COVER LOVER

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I heart Greg Dulli, aka "The Fat Bon Jovi," although that hardly does him justice as the mastermind of the late, great Afghan Whigs and the alive and (somewhat) awesome Twilight Singers.  Unlike so many of his peers in the Sub Pop Class of 1991, Dulli has always struck me as someone that was completely comfortable, not only in his own skin but in the 'skin' of music history, consistently selecting great covers to play with both bands, often blending them into his own material, and always demonstrating a great pop ear and a pure love for the material - a pop heart!  (Dude's got a wicked awesome sense of humor too!)  Off the top of my head, he's covered TLC's "Creep", a couple of Supremes songs, "Superfly," The Stones' "Beast of Burden," New Order's "Regret," a couple of Prince numbers, Lauryn Hill's "Ex-Factor" (amazing), Skip Spence, Coltrane, Marvin Gaye's "Please Stay," Mary J. Blige, Fleetwood Mac, uh, Bjork (??)...

I mention this b/c today Pitchfork's got a little news item up about Dulli's first full-length covers album, which is exciting but honestly 11 tracks are not nearly enough, he's got to put out a boxed set with all the old Whigs B-sides.  Coincidentally, the other night I finally found my copy of the Whigs' "perfect" covers E.P., "Uptown Avondale," with gorgeously sludgy covers of some of the greatest songs in history - Freda Payne's "Band of Gold," Elvis's"True Love Travels on a Gravel Road," The Supremes' "Come and See About Me," as well as a pretty good Al Green song and a cool remix of the Whigs's Miles Davis tribute, "Miles Iz Ded."  Seriously, you can get it for like $7 on Amazon and it will be one of your favorite 'things' to listen to if you, like me, like music! 

PS: Did you know that Dulli is co-owner of The Short Stop, a recently renovated old LAPD bar in Echo Park, LA, where he currently resides?  I am definitely stopping by next time I'm in town!

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