It’s been a while since we’ve featured a cover from the wonderful 2003 Springsteen tribute compilation, Light of Day.
Light of Day features a host of names and voices that will be familiar to anyone who’s attended the Asbury Park music festival that goes by the same name, each covering a tune from the Springsteen songbook–some well-known, others obscure.
One of my favorite tracks is Billy Bragg’s Fats Domino-inspired arrangement of “Mansion on the Hill.”
“Mansion on the Hill” is a song steeped in nostalgia, and it’s a tough song to play uptempo without losing that. Bragg figured out a way to do it, though, rooting his band arrangement in the sound of popular music from the time Bruce writes about in the song.
It’s a brilliant concept, and Bragg and The Blokes execute it perfectly.
