With Paul McCartney’s previous two albums (Wild Life and Red Rose Speedway) not being especially critically acclaimed, many see his 1973 release Band On The Run as something of a statement piece, and what a statement it was. Paul once shared that the title track of the album was built around something guitarist George Harrison would say during The Beatles’ business meetings, “If we ever get out of here”.

Side Note: Band On The Run is a great addition to the “What album is Phish going to cover?” discussion that friends of yours are undoubtedly having.

And now, the covers:

The Brew: Leading off this week we’ve got The Brew. Check the rest of this show for a great recording and additional covers from Kansas and The Police. Source: 5-14-2009

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Skin It Back is a track off the 1974 Little Feat album Feats Don’t Fail Me Now. It also has the distinction of being the first Little Feat song where the songwriting credits are solely that of guitarist Paul Barrère.

This is the second Little Feat song selected for CW. Longtime readers might remember that Mule was the winner of the Spanish Moon Cover Wars.

Let’s get down to business and look at this week competitors…

The Bridge: Leading off this week is the only band that also appeared in the Spanish Moon Cover Wars and there is some excellent guitar work in this one. Source: 8-17-2005

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Moonage Daydream was first released as a single in 1971 by Arnold Corns (one of David Bowie’s pseudonyms), and was later released in 1972 on the album The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars.

In The Words and Music of David Bowie, James E. Perone writes,

Bowie’s vocal melody and arrangement in the song’s chorus sections also closely resemble Elton John’s contemporary work (notably “Tiny Dancer”), although “Moonage Daydream” includes enough of a touch of heavy metal-style-electric guitar and percussion in the verses and at the end of each statement of the chorus, so as to provide a bit of distance from John’s music.

The Contestants:

Edie Brickell & The New Bohemians: Making their second appearance in as many weeks, Edie Brickell & The New Bohemians lead us off with a very strong performance. Before last week, I don’t think I had ever listened to her cover a single song other than A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall, but there’s a bunch of other good ones on the Live Music Archive. Source: 2-24-1991

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Navigating traffic on the way to Phish at Jones Beach last Friday, myself and four friends in the car started naming a bunch of great “rain” related Phish songs that could be played in honor of the impending weather. They didn’t play any of our ideas. Though I did take away my next selection for CW and that is this song off of the 1963 album The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan.

Every webpage out there supplying information on this song is quick to point out that the structure of the lyrics is based upon an old Scottish ballad titled Lord Randall. Have a look at the first verse…

O where hae you been, Lord Randall, my son?
O where hae you been, my handsome young man?
I hae been at the greenwoods, mother, make my bed soon.
For I’m wearied wi’ hunting, and fain would lie down.

The Contestants:

Bill Frisell: Leading off this week we’ve got our only instrumental rendition and it’s from one of the greatest living guitarists, Bill Frisell. Bill has got a lot of great folk/rock instrumental covers out there, I am particularly fond of his performances of I Heard It Through The Grapevine and Have A Little Faith. Source: East/West

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In honor of Phish’s Fenway bust out, we’re re-running our The Ballad of Curtis Loew Cover Wars which was originally published on May 5th, 2009

The Ballad Of Curtis Loew was originally released on Lynyrd Skynyrd’s aptly titled sophomore effort Second Helping. There is a FAQ section on Skynrd’s website that asks if there was a real Curtis Loew. Here’s the answer…

The inspiration for Curtis Loew was loosely based around the characters that lived near Ronnie’s home on Jacksonville’s Westside. The corner store in the song is based on Claude’s Midway Grocery on the corner of Plymouth and Lakeshore in Jacksonville. While there wasn’t a ‘real’ Curtis Loew, there were many Curtis Loews in the neighborhood. The actual spelling of the name came when Ed was writing the liner notes for the Second Helping album in 1974. He thought it would be funny to name this old Florida black bluesman after the Jewish Loew’s Theatre.

The Contestants:

Keller Williams: Leading off this week we’ve got a short rendition from the early years of Keller Williams. Source: 1-25-1998

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There is certainly plenty to read up about in regards to this week’s selection, The Beatles’ Tomorrow Never Knows. From the origin of the title to the revolutionary vocal recording techniques to the LSD inspired lyrics, the whole thing is quite interesting. Also of note is that while it is the closing track on the album, TNK was the first song recorded for Revolver.

