Anyone who had the good fortune to catch this fella during his recent European tour will hopefully have been as impressed as I was with his performance at the Barrowland Ballroom. The last time Sturgill Simpson played Glasgow he was well pissed after a Michael Hann review of “Sound & Fury” in The Guardian. This time he was in a much better mood. Ticketholders had been warned “If you’re on time, you’re late”. Twenty-eight songs later, he closed with a magnificent, looping ‘Call to Arms’. The band helped make this show a masterclass. Sturgill Simpson or Johnny Blue Skies… nonpareil. Simpson can pick a guitar and pick a cover. The now familiar ‘Purple Rain’ and ‘Whiter Shade of Pale’ both went down a storm. William Bell’s ‘You Don’t Miss Your Water’ was just superb, but The Uniques’ (Louisiana) 1968 version is still top of the class. Never one for the banter, Simpson’s good mood even extended to a pause in proceedings for some enjoyable craic. A great live performance, and if you’ve got a spare seven minutes a great story. Haste ye back Sturgill.
So, a great excuse, no an opportunity, to submit another classic clip from Sturgill Simpson. As already mentioned, no one picks a cover like Sturgill. This one’s way back. About the time of his “Metamodern Sounds in Country Music” release. Just Simpson and his guitar, out in the open singing the Stanley Brothers’ ‘Could You Love Me One More Time’. He also gloriously covered Lefty Frizzell’s ‘I Never Go Around Mirrors’ during this same session. Maybe not on some high top mountain, but definitely organic, heartfelt, authentic… yet metamodern. I also like the outlaw menace (‘A River Runs Deep’) he brings to the lyrics. “Do you think that I’d believe/ This talk that’s going around/ I’ve heard lots of things that somehow seem strange/ But darling I wouldn’t throw you down”.
Sylvester, Sturgill Simpson or Johnny Blue Skies… top cat and still leading the way.
