This is the week in 1949 when Duane Allman was born. He died in 1971 in a motorcycle accident. He was best known as a founder of the Allman Brothers Band, but before he was an Allman Brother, Duane was a session musician at Fame Studios in Muscle Shoals Alabama. While working there in 1968, he met Wilson Pickett and suggested that he cover “Hey Jude”, then starting up the charts for the Beatles. Pickett didn’t like the idea, neither did the owner of Fame, the great Rick Hall. But, Allman convinced both of them to record “Hey Jude“:
Many people cover the Beatles. The fact that so many can “take a sad song & make it better” only goes to show the songwriting ability of the lads from Liverpool. This brings us to “The Art of McCartney”, released this week, with a huge group of artists covering McCartney songs. Until a few days ago, you could stream the entire album, but now there are just a few official videos that are up on YouTube.
While covers can be great, they mostly disappoint the Wrongologist. Performers are often too self-conscious (or in less-than-great voice) to really deliver the goods on someone else’s great song. So, instead of more covers, let’s close with a live performance of McCartney and Bruce Springsteen in Hyde Park in London in 2012 doing “I Saw Her Standing There” and “Twist and Shout”.
This delivers the goods. It is about 9:40, so settle in:
See you on Sunday.
I like McCartney a lot. His album of pop standards didn’t quite get the attention it deserved.
By the way, i linked to my take on immigration.