THE DUKE AND THE KING – LONG LIVE THE DUKE AND THE KING
The Duke and the King – the partnership of Simon Felice and Robert “Chicken ” Burke – appeared from almost nowhere a year ago with the excellent debut Nothing Gold Can Stay. Along the likes of Ray LaMontagne, their blend of mellow folk-country and soul owes a huge debt to the West Coast sound of 70’s. Long Live the Duke and the King does absolutely nothing the steer away from this path, and takes them deeper into West Coast hock. The slow soul-groove single Shakey is nostalgic in both sound and lyric; Hudson River goes even further back, a straight pick up from the Ottis Redding songbook; and No Easy Way Out hands vocals over to Simi Stone sounding like Lucinda Williams fronting the Eagles. By the time Children of the Sun has revived your memories of the Hurdy-Gurdy man Donovan, you are left with that distinct feeling of having been here before. As they close with the rambling Don’t Take That Plane Tonight we can only assume that it is advice way too late for those it is directed at. Long Live the Duke and the King challenges Ryan Adam’s Rock’n’Roll as the ultimate original covers album, a tributes tribute.
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