The Surprising Cameo in Kenny Chesney's Heartwarming Music Video for ‘The Good Stuff’

We love an easter egg, and Kenny Chesney's iconic music video for ‘The Good Stuff’ - one of the singles from his 2002 No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems album, has a special one.

No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems is widely cited as the turning-point in Chesney's discography, when the Knoxville native decided to stop trying to emulate George Strait - as most of his contemporaries were - and forge a new, sun-soaked path.

It's permeated by island-inspired instrumentals and luscious vignettes of holiday romances, beachside philosophising and palm-tree-backed, rum-fuelled escapism.

Naturally, with this being Chesney's first step towards the Jimmy Buffett-inspired, tropical country sound he is now synonymous with, you can still hear traces of his earlier material on certain songs. ‘The Good Stuff’ is a prime example, with the ‘She Thinks My Tractor's Sexy’ hitmaker regaling listeners with a bittersweet, sepia-tinged tale of a man who storms into a bar after a fight with his wife.

When he asks the elderly bartender for ‘The Good Stuff’, though, he doesn't reach for a bottle of Jack Daniel's. Instead, he stares wistfully off into the distance, and tells our protagonist that he won't find ‘The Good Stuff’ at the bottom of a bottle. The barkeep proceeds to reflect on what really means the most in life, such as the first kiss with the girl you love, the moment you decide to propose and more.

It gives our narrator a wake-up call, and after listening to a little more of the old bartender's story, and hearing how he lost his wife to cancer, he feels inspired to return home and patch things up with his partner. It's a classic country gem, and captures so much of what we love about the genre, with the songwriters - Jim Collins and Craig Wiseman - painting a vivid, visceral story in the space of just three minutes.

The official music video was released a month after the song in April 2002, and it brings the powerful narrative to life, with Chesney playing the part of the protagonist who stumbles into the bar. We all recognise Chesney with his trademark necklace and ball-cap as the star, but what many don't know is that the man playing the barkeep is not simply a paid actor - rather, it's one of his closest friends.

To give ‘The Good Stuff’ an added sheen of familiarity and warmth, Chesney recruited his long-time pal and manager, Dale Morris, to play the pivotal part in the music video.

Morris has been Chesney's manager from the get-go, with the former remaining a key figure in the ‘Everything's Gonna Be Alright’ crooner's career decisions today. He founded Morris Higham Management with Clint Higham back in 1990, and has looked after stars such as Alabama, Old Dominion and Martina McBride.

In a 2007 feature with Billboard, Morris described Chesney as being “like a son to me”, as well as joking that he only agreed to meet the up-and-coming artist at the start of his career because his own son, Tim, was a fan and asked him to give him a meeting.

Morris fondly recalled how he was immediately impressed by Chesney, “I really liked what I heard and saw from Kenny as a person...Later I listened to some of the music; he had a song called ‘The Tin Man’ and I fell in love with the heart that he had in that song, him writing it and everything. I thought, ‘Boy, there's some magic there’”.

It's lovely, therefore, to see that Morris and Chesney have kept their partnership strong over the years - a feat that many artists have been unable to achieve, with managers and agents often changing over the course of their careers. This nod to Morris by including him as the source of wisdom in ‘The Good Stuff’ is a touching homage from Chesney to his friend, and yet another instance of the ‘There Goes My Life’ chart-topper giving his music an added layer of intimacy.

For the full lyrics to Kenny Chesney's ‘The Good Stuff’, see below:

“Well, me and my lady had our first big fight
So I drove around till I saw the neon light
Of a corner bar, and it just seemed right
So I pulled up

-

Not a soul around but the old barkeep
Down at the end and looking half asleep
But he walked up, and said, "What'll it be?"
I said, "The good stuff"

-

He didn't reach around for the whiskey
He didn't pour me a beer
His blue eyes kinda went misty
He said, "You can't find that here"

-

'Cause it's the first long kiss on a second date
Momma's all worried when you get home late
And droppin' the ring in the spaghetti plate
'Cause your hands are shakin' so much
And it's the way that she looks with the rice in her hair
Eatin' burnt suppers the whole first year
And askin' for seconds to keep her from tearin' up
Yeah, man, that's the good stuff

-

He grabbed a carton of milk and he poured a glass
I smiled and said, "I'll have some of that"
We sat there and talked as an hour passed
Like old friends

-

I saw a black and white picture and it caught my stare
It was a pretty girl with bouffant hair
He said, "That's my Bonnie
Taken 'bout a year after we were wed"

-

He said, "I spent five years in the bottle
When the cancer took her from me
But I've been sober three years now
'Cause the one thing stronger than the whiskey

-

Was the sight of her holdin' my baby girl
The way she adored that string of pearls
I gave her the day that our youngest boy, Earl
Married his high school love
And it's a new t-shirt saying, 'I'm a Grandpa'
Bein' right there as our time got small
And holdin' her hand, when the good Lord called her up
Yeah, man, that's the good stuff”

-

He said, "When you get home, she'll start to cry"
When she says, 'I'm sorry', say, 'So am I'
Ad' look into those eyes, so deep in love
And drink it up
'Cause that's the good stuff
That's the good stuff”

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