Jun 07 2010
Rory Gallagher’s ‘Bad Penny’ — Turning Up Again and Again
There have been several movies that have included a Rory Gallagher song in the soundtrack. Recent independent releases, “Waveriders” and “32A” have already been mentioned in earlier posts for containing the songs “In Your Town” and “I Fall Apart” respectively. This time around it’s a movie from a few years back, the 2003 “Grand Theft Parsons”, a movie about the death of Gram Parsons (former member of The Byrds and Flying Burrito Brothers), and the off the wall attempt by his road manager to kidnap his corpse and cremate him at Joshua Tree State Park. The film stars Johnny Knoxville and Christina Applegate and features among other songs, the Rory Gallagher classic, Bad Penny, from his 1979 album ‘Top Priority’. Gram Parson has been called the “the father of country-rock” and ranks no. 87 in Rolling Stone’s list of the 100 Most Influential Artists of All Time.
And speaking of Bad Penny, there have been some pretty nice covers of the song recently. Here’s a list of some of them:
- Ampiphy is a Dutch “guitar rock” band whose live set list is a mixture of their own original material and covers of classic songs by such artists as Neil Young, Bob Dylan, and Irish guitar legend, Rory Gallagher. You can listen to their cover of Rory’s Bad Penny here:
- Natalie Wells Band is a blues/rock trio fronted by 22-year old female guitar phenom, Natalie Wells, who was voted ‘blues artist of the year’ by the Cincinnati Entertainment Awards in 2003. The band also features Curt Hall on bass, and former drummer for Adrian Belew’s band, “Adrian”, Mike Hodges.
- Mountain of Power is a hard rock 70’s tribute project by Sweden’s Janne Stark (OVERDRIVE/CONSTANCIA/LOCOMOTIVE BREATH) featuring a huge ensemble of heavy metal guitarists from Sweden. Volume 2 of the project widens the scope of their guest list to include other nationalities, and also includes a cover of Rory’s “Bad Penny” successfully merged with another of his heavier songs, “Keychain”. You can listen to the song here: Bad Penny’/’Keychain’ (RORY GALLAGHER) featuring Conny Bloom (ELECTRIC BOYS), Pontus Snibb (BONAFIDE), Mikael Nord Andersson
- Croftstown. Originally called Croftstown Traffic, this 3-piece band from Australia put out one CD, Croftstown Unboogie before guitarist Stephen Crofts was forced to retire due to the debilitating effects of Huntington’s Chorea. His wife, Christina Crofts, continues on and in 2008 released her debut solo album titled, ‘Midnight Train’. Ronny Bervoets of Rootstime ezine described her musical style as ‘Lucinda Williams meets Rory Gallagher down under’. You can listen to the Croftstown cover of Rory’s Bad Penny here: Croftstown — Bad Penny.
Not so bad Pennies, eh?
| “Bad Penny” — Rory Gallagher |
|---|
| Well, like a bad penny you’ve turned up again, You’re in my sights, there’s a mist on my lens. I think you know how it was when I tripped and fell, Well, you double-dealed me, baby and I broke like a shell. Like a bad penny you’ve sure lost the glow But I’m out of reach, your smile’s sure gone cold. Well, it can’t ever be like it was then, Well, don’t you fool with me, baby, Don’t you mess with my plans. Some stormy nights, your memory haunts me, You won’t go away. Well, like a bad penny you have turned up in the change, Try to fit into the picture, you can’t get inside the frame. I think you know I’m still sore, but I’m on the mend, Times sure have changed, it won’t happen again. Well, like a bad penny spins around and around, Well, you won’t know what’s gone wrong when it all falls down, You got to learn from now on to stop playing games, You ought to keep on moving, you got to spin on your way. Some lonely nights, I hear you calling, Won’t you go away? Well, like a bad penny you have turned up again, You’re in my sights, there’s a mist on my lens. I think you know how it was when I tripped and fell, Well, you double-dealed me, baby, I cracked like a shell |
I played that natalie wells track on blues show a few weeks ago. Not bad!
Great website Milo!
Thanks, Simon.
I wonder how long it will take a big act to pick up on Rorys phenominal recorded library and turn one into a international hit, ya know?