You’re either going to love this or hate it.
Me, I’m fascinated by it.
I’m new to Shovels & Rope. I discovered them by accident when they opened up for The Avett Brothers and The Head and The Heart at the Gorge Amphitheater a couple of months back, and I dug their stripped-down, country/folk sound.
Imagine my surprise when I searched for their music and found this little gem, released as a 7″ vinyl one-off in 2013.
We know from the opening bars that this is going to be an unusual cover–it’s piano-heavy, and both the vocals and instrumentals by husband-and-wife Michael Trent and Carrie Ann Hearst sound like they had pre-funked with Tanqueray and wine.
I’ve never been comfortable with the rockabilly arrangement that Bruce has favored for “Johnny 99” in recent years. I think I know what he was reaching for, but in concert he tends to overshoot the antihero’s bravado and end up almost in celebration territory.
Shovels & Rope get it. They understand that Jonny’s defiance is a false, manic front, and their take captures the sense of gradually unraveling desperation that Bruce’s concert arrangement misses.
And that last verse… that’s how I always imagined Johnny 99 in that courtroom in the end.
A powerful, well-done cover.
