How about some cover songs!
Day 3 - Shake it like you've never done before
Songs of the Day
3. Copperhead Road (Steve Earle cover)
12. Human Thing (Be Good Tanyas Cover)
So today we are jumping around a bit in the track list and talking about the two cover songs that made it on to this record. All of the songs on this record share common themes as they were written by me shortly after I turned 40, and they reflect on a lot of the things I was feeling in this transitional mid-life moment. So the two songs I didn't write fall a little bit outside of the narrative of the rest of the album, but I still feel like they belong on this record: Copperhead Road for its instrumentation and production and Human Thing for its vague lyrics but clear theme of a raw exploration of human emotion.
On this Page you'll find:
A welcome video
Download and streaming links for the songs
An exclusive, stripped-down version of Copperhead Road
Annotated Lyrics to both songs
Full-length music videos for both songs
Studio discussion of featured instrument - the mandolin
Random Max Boost Trivia Tidbits
Song Links
Copperhead Road
Human Thing
Track 3: Copperhead Road
Everybody knew that he made moonshine...
Channeling my inner Steve Earle
Copperhead Road Official
Max Boost Music Video
Copperhead Road was my first try at releasing a cover song. It was originally written and performed by Steve Earle in 1988. I have always loved this song, it’s definitely a killer hillbilly anthem, a blend of outlaw country music with, like, 80s hair metal production lol. But its somehow way more fun than either of these genres on their own.
This was probably the first song I ever learned to sing and play on the mandolin and I always wanted to give a go at recording it. When I first recorded my version (the stripped-down exclusive version linked above), I stuck pretty close to the instrumentation on the original. But it didn’t quite feel like I had injected enough of my own style into it, so I went back and added some weird effects and things to some of the instruments and added some more synthesizers.
I encourage you to check out Steve Earle's official music video for this song, its kind of awesomely cheesy and I did my best to capture some of the same vibes and imagery in my cover version you can see here...
Lyrics: Daddy ran whiskey in a big block dodge...
Lyrics
Well, my name's John Lee Pettimore
Same as my daddy and his daddy before
You hardly ever saw grandaddy down here
He only came to town about twice a year
He'd buy a hundred pounds of yeast and some copper line
Everybody knew that he made moonshine
Now the revenue man wanted Grandaddy bad
Headed up the holler with everything he had
Before my time, but I've been told
He never come back from
Copperhead Road
Now daddy ran the whiskey in a big block Dodge
Bought it at an auction at the Mason's Lodge
"Johnson County Sheriff" painted on the side
Just shot a coat of primer, then he looked inside
Well, him and my uncle tore that engine down
I still remember that rumblin' sound
And then the Sheriff came around in the middle of the night
Heard mama crying, knew something wasn't right
He was headed down to Knoxville with the weekly load
You could smell the whiskey burnin' down
Copperhead Road
I volunteered for the Army on my birthday
They draft the white trash first, 'round here anyway
I done two tour's of duty in Vietnam
I came home with a brand new plan
I take the seed from Colombia and Mexico
I just plant it up the holler down Copperhead Road
And now the D.E.A's got a chopper in the air
I wake up screaming like I'm back over there
I learnt a thing or two from Charlie, don't you know
You better stay away from
Copperhead Road
You could smell that whiskey burnin' down Copperhead Road
The lyrics of this song are pretty self explanatory. Its about 3 generations of contraband runners named John Lee Pettimore. I'm not sure if this song is supposed to be based on any kind of true story, but there was a real road in Tennessee call Copperhead Road. Apparently they had to change the name though because people kept stealing the street sign. Anyway, the two elder Pettimores were moonshiners and then the song's narrator got the idea to switch to selling weed after returning from Vietnam (keep in mind this song was written well before legalization of any kind).
On April 20, 2023, the Tennessee General Assembly
passed an act recognizing Copperhead Road as the 11th official state song. I saw that Steve Earle posted this on Facebook and thought it was kind of wild that a song about selling contraband would be the official song of a state that is likely to be one of the very last in the country to actually legalize weed. This designation actually occurred right after I first released this song as a single. I was hoping that I could somehow capitalize on this coincidence, but I never quite figured out a way to do so. But its kinda cool knowing I released a cover of a song that would immediately end up being my state's official song lol
Talking About the Mandolin
The Mandolin
The mandolin was the first acoustic instrument I really got into playing. Prior to that my primary instrument was the electric bass, though I also dabbled on the electric guitar. I loved how easy the mandolin was to carry around and I would bring it camping or to the park or where ever else I'd go outside. It was the first time I could really jam on an instrument without needing and amplifier. In the last couple of years I've spent a lot more time on the guitar, but for a long period of time, mandolin was the instrument I was most comfortable on besides the electric bass. I think my time with the mandolin did a lot to shape the way I played all my instruments.
