Slash found the perfect singer for his cover of the Peter Green-era Fleetwood Mac song “Oh Well.” The Guns ‘N Roses guitarist roped in country rocker Chris Stapleton for a take on the song written by original Mac co-founder Green for the group’s third studio album, 1969’s Then Play On.
With Stapleton’s signature gruff vocal leading the track, the blues rock tune from Slash’s upcoming sixth solo album, Orgy of the Damned (May 17), dropped on on Friday morning (April 12). It finds the country singer growling out the iconic lines, “I can’t help about the shape I’m in/ I can’t sing, I ain’t pretty and my legs are thin/ But don’t ask me what I think of you/ I might not give the answer that you want me to/ Oh well” over the top-hatted guitarist’s signature paint-peeling riffs.
The song has a long history of covers, including takes by everyone from Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, to Kenny Wayne Shepherd, ZZ Top’s Billy Gibbons, Haim, Aerosmith, Jason Isbell, Joe Jackson and the Eels, among many others.
“So, this is the original Fleetwood Mac, which was founded by Peter Green, one of the greatest singer-songwriter-guitar players, he’s less known in the public, but very well known to us guitar players re the 60s British blues and he’s up there with Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, and Nick Taylor,” Slash said in a statement. “I remember hearing the song on the radio when I was probably 13, they used to play both the older version of Fleetwood Mac and the new version of the band with Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham a lot. I always loved this song, and it’s a great guitar riff. I jammed it with the Blues Ball back in the ‘90s, and I’ve played it live here and there. I knew from the beginning I wanted to do the song on this record. It was also one of the songs that I was trying to figure out who would be the right vocalist for it, and one of the ideas I had was Chris Stapleton, who is one of the most brilliant singer songwriters today. He’s also got such a gritty and distinctive voice, so I called him up and he did an amazing job. I mean, his voice is so cool.”
It is the second single to date from Slash’s album, following on the heels of his previously released take on the blues standard “Killing Floor,” which features AC/DC singer Brian Johnson on vocals and Aerosmith singer Steven Tyler on harmonica.
Orgy is described as an homage to Slash’s love of classic blues, with vocals from Gary Clark Jr., ZZ Top’s Billy Gibbons, Dorothy, Iggy Pop, Paul Rodgers, Demi Lovato, Chris Robinson and Beth Hart. The house band supporting the guitarist on the record included two of his 1990s bandmates from Blues Ball, bassist Johnny Griparic and keyboardist Teddy ‘ZigZag’ Andreadis, as well as drummer Michael Jerome and singer/guitarist Tash Neal.
The album’s track list includes covers of songs by Robert Johnson, T. Bone Walker, Steppenwolf, Albert King, Stevie Wonder and Willie Dixon, among others. Robinson is the musical guest on this weekend’s Saturday Night Live with host Ryan Gosling.
Slash will take the songs on the road this summer with his S.E.R.P.E.N.T festival featuring the Warren Haynes Band, Keb’ ‘Mo, Christone “Kingfish” Ingram, Robert Randolph, Samantha Fish, Eric Gales, ZZ Ward, Jackie Venson, and Larkin Poe. The North American outing is slated to kick off on July 5 at the KettleHouse Amphitheater in Bonner, Montana.
Check out Slash’s preview and listen to the whole song below.