Friday, January 12, 2018

I Love Love LOVE The Flat Five From Chicago



I am not a songwriter, so I am not bothered when I see artists covering other songwriters. And if I chose to pull out some old demos that I did write when I had a piano in my apartment, I guarantee that nothing would even come close to Brian Wilson. Flip Wilson, maybe.

So this is why I absolutely adore The Flat Five from Chicago. They are musicians and singers. I am a musician and some think I can sing harmony. I can aspire to play and sing the hell out of some of my favorite songs others have written. And this morning, I fell into a Flat Five, YouTube rat hole, and found this quintet, playing and singing the hell out of some of my favorite tunes. It was the most fun I have had all week.

As some of you may recall, The Flat Five's debut, which featured all original songs by Chris Ligon, brother of NRBQ and Flat Five guitarist Scott Ligon, was my favorite record of that year. I still play this baby with great enthusiasm. But I wanted more and I found a stunning live cover of Spanky & Our Gang's "Sunday Will Never Be The Same," which I also posted last year. I found a few other unlikely choices that blew my little mind. Quality varies, but nothing is unwatchable and all are fantastic.











6 comments:

buzzbabyjesus said...

The Flat Five are Fab.
I hear their"Florida" pretty often as it was on one of my better weekend mixes.
I've written a lot of music, and I love covers.
Ever since those first Bryan Ferry albums.

Anonymous said...

any band with Kelly Hogan in it is going to be killer. it occurs to me that I failed to include her "Beneath the Country Underdog" on my next 100 and I should have.

steve simels said...

The Monkees cover destroyed me.

That's one of my favorite songs of all time, and I've done it -- well, I think -- in bands I've been in. But not that good.

A walk in the woods said...

Kelly Hogan used to be in a great, storied Atlanta band (where I live) alled The Jody Grind in the late 80s/early 90s. I basically became smitten with her then, and have been ever since. So, any band she is in is one I want to see and hear.

Anonymous said...

And it was Kelly's birthday yesterday. She and Nora are favorites of mine.

neal t said...

agree. I converted to mp3 50 tunes of them on tube last year iellentn one evening. excellent