say what you will about the Dead, but their origins were born in the blues and they were amazing blues musicians in their early years.
I almost posted this but the chord progressions weren't as obvious to me. I'm a big Jerry Garcia/Grateful Dead fan. They covered a bunch of Gus Cannon stuff when they were starting out: Viola Lee Blues; Minglewood Blues; Big Railroad Blues, etc.
Jerry was one of the great melodic guitar players imo, but a lot of pure technicians seem to have problems with him. Not me -- he was one of the greats.
which reminds me of one of my favorite album titles of all time...and also a pretty darn fun album.
RL and the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion 'A Ass Pocket of Whiskey'.
cover art by Derek Hess (who was an extremely popular poster and flyer artist ~25 years ago...just look at the list of bands http://derekhess.com/portfolio_cats/...82312011718750). i'm willing to bet there aren't that many artists that have their work in the permanent collection of both the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and the Louvre.
Could go in the best covers thread but I'll post it here:
Lyrics:
There was a murder in the red barn
Murder in the red barn
The trees are bending over
The cows are lying down
The autumn's taking over
You can hear the buckshot hounds
The watchman said to Reba the loon
Was it pale at Manzanita
Or Blind Bob the raccoon?
Pin it on a drifter
They sleep beneath the bridge
One plays the violin
And sleeps inside a fridge
There was a murder in the red barn
A murder in the red barn
Someone's crying in the woods
Someone's burying all his clothes
Now Slam the Crank from Wheezer
Slept outside last night and froze
Road kill has its seasons
Just like anything
It's possums in the autumn
And it's farm cats in the spring
There was a murder in the red barn
A murder in the red barn
Now thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house
Or covet thy neighbor's wife
But for some
Murder is the only door through which they enter life
Now they surrounded the house
They smoke him out
They took him off in chains
The sky turned black and bruised
And we had months of heavy rains
Now the raven's nest in the rotted roof
Of Chenoweth's old place
And no one's asking Cal
About that scar upon his face
'Cause there's nothin' strange
About an axe with bloodstains in the barn
There's always some killin'
You got to do around the farm
A murder in the red barn
Murder in the red barn
Now the woods will never tell
What sleeps beneath the trees
Or what's buried 'neath a rock
Or hiding in the leaves
'Cause road kill has it's seasons
Just like anything
It's possums in the atumn
And it's farm cats in the spring
A murder in the red barn
A murder in the red barn
Now a lady can't do ntohin'
Without folks' tongues waggin'
Is this blood on the tree
Or is it autumn's red blaze
When the ground's soft for diggin'
And the rain will bring all this gloom
There's nothing wrong with a lady
Drinking alone in her room
But there was a murder in the red barn
A murder in the red barn