My favorite quote regarding the recording comes from legendary engineer Geoff Emerick. Sometimes I forget just how much The Beatles revolutionized the recording process as we know it…

It meant actually breaking into the circuitry. I remember the surprise on our faces when the voice came out of the speaker. It was just one of sheer amazement. After that they wanted everything shoved through the Leslie: pianos, guitars, drums, vocals, you name it!

Checking on last week, Grace Potter finished in first and Built To Spill came in second with another big chunk of votes in the Cortez The Killer Cover Wars. Checking in on two week’s ago, moe. and Umphrey’s are still battling it out over Can’t You Hear Me Knocking without a clear winner.

801: Technically, 801 titled this track TNK when they first released it in 1976. The lineup for 801 is: Phil Manzanera (guitar), Brian Eno (keyboards), Bill MacCormick (bass), Simon Phillips (drums), Francis Monkman (keyboards), Lloyd Watson (slide guitar). This shit is bad-ass. Source: 801 Live

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This three-chord ditty, loosely based on Hernán Cortés, is originally off the 1970 Neil Young & Crazy Horse album Zuma. The simplicity and shear length of the tune makes it a prime candidate for cover renditions, and more of then than not… guest appearances. Often times those sit-ins include Neil Young himself as Neil has played Cortez with two of this week’s contestants.

Fun fact: the original take had an extra verse at the end that was lost due to a problem in the studio. When Neil was informed of the glitch he simply responded, “I never liked that verse anyway.” Checking in on last week, moe. and Umphrey’s McGee are still battling it out in the Can’t You Hear Me Knocking Cover Wars, so head on over there and help settle the score.

The Contestants:

Built To Spill: Single. Double. No, Triple Guitars! This twenty-minute romp was recorded during the 1999 Keep It Like A Secret Tour. We’ve got a lot of distinct voices this week, but perhaps none more unique than Built To Spill’s Doug Martsch. Source: Live

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Can’t You Hear Me Knocking is a bangin’ tune off of the 1971 album Sticky Fingers. The song didn’t really get into the live rotation until the Forty Licks tour. Check out this excerpt from According To The Rolling Stones about the song selection process for that tour and how Keith supposedly thought a previous live attempt at the song was a total trainwreck. The middle Santana-flavored-section just begs for jambands to cover this song.

Checking in on last week’s Ballad Of Curtis Loew edition, Phish has emerged victorious. Hopefully this means it comes off the shelf. Hey, it could happen, it worked for A Day In The Life.

moe.: moe. has played this 21 times but it has not hit the live stage since June of 2007. This is a great sounding tape from moe. down V in Turin NY. Source: 9-4-2004

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The Ballad Of Curtis Loew was originally released on Lynyrd Skynyrd’s aptly titled sophomore effort Second Helping. There is a FAQ section on Skynrd’s website that asks if there was a real Curtis Loew. Here’s the answer…

The inspiration for Curtis Loew was loosely based around the characters that lived near Ronnie’s home on Jacksonville’s Westside. The corner store in the song is based on Claude’s Midway Grocery on the corner of Plymouth and Lakeshore in Jacksonville. While there wasn’t a ‘real’ Curtis Loew, there were many Curtis Loews in the neighborhood. The actual spelling of the name came when Ed was writing the liner notes for the Second Helping album in 1974. He thought it would be funny to name this old Florida black bluesman after the Jewish Loew’s Theatre.

Looking back at last week’s Eminence Front Cover Wars, Max Creek has emerged victorious with a little help from guest guitarist Jeff Pevar.

The Contestants:

Keller Williams: Leading off this week we’ve got a short rendition from the early years of Keller Williams. Source: 1-25-1998

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Eminence Front is one bad-ass tune on the otherwise forgettable 1982 album from The Who called It’s Hard. This song has got it all from the great synth intro to the driving guitar lines to the singalong chorus - the whole package.

Checking in on last week’s contest, Give Us The Money Lebowski has emerged victorious. If you like what you heard, don’t forget to check out these guys at Awesometown next weekend in Morrisville, PA.

The Contestants:

Cousin Fungus: This week Cousin Fungus makes their Cover Wars debut. These guys were part of the collection of emerging jambands of the late ’90s. The levels on the recording are a little hot, but they do a good job with this one. Friend of Hidden Track Dan D. is responsible for getting this show, and most of the others up on the LMA. Source: 7-2-2000

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READ ON for the rest of this week’s contestants and to place your vote…