Widespread Panic Debuts Smoking J.J. Cale Cover In St. Augustine

Widespread Panic unveiled a cover of J.J. Cale’s “I Got The Same Old Blues.” The tune came during WSP’s second of three concerts at St. Augustine Amphitheatre in St. Augustine, Florida on Saturday.

Panic launched the concert with a three-song sequence of “Wondering,” “Greta” and “Action Man.” Standalone versions of “C. Brown,” “Tail Dragger,” “Little Kin” and “Sundown Betty” followed. WSP closed out the first frame with a nearly 11-minute “Fishwater.”

Widespread Panic kicked off the second set with the “I Got The Same Old Blues” debut. J.J. Cale released the song as a single in 1974. “I Got The Same Old Blues” would be subsequently recorded by Freddie King, Lynyrd Skynrd, Bobby Bland and many more. Widespread Panic’s version saw frontman John Bell handling vocals and adding slide guitar accents along with a smoking solo from lead guitarist Jimmy Herring. Keyboardist JoJo Hermann also reeled off a run on the Hammond organ.

WSP covers a number of Cale’s songs and after initiating the second set with the “Same Old Blues” premiere, would also take Cale’s “Ride Me High” on a 15-minute excursion later in the frame. The band also offered a nearly 17-minute rendition of “Cease Fire” off their 2015 album Street Dogs which featured a jam on Pink Floyd’s “Run Like Hell.” WSP wrapped the second set with “Sewing Machine.” The band returned for a three-song encore of “Visiting Day,” “I’m Not Alone” and Tom Petty’s “Running Down A Dream” to bring the evening to a close.

Watch WSP unveil “I Got The Same Old Blues” below:

Offical audio via nugs.net