Gov’t Mule & Toots Hibbert Share A Reggae Radiohead Cover
Jam-band Radiohead covers are practically a genre unto themselves, and here’s an especially weird one. In 2006, Gov’t Mule, the Southern-rock jam band founded by a couple of Allman Brothers sidemen, played an all-reggae show at New York’s Beacon Theatre. The reggae legend and Toots & The Maytals frontman Toots Hibbert sat in. The band is about to release a live recording of that show under the title Dub Side Of The Mule, and I sincerely hope the show wasn’t just an excuse to use that pun. Somewhere in the course of that show, the collected dignitaries played a radically reworked cover of Radiohead’s beloved OK Computer bum-out “Let Down.” It’s pretty much not even a reggae cover; it’s straight up ska, with sprightly horns and a whole lot more jump in its step than Radiohead ever intended. Listening to it cold, it might not even occur to you that it’s a Radiohead cover. Experience it below.
Dub Side Of The Mule is out 4/6 on Evil Teen, so mark your calendar.