[Round 2: Cover Two – Week 2]
“Diamonds and Rust”by Judas Priest
Original Artist: Joan Baez
“Prodigal Son”by The Rolling Stones
Original Artist: Rev. Gary Davis
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mxEvEKME26k
Original Artist: Joan Baez
Original Artist: Rev. Gary Davis
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mxEvEKME26k
Priest – Very different from the original. Joan Baez’s song is pretty much priests first hit song on their first mainstream record. A folksy love song helped shape the future of all heavy metal. I love it.
Stones – Not what I expect from the stones. too simple. Good jam though. fun bluesy accoustic harmonica jam.
“Diamonds and Rust” / J. Priest. How did I not know JP covered Joan Baez’s famous song about B. Dylan (though they omit her witty line about “the unwashed phenomenon” and most of the other lyrics highly specific to their relationship)? With chugging metal guitars and double-bass drums.! It’s a curiosity. it’s ok. Apparently, Baez herself loved this cover.
Judas- I came at this tune without a clue– no idea they did it, that Baez wrote it and, thanks to resident Zimmermanophile that it was about the patron saint of the MyFive. I liked the relatively controlled vocals on this and the Scirpions homage on the harmonic guitar leads. Didn’t like the vocal harmonies– i kept hoping for Iron Maiden. All in all, pretty good. Nothing to write home to my Canadien sister about but okay.
Stones- This could be taken the wrong way– the best thing about this song is that it doesn’t sound like the Stones at all to me. Mick really gets into the blues spirit but not too much; he doesn’t inject too much of himself in there. The guitars are awesome and I love Charlie just skifflin’ along. Really liked this one.
Judas Priest – Diamonds and Rust
This is from my least favorite of the early Priest records, Sin After Sin. Though, after revisiting some of the stuff in this incarnation of MyFive, I realize that I am only wholly familiar with two of their records. I think they were morphing their sound at this point – shedding their prog experiments and streamlining on their way to the “pop metal” that would fully flourish three albums later on British Steel. I am more familiar with the live version from 1979’s “Unleashed in the East” – maybe a little welcome punch there? https://youtu.be/-OHJP1BSVgM
[Funny that Alan mentioned Scorps, as I heard their track Lovedrive when this came on – which is from a couple of years later]
“Diamonds and Rust”
by Judas Priest:
I am going to venture a guess that this cover is nothing at all like the original Baez version. I like the clarity and feel of the mix. Nothing at all wrong with the song but it just did not grab a hold of me like I so wanted it to.
“Prodigal Son”
by The Rolling Stones :
I would never have guessed this was Stones if I heard this one queue up on the radio. Old time vibe, cool groove and some kinda magical ambiance. This one did grab a hold and did not let go.
The Rolling Stones – Prodigal Son
Old-time folksy blues shuffle done to perfection. It sounds as if they just picked up a guitar at a campfire revival. I love the hey-ey (Keith) towards the end as well. You can go home again?
Priest – Rob Halford channeling his tender side through the lyrics of Joan Baez. Torn between triumph and tragedy. I’ll lean towards the positive on this one.
Stones: Pretty straight forward read on this one, no? Paying tribute to those who they “borrowed” from for years.