Saturday, February 23, 2013

Cover Me Impressed: 'Paint It Black'


This isn't the first time I have featured a cover of this Rolling Stones' classic. You old-timers may remember back in 2010
I posted a version from the Feelies with a complaint that the song had been left off the new reissue of the band's fantastic debut album. I'm still sore about that, but I'll move on. The Mighty Lemon Drops recorded "Paint It Black" in studio and included it as a B-side to the "Fall Down (Like the Rain)" 12" single and limited-edition CD single back in 1988. (I'm ripping it from the vinyl.)

Truth be told, this would probably rank No. 3 behind both the Feelies and Echo & the Bunnymen in terms of favorite "Paint It Black" covers, but I have a soft spot for this one because I saw the Mighty Lemon Drops perform it live when they toured the United States with the Ocean Blue in early 1990. The live performance of the song was a real showstopper, but I'm not quite sure they captured the same magic in the studio... although it's still awfully good. I hope you enjoy it, and I will get to that Echo & the Bunnymen version one of these days, I promise.

The Mighty Lemon Drops - Paint It Black (mp3)

2 comments:

Echorich said...

I've always felt the The Mighty Lemon Drops were heavily influenced by The Bunnymen. They also shared a love of all things psychedelic with The Bunnymen as well. When I first heard Paint It Black I knew I was right. I remember that 1990 tour - they played The Ritz in NYC with The Ocean Blue - a band who also had Bunnymen and some New Order influence written up and down their long sleeve shirts...

Brian said...

Hi Echorich. It seems funny to me now, but going in I was more excited to see the Ocean Blue than the Mighty Lemon Drops. Then I saw the show. Ocean Blue was more green than blue back then, and the Drops blew them off the stage. Still, that debut album from the Pennsylvanians is oh so good!