Best Covers

@steve59 no you are not alone.  Blinded By the Light is one of my favorites.

@bdp24 

So, Lauderdale wrote music to Hunter's lyrics... o r????

@stuartk: When you watch the video on Lauderdale I posted you will get the answer to your question, and much more. 😉

You may get an inkling as to why Elvis Costello, Buddy Miller, Lucinda Williams, Rodney Crowell, and many other artists (and I, of course) think as highly of Jim as they do.

When Gurf Morlix resigned as Lucinda’s guitarist, harmony singer, and bandleader, she hired Lauderdale to take his place. I already had all his albums when he joined her for the Car Wheels tour, but hadn’t yet seen him live. Joining them on lead guitar was Kenny Vaughan, now a member of Marty Stuart’s band The Fabulous Superlatives. That they are! IMO, the best band in the land.

@bdp24

I’ll check them out.

I recall seeing Lauderdale with Lucinda Williams on her second ACL show that also featured a very young-looking Kenny Vaughan.

I bought "On Your Side" at one point but it didn’t find it very engaging. Maybe I need to give him another try.

I love Gurf’s playing with Lucinda. His playing on her first ACL show is a stellar display of how to tastefully and effectively support a vocalist.:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OiOehqlrJqc

I agree that the Fabulous Superlatives are deserving of their name!  

@stuartk: I too love Gurf’s playing. I sometimes saw him in the Guitar Center on Ventura Blvd. in Sherman Oaks, buying guitar strings. He has done some great producing other than Lucinda, including Mary Gauthier. He has also made a few nice albums of his own, available on CD only.

There’s a guy in SoCal who is similar to Gurf, a fine singer and Telecaster/steel guitar player: Rick Shea. I saw him live dozens of times when I lived there, and subbed for his regular drummer for one show in 2008. One of those fifty dollar gigs. 😉