Taking a year off when you’ve spent years building up a global following is a risky move these days in the music biz where fans seem to have attention spans that are ever decreasing. Thankfully us Rock fans are made of sterner stuff and The Dead Daisies taking a year out has seen some of the players making the most of that well-earned break whilst others have toured or taken on other projects.
As a gentle reminder that next year the band will be ramping up activities again they’ve released a set of covers titled “Locked and Loaded: The Covers Album” which is out August 23rd through Spitfire Music/SPV.
The Daisies of course always did a great cover: I remember being at a show in the early days just the day after Ian McLagan of The Faces had passed and they put on a great version of ‘Stay With Me’ to celebrate. As a Faces fan that was a huge moment for me and a great reminder that we’re all fans first and foremost. That night they also played ‘Helter Skelter’ by The Beatles and ‘Parasite’ by Kiss.
On all of their albums (with the exception of their debut with Jon Stevens) the band always chose a cover or two in order to “spread the word” and share their love of great music with fans. On Revolución we got Willie Dixon’s ‘Evil’ (incidentally a song The Faces loved to cover too), and The Sensational Alex Harvey Band’s ‘Midnight Moses.’ Then on ‘Make Some Noise’ we had Creedence’s ‘Fortunate Son’ and The Who’s ‘Join Together.’ ‘Live and Louder’ added Grand Funk’s ‘American Band’ and ‘Burn It Down’ included a sublime take on The Stone’s ‘Bitch’ and if you got the digipack added ‘Revolution’ by The Beatles.
This release therefore isn’t anything new but it doesn’t stop it being a great record. If it lacks anything I guess it’s that real incentive for fans to invest in a record that they probably already almost have. Fortunately in these days of streaming that’s only an issue for those that like to hold a product in their hands (like me). There’s a couple of rarities of course – firstly ‘Helter Skelter’ from the ‘Face I Love’ EP, and also a cover of Neil Young’s ‘Rockin in the Free World’ recorded live at the Przystanek Woodstock festival in Poland, and accompanied by a full sixty-piece Philharmonic orchestra. Both are well worth hearing and I’d have loved to have heard a full set from the Festival along with this collection.
Me, if I’m I’m honest, I think I’d have preferred a ‘Best of’ featuring original material, but I’ve always supported the ethos of educating listeners into the great and perhaps less heard Rock music of the past and if you look at it this way then this compilation ticks all the boxes.
‘Locked and Loaded’ is released on August 23rd. Pre-order the album here:- https://thedeaddaisies.lnk.to/LockedandLoaded
Tracklisting: 1. Midnight Moses | 2. Evil | 3. Fortunate Son | 4. Join Together | 5. Helter Skelter | 6. Bitch | 7. American Band (Live) |8. Revolution | 9. Rockin’ In the Free World (Live) | 10 Highway Star (Live)