Prince,  Rock n' Folk

Leroy Justice’s Purple Rain

Leroy Justice

Ya know, I gotta say, this is one of the finer Prince covers I’ve heard. And certainly the best cover of “Purple Rain”. I’ve seen Phish’s cover live, and, as much as I loved the band, I never cared much for the cover, because it seemed to be more of a parody than a heartfelt version of a song they really respected. I mean, the drummer – John Fishman – would play the guitar solo part on a vacuum cleaner. But I guess I’m just a sensitive Prince fan, I dunno. But then again, a lot of Phish’s covers were tongue in cheek.

So a member of my Prince board sent me this cool, twangy, earthy version of the song performed by New York City band Leroy Justice. I don’t know much about them at this point besides the fact that they list Otis Redding, Steve Martin, and John Prine as influences on their MySpace page. For that, they are good in my book.

Leroy JusticePurple Rain (mp3)

Song appears on their album, Revolution’s Son. Coincidence?

One Comment

  • Modulus

    It’s been said that if you can play a good song in several diffferent styles and it still sounds good – then you have a winner. Not that there was any doubt about this tune.

    I’ve never heard a “faithful” cover version of PR that wasn’t totally cringe-worthy. I mean, who can “out-Prince” Prince? But I really liked hearing this in a different style.

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