Elwood – Sundown

Being an occasional DJ, I have a particular fondness for good covers.  In particular, when a band retains some of the “feeling” of a song, while adapting it to a completely different style, I usually find the track to be worth listening to.  This often holds true even if I don’t really “like” either version, although I do prefer to listen to music I like.

Gordon Lightfoot’s original Sundown was a light, country influenced singer-songwriter track from 1974, that went to #1 on both American and Lightfoot’s native Canadian charts.  Being Canadian, Lightfoot was not born of California, but he lived for a couple of years in the late 50’s, and his music seems to have carried some of the feeling that led to the popularity of bands like the Eagles, Credence Clearwater Revival, the Byrds, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, and many others.  Not all of them hailed from California, but the laid back, folksy, and semi-acoustic rock sound seemed particularly suited to the post-hippie beach town ethic of Southern California.

Elwood is a musical collaboration that is somewhat clouded in mystery.  There is a sparse Wikipedia entry on Elwood.  Their Album, “The Parlance of Out Time”, is a wonderful and eclectic mix of hiphop, pop, and rock.

On “Parlance of Our Time” is a wonderful cover of Gordon Lightfoot’s “Sundown”.  The track retains Lightfoot’s catchy, comforting, easy going, and mellow melodic core, while completely overlaying rap vocals throughout the song, making it a hiphop mash-up.  Interestingly, the track never really took off on the pop charts, peaking in June 2000 at #33.  The tracks on the album, including “Sundown”, was mostly produced by Steve Lillywhite, who is credited with production on more than 500 albums, including artists such as U2, Dave Matthews Band, Peter Gabriel, XTC, Morrissey, the Pogues, the Psychedelic Furs, Phish, and Travis.

When I dj, I often play “Sundown”, “Picture of You”, and “Slow”.

Sorry, But I couldn’t find a copy of “Slow” on the Web.  You’ll just have to buy it on Amazon or iTunes… 🙂

~ by mikekato on September 21, 2011.