SPECIAL GUEST Vol. 1
There are lots of ways that a SPECIAL GUEST makes a track worth a listen.
Sometimes the appeal hinges on the guest’s sheer star power, as with Eddie Van Halen joining John Waite onstage back when John was the seasoned pro, and Eddie was a white-hot, fresh-faced newcomer.
Some pairings “could have gone either way” like Jerry Lee Lewis & Rory Gallagher—which yielded a singular version of (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction. Joe Strummer playing live with The Pogues was also a coin toss. A rudderless Strummer had just disbanded The Clash, and Shane MacGowan & the boys were known for being shambolic on their best day. But it worked, & left us with a totally reinvented, accordion-heavy version of Brand New Cadillac.
Joe Ely may lean more toward being a country artist these days—but like his special guest Bruce Springsteen, he was once known for his raucous & rocking live shows. The more I listen to Odds Of The Blues, the more I love the way their voices blend together. When you think of Foo Fighters, you don’t necessarily think “Texas Blues” but throw Jimmie Vaughan in the mix and you’re transported to a roadhouse on the outskirts of town.
Other times, the appeal is that the duo are strange bedfellows. I never expected to hear Alanis Morissette & Willie Nelson sing a duet, and I certainly didn’t expect their version of On The Road Again to become one of my favorite tracks on this collection. Same with Nothing Else Matters by Miley Cyrus & Metallica.
I didn’t even know of Delirium when I came across Matthew Sweet guesting on their Daylight, but I feel they should definitely work together again. Same with Soft Boy Kimberley Rew & his wife, Lee Cave-Berry, and Alejandro Escovedo & Scott McCaughey.
Then there’s the “can’t miss” collaborations like brothers Johnny & Edgar Winter joining forces on Harlem Shuffle. Nick Lowe with Wilco & The Doors fronted by Ian Astbury? They're no brainers—like one of my favorite rockabilly bands, Cigar Store Indians teaming up with Brian Setzer. And I can’t express how much I love Joe Lynn Turner, Brad Gillis, Rudy Sarzo’s version of All Day & All Of The Night.
Sometimes the attraction is the meeting of two legends—as in the case of Stevie Ray Vaughan & Jeff Beck who kick the living shit out of Goin' Down. Or, former roommates Waylon Jennings & Johnny Cash showing the kids how it’s done. Or, in the case of Elton John & John Lennon one legend convincing another to give the bread baking a break—and come out of retirement to sing Whatever Gets You Thru The Night live at Madison Square Garden. Which wraps things up!
Please share a musical pairing that you’d like to see—that you feel would be a ““lead pipe cinch”. Artists from different eras are no problem, and mixing the living & the dead is allowed--even though it rarely works out well in movies. :)
ReplyDeleteHere’s the link to SPECIAL GUEST Vol. 1:
https://pixeldrain.com/u/fRk4rQtj