My Morning Jacket Covers

One of the things that makes MMJ shows so exciting is the fact that you know they're bound to whip out three or four random cover songs a night. We're not talking Pearl Jam style covers where you can expect something from Neil Young or The Who. We're not talking Phish style covers where you can expect one weird but predictable hip hop song. (And here's where the onslaught of Phish commenters is bound to begin.) We're talking about a totally random song; a-la the Bruce Springsteen random audience request method, except for the fact that the band (seemingly) chooses and plans the covers themselves.

At the New Year's Eve show Elana and I attended almost a year ago, the band played no less than eight cover songs. It was kind of ridiculous, and kind of awesome. It's really cool to hear a band play their own songs, but sometimes it's even cooler to hear them play the songs they love. There's something amazing about listening to Jim James' version of Hot Fun in the Summertime, and knowing that he probably spent hours of his childhood trying to copy Rose Stone's high pitched vocals. Or hearing them play Lovin' Cup, or any of the other fantastic songs that they choose to cover.

Because when a band plays their own songs, there's a separation between the band and the audience. They wrote the tunes, and we love them. But when a band plays covers, we're all in it together; we're all fans of the same songs. Whether or not James sprinkles his sets with so many covers deliberately to tear down that barrier between performer and audience is irrelevant. The fact remains that at the core, we're all fans of music, and that's what brings us all together.

My Morning Jacket - Hot Fun in the Summertime (Sly & the Family Stone)

My Morning Jacket - Lovin' Cup (Rolling Stones)

My Morning Jacket - A Quick One While He's Away (The Who)

My Morning Jacket - Mother (Pink Floyd)

My Morning Jacket - Oh Sweet Nuthin' (The Velvet Underground)

My Morning Jacket - Wonderful Tonight (Eric Clapton)

My Morning Jacket - Attitude (Misfits)

My Morning Jacket - Rocket Man (Elton John)

My Morning Jacket - Fairies Wear Boots (Black Sabbath)