THOR Debuts Music Video For Cover Of DOUCETTE Classic “Mama Let Him Play”
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Thor, the strongman of rock and the only Asgardian deity with a 50 year career in hard rock and metal, follows the release last month of his Rock The Universe album with a new single, “Mama Let Him Play,” and a dynamite new video, shot at the bookstore launch of comedian/author Robert Dayton’s just-published (and hitherto untold) history of Canadian Glam, Cold Glitter.
It’s a unique, but wholly understandable tie-in. Thor naturally plays a large part in the story, while the venue for the book launch, Neptoon Records in Vancouver BC, has been a staunch Thor supporter for years.
In fact, Thor recorded the vocals for Rock The Universe in the rooms above the store, where Neptoon owner Rob Frith’s son Ben operates Waffle House Sound studios.
Author Dayton, too, is a part of the story, and the video – that’s him singing along with Thor and guitarist Frank Soda, and clowning around as well, a potent reminder of one of Thor’s most heartfelt maxims, that “Heavy Rock does not always have to be so serious. There should always be an element of fun to rock’n’roll.”
Dayton even gets to manhandle Thor’s hammer, Mjolnir, for a while. Pretty impressive for a mere mortal. And there’s also a guest appearance from Canadian journalist and musician Nardwuar, the self-styled Human Serviette!
The second single to thunder out of Rock The Universe (following that devastating cover of The Sweet’s “Action”) back in May, “Mama Let Him Play” was a massive, platinum award winning Canadian hit for the band Doucette in 1977 – in fact, Thor was so impressed by it that he was performing it on his 1978-79 Keep The Dogs Away tour.
Thor continues, “Jerry Doucette was a stellar Canadian artist and I always loved this song. It never became a big hit outside of Canada, but I wanted to tribute Jerry and his band Doucette by giving it a re-charge with this single release and video.
“It’s a catchy and fun song, as you can see all the people’s smiling faces and those singing along in the video.”
As for Rock The Universe itself, the action does not end with “Action” and “Mama.” Eleven tracks, all covers, range across the the classic rock spectrum, from an impassioned take on Eric Burdon’s epic “Sky Pilot” and The Doors’ “Love Me Two Times,” to a spellbinding medley of Deep Purple’s “Highway Star” and “Black Night,” and a raucously riffing take on The Yardbirds’ “Heart Full Of Soul,” described by ‘birds drummer and founder member Jim McCarty as “a pretty forceful version… he does seem to have the essence of the song (in a heavy metal way).”
Thor explains, “In the 1970s I toured extensively, over 300 days a year across North America, and Rock The Universe is chock-full of songs from that era. These are favorite songs of mine that we played each night, and thus enabled myself and the band to become seasoned performers.
“It also gave me the opportunity, almost 50 years later, to join forces again with Frank Soda to lay down those magical tracks we played live from yesteryear, that would fuel our tours. Songs by our heroes.” Al Harlow (Prism) and Ray Roper (Stonebolt) complete the album line-up, and it was produced by Kevin Stuart Swain, who also played multiple instruments on it. When Thor describes their performances as “stellar,” it’s not hyperbole.
A thunderous take on The Beatles’s “Back In The USSR” is as fab as the foursome that performed the original; and, in case anyone should need a break from the mayhem,Thor also takes on one of the most underrated ballads in Ray Davies’s entire Kinky kanon, the 1966 b-side “I’m Not Like Everybody Else.”
In fact, even as we rock out to “Mama Let Him Play,” Thor is hard at work on his next video, for that very song, with the promise “There’s a lot of special effects and prosthetics involved.”
We cannot wait!
Order Rock The Universe on CD/Vinyl here, and save the digital edition here.
Tracklisting:
“Action”
“Mama Let Him Play”
“I’m Not Like Everybody Else”
“Sky Pilot”
“Heart Full Of Soul”
“Highway Star / Black Night”
“Rock The Nation”
“Steamroller Blues”
“Love Me Two Times”
“I’m Ready”
“Back In The U.S.S.R.”
Watch the“Action” video here.
(Source: www.bravewords.com)
