"Ten Rounds with José Cuervo" is a song recorded by American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

artist

Tracy Byrd Tracy Lynn Byrd (born December 17, 1966) is an American country music artist. Signed to Universal Music Group Nashville, MCA Nashville Records in 1992, Byrd broke through on the country music scene that year with his 1993 single "Holdin' Heaven" ...

. Released in April 2002, it was the third single from Byrd's '' Ten Rounds'' album. The song reached Number One on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' Hot Country Singles & Tracks (now

Hot Country Songs Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data from Nielsen BDS along with digital sal ...

) charts. It also peaked at number 26 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 making it a minor crossover hit and Byrd's highest peaking song on that chart. It was written by Casey Beathard, Michael P. Heeney and Marla Cannon-Goodman.

Content

The song is upbeat, with the narrator discussing going to a

bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar * Chocolate bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud * Bar (u ...

to forget his ex who broke up with him. He then starts drinking many rounds of the Mexican

tequila Tequila (; ) is a liquor, distilled beverage made from the Agave tequilana, blue agave plant, primarily in the area surrounding the city of Tequila, Jalisco, Tequila northwest of Guadalajara, Jalisco, Guadalajara, and in the Jaliscan Highlands ...

José Cuervo Jose Cuervo is the best-selling brand of tequila,Dana Cimilluca, Paul Sonne and Simon Zekaria“Diageo Ends Its Attempt to Buy Jose Cuervo Tequila,”''Wall Street Journal'', December 11, 2012. selling a fifth of the tequila consumed worldwide. ...

. After the narrator counts off each round he states something crazy he does and eventually the narrator forgets what round he is drinking and begins counting again. The song had also been cut by

Garth Brooks Troyal Garth Brooks (born February 7, 1962) is an American country music singer and songwriter. His integration of pop and rock elements into the country genre has earned him popularity, particularly in the United States with success on the co ...

, who planned to include it on his 2001 album ''

Scarecrow A scarecrow is a decoy or mannequin, often in the shape of a human. Humanoid scarecrows are usually dressed in old clothes and placed in open fields to discourage birds from disturbing and feeding on recently cast seed and growing crops.Lesley ...

''. According to Byrd, he called Brooks after learning that Brooks had also recorded the song. "I called Garth and he said that he had been told if it wasn't my first single, it was not gonna be a single and I said, 'Well, it's gonna be a single and I really, really am counting on this thing as a hit.' I said, 'I named the album after it.' And he was cool he said, 'Man, I wish you luck with it,' he said, 'Do well, you had it first and I love the song, I think it's a smash and good luck with it.'"

Critical reception

Deborah Evans Price, of ''

'' magazine reviewed the song favorably saying that Byrd "offers the kind of vocal authority that makes the whole package ring." She also describes the song as "a heck of a lot of fun."''

'', April 6, 2002

Chart performance

"Ten Rounds with José Cuervo" debuted at number 59 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot Country Singles & Tracks for the week of April 6, 2002. The song is Byrd's second and last number-one on the U.S. country charts, and his first since " Holdin' Heaven" in September 1993.

Year-end charts

References

{{Tracy Byrd 2002 singles 2001 songs Tracy Byrd songs Songs written by Casey Beathard Songs written by Marla Cannon-Goodman Songs written by Michael P. Heeney Song recordings produced by Billy Joe Walker Jr. RCA Records Nashville singles Songs about alcohol