Saturday, April 26, 2008

Cover/Uncovered: Mike McClure.....


i keep putting off that Artist Spotlight i've been planning for Mike McClure, but to get some more of his music out to you guys, i'll highlight a couple of covers he regularly does. Both are covers of legendary artists and show both ends of the spectrum of Mike's style.

i consider Mike one the best songwriters around today. This may come as a surprise to some of you, only because you've never heard of him. But i've known about his poetic way with words since about '98 - back with The Great Divide. I didn't realize the genious in him until his first solo effort, Twelve Pieces, came out in '02. People who are great songwriters (and often know they are) normally have a hard time doing cover songs - if they do, they choose very wisely. That's exactly the case here with Mike. From the multitude of McClure bootlegs i've come across, i know he's a huge fan of Van Morrison. He finally put a cover of a Van song on an album with Into The Mystic on Camelot Falling:

Cover: Mike McClure Band - Into The Mystic

Mike (and band) stay very true to Van The Man's version with this cover - from the acoustic intro, to the unmistakable bassline, and even the heartfelt vocals when the chorus builds. A perfect example of if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Uncovered: Van Morrison - Into The Mystic <------ copyright issues...
buy Moondance (1970)

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Most of the tracks i've posted from Mike show his singer-songwriter side, but if you have ever caught a concert of his, you know that's not all there is. Mike is a dork for 80's rock and when he plays live, he lets that kid in him that always dreamed of being in a hair-metal band come out - extended solos and amped up guitars. Mike was the frontman as well as lead guitarist for The Great Divide. When he first formed The Mike McClure Band in '03, he employed the help of lead-guitarist Rodney Pyeatt (former member of Selena's band). This bootleg is from a show when Pyeatt was still with the band, but Mike eventually felt the need to rip up solo's on his own again. The Mike McClure Band is currently a 3-piece (Mike, bassist Tom Skinner, and Eric Hansen on drums).

Cover: Mike McClure Band - Rockin' In The Free World (live)
A staple of his live (full band) shows, Mike gives Rockin' In The Free World a little twist both musically and by throwing in some slightly altered lines of his own.




3 comments:

  1. WEB SHERIFF
    Protecting Your Rights on the Internet
    Tel 44-(0)208-323 8013
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    websheriff@websheriff.com
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    WITHOUT PREJUDICE

    Hi This Mornin,

    On behalf of Exile Productions, Lost Highway and Polydor, we would kindly ask you not to post copies of "Keep It Simple" on your site (or any individual tracks from Van Morrison's released albums - release dates UK / EU 17th March & US 1st April).

    We do appreciate that you are fans of / are promoting Van, but Exile, Lost Highway and Polydor would greatly appreciate your co-operation in removing your links to the pirate files in question.

    Thank you for respecting the artist's and labels' wishes and, if you want good quality, non-pirated, preview tracks, full versions of "That's Entrainment" and "Behind The Ritual" (along with album track samplers) are available for you to link to on Lost Highway's web-site at http://www.losthighwayrecords.com .

    Up-to-the-minute info on Keep It Simple and Van's 2008 shows is, of course, also available on www.vanmorrison.com and http://www.myspace.com/vanmorrison and, for the next few days, you can hear Van's exclusive BBC sessions and interview at http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio2/musicclub/event_vanmorrison.shtml and http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/aod/radio2_aod.shtml?radio2/paul_jones .

    As you will appreciate, this e-mail is written on a without prejudice basis and, as such, all of our clients' accumulated, worldwide rights remain strictly reserved : please excuse this required formality.

    With Thanks & Regards,

    WEB SHERIFF

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  2. Glad to see the continued good work here. Two things:

    1. I was hoping to hear the Van Morrison cover, but you seem to be already out of bandwidth. Sadness results. Might be time to upgrade to a paid account, man.

    2. There is some debate on the other blogs about the legitimacy of Web Sherrif (as in -- no one is sure whether they actually DO represent the artists they claim to represent, and if they do, why are they advertising other services in YOUR comments, and why are they leaving take-down requests in COMMENTS????). I'd check out posts on the subject at Berkeley Place and I am Fuel, You Are Friends, before you decided whether or not to take them seriously.

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  3. Didn't even notice the most obvious problem with Web Sherrif's comment!

    Didja notice? They asked you to please not post a TOTALLY DIFFERENT SONG, figuring that it was theirs.

    Near as I can tell, the folks Web Sherrif is claiming to represent have no rights to the 38 year old song you posted.

    ReplyDelete