When is a cover song better than the original? Only you can decide. This week the Tallest Man On Earth takes on Son House’s “Death Letter Blues.” MAGNET’s Edward Fairchild pulls the pin. Take cover!
Son House is the man who started it all. For a few months in the early ’30s, seminal bluesman Robert Johnson apprenticed with the musician, trying in vain to copy his style. In an interview with DownBeat magazine in 1966, House tried to diminish responsibility for the rapidly evolved playing technique of the late phenom Johnson, stating that Johnson left the town of Robinsonville for a few months and upon his return had improved so much, he “must have sold his soul to the devil in order to play like that.” House was probably just being modest, but from that quote the legend was born. Watch the Tallest Man On Earth (Kristian Matsson) give his take on the often covered Son House song “Death Letter Blues” live at the Southgate House in Newport, Ky.
The Cover:
The Original:
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One Comment
I’d vote for the White Stripes version. It is Jack White’s favorite song after all.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1fM2qhG8mA4