Gary Clark Jr. came out with his Come Together (The Beatles) cover last year, featuring an electro-rock mixture of him playing the guitar and Junkie XL (Deadpool, Mad Max, etc.) producing the beats. Now this song belongs to the original soundtrack of the latest DC comic-book superhero movie, Justice League, which was anything but success, so at least we can say that we got something out of this whole adventure. From the perspective of the movie, going for a song, like Come Together sounds like a logical idea as what else could represent better the whole idea of the annual superhero gathering than an actual song about, you know… coming together.
Gary Clark Jr at Somerset House ( Justin Ng/Music Pics/REX )
Despite of his young age (he’s still only 34), Gary Clark has been widely considered to be one of the most authentic and purest blues artists in the world since his debut album Blak and Blu (2012) six years ago. Critics love him, girls love him, and heck, even blues icons admire the guy!
With his eclectic approach to his guitar and music in general, he has always built on blues traditions and legends, like Muddy Waters or Buddy Guy, but quickly learnt how to mix these classics with his progressive, raw, and unique playing style. (Just check out the first couple of songs on the album and you’ll get the full package of his garage rock, funky-groove, pop, blues, r’n’b sounds and beats.) He plays like a man from another era, but at the same time he’s one of the most revolutionary guitarists in the contemporary rock-blues scene.
So we’ve got everything that we could ask for, right? Well, sort of.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7imYeuAfkg
On the one hand, here is an evergreen rock classic from possibly the greatest The Beatles album ever (Abbey Road) and one of the most talented musicians of our generation who’s rocking riffs from McCartney and Lennon. On the other hand, selecting Come Together as one of theme songs of a superhero movie is certainly a great choice, but Gary Clark seems a little bit out of character in this mainstream role, especially in the official music video of the song. In this apocalyptic, kind of industrial environment Gary acts like a conductor in the middle of the scene, while there is blazing fire, shooting, and superheroes coming out of everywhere to fight the bad guys and save the world. No doubt, the sound and the visual settings are effective together, but it feels like asking the Italian film director, Paolo Sorrentino to work on the upcoming blockbuster Marvel movie:
“Okay, we know that you did a great job with the Youth by portraying the character of an old man who struggles to realize that his perspective of life will be always limited by his circumstances and the constant search for meaning in everyday life. Now we would need something slightly different… how about a good guy and an evil guy beating up each other on a rooftop while some buildings and airplanes blowing up in the background? Could you do that?”
The over-distorted tune is there, the heavy riff sounds well, the vocal is good, and we still got the feeling that something is missing. One thing is for sure, Gary’s essence is not fancy, super fast solos. He plays less, compared to e.g. his fellow blues virtuous, Joe Bonamassa and that’s all right; he has never tried to be like that. He creatively operates on his guitar (and on the stage) with immense sensitivity and channels a load of raw emotions and energy to his songs through both his voice and electric guitar playing. That being said, this song feels like to be "delivered" and missing all the above mentioned traits that ultimately make Gary Clark Jr. an exceptional blues artist… but not a superhero.
Hey, Gary Clark is not the first musician who covered Come Together (and not the last one for sure) so here you go, take a look at the “unofficial” list of the coolest interpretations of the song over the past few decades:
1. Michael Jackson (Originally recorded for his 1988 film Moonwalker; then released on the album HIStory in 1995)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ubR9cXWkXv8
That was the time when the King of Pop could touch anything and it turned out to be gold. Take a look at this performance... it’s gutsy, exciting and super unique.
2. Joe Cocker (Across the Universe, 2007)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r534TLlvPSg
If you can think of any iconic song from the past 50 years, Joe Cocker most probably took it and sang the shit out of that piece of music over his long career. Fortunately, Come Together is not an exception as it was recorded for the soundtrack of the film Across the Universe (2007) in which Joe plays a crazy homeless guy, then a pimp, and finally a hippy guru. “Got to be a joker / He just do what he please”. Masterpiece.
3. Aerosmith (Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, 1978)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Om8VRl81PF0
When I found that version of the song, three things came into my mind right off the bat. First of all, how is it possible to sing and say words properly with such a large mouth? Secondly, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band is a very strange film. Thirdly, it was recorded in the freaking ‘70s! It’s kind of amazing that 40 years has just passed and Steven Tyler still checks into rehabs on a regular basis. Some things will never change.
+1 The Beatles (Abbey Road, 1969)
Rumour has it that when Lennon was asked during an interview whether Ringo was the best drummer in the world or not, he simply answered: "Ringo isn't even the best drummer in the band."Old, but gold. However, Ringo certainly did a great job on the drums in this one by covering Paul's iconic bass riff. The result? One of the most powerful and important songs in the 20th century.
(Fun fact: Lennon originally wrote this song for Timothy Leary's California gubernatorial campaign against Ronald Reagan)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=45cYwDMibGo
