Cover Wars: The Crunge (Led Zeppelin)
Well you asked for it. Last week we announced on Twitter – and also right here on HT – that we were taking suggestions for this weeks Cover Wars and we are men and women of our words. We went with ChefRobD’s suggestion to take a look at covers of The Crunge by Led Zeppelin.
The Crunge was released in 1973 on Houses Of The Holy and combines odd-time signatures with a James Brown-esque funk riff, a pairing that as it turns out is a match made in heaven.
For those of you who sent in suggestions that were not selected, hang tight because we are already working on next week’s edition which also was a suggestion gathered from Twitter feedback.
The Contestants:
Artist: Bustle In Your Hedgerow
Live Show: 2009-01-17
The Skinny: Marco Benevento and Joe Russo of the Benevento/Russo Duo plus Dave Dreiwitz of Ween and Scott Metzger of Rana make up this instrumental Led Zeppelin tribute band. This performance of Crunge is lifted out of a three song medley from this 2009 show where Crunge was sandwiched between Trampled Under Foot and How Many More Times. I’ve left a little of the audio of both of the songs in for context, but to hear the entire segment you should click on over to the full show at the Live Music Archive.
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READ ON for more covers of The Crunge from the likes of Gov’t Mule…
Artist: God Johnson
Live Show: 11-24-2010
The Skinny: God Johnson turned in this straight-ahead cover of The Crunge when they covered Houses of the Holy in its entirety. There might be a guest vocalist on this track, the band brought on a number of friends throughout the evening to help tackle the album, but I can’t make out what is said at the conclusion of the tune.
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Artist: Gov’t Mule
Album: The Holy Haunted House
The Skinny: On Halloween 2007, Gov’t Mule treated the crowd at O’Shaughnessy Auditorium in St. Paul, MN to a full performance of Houses of the Holy. The Crunge has not seen a repeat performance from the band, which is surprising because I imagine it must have taken a fair bit of time to work out with all the odd time signatures the song possesses.
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Artist: Joshua Redman
Album: Momentum
The Skinny: Saxophonist Joshua Redman threw together this guitar-less interpretation in 2005 with help from Sam Yahel on keyboards and Brian Blade on drums. Redman has never shied away from displaying his rock & roll roots. In 1998 he recorded an album of covers titled Timeless Tales (For Changing Times) that mixed old jazz standards with tunes from The Beatles, Bob Dylan, and Prince.
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Checking in on last week’s Heart of Gold Cover Wars, Charles Bradley’s soul interpretation with the help of the incredible backing of Menahan Street Band has emerged victorious with 31% of the vote.
You forgot Dave Matthews Band “Anyone Seen the Bridge” basically “The Crunge”