Twenty Years Later: Strangefolk Covers The Black Crowes’ ‘Good Friday’

Following last year’s successful Songs Of Their Own video series of artists covering songs by the Grateful Dead, the Twenty Years Later video series features some of JamBase’s favorite musicians recording songs released in 1996. Looking back, the music released 20 years ago proved to be critical in both rock ‘n’ roll history and particularly within the jam band scene. The year 1996 saw seminal albums released by Phish, Dave Matthews Band, Bela Fleck and The Flecktones, moe., The String Cheese Incident, the Disco Biscuits, Keller Williams, Galactic, Medeski Martin & Wood, God Street Wine, Strangefolk and The Slip, helping to solidify the maturing jam scene.

There were also influential records issued in 1996 by the likes of artists as diverse as Beck, Jamiroquai, Modest Mouse, Rage Against The Machine, Johnny Cash, Pearl Jam, Sting, Tool, 2Pac and many others. The Twenty Years Later video series takes a look back at those releases, with participating artists covering songs from albums turning 20 this year. For this Good Friday installment, Strangefolk accepted The Black Crowes’ “Good Friday.”

Making its live debut on December 19, 1995 at the secret “Thunderbolt Greaseslappers” show at Atlanta’s Cotton Club, the Chris and Rich Robinson-penned “Good Friday” was included on The Black Crowes 1996 LP Three Snakes & One Charm. A classic tale of post-breakup heartbreak, “Good Friday” immediately became a staple of the Crowes’ repertoire and remained in rotation through the band’s last tour in 2013. All told, The Black Crowes performed “Good Friday” a total of 201 times through its most recent performance on December 13, 2013.

Strangefolk’s Reid Genauer and Jon Trafton recently stopped by JamBase HQ in San Francisco to lay down their take on “Good Friday.” The pair discussed how 1996 was a crucial year in Strangefolk history, and Reid and Jon talked about the process of recording and releasing their first full album, Lore in that pivotal year. Also featuring “So Well” which can be heard in each of the Twenty Years Later video intros, Strangefolk recorded Lore with producer/engineer Dan Archer, who also worked with Phish on Lawn Boy, at his Archer Studios in Colchester, Vermont. Watch and listen to their take on “Good Friday” followed by their discussion below:

[Good Friday]

[Interview]

Head here to see all of the entries in the Twenty Years Later series. Stay on top of all of JamBase’s video content by subscribing to the official YouTube channel here.