"Gin and Juice" Generic Analysis (revised FP3)

The Gourds’ “Shinebox” album is not only a re-sequenced try at their original “Gogitchyershinebox” EP, but a collection of both original songs and highlighted covers by the alternative folk band. Specifically standing out is the band’s ramshackle cover of Snoop Dogg’s “Gin and Juice”; which clearly gives the album an interesting element. While raising eyebrows and expectations, other covers featured on the album include a re-done rock pump up “Everybody’s Missing the Sun”,  Billy Joe Shaver’s “Omaha”, and David Bowie’s classic “ZiggyStardust”. Overall, the bang-up covers are equally as refreshing and inspiring, but none set The Gourd’s apart quite like “Gin and Juice” does. Mandolin-driven and played with a special kind of twang, the once gangsta lifestyle anthem is transformed and gives listeners an audible smile. The cover of the “bubonic chronic” itself is no joke either, and the excitement brings the song well beyond a life of parody.

Just to give a background, The Gourds are Austin, Texas’ honey hole alternative country band. Taking the same audiences as the Bad Livers and Robert Earl Keen, The Gourds are known as a “thinkin’ man’s band” in reviews, as their blend of wit and hometown roots make a definitive statement about who they are and their brand. The band is a super down to earth, mandolin and banjo lovin’, mixture of an upbeat 20-year-old Willie Nelson and a downplayed and less mainstream folky Avett Brothers. Coming from this folksy genre, The Gourds released this collaborative album by mixing together sounds from the Texas border and the West Coast hip-hop scene and incorporating influences from rock-and-roll balladry and country poetic justice. Under the hood, The Gourds got it going on, and their release of “Gin and Juice” created enough of a wave that their melting pot of sounds are brought to be heard.

Differing in every sense, Snoop Dogg’s upbringing and historic generic background flips a full 180. The American rapper from Cali began recording mixtapes shortly after his prison skit in 1993. The West Coast G-funk influences coming from Long Beach and the Dogg’s softer side heavily influenced his brand and audience. Verses other rappers, Snoop doesn’t scream his profanities nor misogynistic comments, rather he straight up talks his way smoothly and calmly throughout the song. “Doggystyle”, where “Gin and Juice” is featured as a track, is one of Snoop's most popular albums. The original “Gin and Juice” focuses heavily on sex, marijuana, and alcohol (oh my). Basically, put yourself in a wild high school party. The parents are out of town, the entire school is invited, and the year is 1990. I’m not talking modern-day Project X, but more of a black Ferris Bueller on steroids. This is the vibe that the original track embodies. The track hit itself was insanely popular at the time, but if the original was not what it was, then the Gourds’ cover wouldn’t be half as fantastic as a follow-up.

Reaching the top 10 most played songs in the United States, “Gin and Juice” was an instant hit within both the gangsta rap and popular music world. However, the audience of the original in comparison to The Gourds’ has never been so different. The generic backgrounds themselves have never been more polar. So, what makes this cover work? What gets the "juice"'s flowing? Back to my Snoop piece, I picture both the cover and the original as parties, but with different crowds. The Gourds’ party has a shit-ton of hipsters and beers, standing around a fire in the Appalachian Mountains drinking either Rolling Rock or more expensive IPAs. The folky “Gin and Juice” comes on the ‘vintage’ jukebox the host that the owner maybe bought from Urban Outfitters, and the crowd of beards go wild. Now take Snoop’s “Gin and Juice”, and like I said earlier, this party reminds me of a black 90’s Ferris Buehller on steroids. The music is loud and the weed is louder when “Gin and Juice” comes on the host’s big ol’ stereo and the crowd goes nuts. Then the cops come since they're in high school and... the end.

The similar link between the cover and the original is the lyrical quality and presentation throughout. The audience is different, but you could say that the generic audience of party people transfers effortlessly. This is a quality of the Gourds that others in their genre cannot pull off quite like they do, because of the certain mixture of ingredients that go into this album that just work. The ironic factor that this band is playing Snoop Dogg makes everyone smile whether they like it or not, it's just so effortlessly good-hearted. The instrumentation brings in a whole new volume that listeners of similar bands have never even heard of; the layering on thick of vocals with the banjo singing symphonies is something incredibly unique. The Avett Brothers and Bad Livers wish they could perform so seamlessly Snoop’s hip hop anthem, but I suppose this is why “Gin and Juice” actually is The Gourds’ most listened to song on Spotify. This cover is what separated them from the rest of the genre, and it’s not even their song. The alternative-folk-country background that The Gourds take over make “Gin and Juice” their own hillbilly anthem. They make the song incredible.  The Gourds make themselves different and separate themselves from the pack by their soul, their undeniable transference of passion poured into "Gin and Juice", and by reinventing it and truly making it their own. 

