Country music group Zac Brown Band has been performing Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” on their current tour. They stay faithful to the original recording, and not surprisingly, it is a big crowd pleaser.
Of course, nobody can match Freddy Mercury and the original band on the epic song. But Zac Brown Band has been getting rave reviews for their cover, as fans eat it up too, such as when the group played the song recently at the CMA Music Fest 2015. Below, check out Zac Brown Band playing “Bohemian Rhapsody” at the 2014 iHeartradio Music Festival in Las Vegas.
Bonus Trivia: The “Scaramouche” referenced in the song is a buffoonish clown character from the Italian commedia dell’arte.
What do you think of the Zac Brown Band cover? Leave your two cents in the comments.
One of the great albums for finding solace amidst middle-of-the-night anxiety is Frank Sinatra’s “In the Wee Small Hours.”
In our series “3 a.m. Albums,” we look at albums that are perfect for those nights when you cannot sleep due to sadness, loneliness, despair, or other reasons. We begin the series with an album that is appropriately named, In the Wee Small Hours, which is one of Frank Sinatra’s masterpieces.
Frank Sinatra recorded most of In the Wee Small Hours in the late night hours in early 1955, releasing the album not long after completion in April of that year. Often considered as an early concept album, In the Wee Small Hours received its main inspiration from the dissolution of the relationship between Sinatra and actress Ava Gardner, who Sinatra had married in 1951.
The ballads, arranged by Nelson Riddle, features more sparse instrumentation than on many Sinatra classics, allowing the heartache in Sinatra’s voice to bleed through your speakers above the sounds of the guitar, celesta, piano, and strings. The title song, which was new at the time, stands well next to the album’s classics like “Mood Indigo.” The song “In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning” remains one of the great opening album tracks of all time, setting the mood for the entire album.
Sinatra poured his tears, sweat, and blood into these tracks. The liner notes claim the album creates “the loneliest early-morning mood in the world.” Reportedly, Sinatra broke down crying after recording “When Your Lover Has Gone.”
The album has stood the test of time. The song “In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning” has stood the test of time, being covered by many singers, including a recent cover by another singer famous for his relationships, John Mayer. B.B. King has talked about listening to the album on many late nights (“I practically put that In the Wee Small Hours album under my pillow every night when I went to sleep”), and Tom Waits lists it as one of his favorite albums of all time, echoing the album’s artwork on his own The Heart of Saturday Night (1974).
When one thinks of Sinatra, the songs on In the Wee Small Hours may not be the ones you first think of as you run through songs like “Lady is a Tramp” and “Summer Wind.” But it is one of his original albums best heard in its entirety from start to finish rather than as a collection of greatest hits or live performances. And it is best heard at 3 a.m. as you face the demons in your own life, somehow finding comfort knowing that even Ol’ Blue Eyes knew (and somehow survived) the same type of heartbreak. Thankfully, he is there, giving words and music to your feelings like a friend buying you a drink in an empty bar at closing time.
What is your favorite 3 a.m. album? Leave your two cents in the comments.
Last night, Metallica‘s James Hetfield and Kirk Hammett kicked off game five of the NBA Finals with a metal version of the “Star-Spangled Banner.” Members of the U.S. armed forces held a large American flag while the guitars wailed prior to the start of the game between the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Golden State Warriors.
While my favorite version of the national anthem played before a basketball game remains a legendary performance by Marvin Gaye, this Metallica version was still pretty cool. Check it out.
In the new movie Love & Mercy (2015), director Bill Pohlad takes the unusual approach to use two different actors to convey the complexity of the genius of Beach Boys singer-songwriter Brian Wilson. And surprisingly, it works very well.
Of course, the technique can only work if the actors are up to the task, and both Paul Dano and John Cusack give outstanding career performances in Love & Mercy. Dano has always been good of portraying some level of madness, but his portrayal of Wilson is much more subtle than Dano’s over-the-top craziness in There Will Be Blood (2007). It also was surprising how much Dano looks like a young Brian Wilson given the right hair. While John Cusack does not really look like Brian Wilson, his performance is surprising in his portrayal of vulnerability without his usual “I-know-more-than-everyone-else” winking. The supporting cast is also outstanding, including Elizabeth Banks in one of her best performances and the always wonderful Paul Giamatti.
Love & Mercy features two story arcs intertwined, tracing Wilson’s descent into drugs and mental illness through Dano in one story while also telling the ascent of Wilson’s recovery and escape from the control of Dr. Eugene Landy (Giamatti) through Cusack’s Wilson. Through the stories, we also see Wilson’s torment from an abusive father and an abusive therapist. But his tragedy and triumph are also about the music, and some of the most interesting parts of the film show Wilson in the studio, creating the brilliant Beach Boys album Pet Sounds and struggling to create the follow-up album Smile.
Conclusion? If you are interested in the history of rock music or in movies about tortured genius, you may find that Love & Mercy is one of the best rock biopics in recent years. If you do not trust me, Rotten Tomatoes has an 88% critics rating and a 96% audience rating for the film.
Bonus Trivia: The title of the film is taken from the song “Love & Mercy” from Wilson’s 1988 self-titled solo album. If you wait for the credits during the film, you will see and hear Wilson performing the song, whose opening line seem like an in-joke: “I was sitting in a crummy movie. . . .” But I suspect Pohlad chose the song because it is an uplifting message fitting for a movie about redemption. Wilson once said, “‘Love and Mercy’ is probably the most spiritual song I’ve ever written.”
Since Brian Wilson is still alive, one may wonder how difficult it must be for him to watch a movie about his struggles. If you are interested in what he thinks, in a recent NPR interview, Wilson discussed the movie and how some parts are difficult for him to watch. He also talked about his new album No Pier Pressure and his favorite Beach Boy song, which also happens to be my favorite, “God Only Knows.”
What did you think of Love & Mercy? Leave your two cents in the comments.
I have long been a fan of the work of singer-songwriter Shelby Lynne (as well as that of her sister Allison Moorer). So, today’s song of the day is Lynne’s “Down Here” from Lynne’s latest album, I Can’t Imagine (2015). In the bluesy song, Lynne channels her childhood growing up in Alabama where she felt a bit different.
In “Down Here,” the singer recounts how in her “dark Dixie closet” it is difficult to live with a secret that others might not accept. The song implicitly tackles subjects like discrimination and homophobia. Lynne explained to Rolling Stone that the goal of the song is to reach out to kids who may be facing such discrimination, telling them that they are not alone.
In the video below, Lynne performs “Down Here” from I Can’t Imagine live on KCRW. Check it out.
What do you think of “Down Here”? Leave your two cents in the comments.
In the new movie Love & Mercy (2015), director 
. If you wait for the credits during the film, you will see and hear Wilson performing the song, whose opening line seem like an in-joke: “I was sitting in a crummy movie. . . .” But I suspect Pohlad chose the song because it is an uplifting message fitting for a movie about redemption. Wilson once said, “‘Love and Mercy’ is probably the most spiritual song I’ve ever written.”
I have long been a fan of the work of singer-songwriter 
live on KCRW. Check it out.