While Copperhead Road was one of the first cover songs I learned on the mandolin, I also learned quite a few mandolin parts for Be Good Tanyas songs over the years as well.
Max Boost Trivia Tidbit!
Copperhead Road Named Tennessee Official State song
right after I released my cover!
On April 20, 2023, the Tennessee General Assembly passed an act recognizing Copperhead Road as the 11th official state song. I saw that Steve Earle posted this on Facebook and thought it was kind of wild that a song about selling contraband would be the official song of a state that is likely to be one of the very last in the country to actually legalize weed. This designation actually occurred right after I first released this song as a single. I was hoping that I could somehow capitalize on this coincidence, but I never quite figured out a way to do so. But its kinda cool knowing I released a cover of a song that would immediately end up being my state's official song lol
Track 12: Human Thing
A Girl Can Keep It Together...
Official Studio Recording Music Video
This video features all of the actual vocal and instrumental performances in my home studio that made it into the final track. I started by playing a pretty close mimic of the original acoustic rhythm guitar part, doubled with some funky playing on my stratocaster, then I played a reinterpretation of the harmonica melody of the original song on my Wurlitzer 200a electric piano added some upright bass, electric guitar leads and a somewhat loose interpretation of the vocal melody and harmonies to finish it out. Hope you enjoy.
For a March 2023 music producer challenge, we were tasked with doing a cover or remix of a song by our favorite female artists in honor of International Women’s Day. I choose to do a song by one of my all time favorite bands, The Be Good Tanyas. They are a Canadian folk trio that gained moderate popularity in the early 2000s and have since amassed something of a cult following. This might seem like a strange band for me to cover given that I often tend toward a more electronic, industrial sound, but I’ve always wanted to try to do one of their songs. I have always loved the way they were able to blend a vulnerable, acoustic and vocal driven sound with a strong prominent groove. I actually learned how to play banjo by learning a few of their songs and credit Trish Klein as one of my biggest influences in learning how to play tasteful lead licks on string instruments without being flashy or overly technical. I’m really happy with how this song turned out.
Lyrics: You got roots, can not be torn from under...
Lyrics
You're the human thing
Who yah think that you're foolin'?
You're not foolin', not foolin' me
You're the human thing
You're so busy frontin'
Confusing courage and acting
Move me
Move me
Could it really be so wrong
To let somebody, somebody see
Move me
Move me
A girl can keep it together
Come on now, you know you we like the weather
Come on now, you know we'll take the weather
You got roots cannot be torn from under
Won't you shake it like you've never done before
You've got roots cannot be torn from under
Won't you shake it like you've never done before
You're the human thing
Won't you shake it like you've never done before...
I absolutely love the song writing and unique vocal delivery of the song writer, Frazey Ford. I’m not 100% sure what exactly this song is about. In fact, I'm not even entirely sure that I got all of the lyrics right in my cover version. Her delivery is sometimes a little mumbled and the online sources for this song's lyrics vary a little bit from site to site. This is pretty common in Be Good Tanyas Songs.
Anyway, this is clearly a heartfelt song about human emotion and relationships. I have always really liked this song, especially when it gets to the bridge part where it says “you’ve got roots can not be torn from under”. It slowly builds to a really cool groove before coming back down to a soft outro.
Max Boost Trivia Tidbit
Meeting Frazey Ford In Memphis
Frazey Ford is definitely one of my musical heroes and I feel super lucky to have gotten to meet here when she came to Memphis a few years back to play a show at the Levitt Shell. I happened to be at the venue the day before her show and to my surprise she was up dancing by herself to the band that was playing that night. I had brief fan-boy moment and snapped the selfie you see here and got to tell her what a huge inspiration she had been to me.
After the Be Good Tanyas disbanded, Frazey embarked on a solo career and actually recorded her second solo album at a local music studio here in Memphis with legendary Memphis studio musicians, the Hi Rhythm Section, who used to be Al Green’s band. Given this Memphis connection, it was really cool to be able to do my own version of this song.