Overall, the fact that The Gourds overcome a genre that isn't even their own speaks volumes, and proves their worth. Their work transcends both the folk-country and hip-hop scene to have generated acclaimed appreciation for their cover. You know it's the real deal when the man himself, Snoop Dogg, openly admits he enjoys the cover and still reportedly listens to it a decade later. The Gourds did something that most artists cannot, and their genre of party-folk-hip-hop-G-funk will forever live on.

Cat Power’s “The Covers Record" (revised FP2)

Three words, fifteen letters, say it and I’m yours. “The Covers Record”. Boom. Chan Marshall, also known as "Cat Power" on stage, works her own unique magic and lets her hair down for a hell of an album mainly consisting of songs she didn’t write. Ranging from Bob Dylan to Robert Plant and everywhere in between, Chan’s personal side of the album is shown in her decision to hide within other’s success to further her own. Showing her shy side and her expressive inner goddess, the minimalistic piano and guitar alongside her silky smooth voice almost puts listeners in a trance. Her intimate tone is established over the entire album with the way she sounds so pure and so wholesome yet timid. It’s honestly one of Chan Marshall’s best qualities, and that’s how she transformed all of the tracks so well. Whether the track is gloomy and melancholy or a heart rendering bloom of soul, Marshall strips down the original and transforms the song into an elegant manifest of indie-rock interpretation.

“The Covers Record” is Cat Power’s highly anticipated follow-up after having released her first album, "Moon Pix" in an insanely successful manner. This time around, Chan Marshall chose an album full of covers simply because she felt more comfortable immersed in other’s material rather than her own, even though she covers one of her previously released Cat Power tunes. Comfort seems to be key within this album, not only by showing the level of intimacy Chan gives the audience but by holding the capability of transformation before our eyes (or ears). Similarly to other artists live on stage, Chan featured covers in concerts regularly; and fortunately decided to record and incorporate it into an album series. Although there was no exact say to how she picked the specific songs in the album; the album audibly creates a story upon which Chan delves into. All of the songs give way to the inner emotional volume that is unwavering in Marshall's soul, telling about her past romantic endeavors. Twisting the prior words sang by phenomenal artists into her own, she creates a melancholy, heart-aching, drawn-out love story.

Interestingly enough, one of the covers on this album is an older song of her own, "In this Hole" (and here's a link to the original). Producing a remake on her prior successfully done work, 3 years later, is impressive in the sense that Chan truly has that creative bone we all yearn for. It shows that the artist is in a new place in time, and can change and mold her work alongside her. A quiet pain and resilience is shown throughout her sodden voice, however so strong in the way she powers through. Versus the original "In this Hole" she released and put out, which was much more slightly in nature, the cover of this art shows that lyrics alone don't hold all the power; instead the beat, the tone, the voice throughout, the background music...  that's what makes a song itself. The lyrics can only be as powerful as it's surrounding accompaniment.

“Sea of Love”, originally written by John Phillip Baptiste and George Khoury, and widely known in America as being covered by the Honeydrippers first (a Robert Plant branch). The song originally has an intense 60’s psychedelic vibe alongside a bluesy-feel core. Cat Power takes “Sea of Love” and makes the song almost unrecognizable... I had to Google the original just to double check it wasn’t hers. Chan’s beautiful innocence gives the song a womanly and close vibe, creating a simple yet textured love song. Creating feelings of longing and heartache alongside tugging my heartstrings with emotions I don’t think I’ve quite felt yet, “Sea of Love” is just one of many tracks that Cat Power doesn’t create for the faint of heart. Another track that was a hot commodity of its time featured upon the album includes; “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” by the one and only Rolling Stones. Although covering classics is always tough, I’ll still give her credit for the wonderful attempt. Her distressed vocals undress the song and bring it underneath Marshall’s blanketing domain of unrelenting bleak. It's the kind of soggy-cold that you feel in your bones; you feel the emotional turmoil with every breath you take, and you feel the pain and the sorrow that Marshall’s sweet soul can’t bear any more.

Some may call Cat Power’s melancholy oppressive, but I see it as powerful and self-conscientious. Marshall knew what she was doing in her own sphere of thought, and her gift is unrelenting if anything. Her quietness is rich and tells a soulful journey, and her voice is entrancing. The covers were exactly what I was looking for when defining my blog; original and real, reworked and reimagined. This is It. Cat Power's "The Covers Record" embodies It. Chan Marshall does It, and does It well.