It’s hard to find an artist on the planet who can cover a southern rock song like Kip Moore does.
I saw him at the Orange Peel in Asheville, North Carolina, this past Saturday at a stop on his How High tour, where he covered Marshall Tucker Band’s iconic 70’s tune “Can’t You See” and brought the damn house down doing so.
And just to reiterate, if you’ve never seen him live before, you need to get your ass to a concert as soon as possible. He’s one of the best in the business when it comes to putting on a live show.
The original track was written by Toy Caldwell, lead guitarist of the band who also wrote many of their songs. It was originally recorded in 1973 for their debut album, The Marshall Tucker Band, and released as the album’s first single. They re-released it in 1977, where it peaked at #75 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100.
It was famously covered by Waylon Jennings in 1976 for his Are You Ready for the Country album, and peaked at #4 on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs chart as the first single from that record. Hank Williams Jr. also recorded it for his 1975 album Hank Williams Jr. and Friends.
It’s one of the greatest southern rock anthems ever written, and when that distinctive flute comes in at the beginning, everybody in the room knows what song is coming on.
Of course, you’ll hear a heavy influence of rock and southern rock in a lot of Kip’s music, especially on some of his more recent work. He’s pretty open about his musical influences ranging from Willie Nelson and Tom Petty, to Lynyrd Skynyrd, Springsteen and more.
Kip’s voice is just so gritty and unique, and the passion with which he delivers every single performance is absolutely unmatched.
This right here will make you slap ya’ momma…
If you’re unfamiliar with that saying, leave your mom alone and watch this.
It just translates from southern to GOOD SHIT:
The original: