The Story Behind Two New Albums Celebrating Last Year’s ‘REAGAN’ Movie

Dennis Quaid attends the Los Angeles premiere of “Reagan” at TCL Chinese Theatre on August 20, 2024 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Rodin Eckenroth/WireImage)

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The movie REAGAN took years to make, thanks to a set of circumstances outside of the control of everyone involved from actor Dennis Quaid (who played President Reagan) to the film’s producer Mark Joseph. But finally, last year, they were able to get it into theaters.

“I can’t control pandemics, and even the war in Ukraine affected us making the film because we couldn’t use certain companies for digital effects,” Joseph explains. “And then there was the actors strike which completely shut us down. Dennis and I wanted to avoid showing the movie during an election, but it came out right smack in the middle of an election year. Reagan used to talk about the DP, the divine plan, so I decided at one point, I’m going to just roll with this time frame.”

Given the delay with the movie, it seems only fitting the soundtrack might not follow until a year or so later.

In this case, though, there’s not just one REAGAN-related albums, there are two. One involves songs featured in the film itself (performed by Bob Dylan, Gene Simmons, Clint Black, Scott Stapp, Phil Keaggy, and others). The other is a collection of songs inspired by the film.

“Our music supervisor passed away shortly after the movie came out and that caused a delay getting all of the loose ends wrapped up with the soundtrack,” Joseph says. “But we also wanted to give artists a chance to watch the movie, then write and record a song inspired by what they and experienced.

Both albums are out now. REAGAN: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack has twelve songs, all of which can be heard throughout the film.

“I got involved because Mark Joseph and I are friends,” says singer and guitarist Phil Keaggy. “I knew he worked in film, but I never expected to get a call to play guitar on the iconic song “Sweet Child of Mine.” So, I created the track in my home studio and sent it to him, and he loved it. And when I saw the movie and the Berlin Wall comes down, they were playing that song and I got goosebumps. I’ve never been in a famous movie as a musician, so it was a thrill for me.”

Also on the soundtrack, Bob Dylan sings “Don’t Fence Me In,” Scott Stapp covers “Swinging on a Star,” Clint Black performs “Take Me Home Country Roads,” and Gene Simmons does his version of “Stormy Weather.”

For the second album, “REAGAN: Songs Inspired By the Film” Joseph invited another group of artists to write and create new music. The list includes Marty Stuart, Travis Tritt, Tanya Tucker, Lee Greenwood, Wayne Newton, Kathie Lee Gifford, and others.

“I sang at President Reagan’s second inaugural in 1985,” Kathie Lee Gifford recalls. “I opened for Frank Sinatra. I also opened for Bob Hope one time, and the Reagans were there, as well. I found President Reagan to be an incredible human being. He was elegant and classy and when you were in a room with Ronnie and Nancy, they only had eyes for each other.”

She was honored when asked to create a new song for the film. But once she sat down to write it, she remembered a previous song that was a perfect fit. It was written as a solo, however, and would work better as a duet since it was about both of the Reagans, and their love affair. So, she asked singer and musician Claude Kelly to sing it with her.

“It’s called ‘I Knew It Would Be You” and I wrote it with a friend of mine nine years ago,” Gifford says. “And Claude has one of the greatest voices ever, so I wanted him to sing it with me. I think Ronnie and Nancy would be smiling because I wanted it to be an homage to them as a very deeply-in-love couple.

“Kathie Lee is a dear friend of mine and we’ve done many projects together,” Kelly says. “And when Kathie says I need you, the only answer is yes. It’s a beautiful song about eternal love. And with the Reagans, more than the politics, that’s their American legacy, this long-time love affair.”

Country artist Ricky Skaggs also has a song on the album.

“I met President Reagan when he invited a group from the Grand Ole Opry to come to Washington, DC to do a show,” he says. “We went to the White House, and he was so nice to everyone. So, my friend Vince Emmet called me, we worked together in music years ago in Kentucky, and he said he was trying to find a song I could sing that would fit me. And when I heard “Rancho Del Cielo” I loved it and wanted to sing it for the album.”

Both albums were produced by Curb Records in Nashville. The label’s founder, Mike Curb, had close ties to President Reagan. Curb, served as Lt. Governor of California and also worked on two of Reagan’s presidential campaigns.

“I was able to spend a lot of time with Reagan, particularly when he ran in 1980 and asked me to co-chair that campaign,” Curb says. “I was in the car with him so often. He treated me almost like a son. In fact, we even wrote some songs together. The Lee Greenwood song on the inspired album, ‘Start the World Over Again,’ was one Reagan and I wrote. Lee wanted to record it and asked if he could rewrite it and I said yes. Lee did shows for Reagan, so I know he would be happy to have Lee on it.”

Last month, artists came together in Franklin, Tennessee to perform some of those songs. It coincided with the release of Joseph’s book Making Reagan which recounts his lengthy journey to bring the former president’s story to the big screen.

“It looks back on making the movie and spending time with fifty of his aides and others who knew him, and hearing their stories,” Joseph explains.

“I wrote the book as kind of a memoir of what it was like not just spending twenty years making the film but trying to figure out who Reagan really was. His own biographer said Reagan was inscrutable and he kind of gave up. So I thought, I’m going to see if I can figure it out.”

Both REAGAN albums and the book are out now, and the film is available for rent on several streaming platforms.