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Dave Matthews’ “Fat Man” arguably is the best reinterpretation on this “tribute” album. Radically different from the original, it’s slowed way down and adds African and island overtones, but the real treat is Matthews’ dozen and a half vocal tracks (he’s always used his voice like an instrument) and Sonny Landreth’s soporific slide guitar.
Renaissance
Subtitled “Go Out Dancing — Part II,” this marks the second installment in a planned trilogy by Tony Carey, keyboardist extraordinaire and onetime member of Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow. Carey has had a prolific solo career (about 20 albums), but his work under the Planet P Project moniker remains his finest.
Capitol
Hired guitar slinger, king of countrypolitan, TV and movie star. Campbell, like Gene Autry, Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra and Elvis Presley, parlayed musical popularity into TV (“The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour”) and movie (“True Grit”) appearances that fueled sales (47 million albums). But his last Top 10 country song was 20 years ago; since then, except for a few gospel records in the ’90s, his output has been spotty.
Caribou/Epic/Legacy
When it comes down to it, Wilson had more soul in his little finger than an army of Joss Stones, Amy Winehouses and Duffys. The small but concentrated body of work he left behind is so potent, one can feel the emotion gushing from the speakers. It really is, as Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins says, “straight from the gut, just like blood on tape.”
