Jimmie Allen + Keith Urban Team for ‘Boy Gets a Truck,’ a Song Both Artists Originally Cut Solo [LISTEN]

Discographies collide for Jimmie Allen and Keith Urban on the recently released Gold Edition of Allen's collaborations project, Bettie James. The tracklist features a duet rendition of "Boy Gets a Truck," a song that both Urban and Allen have recorded solo before.

"Boy Gets a Truck," which was written by Ash Bowers and Aaron Scherz, appears on Urban's 2016 Ripcord album — the same project that produced hits including "John Cougar, John Deere, John 3:16" and "Blue Ain't Your Color." When he put that album out, Urban told Taste of Country that "Boy Gets a Truck" — while it's still arguably Ripcord's most traditional country song — came to him as a fairly straight-ahead, lyric-focused demo, and he and his producer Dann Huff let their imaginations run wild.

“I took the song to Dann Huff and said, 'This is such a good lyric … I think we can take the song atmosphere-wise and energy-wise to a whole other anthemic place in the studio,'" Urban explained.

Like Urban, Allen's known for fusing genres and blending musical styles and inspirations; in fact, that's a major part of the influence that led him to make Bettie James with artists from such a wide variety of stylistic backgrounds.

"When it comes to music I love, I don't really get wrapped up in boundaries or genres," the singer explains of his framework for Bettie James Gold Edition's tracklist.

“There’s some pop, there’s some rock, there’s some country, there’s some R&B. I got a chance to work with legends!" Allen continues. "When I was writing some of the songs, I was trying to picture each moment. I went to each artist to work with them so they could be who they are on the song and bring their greatness to the song – I feel like that’s what makes the songs better. I’m super proud of the body of work of this album and can’t wait for people to hear it.”

For his part, Allen had already recorded a solo version of "Boy Gets a Truck" for his debut album, Mercury Lane, which came out in 2018. Ash Bowers — who co-wrote the song — produced that album for Allen, and is also a co-writer on five additional tracks.

In addition to Urban, Bettie James Gold Edition also features Breland, Pitbull, Little Big Town, Nelly, Tim McGraw, Micky Guyton and many more as duet partners.