Robert Randolph with Joe Walsh: Up on Cripple Creek

Olli Haavisto · Post by **Olli Haavisto** » 12 Oct 2015 5:24 am

There's another great steel player in this clip too.
Larry Campbell on guitar.

Joachim Kettner · Post by **Joachim Kettner** » 12 Oct 2015 6:51 am

Yes Olli, he's a good steel player. And I had an album of him doing insrumentals on acoustic guitar with about five different tunings.

Mark Eaton · Post by **Mark Eaton** » 12 Oct 2015 8:28 am

Olli Haavisto wrote:There's another great steel player in this clip too.
Larry Campbell on guitar.

And it doesn't stop there - on Larry's left, also on electric guitar is Greg Leisz.

They looked like they were having a great time and I would bet that their audience liked it too. IMHO, that's all that really matters.

True for the musicians and the audience at the time, but not literally true for everybody. The reason the quality of the video is so good is that it was "lifted" from the DVD of the event which one can purchase. If there are songs on the DVD you don't care for and you hit the fast forward or skip button, now it "matters" to you as well.

Don't get me wrong - I don't think it's a bad version of "Up On Cripple Creek," it just wasn't my cup of tea. As implied by the title, Jim started this thread to show Robert as a steel player running with some of the big dogs. I saw Robert a number of years ago where he opened for Clapton, and came out on Eric's encore later to join him on "Sunshine of Your Love " and it was great.

I have watched some of the other videos from the Love For Levon concert, and IMO there are some fine interpretations there. Speaking again of Bruce Hornsby, he came out with a dulcimer to sing "Anna Lee" (which Levon recorded on his 2007 album Dirt Farmer) with Larry Campbell on fiddle and Amy Helm and Teresa Williams on backing vocals. I really enjoyed this version.

Mark Eaton · Post by **Mark Eaton** » 12 Oct 2015 11:02 am

Chris Templeton wrote: When a new version comes along, it can sometimes be hard to like.

True enough, but there are countless examples of versions of songs by someone other than the original artist that knocked people's socks off, and often it could have happened the first time they heard the new rendition.

In his all too brief career Jimi Hendrix made a habit out of this, to name a few: All Along the Watchtower, Hey Joe, Wild Thing.

Arguably one of the greatest country songs of all time is Pancho & Lefty by Townes Van Zandt. Emmylou practically made it her own in the '70s.

Two weekends ago I was at Hardly Strictly Bluegrass in Golden Gate Park and since Neil Young has been a Bay Area resident for going on 45 years, Raul Malo with The Mavericks endeared himself to the crowd by singing a beautiful version of Harvest Moon.

And to again cite The Dead, IMO Los Lobos kills it on their version of Bertha.

As I wrote, there are countless examples so I'll stop there.

And regarding Chris's statement I partially quoted above, I probably have a much harder time warming up to a new version of a song by the original artist. I'm a big Dylan guy, but I think he's done a pretty good job of massacring some of his greatest songs with different approaches over the years.

Then there are all the versions of great songs covered by other artists that don't cut the mustard. It's probably the longest list of all.

No hard and fast rules with this sort of thing.

George Redmon · Post by **George Redmon** » 12 Oct 2015 7:24 pm

Robert is a wonderful steel player, and has a solid Christian background. I would much rather hear him play then someone doing another boring rendition of "Way To Survive". And of course it doesn't hurt a bit to be the highest paid steel guitarist in the history of the instrument. A real breath of fresh air..... Thanks Jim for this thread.

Jim Cohen · Post by **Jim Cohen** » 12 Oct 2015 7:27 pm

Mark Eaton wrote:..As implied by the title, Jim started this thread to show Robert as a steel player running with some of the big dogs. I saw Robert a number of years ago where he opened for Clapton, and came out on Eric's encore later to join him on "Sunshine of Your Love " and it was great

Thank you, Mark. That was exactly my point. Couldn't care less who likes it or doesn't like it. And I ain't even sayin' whether I particularly "like it" or not. That's not the point, by a long shot. Thank you for recognizing that.

Mike Daly · Post by **Mike Daly** » 13 Oct 2015 5:23 am

Amen Jim...

Jack Stanton · Post by **Jack Stanton** » 13 Oct 2015 5:48 am

I don't particularly like the groove, and I think Joe Walsh's vocal is the weak link, but how cool is it to see a steel guitar front and center in a setting like that, which I think was Jim's original point..

chris ivey · Post by **chris ivey** » 13 Oct 2015 8:19 am

yeah yeah..we've belabored that 'exposure' issue over and over.

George Redmon wrote: And of course it doesn't hurt a bit to be the highest paid steel guitarist in the history of the instrument. A real breath of fresh air..

if true, this quote is disturbing when you consider the talents of paul, buddy , tommy , doug, curly and others who have spent a lifetime developing and expanding the true expertise of the instrument.
of course, no one ever said that life was fair.

Richard Sinkler · Post by **Richard Sinkler** » 13 Oct 2015 2:23 pm

I think Robert is good at what he does, but he is not in class with Buddy, Paul, Curly etc... Those guys are untouchable.

Gord Cole · Post by **Gord Cole** » 14 Oct 2015 7:22 am

Now that's a heck of a lotta fun!! Listening or playing!!!

Jim Cohen · Post by **Jim Cohen** » 14 Oct 2015 7:26 am

Richard Sinkler wrote:I think Robert is good at what he does, but he is not in class with Buddy, Paul, Curly etc... Those guys are untouchable.

