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December 14, 2006

A Tribute To The Band

Imagine your ideal list of artists to feature on a cover album in tribute to The Band. Now get real, 'cause that's never gonna happen. Instead, take a look at the set of folks taking turns on Band tunes for the forthcoming collection Endless Highway: The Music Of The Band. Here's the tracklist:

"I Shall Be Released" - Jack Johnson
"The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down" - The Allman Brothers
"Rocking Chair" - Death Cab For Cutie
"It Makes No Difference" - My Morning Jacket
"The Weight" - Lee Ann Womack
"Acadian Driftwood" - The Roches
"Whispering Pines" - Jakob Dylan
"Up On Cripple Creek" - Gomez
"King Harvest" - Bruce Hornsby
"Unfaithful Servant" - Rosanne Cash
"Rag Mama Rag" - Blues Traveler
"Bessie Smith" - Joe Henry
"This Wheel's On Fire" - Guster
"Chest Fever" - Widespread Panic
"Ain't No More Cane" - John Hiatt & North Mississippi Allstars
"Look Out Cleveland" - Jackie Greene
"Ophelia" - Animal Liberation Orchestra
"Stage Fright" - Steve Reynolds
"When I Paint My Masterpiece" - Josh Turner
"The Shape I'm In" - Gov't Mule
"Life is a Carnival" - Trevor Hall
Hey at least MMJ made if off of your unrealistically-greedy, ideal list. Stream the entire record here.

Endless Highway: The Music Of The Band is out 1/30/07 on 429 Records.

Posted at 3:57 PM
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26 Comments

Joe Henry. That's all I need to see.

Posted by: Andrew at 12/14/06 4:32 PM | Reply
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They're only streaming three songs:

Jack Johnson's cover
Guster's cover
Bruce Hornsby's cover

Posted by: El Payo at 12/14/06 4:38 PM | Reply
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oh man. Hornsby on King Harvest? that really is a shame. Why did I think that ATO would do a better job than this?

Posted by: robot mark at 12/14/06 5:02 PM | Reply
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Click on the music link, it streams every song. Lee Ann Womack's version of the weight is pretty good, but it would be near impossible to ruin that song.

Posted by: carson at 12/14/06 5:29 PM | Reply
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They're streaming the whole thing. Just click on Music -- it's off the main page.

Posted by: scott at 12/14/06 5:30 PM | Reply
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The MMJ cover has been done live and it's excellent. Aside from two bands, the rest of this line-up isn't my cup of tea.

Rocky Votolato does a nice rendition of "... Old Dixie Down" though. They should've talked to him. Even the Allman Brothers on Guitar Hero 2 bores me to tears.

Posted by: Jim at 12/14/06 5:37 PM | Reply
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Shame they pick artists that fans of the Band would have absolutely no interest in.

Posted by: KingHarvest at 12/14/06 6:08 PM | Reply
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MAKE IT STOP!!! MAKE IT STOP!!! I weep...Jack Johnson?!? Hornsby doing King Harvest? sigh. This is some serious garbage y'all, but no doubt bound to be popular with the phrat boyz.

Posted by: crunkt at 12/14/06 6:10 PM | Reply
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Shame they would pick artists that fans of the Band have absolutely no interest in.

Posted by: KingHarvest at 12/14/06 6:51 PM | Reply
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Andrew is correct. In fact, he's a genius for pointing it out. Joe Henry. 'nuff said.

Posted by: Gary at 12/14/06 7:24 PM | Reply
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This is almost as much of a mess as the Rolling stone list.

Posted by: Jeff at 12/14/06 7:27 PM | Reply
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WHICH ONES TO LISTEN TO:

King Harvest is absolutely terrible. this song should never be done this way!

Guster: awesome! Really surprised me, good rendition of the song, not butchering it, but keeping it a little different.

My Morning Jacket: also great. You never know if a great band will fuck this up or not, but they do it really well.

Jack Johnson: subpar. but at least its not just guitar/vox, woulda shot myself. Worth a listen, but you won't love it.

Lee Ann Womack: eeeehh.Like said above, its the s ong, not her. Doesn't drop the ball. but doesn't get it rolling.

more to come!

Posted by: Adam at 12/14/06 7:38 PM | Reply
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Like most tribute records, this is all over the place and has no cohesive feel.

