Garth Brooks Honors Allen Reynolds, Nearly Teams With James Taylor on "Time Traveler"

When Garth Brooks went into the recording studio to make "Time Traveler," his friend and longtime producer Allen Reynolds was at the top of his mind. Brooks bought Reynolds' studio and continues to record in the space where Reynolds helped him craft his legendary albums.

Country fans can stream "Time Traveler" on September 6 on Amazon Music for the first time. When they do, they'll hear Garth expertly adhere to the lessons Reynolds taught him in the studio – and the one song he asked his hero James Taylor to produce.

Brooks wrote "St Paul/Minneapolis (A True Story)" alone based on a pleasant chance conversation he had with a mystery woman in the city. He asked Taylor to produce it, and Taylor agreed before he heard it. After listening, Taylor told Garth he thought the song was perfect the way it was.

"He just said, 'Hey man, just believe,'" Garth said, explaining he sped the song up slightly to give it more of a groove.  "It feels so, so good."

Garth's greatest gift was Taylor telling him he'd be happy to produce whatever he had.

"That felt fabulous," Garth said. "The guy has always been a friend to me before I ever met him, but he's really been a friend to me since I've met him.  I really enjoy that relationship and the fact that he didn't hesitate and just said, 'Yeah, I'll produce,' whether it ever happened or not didn't matter for me after that. It's just like, 'Wow, that was my favorite thing."