I don't think it's supposed to be a competition...

Jim Robbins · Post by **Jim Robbins** » 18 Oct 2015 9:40 am

Thanks for posting, Jim. The Band re-imagined whole genres of music, I don't think there's anything wrong with trying to re-imagine one of their songs.

Pedal steel thought experiment: Same band, same song, same groove, Joe Walsh (who I think is a great player) running over to the spotlight the steel player and then wailing away on top of him -- what would Buddy, Paul, Tommy, Doug, Curly etc play in that situation as opposed to what RR played? (I kind of like to imagine some big-voiced Chalker gutting but that's probably one of the many reasons I'm not a producer.)

No points for "of course they'd find a good part" -- of course they would, we're talking about virtuoso, versatile musicians. But what kind of part would it be?

Mark Eaton · Post by **Mark Eaton** » 19 Oct 2015 8:37 am

Jim Robbins wrote:Thanks for posting, Jim. The Band re-imagined whole genres of music, I don't think there's anything wrong with trying to re-imagine one of their songs.

Jim, I don't believe anyone else here thinks there is anything wrong with trying to re-imagine any of The Band's songs either - some of us just might not care for a particular re-imagination.

I'm sure that there are people that didn't particularly care for Jimi's re-imagination of Dylan's All Along the Watchtower where others thought it was the greatest thing since sliced bread.

chris ivey · Post by **chris ivey** » 19 Oct 2015 10:13 am

and though always compared to, robert is nowhere near the talent and creativity of a jimi hendrix.

he's a good professional artist and should be proud of that.

Mike Neer · Post by **Mike Neer** » 19 Oct 2015 10:33 am

You gotta play it like YOU feel it, not the way somebody else feels or felt it. Not everyone is gonna love it, that part is understood by the artist.

Doug Beaumier · Post by **Doug Beaumier** » 19 Oct 2015 11:25 am

It's really a matter of preference and how emotionally attached we are to an original version vs. a remake. For me, a good example of this is Clapton's acoustic version of Layla. When that version became a hit in 1992... I hated it because it was so radically different from the earlier electric version, which I thought was a masterpiece. But my guitar students in the 1990s loved the acoustic version and I taught that version to many of them. Of course, they had never heard the 1971 version of the song. When I played the original song for them they liked the acoustic one better... so go figure!

Joachim Kettner · Post by **Joachim Kettner** » 19 Oct 2015 11:42 am

I also didn't like the unplugged version. The passion and the fire had been lost for me.
I remember this album with the track "Jessica Stone" I was blown away by Joe's performance, it starts at about 9:20:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nH08g_tMNhE

Bud Angelotti · Post by **Bud Angelotti** » 19 Oct 2015 4:41 pm

Yes, there are many great songs out there that have been "covered" and are "better" than the original.
This aint one of 'em.
Thanks for posting anyway Jim.

Olli Haavisto · Post by **Olli Haavisto** » 19 Oct 2015 10:08 pm

Hey guys,
Since we're on the subject of The Band covers,
give me your opinion on this remake of a Band classic...
Our band doing Ophelia in a different way.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXjn0yBsCe0

Here's the studio version for those who have Spotify

https://open.spotify.com/track/6qnOsDpqUnU6sE4YPMZVyG

Joachim Kettner · Post by **Joachim Kettner** » 20 Oct 2015 8:13 am

chris ivey wrote:and though always compared to, robert is nowhere near the talent and creativity of a jimi hendrix.

he's a good professional artist and should be proud of that.

I agree Chris. Has Robert Randolph ever played a number that has more than four chords?

Jim Cohen · Post by **Jim Cohen** » 20 Oct 2015 8:14 am

Joachim Kettner wrote:Has Robert Randolph ever played a number that has more than four chords?

Has BB King? What nonsense!

Joachim Kettner · Post by **Joachim Kettner** » 20 Oct 2015 8:16 am

"Hummingbird" Jim?

Jim Cohen · Post by **Jim Cohen** » 20 Oct 2015 8:26 am

Joachim Kettner wrote:"Hummingbird" Jim?

That's not really the point, is it, Joachim?

Mark Eaton · Post by **Mark Eaton** » 20 Oct 2015 8:28 am

I really like your band's version Olli. The lead singer is very good - different vibe than Levon - but then there was only one Levon Helm, and there will never be another quite like him.

I would like to have heard a version of this song by The Band without all the horns like you guys do it and more acoustic.

Truth is, Ophelia is probably my least favorite song on Northern Lights-Southern Cross though it was highly regarded by music writers. Robbie Robertson had a fascination with all things New Orleans and sometimes liked the big horn section thing in certain arrangements and Garth Hudson took the bull by the horns on the song, but I tend to tire of it quickly. In other words, if I'm burning a CD of a bunch of songs by The Band to take on a road trip, Ophelia isn't going to be on there. It's not the song, it's all the horns. That's just a personal thing for me, many people love the song the way it is. On the same album there are two which I consider among The Band's masterpieces, It Makes No Difference and Acadian Driftwood. Those go on the road trip CD for sure.

Olli, I loved your dobro playing particularly on the studio version on Spotify, the break in the middle was really nice. Was that your Clinesmith?

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Robert Randolph with Joe Walsh: Up on Cripple Creek

Thaks Jim!