Introducing Remake Mondays

A new year, and a new feature here at The Viscount's. Each Monday (or Sunday or Tuesday!) I am going to post a link to a favorite remake. Admittedly, I have a soft spot for good covers. You know how it is - you already know the song and you like the artist.

I have posted about my love for the Allman Brothers Band a few times, and am still amazed at their unexpected rebirth and return to their roots at the beginning of this century. Derek Trucks some 30 years after Duane Allman's tragic death has handily filled the shoes of the legendary slide/blues guitarist to the point of forcing me to face that he may actually be a better guitarist.* Warren Haynes (no slouch himself on the gitbox) has done a brilliant job on vocals (lead and background) and songwriting. Together they have rescued what had become a band of aging has-beens and revitalized them into the best blues-rock band in the world.

Last week, I was visiting over at BG's place and listened to Van Morrison singing the David Gilmour part of "Comfortably Numb" with Roger Waters and members of The Band, and it reminded me of The Allman Brothers not-often-heard remake of Van's beautiful "Into The Mystic" featuring Warren Haynes on lead vocals and Derek Trucks tearing it up on the slide.

Listen here.

*No doubt he would himself dispute this claim, as would legions of Allman Brothers fans. While Duane Allman actually invented the genre, and while his vision has remained unmatched to his day, as a soloist I judge Derek Trucks to be a virtuoso, on par with the likes of John Coltrane and Jimi Hendrix. He has taken Duane Allman's sensibilities to new and previously uncharted territories, merging the seminal slide guitarst's style with jazz and eastern melodies and tones.