December 2007 Podcast: The Covers Show

The December Rambling Podcast is the Covers Show. The setlist is:

1. John Butler Trio - Get up, Stand up (03:20-06:25)
2. Galactic - Saturday Night Special (07:35-11:50)
3. Robert Randolph - Billie Jean (13:20-19:05)
4. Hayseed Dixie - War Pigs (20:40-24:45)
5. The Bad Plus - Smells Like Teen Spirit (26:00-31:45)
6. The Toy Dolls - James Bond Lives Down Our Street (33:20-37:10)
7. The Rhythm Junks - Moskow Diskow (38:40-41:50)
8. The Derek Trucks Band - My Favourite Things (44:45-58:15)
9. Musica Nuda - Come Together (01:00:05-01:03:50)
10. JJ Milteau & Band - Chain of Fools (01:04:50-01:09:25)

For more info on this podcast in general, check out the generic Rambling Podcast post.

The detailed setlist is as follows:

• The John Butler Trio - Get Up, Stand Up: I've already featured the JBT several times in the podcast, so I won't present them again. As far as I know, their cover of Get Up Stand Up has not been released in any official record. The Bob Marley and the Wailers' original though is available on the album it was first released on the 1973 Burnin' and on various compilations including the excellent Legend. (Source: March 2nd, 2007 - Paris)

• Galactic - Saturday Night Special: Galactic is a funk-jazz band from New Orleans, modern incarnation of the Meters and similar Big Easy funk. Originally I wanted to feature Galactic's cover of Black Sabbath's Sweet Leaf (available on We Love 'em Tonight (Live at Tipitina's) but the band's management didn't answer my request and I couldn't find a bootleg version. Fortunately, Galactic does a lot of funkified rock covers, so I chose a boot of Saturday Night Special. Again, no official release as far as I know. The Lynyrd Skynyrd original was released on the 1975 album Nuthin' Fancy which is as good an introduction as any to Lynyrd Skynyrd's brand of no-nonsense southern rock. (Source: June 11th, 2005 - Bonnaroo, USA)

• Robert Randolph and the Family Band - Billie Jean: I first heard Robert Randolph on the amazing Live at the Wetlands. He's released a couple of albums since then, neither of which feature their cover of Billie Jean. The original, of course, is to be found on Michael Jackson's Thriller. (Source: January 21st, 2004 - Köln, Germany)

• Hayseed Dixie - War Pigs:  Hayseed Dixie may have started as an AC/DC bluegrass cover band but they soon branched out to cover all kinds of heavy metal bands and even write their own stuff. War Pigs is featured on their 4th album A Hot Piece of Grass.  Of course, the original is from what is probably Black Sabbath's greatest album, the 1971 Paranoid. (Source: July 5th, 2007 - Rudolstadt, Germany)

• The Bad Plus - Smells Like Teen Spirit: New York avant-garde jazz trio The Bad Plus has also been featured on the Rambling Podcast before . Their cover of Smells Like Teen Spirit is probably what drew me into their musical landscape in the first place. It's featured on their album These are the Vistas. Throughout their discography, you'll find covers of Every Breath You Take, Iron Man, Everybody Wants to Rule the World and others. The original Smells Like Teen Spirit was of course a huge hit featured on the album that defined grunge rock as a genre, Nirvana's Nevermind. (Source: March 19th, 2007 - Richmond, USA)

• The Toy Dolls - James Bond lives down our street: The Toy Dolls are undeniably in the top ten of the craziest bands ever, but they are also increadibly funny and damn fine musicians, which makes their humoristic punk rock all the more endearing. James Bond lives down our street was originally released as a single in 1985, and therefore does not appear on any of their official albums. It has since been re-released on various compilations though, including the near definitive We're Mad. The original James Bond Theme was composed by Monty Norman and orchestrated by John Barry. It can be found on numerous James Bond and/or movie themes anthologies, including  Best of Bond. (Source: 1985, UK)

• The Rhythm Junks - Moskow Diskow: I'm a huge fan of The Rhythm Junks and indeed I have already reviewed the album on which they covered Moskow Diskow, Pop Off (the review can be found here).  The original 1978 version of Moskow Diskow was in French, although Telex later released an English version that has been the basis of many remixes. The original was on Telex's no longer available Looking for St. Tropez. (Source: The Rhythm Junks - Pop Off)

• The Derek Trucks Band - My Favourite Things: Again, the DTB is one of my favourite bands and it's the third time it's been featured on the Rambling Podcast. Their version of My Favourite Things is currently played often at their concerts, but it has not been released on record.  John Coltrane's interpretation though, their main inspiration source, was released as a studio recording on the album My Favourite Things. There are also many live versions on various Coltrane concerts. The original from The Sound of Music as sung by Julie Andrews is available on the Sound of Music soundtrack. (Source: October 25th, 2007 - Frankfurt, Germany)

• Musica Nuda - Come Together: Musica Nuda do a lot of covers. In fact, most of their repertoire is covers, but the sparseness of their line-up often gives them an unusual twist Come Together was released on their second album called Musica Nuda 2. The Beatles' original version was released on their last album Abbey Road. (Source: June 1st, 2007 - Paris, France)

• Jean-Jacques Milteau - Chain of Fools: Jean-Jacques Milteau's version of Chain of Fools with the inimitable Demi Evans on vocals is a studio bonus track from their self-produced live release Pacific Blue, which is - sadly - only for sale at JJ's non-French concerts. Aretha Franklin's Chain of Fools was originally released on Lady Soul, which also features many of the songs she's famous for.  (Source: JJ Milteau - Pacific Blue)

And that's it for the covers! Many thanks to Steven de Bruyn and Jean-Jacques Milteau from allowing me to use tracks from their official releases. Additional thanks to Bill Barrett for the one jingle in this show. Yet more thanks to artist Saki for the superb Beatles meet Musica Nuda banner. And finally, a last round of thanks to Greg Szlapczynski for letting me use his Ternaire Madness as the new theme song for the show.

Please leave comments !!!

Comments

[Jim B]

Another great podcast, and a surprising and entertaining selection of covers. My personal favorites are the Bad Plus cover of Nirvana and the unbeleivable DTB version of "My Favorite Things". Derek is playing here on Dec. 29, and I hope to see him. Thanks Benoit, for a wonderful early Christmas present!

[Fred]

Thank you, another great podcast.
Everytime I visit this website, I discover something new !