Is there a sweeter sound in the universe than Radiohead covering Neil Young?
Aug 29, 2008, 06:00 AM | by Simon Vozick-Levinson
Categories: British things, Magic, Music
I humbly submit that there is not. Exhibit A: This clip of Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood playing Neil Young's "Tell Me Why" at LA's Hollywood Bowl on Monday (big h/t), which I have been unable to prevent myself from playing several times each morning, noon, and night this week, and which I am embedding below in order to force you to join me. (There's also a cleaner MP3 of this performance out there, if you can't stomach the shaky camerawork and random crowd yelpers.)
See? I'm obviously biased, but I just can't get enough of Yorke's falsetto on Young's melody. It's like the song was written for him. Of course, Radiohead has drawn a lot of inspiration from Young's work over the years, though they're not exactly known as a country/folk-rock act. Don't believe me? Check out how often they've covered him in concert. Back in 2001, they used to bust out a rockin' "Cinnamon Girl" toward the end of their Amnesiac tour dates. And they did a beautiful acoustic "After the Gold Rush" several times in '02 and '03, both at full-band Hail to the Thief dates and at a couple of solo gigs Yorke played.
Listening to those, it's clear why Radiohead likes to incorporate Neil Young's tunes into their setlists. Yorke may be the only vocalist in the world who can out-haunting-falsetto Young, and there's just something magical about hearing him pull it off. But enough of my enraptured enthusiasm. Let's hear it: Even if the Young/Yorke tag team isn't your thing, are there any other serial cover-artist matchups that you dig? Only artists who've covered the source artist in question at least three times count...
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