Picture Book

Ok, I know you remember this catchy Hewlett Packard commercial featuring the Kinks' tune, "Picture Book". This ad was a marketers' dream come true.

 

If there ever was a band that is more than worthy of some quality cover versions, it's gotta be The Kinks. There's such a deep, deep well of great songs to do.

After some digging around, I found an excellent Kinks tribute CD that was released back in 2002 by the fine folks at Rykodisc. Not only is there a primo cast of musicians but each seems well matched to the tune they are performing. "Victoria" was custom-made for Cracker. Fountains Of Wayne do a great version of "Better Things" and Matthew Sweet turns in an epic "Big Sky". And "Art Lover", done here by Lambchop, is one of the most disturbing yet poignant songs Ray Davies ever wrote.

Although the rest of the CD is just plain great, I absolutely love this joyful romp through "Picture Book" by Bill Lloyd, formerly of country duo Foster & Lloyd, and Tommy Womack, solo Americana rocker. This just sounds like it was a lot of fun to record. They also really nailed the essence of The Kinks' sound; not an easy thing to pull off by any means. I'll bet this song will be stuck in your happy little head for the rest of the day.

You can grab this highly recommended tribute album at Amazon for a very reasonable fee. Please also check out some of Bill Lloyd's solo efforts and Tommy Womack as well. It'll be worth your while, I promise. And if you are somehow lacking at least a Greatest Hits disc from The Kinks, well... we need to talk.