 |
| Phil Lynott statue in Dublin |
Day 15: A song you like that's a cover by another artist.
This is actually one of the easiest ones I've come across and I knew my answer probably two weeks ago.
Sure, Hendrix blasted Dylan's "All along the Watchtower" to another level. No question. The Beatles took "Twist and Shout" from the Isley Brothers and made it their own. Aretha Franklin did the same with Otis Redding's "Respect."
There's also "Heart and Soul" by Huey Lewis and the News. You didn't know that was a cover, did you? Exile did the first version in 1981 and the BusBoys did a version in 1982. HLN perfected it in 1983.
In each case, the cover is more famous than the original.
I'll tell you in advance that Huey Lewis is the correct answer to our song tonight.
The song is "The Boys Are Back in Town."
Obviously, the song is forever the property of the great Thin Lizzy, fronted by Phil Lynott. The Irish-born Lynott met Huey Lewie...ahem...Huey Lewis when Lewis was in Clover in the 70s. Clover opened for Thin Lizzy at a difficult time for country rock and were booed mercilessly.
Lewis and Lynott became friends, with Huey playing Harmonica on Lynott's 1980 album Solo in Soho. Huey would take the song he played on, "Tattoo (Giving It All Up for Love)," and re-record it for 1982's Picture This with the News.
Huey and the News, in fact, worked with Lynott on a solo album in 1985 that would never see the light of day. Lynott died in Jan 1986.
Flash forward to Madison Square Garden in May 1987. Huey and the News were touring in back of the album FORE!. They used the song "Whole Lotta Lovin'" from FORE! to spin into "The Boys Are Back in Town" with a transition in between.
I was blown away.
I eventually recorded a copy off the radio one night of another concert, when they toured for the Small World album (a tour that never landed in New York City, for reasons I never knew). Several bootlegs exist and they've found their way to YouTube.
It in no way removes the greatness of the original. But, damn, does this take me to a happy place as Huey honored his friend Philip.
"Guess who just got back today? Them wild-eyed boys that had been away..."
No comments:
Post a Comment