There are usually two ways to create a perfect cover: either by channeling the original as close to your own voice as possible, or by completely redoing it. Bruce Springsteen found a new, third way in his cover of Jesse Malin's “She Don't Love Me Now.”
The song from punk stalwart Malin's 2015 album New York before the war at first it had a strolling blues rock vibe topped by stabs of horns and heavily strummed electric guitars. In the hands of The Boss, the latest single from Malin's upcoming album Silver Patron Saints: The Songs of Jesse Malin (September 20) looks like it could easily fit on Springsteen's 2022 R&B/soul covers LP, Only the strong survive.
“Bruce gave it that Stax-soul-thing that we were dreaming of when we recorded the original. It's so surreal to me,” Malin said in a statement. Indeed, in Springsteen's hands — and backed by Malin's band — the song sounds like a lost soul classic, replete with delicious Hammond organ and a perfectly placed sax solo from E Street Band's Jake Clemons.
“Oh, you don't love me when you say/ Oh, all I've got is lost/ I'm hanging on this cross/ All I have and all I want and all I have is/ Oh, he doesn't love me now, he doesn't love me now,” Springsteen says on the song that will appear on the all-star album whose proceeds will benefit Malin's Sweet Relief Artist Fund as the beloved punk troubadour continues his recovery from a spinal stroke he suffered last year that left him partially paralyzed.
In addition to Springsteen, the album will feature covers of Malin's songs by Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day, Lucinda Williams and Elvis Costello, Butch Walker, Dinosaur Jr, The Hold Steady, Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello with the late MC5 Wayne Kramer. the Kills' Alison Mosshart and the E Street Band's Steven Van Zandt, Alejandro Escovedo, Spoon, Graham Parker, Ian Hunter, Low Cut Connie, Rancid, Agnostic Front, Murphy's Law and more (see full tracklist below).
“His generosity, honesty and support are just as powerful as his songwriting and performance,” Malin added of the rock icon who in 2007 recorded a duet on a song Malin wrote for his late mother, “Broken Radio”. “Bruce is one of the guys. He walks it like he talks it. You spend a little time with him and you feel like you've known him for years. He's like my friends in Queens, sitting around talking about Sinatra and the Clash and the Pogues. He has this passion and enthusiasm for life.”
The 57-year-old former D Generation singer and solo artist said that while he was working on his recovery from a stroke in Argentina last year, he didn't know his friends and the album's producers had contacted so many A-list artists for covers of the songs. of. “When I heard those versions, especially 'She Don't Love Me Now,' it took me out of a dark time. I felt excited about life again, in a way that only music can do,” said Malin.
Previously released singles include Armstrong's take on “Black Haired Girl” and Bleachers' “Prisoners of Paradise.”
After a long hiatus during his recovery, Malin will return to the stage at New York's Beacon Theater for one of the biggest hometown shows of his career on December 1st and 2nd, with tickets available for second night. After a full set from Malin and his band, special guests at each show will perform their versions, including Lucinda Williams, Jakob Dylan, Butch Walker, J Mascis, Adam Duritz and David Immergluck of Counting Crows, The Hold Steady and Alejandro Escovedo and more guests to be announced.
Watch the lyric video for “She Don't Love Me Now” below.
Silver Patron Saints: The Songs of Jesse Malin track list:
1. Prisoners of Paradise (feat. Bleachers)
2. Oh Sheena (feat. Counting Crows)
3. She Don't Love Me Now (Fat. Bruce Springsteen)
4. Black Haired Girl (feat. Billie Joe Armstrong)
5. Brooklyn (feat. Dinosaur Jr.)
6. About You (feat. Frank Turner)
7. Turn Up the Mains (feat. Alison Mosshart, Wayne Kramer, Tom Morello, Steven Van Zandt, Mike Watt & Joey C.)
8. Room 13 (feat. Lucinda Williams and Elvis Costello)
9. Don't Let Them Get You Down (Beautiful Day) (feat. The Wallflowers)
10. The Way We Used to Roll (feat. Spoon)
11. Shane (feat. Rocky O'Riordan)
12. In the Modern World (feat. Butch Walker)
13. High Lonesome (feat. Susanna Hoffs)
14. Greener Pastures (feat. Graham Parker)
15. Meet Me At The End Of The World (feat. Alejandro Escovedo)
16. Death Star (feat. The Hold Steady)
17. Riding on the Subway (feat. Tommy Stinson and Ruby Stinson)
18. Saint Mark's Sunset (feat. The Walker Roaders)
19. Dead On (feat. Ian Hunter)
20. Almost Grown (feat. Danny Clinch and Christopher Thorn with Cosmic Country by Daniel Donato)
21. Shining Down (feat. Aaron Lee Tasjan)
22. When You're Young (feat. Low Cut Connie)
23. All The Way From Moscow (feat. Willie Nile)
24. No Way Out (feat. Rancid)
25. You Know It's Dark When Atheists Start Praying (feat. Gogol Bordello)
26. God Is Dead (feat. Agnostic Front)
27. Frankie (feat. Murphy's Law)
from our partners at https://www.billboard.com/music/rock/jesse-malin-bruce-springsteen-she-dont-love-me-now-cover-benefit-album-1235762685/
