Friday 13 April 2018

CW Stoneking's delightful version of the classic modern pop ditty, "Seven Nation Army"

I was going to ask readers to time how long it took them to recognise it as The White Stripes' "Seven Nation Army" - but then I realised the answer would be staring them in the face as soon as they clicked on it:
Jack White, who wrote and first recorded "Seven Nation  Army", seems to have approved of that cover...

...because he invited Mr Stoneking to perform on his third solo album.

Here's another number by the bluesman - the uptempo "We Gon' Boogaloo" from his 2014 album, Gon' Boogaloo:


In case you're wondering just how drunk, raddled, old, and Afro-American you have to be to produce a wonderful noise like that, the answer, as this live recording of "Zombie" demonstrates, appears to be: none of the above (there's a brief guitar endorsement at the start):


That's right - he's an Aussie, who just happens to sound as if he sandpapers his throat to enhance the authenticity of his performance. He turns 44 on Sunday - many happy returns, CW. I'll end with my favourite Stoneking track - "Love Me or Die", from his great 2008 album, Jungle Blues. I reckon it would be a perfect accompaniment for a scene in a sleazy dive in one of those old Hollywood movies set in an exotic locale (Martinique, say, or Guadeloupe) inhabited by sweaty, grizzled, hard-drinking American adventurers and tough yet warm-hearted dames who've knocked about a bit:

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