Cover Wars: Into The Mystic Edition
Way back in October, I had a great time compiling the And It Stoned Me Cover Wars and this week I find myself selecting another track off of Van Morrison’s timeless 1970 release, Moondance – 
Apparently, there must’ve been some memo inside the “How-to-be-a-jamband” kit that was being distributed in the mid ’90s, because this week we’ve got representation from God Street Wine, Percy Hill, Strangefolk, Jiggle The Handle & Gov’t Mule. No – not all of those bands are included, but members of those outfits appear all over this week’s edition. Checking in on the Fearless edition from two weeks ago, the Marco Benevento Trio has emerged victorious with its instrumental rendition.
Be sure to register/login to IMEEM before starting the playlist below.
Click here to launch this playlist in a new window
READ ON after the jump for the tale of the tape on this week’s contestants.
God Street Wine: I don’t know how regular a cover this was for GSW as my search of the Live Music Archive only yielded one result – but it’s a good one and figured it should be included with the ongoing God Street Wednesday feature we’ve got going on here. Source: 2-19-1995
Hot Buttered Rum: HBR’s fiddle player, Aaron Redner, does a great job with the horn lines from the original. Source: 4-26-2006
Joe Cocker: The arrangement is a little cheesy, but it’s great to hear Cocker bust it out anyway. Source: Organic
Percy Hill: This track is lifted from a great three-set show from The Paradise in Boston in 1999. The entire second set was performed acoustic. Source: 2-18-1999
Phil Lesh & Friends: Oh The Phil Lesh Quintet, how I loved you so. This lineup, featuring Warren Haynes, Jimmy Herring, Rob Barraco and John Molo is my all-time favorite. Fans of Warren Haynes will know that Gov’t Mule also plays this cover. According to Mulebase, Into The Mystic was played first with Phil’s group and then debuted on the Mule stage at the first opportunity after that first Phil tour. Source: 10-16-2000
Warren also brought the cover to the Allman Brothers Band:
The Radiators: The Radiators are one of the bands whose repertoire I have come to appreciate since I began writing this column. Their cover rotation is just massive, they show up ALL THE TIME. Their version of Into The Mystic does not disappoint, as the band delivers an uptempo reading of the tune. Source: 2-11-2007
Reid Genauer w/Gary Backstrom: I had the pleasure of being at this show – Backstrom was opening for Genauer. Deep into Reid’s set, he welcomed Gary for a number of tunes including Into The Mystic. This recording is a great SBD for any Reid solo fans out there. Source: 5-2-2008
The Wallflowers: You must recognize this cover from when Jim and Michelle get on the dance floor at the end of American Wedding. What – you don’t? Me neither actually, though I do have a memory of seeing the flick when it came out. Do The Wallflowers always sound this much like Bruce Springsteen? Source: American Wedding
It’s too late to stop now
GSW all the way, although I was surprised by how much I liked The Wallflowers’ version.
More than most any song you’ve featured on Cover Wars, this one makes me want to put on Moondance for the original. It’s just perfect.
Jason Isbell plays a helluva “Mystic” as well.