Just another cover version - 3-1-10

"Whether the shock of hearing a favorite song abused by someone you hate or the surprise occasioned by a fundamentally annoying song getting a new and attractive coat of paint by someone you love  - the emotions are mixed but covers are a great way of getting more juice from an often over-squeezed lemon"

I love a great cover song, I hate covers bands, go figure that one out. I always loved the blues boom bands of the 60’s like the original Fleetwood Mac, Chicken Shack, Taste, Canned Heat, Cream and in a way most of their output was ripped straight off the Chess back catalog, Robert Plant and Jimmy Page got rich squeezing Robert Johnson’s lemon, but as he sold his soul to the devil maybe thats ok? So if my musical taste has been inspired by covers much of my wine taste has always been intrigued by covers - wines from one region being produced in another with great results. This is not always the case as anyone who has drunk Paso Robles Pinot Noir will attest. For every Lily Allen’s cover of the Kook’s Naive or Jolene covered by the White Stripes there is Rod Stewart killing something by Sam Cooke or James Taylor throwing up over Summertime Blues ( I mean, really? really? Can you imagine that conversation : James ( for it is indeed he of bald pate and insousciant smile) “I think for my covers album I need to show the real rocking JT” Producer Pete: “ You are rock incarnate Jimbo, what did you have in mind, some AC-DC, some Metallica?” “I’m thinking Summertime Blues, I’m channeling Eddie Cochran right now, maybe a little Hound Dog too” Producer Pete: “Jimmy, Jimmy, outstanding choice, that will really have them tuning in to your next PBS Special, maybe we can get you a leather poncho to sharpen up the image too”).

Cover albums themselves are always a bit dodgy, the odd song thrown in live, the change of pace song on an album is one thing but a whole 10 or 12 songs is a challenge, although there is never a shortage of people ready to give it a good old thrash around the persian rug. The best ones are those that bring something new and interesting and great examples are the Easy Star All Stars Dub Side of the Moon which is a stoner’s dream or their Radiodread reggae covers of Radiohead’s perky pop posings. Beck is doing some great stuff as the Record Club project where a bunch of friends and he cover a storied album in a day, he posts the video of each song on the site http://www.beck.com/recordclub/

To date he has done The Velvet Underground and Nico, Songs by Leonard Cohen and recently Oar, the Skip Spence classic released originally in 1969  just as psychotic paranoia grabbed him by the throat, luckily Beck with help from Feist, Jamie Lidell and most of Wilco make some great sounds unlike the original which at best is a hard listen or as someone described it “teetering near the precipice of sanity”. So taking something that was originally not that great and adding to it, the perfect cover...

So what would I drink while listening to these Varshons? a great cover adds something and must stand or fall on its own merits whether or not still being recognizable as the original work. So to the great cover artist of Santa Cruz, Randall Grahm, and his tribute to Chateauneuf du Pape, Bonny Doon’s Cigare Volant ’08. More or less classic CdP grape types, depending on the vintage, but always harking back from the foggy mountains of Northern California to the banks of the Rhone and the summer hangout of the Popes. Its certainly bigger than some of its European relatives  but is not all bratty or brash, do yourself a favor and drink this..oh, and if you do need some Summertime Blues there is only one version - Who: Live At Leeds. Period, end of story.