Why don't they just put this stuff up exclusively on itunes now and save the costs of printing this? There is absolutely no reason these versions of the songs need to be put on the same disc.

That being said, the MMJ cover is very good - no deviation in arrangement but definitely marked it with their energy. Joe Henry's is good too - is he going to be putting out another record anytime soon?

And man, the Allman Brothers take is embarassing. I'm usually can find reason to defend them, but not here.

Yeah, and Bruce Hornsby? Could they not afford Michael McDonald?

Posted by: JobCain at 12/14/06 8:01 PM | Reply
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Ok, I just threw up in my mouth a little bit: Lee Ann Womack doing "The Weight"?

Posted by: Brown at 12/14/06 8:56 PM | Reply
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Ok, I just threw up in my mouth a little bit: Lee Ann Womack doing "The Weight"?

Posted by: Brown at 12/14/06 8:57 PM | Reply
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Ok, I just threw up in my mouth a little bit: Lee Ann Womack doing "The Weight"?

Posted by: Brown at 12/14/06 9:02 PM | Reply
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Adam Sandler is a better singer than Jack Johnson.

Or maybe not. It's probably a tie. Same shitty tunes. Same stupid lyrics.

Posted by: Andrew at 12/14/06 9:49 PM | Reply
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Gomez: poor. failed imitation. doesn't work.

Allman brothers: Its the allman brothers. COMEON. Can't go wrong, especially with this song. not exceptional though. But it's got the groove, unlike half these bands.

Blues Traveler: Good, but borderline cheeseball. Drumming very levon-like, in a good way.

John Hiatt: it has the soul, lags a little, especially vocally. For a great version of this, check out the band Ollabelle , one of the singers is Levon Helm's daughter and they do a killer version of this live.


Jakob Dylan: I really like this.

ALO: this song just is not the same without the horns. But, it grooves like a motherfucker, definitely acceptable.

Joe Henry: Also good, the chorus feels a little lame though.

Jackie Green: this is what this sound is all about. fuck yes. the ratio from good/bad is goin up!

Death Cab: his voice just won't work with the Band's songs. He's trying. Sounds like he's trying more then when he sings for death cab. But it doesn't cut it.

Gov't Mule: really really awesome. Drumming is superb, everything is great, vocals aren't overbearing. This one makes the bad ones even worse.

Steve Reynolds: pretty good, voice isn't awesome, but the cello is a nice touch. Checkit.

Roseanne Cash: dynomite.

Widespread Panic: few can come CLOSE to Garth Hudson's organ sound or style. This does not come close. But. The groove is there. And the horns are perfect. Vocals are great. Killer tune. CHECK.

Josh Turner: I just threw up in my mouth. It's like he took a picture of Bob Dylan, and another photo of the band, spread his cheeks, and exploded feces all over their pride.

The Roches: the flute's on, that's what matters. B+.

Trevor Hall: It's started. the groove is a little weak. Interesting voice. Ok. Now he's singing it differently. Now I hate his voice. I'm feeling new feelings. Fuck this. die.

the end!

Posted by: Adam at 12/15/06 3:22 AM | Reply
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You leave the Black Crowes off a Band tribute album, you lose all credibility.

Posted by: e at 12/15/06 9:14 AM | Reply
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What about Da Band?

Posted by: steven at 12/15/06 10:02 AM | Reply
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I'm calling for the end of the phrase "I just through up in my mouth." It's over people. No longer funny.

Posted by: carson at 12/15/06 10:21 AM | Reply
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Why is Jakob Dylan so weird?

Posted by: j at 12/15/06 11:39 AM | Reply
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Some of you guys are harsh! There's alot of buzz about this record and most seem to really dig it.

Posted by: Anna at 12/15/06 6:37 PM | Reply
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I maintain, as a snob, that anyone who really digs this record is not familiar enough with The Band or the songs.

Posted by: porkchop at 12/16/06 8:23 PM | Reply
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This makes me want to cry.

Posted by: shira at 01/02/07 5:43 PM | Reply
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There's to much snobbery in music. Who can deny that My Morning Jacket especially did a great job on their cover.

Posted by: David at 01/12/07 1:12 PM | Reply
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