[Today: Passing it on...]
Cover songs are a tricky proposition. Bad covers are a dime a dozen, but the right artist covering the right material can present new angles on an old song, and remind us of worthwhile music that has been forgotten. My Morning Jacket frontman Jim James does a little of both on his latest EP, Tribute To, which features six George Harrison songs that James recorded within days of Harrison’s death in 2001.
This music was put to tape well before My Morning Jacket found fame (which explains why these songs have been on the shelf for nearly a decade), and as such, it has a less polished, more country sound that’s awash in reverb and echo. James has since outgrown the Neil Young-on-quaaludes vocal stylings that marked MMJ’s early albums, but that voice works for these interpretations of Harrison’s observations on life and death, love and heartbreak. Harrison’s songs had a higher purpose than pop and the stark gravity of James’ versions highlights the spiritual questing at their core. In James’ hands, ‘Long, Long, Long’ is clearly a conversation with God, ‘Behind That Locked Door’ is a meditation on the prison of love, and ‘Love You To’ is a funeral dirge.
“I find comfort knowing that all things must pass, but that as all things do pass their spirits are still out there moving us somewhere… doing what they do, just as real as they ever were in the physical world…” wrote James in the EP’s liner notes, “I can hear them in singing and feel them in my blood.” The dust on these tapes might explain why this was released under the name Yim Yames, but it’s as moving as anything James has done with his flagship band. Tribute To is a fine exploration of Harrison’s music, and a worthy eulogy to a resonant voice.
Listen: My Sweet Lord [George Harrison]
Listen: My Sweet Lord [Yim Yames]
Listen: All Things Must Pass [George Harrison]
Listen: All Things Must Pass [Yim Yames]
Tags: All Things Must Pass, George Harrison, Jim James, My Morning Jacket, Tribute To, Yim Yames
