MP3: Afghan Whigs - Uptown Avondale
I've posted a bunch of Afghan Whigs stuff before, but as I was having a bit of a Greg Dulli related listening session yesterday (with a 2 hour mix of material from 1966, Up In It and Powder Burns), I thought i'd put some stuff on here today.
The Uptown Avondale EP was recorded in August 1992, and was released on Sub Pop in October of the same year. It was the band's last release on Sub Pop, and soon after its release they would sign up to Elektra Records and release their most successful album, 1993's Gentlemen. It's an EP of Motown and Soul covers, reflecting the classics that the band would often insert into their setlists (something that Dulli does to this day with his Twilight Singers), with a bonus track consisting of a remix of an old album track. First up is a cover of Band Of Gold by Freda Payne, a hit from 1970 that reached #3 in the US charts and #1 in the UK. Next is True Love Travels On A Gravel Road, a song from the late 60s by Percy Sledge that was also covered by Elvis. Third up is my favourite song on this release, and probably one of my top 5 favourite covers of all time, a version of The Supremes Come See About Me. It's absolutely amazing. Fourth is a superb cover of Al Green's Beware, which is almost funny in that it subverts Green's nice guy image so much. Finally there is a remix of the song Milez Iz Ded (originally featured as an unlisted bonus track on Congregation) produced by Steve Fisk and Shawn Smith. It's an interesting mix, with I think an alternative guitar part to the original. Sounds very Fools Goldy to me. Overall this is a great EP, and if you like the band's grunge meets motown flavour, you should definitely seek out their other records.
If you want to see some rather ace videos related to this release, youtube has the original version of Milez Iz Ded a live version of Milez Iz Ded, and the stunning video for Come See About Me. If you want a better quality version of this EP, go check out Amazon.
Afghan Whigs - 01 Band Of Gold - MP3 2.36mb
posted by Jamie Summers at 10:25 am
3 Comments:
Not only a great short record, but a great album cover as well. Sets the stage for the amazing Gentlemen. There are a lot of records made 15 years ago I never listen to anymore, but tracks from Uptown Avondale (And What Jail is Really Like) are never too far away
The Whigs were my favorite band and Dulli is one of the few guys who has actually kept writing great records on his own after his band has band has well....disbanded.
What I liked about their covers is that they take these groovy old happy soul songs and turn them into something dark....like "My World's empty without you" from the Jail id like EP and the songs featured here.
I've always thought of it as the other way around - the lyrics for those songs were dark, and the Whigs just gave them the music they probably should have always had.
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