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100 best covers: #93 Billy Bragg with Natalie Merchant and Wilco “Way over yonder in the minor key”

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As I understand it, the story goes something like this. Woody Guthrie’s daughter, Nora, approached Britain’s modern equivalent, Billy Bragg, after seeing him perform at a Woody Guthrie tribute concert with the proposition of bringing some of her father’s unrecorded compositions to life. Bragg agreed, but not before enlisting the help of American indie folk/rock group, Wilco. The extraordinary and perhaps a bit surprising results were recorded and released as 1998’s Grammy-nominated album, “Mermaid avenue”. In fact, it was so successful that a second volume was released two years later, followed by a three volume box set that included outtakes in 2012.

This song, “Way over yonder in the minor key”, is a bit unique on this list of covers series in that we don’t have an original recording to which to compare it. Apparently, when Woody Guthrie died, he left behind manuscripts containing the lyrics to over a thousand songs but because he never read or wrote music, we’ll never know for sure how these were really meant to sound. Yet without a solid guide, I think Billy Bragg has done a fine job here, keeping to Guthrie’s spirit but adding his own personal touch. It’s simply strummed on his acoustic guitar and sung in his inimitable and working class accented vocals. He’s enlisted Wilco’s Jay Bennet to lay down a lovely Hammond B-3 backbone, some Eliza McCarthy fiddles, and of course, Natalie Merchant’s lovely backing vocal track.

“Way over yonder” is one of the lesser politically-charged of Guthrie’s tunes and is not overtly making social commentary but perhaps is more personal. It’s light and jocular, calling to mind a simpler time. Childhood. And all of those childhood teasing games.

“She said it’s hard for me to see
How one little boy got so ugly
Yes, my luttle girly, that might be
But there ain’t nobody that can sing like me”

The cover:

For the rest of the 100 best covers list, click here.

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Best tunes of 2010: #15 LCD Soundsystem “Drunk girls”

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There’s not too many bands or artists out there right now that are as well-respected and well-reviewed or have as much indie rock cred as James Murphy’s dance punk collective, LCD Soundsystem.

I couldn’t tell you how I heard about them originally but my first exposure was their self-titled debut LP, shortly after its release in 2005. I loved that album from the first and how it seemed to traverse pretty much every musical genre within its nine songs, from classic rock to glam to post-punk to techno, and at the same time, name check pretty much any influential musical artist ever. On the other hand, I wasn’t quite as enthused with their sophomore release, 2007’s “Sound of silver”, given its solid push into dance territory (I was likely alone with this sentiment) but there were still some great tracks within. In 2010, the band released their third record, “This is happening”, and then, called it quits, performing one ‘last’ show at Madison Square Garden that famously became the subject of the documentary/concert film, “The long goodbye”. But as we all know now, that show in 2011 wasn’t truly the end and Murphy and friends reunited for more shows and have released yet another well-reviewed album, titled “American dream”, last month.

“Drunk girls” was the second single released from that third (and ‘final’) album back in 2010 and incidentally, appears second in the track order. Murphy has called it a ‘dumb song’ and I suppose it is somewhat nonsensical, but it’s far from dumb. Maybe he considers it so because of its accessibility. It’s the shortest song on the album and yet, perhaps the rowdiest of the bunch, proudly living up to its name. With the repeated line, alternatively “drunk girls” or “drunk boys”, it’s an easy song to shout along with and gather up steam on the dance floor. But the intermingling lines are the real gems, often hilarious observations on societal absurdities, poking fun at clubland mating rituals. At the same time, the beat and Murphy’s brilliantly off-kilter delivery make for good times indeed, often conducive to another round of Jaegermeister or tequila shots. Played at exactly the right time at a packed club on a Saturday night, it could make things very messy indeed.

For the rest of the Best tunes of 2010 list, click here.

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Best tunes of 1990: #8 Lush “De-Luxe”

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Oh Lush.

This here is another shoegaze band that I really loved back in the day (and still do), though I didn’t get into them until a few years after this particular track’s release. They were formed in 1987 when close friends Miki Berenyi and Emma Anderson (who were in other bands previously) joined Chris Acland’s band, Baby Machines. After bassist Steve Rippon joined the band, they changed their name to Lush and a year or so later, original vocalist Meriel Barham (later of Pale Saints) left the band and Berenyi to take over the duties at the mike. She was never confident in her vocal duties early on, however, which is why they were always buried so low in the mix, a hallmark of their early sound.

“De-Luxe” first appeared on the “Mad Love” EP, the second of three short discs released on 4AD from 1989 to 1990. All of these were then compiled at the end of 1990 into one full length release, called “Gala”, meant to introduce the band to North America prior to their proper debut the following year. It was on this latter release that I first heard the single, albeit probably four years later, by way of a tape made for me by my friend Tim. (Thanks again buddy.) For a while, it was the only tape I listened to on my commute between my tiny basement apartment in Vaughan, just north of Steeles Road (Toronto), to the campus at York University. Indeed, I’ll always think of skipping back and forth between my feet to keep warm, waiting for the blasted TTC bus when I hear it. So if this song has a season for me, it’s definitely winter.

And why not? It’s jangly and shimmering, like the pure sounds of ice crystals dancing on the harsh Canadian winter winds. The vocal harmonies of Anderson and Berenyi are high on the register, jingling bells just barely scratching through the surface of the frost on the bus windows in the dark of the morning. You can almost feel the slushy puddles you have to lightly step through to get to the bus doors, not wanting to get your adidas sneakers soaked, lest you have to sit uncomfortably through another philosophy lecture.

But I digress… enjoy the lovely tune.

For the rest of the Best tunes of 1990 list, click here.