jd mcpherson Archives - Vinyl From The Vault

JD McPherson “The Warm Covers LP”

sfilzen — Fri, 04 Apr 2025 19:49:39 +0000

JD McPherson “The Warm Covers LP” 2023. New West Records, limited edition Record Store Day release on red, white and blue splatter clear vinyl. As the title more than suggests, the record is all covers reimagined in McPherson’s rockabilly style, from songs spanning the protopunk to rockin’ rhythm and blues to southern fried rock genres. A lot of the covers, like the blues/rhythm and blues ones, lend themselves very well to a rockabilly interpretation: the cover of the mid-50’s single “Let’s Rock” by Art Neville for instance, or the soulful renditions of Irma Thomas’ “It’s Raining” (1961) and “Steal Away” by Jimmy Hughes (1964) are all pretty great. Some others, not so much. McPherson’s cover of The Pixies’ “Manta Ray” (1989) is confusing, like he didn’t really know what to do with the track and just threw everything against the wall hoping it would stick. (It all stuck.) I wasn’t expecting to like his cover of Iggy Pop’s “Lust For Life” (1977) as much as I did: who knew that song would lend itself so well to brush drums? Also unexpected is “Dream Baby Dream” originally by Suicide; McPherson’s cover adds a sultry bendy guitar accent to the hypnotic electro punk song from ’79 (no link available). Most hilarious by far is his rendition of Velvet Underground’s “White Light/White Heat” (1968) which plops the art rock single into a 50’s pop song similar to “Jailhouse Rock” or really any Chuck Berry classic.

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JD McPherson “Undivided Heart & Soul”

sfilzen — Tue, 08 Feb 2022 18:18:34 +0000

JD McPherson “Undivided Heart & Soul” 2017. New West Records. McPherson’s third album was a big success for an indie release: it went to #130 on the regular Billboard album chart but hit #4 on the Indie Albums chart and, a bit inexplicably in my opinion, made it onto Rolling Stone‘s Top 40 Country Albums of 2017 at #33. It is not country unless one categorizes this record as simply “rockabilly” – which it is not. It definitely is retro and mixes a hearty dose of rockabilly into a mix that also includes soul (especially the crooners “Hunting for Sugar” and “Jubilee“), garagey-blues that sounds very Black Keys-ish (“Lucky Penny” would be right at home on their 2019 album Let’s Rock) and late 40’s/early 50’s rockin’ rhythm-and-blues (the excellent “Crying’s Just a Thing You Do“). There’s even a touch of early 2000’s indie pop (“On the Lips“), some trashy glam (“Style (Is a Losing Game)“) and, for lack of a better description, garage funk (the great title track “Undivided Heart & Soul” which is swinging and sexy). It’s a really great LP and its diversity is tied together by McPherson’s songwriting and feel for a solid rock-n-roll beat.

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JD McPherson “Holly, Carol, Candy & Joy”

sfilzen — Thu, 24 Dec 2020 14:26:05 +0000

JD McPherson “Holly, Carol, Candy & Joy” 2019. New West Records on “Snow Globe” limited edition 7″ vinyl. A delightful modern rockabilly Christmas tune that bounces with vintage Beatlesque pop rhythm and melody that takes traditional Christmas imagery and translates it to name a list of lovely ladies. “Holly, Carol, Candy & Joy” appears on McPherson’s full-length Christmas album Socks. The b-side is another neo-rockabilly original Christmas tune, “Red Bows (For a Blue Girl),” which is more rockin’ rhythm-and-blues, complete with horns and a Bo Diddley beat. Both tracks are boppingly upbeat and catchy, perfect for the joy and anticipation of Christmas.

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