https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bg52j2pEKkE

I’ve had an idea for a top ten “Favorite Covers” post for a good while but I changed my mind after pulling out a CD mix of obscure cuts from 1980-1985 and being gobsmacked all over again by this Gary Moore version and thinking…  why limit myself to a top ten?  Just hit on a number of covers every so often and tell why I like them and maybe giving you a reason to seek out the cover and (possibly) give you an incentive to check out the original as well.  Kinda like my “Shameless Plug” series but focusing on great covers yet not choosing one version over the other like in my last “Showdown” post.

My first exposure to the fantastic Irish musician Gary Moore was a memorable one-  after being THE rock station in Cincinnati for years, WEBN faced a new challenger down the dial around 1983/1984 in 96 ROCK.  While the former focused a good chunk of their playlist on older, well known classic rock artists, the latter found holes in their playlist to uncover some of the lesser known hits from those artists as well as focusing on some newer rock at the time.  It was on this station that I heard this cover of the Yardbirds classic (ironically first heard by me on WEBN) but it was much different; a little less bouncy, definitely louder in guitar, and much, MUCH heavier.  And to top it all off, an absolutely off the hook guitar solo that I’d not heard from anyone aside from Eddie Van Halen.  As a kid who loved all things guitar, THIS song was a revelation and now I had another guitar hero to add to my ever growing list.

Little did I know at the time that the Gary Moore version is actually a cover of the Jeff Beck Group version, which in itself is a bit slower and much more bluesier than the Yardbirds original thanks to Rod Stewart’s soulful vocal and Jeff Beck’s otherworldly guitar work.  I finally heard that version much later in life and enjoy it for the grooviness entailed, but as far as outright rock intensity and over the top punch, the Gary Moore version rips.  Starting off with a descending riff, Moore’s tone is thick and heavy and matched in thumpiness via Ian Paice’s cannon shot snare until the first verse kicks in with a strong vocal and wide open chords of chunky distortion.  Each consecutive verse changes up the main riff a hair, either double timing a power chord here and there or layering another rhythm guitar into the mix.  But man….  get a load of that solo!  Essentially a cop on the first few bars of Jeff Beck’s solo, Moore turns up the heat and slams it into overdrive as he increases the intensity and speed in his playing, eventually reaching a crescendo and dropping things down to a simmering tempo until ramping it back up again and roaring through the final chorus.  Truly a master class in guitar histrionics.

While the rhythm section is definitely solid (Paice is a master sticksman and Neil Murray is a great bassist), this version is pretty much the Gary Moore show.  Not only is the guitar work lethal but his vocal is suitably aggressive yet passionate-  check out the hair raising screams at the tail end of the final verse.  A fitting finale to one fabulously awesome cover of a cover!  If you like what you hear, much of his other material is worth checking out but keep an open mind:  Moore’s 70s/80s discography (including his stint in Thin Lizzy) mixed heavy rock with some balladic material and his 90s/00s records were blues based.  Still, his passionate playing is on full display regardless of which album you choose.  This cover is featured on his 1983 album Victims Of The Future, which may be hard to track down but is well worth it.  Happy hunting!