Every wonder what David Bowie classics might sound like if they were reset to the jingle jangle style of America’s folk-rock pioneers, The Byrds? Now you can thanks to “mysterioso rocker” David Byrdie has a new mashed up cover of the Thin White Duke’s 1983 # 1, “Let’s Dance.”
Byrdie is actually a nom de sound of Jeff Keithline, a Woodstock-based bassist best known for his stints with the bluesy Jon Butcher Axis and the band Silverado. His new cover merges Bowie’s lyrics and layered vocal style with the driving music of The Byrds’ 1967 hit, “So You Want to Be A Rock’n’Roll Star.” For good measure, the tune’s outro even features a quote from John Coltrane’s “A Love Supreme.” This is the jazz masterwork that helped inspire the style of this Byrds’ mid-career classic and their even more modal and improvisatory “Eight Miles High.”
Byrdie/Keithline plays all the instruments on the track. He does a fantastic job of nailing and marrying the many stylistic flavors of these two rock icons – from The Byrds’ jangly 12-string guitaring to Bowie’s over-the-top vocal delivery and stacked harmonies. The single, which will hit the artist’s Bandcamp site March 1, has been preceded by a playful video produced by Tonus Maximus (aka Anthony Sunseri). It boasts a boatload of psychedelic visuals, the spirited go-go dancing by Hudson Valley choreographer Laura V. Ward and Byrdie himself, who looks like a cross between White Album-era John Lennon and the bearded L.A. bass legend Leland Sklar. There is also a second video up now on YouTube where a costumed Keithline provides the humorous (and entirely fictional!) backstory on his musical alter-ego.
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