5. Wrapped Up In You
6. I’d Rather Have Nothing
7. Allison Miranda
8. Black Water
9. Midnight Train
10. Dixie Chicken
11. Man Against Machine
12. Two Piña Coladas
Gunslinger
1. Honky-Tonk Somewhere+
2. Weekend+
3. Ask Me How I Know+
4. Baby, Let’s Lay Down And Dance+
5. He Really Loves You+
6. Whiskey To Wine+
7. BANG! BANG! +
8. Pure Adrenaline+
9. 8teen+
10. SugarCane+
11. Cowboys and Friends+ (Target exclusive track)
12. Friends In Low Places – 25th Anniversary Edition+ (Target exclusive track)