Cover Me: The Horse’s Ha’s Of The Cathmawr Yards

Welcome to one of two new features, “Cover Me,” that we’re rolling out today. This and “Revising History” are kinda similar, so that’s why you might feel like you’re seeing double.

In this series, we ask bands to comb through their latest release track-by-track, and pick which other bands they’d most like to see cover each song.

Novel, eh?

We christen “Cover Me” with James Elkington of the Horse’s Ha (and the Zincs). He guides us through his band’s Of the Cathmawr Yards - which came out in June on Hidden Agenda - and shares his wildest dreams.

He came fully prepared and out-geeked us with some decades-deep music references. So beware: Best to brush up on your classic rock (and classic folk, for that matter) before diving into this one. Jim came verrry prepared.

[Unfamiliar with the Horse's Ha? Go here to read an extensive introductory feature on the Chicago ensemble, to get your hands on free MP3s and more.]

“Plumb”

I thought “Plumb” would be a good Donovan song. People don’t listen to Donovan. I think the thing with [him] is that he appears now as sort of a cross between Dylan and Austin Powers. There’s something about those musicians who were so part of the zeitgeist, so popular - musicians the common man really enjoys … these are people that were selling millions of records. People are much more likely now to talk more about Nick Drake or Bert Jansch, and yet Donovan wan’t that far removed from those people. [But] when you’re a hugely popular band, you’re just sort of seen as light fare. There’s a sort of statute of limitations.

“Asleep in a Waterfall”

I put down Hall & Oates. I just think Daryl Hall’s got a good voice, and he would sound good in the chorus. And the arrangements … are really great. They’re great producers. I think they could do a nice job with that.

“Wilds Empty Bedroom”

[This] is a song that Janet [Bean] and I wrote fairly early on, and I remember thinking … [cellist] Fred [Lonberg-Holm] was the first one [besides us] to join the band, [and] I thought it would sound like a good Dirty Three song.

We haven’t gotten to play with them, but we did open up for the Tren Brothers, which is just [Dirty Three guitarist] Mick [Turner] and [drummer] Jim [White]. And that was great.

“Left Hand”

For that one, I put Robert Wyatt down. I’m just a huge Robert Wyatt fan. [He's a] slightly longer-running institution, and I’m a fan of his general philosophy. He’s someone else [like the Horse's Ha] who deliberately writes pop songs and puts them through a jazz filter.

“Liberation”

I didn’t have anyone down for that one. The idea behind that track is that we were just going to basically come down with something simple. I guess I’ll put U.S. Maple. I like that band.

“The Piss Choir”

I’ve written, somewhat inexplicably, Genesis. And they really have no bearing on any of this, although I can kind of imagine Peter Gabriel singing it. No, I’m behind it - I think this is OK. There’s a lot of folk music in early Genesis. I’m a big prog-rock fan.

The other thing was, for a lot of people, the later [Genesis] years cast a shadow over those early years. But I actually think that those later records are actually pretty good. Maybe the statute of limitations have run out on that one. The first five records, which Peter Gabriel was involved in … I don’t like Peter Gabriel’s records after Genesis.

“Heiress”

I put down Grace Jones. She went through kind of an interesting arc - like, her first three albums … she was doing some covers and some original material, and it was one kind of a thing. She was going for a torch-singer-type thing with a little cabaret, but Sly and Robbie were the rhythm section. The production on these records is really amazing. This sort of super-clean, amazing sort of disco production … and then sort of spoken lyrics. The combination, I thought, was really amazing.

“Tea Creek in the Dunes”

I thought would be a good Dusty Springfield song. I actually wrote that for Janet to sing, and then I ended up singing that for some reason. Dusty Springfield has one of those voices that just completely fills up the room, and arrangements can have sort of a fun arrangement around that.

“Rising Moon”

I actually do like Neil Young. I sometimes tell people I don’t like Neil Young, just to see what their reaction is going to be. It’s like saying you don’t like John Lennon, people get quite upset.

“Map of Stars”

I don’t have anyone down for this. I put Neil Young. Actually, it might be fine. He could wear those big boots and stomp up and down.