The first time I saw The Twilight Singers was in 2003 at Cleveland's Grog Shop. The small club was fairly packed, which in truth means there were about 100 people. I've been a longtime fan of Greg Dulli and his music with The Afghan Whigs. For various reasons I was unable to see The Whigs in concert, and this would be the first time I'd see him live. The concert was in support of their, at the time, newest release Blackberry Belle.
Few bands can match their playing ability or the arrangement of their sets. They played a full set of their own songs and then played two more of covers. If I can recall correctly, all of these made an appearance:
1. Layla Coda (Derek & The Dominos)
2. Purple Rain (Prince)
3. Time Of The Season (The Zombies)
4. All You Need Is Love (The Beatles)
When I saw them the next year, still touring in support of Blackberry Belle, I managed to keep track of all of the covers they performed. The list is as follows:
1. Ain't Nobody (Chaka Khan)
2. Time Of The Season (The Zombies)
3. All You Need Is Love (Beatles)
4. Hyperballad (Bjork)
5. Layla Coda (Derek and the Dominos)
6. Somethin' Hot (Afghan Whigs)
7. Uptown Again (Afghan Whigs)
8. Roses (Outkast)
9. Summertime (standard)
10. Don't Fear The Reaper (BOC)
11. Dancing Queen (Over an ELO chord progression)
This might sound strange but I wasn't really surprised to find out that they were putting out a covers album.
There are many great tracks on She Loves You. Coltrane's "A Love Supreme" and Marvin Gaye's "Please Stay (Once You Go Away)" manage to sound as if Dulli had written them from scratch with the same care and heart as the original recordings. "Too Tough To Die," Martina Topley-Bird's gritty trip-hop jam, sounds stronger than the original. "Black Is The Cover Of My True Love's Hair," the Nina Simone standard as well as She Loves You's first single, is the finest standout track. If the rest of the album doesn't impress, this one song will. It easily makes it into the top five recordings of Greg Dulli's career.
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