The 1960s being what they were, the crossover game tended to work two ways: The rock groups that covered soul songs made the pop charts; the R&B artists that went the other way didn't. It wasn't for lack of trying, of course, and if you gather up every notable soul cover from Otis Redding's powerhouse 1965 rendition of the Stones' "Satisfaction" to the sweltering revamp of Led Zeppelin's "Whole Lotta Love" that Tina Turner recorded 10 years later, you'll have an alternate version of the classic rock canon that stands up to the original articles and then some. And among the better tracks will be Bettye LaVette's fantastic Muscle Shoals-tinged 1972 cover of Neil Young's "Heart of Gold", which was recorded during sessions where Patterson Hood's father David played bass and subsequently led to her Drive-By Truckers collaboration, The Scene of the Crime, three years ago.
A good portion of LaVette's career revival these last several years has hinged on her transformative skills as an interpreter, especially in the way she can take her ragged yet lush voice and wring out new emotions from songs you thought might not have any tears left. Her first release on Anti-, 2005's I've Got My Own Hell to Raise, set that comeback-era standard with covers of songs from the likes of Sinéad O'Connor and Aimee Mann, selections that people called "unlikely" until they actually heard them. Interpretations: The British Rock Songbook pulls off a similar gambit-- only this time, that vintage tradition of the rock-done-soul cover is applied to a baker's dozen of well-known selections from the annals of 60s and 70s post-British Invasion bands. No obscurities here, either-- you've got your Elton John, your Rolling Stones, your Moody Blues, your Pink Floyd and four selections from all four members of the Beatles (group and solo), plus the show-stopping cover of the Who's "Love, Reign O'er Me", from the 2008 Kennedy Center Honors that inspired the project in the first place, as a bonus track. (Check it on YouTube; the awed, choked-up looks on Townsend and Daltrey's faces are priceless.)
Interpretations winds up following that Who cover's powerfully sorrowful lead. If you're looking for upbeat moments, the closest you'll get is the dynamite gospel-accented version of the Beatles' "The Word" that opens the album and a deep funk take on Derek & the Dominos' "Why Does Love Got to Be So Sad" 10 tracks later. Between them, it's all elegiac ballads, whether the songs were that way from the get-go ("Nights in White Satin") or not ("It Don't Come Easy"). But if you don't mind the mostly downbeat backings-- which run the gamut from lush orchestral soul to spare, semi-acoustic country blues-- the material here gives you as fine a showcase as any for how well she can convey pain, heartache, rapture, and love as a singer.
Maybe the easiest track to point to is the most left-field one: Led Zeppelin's synth-drenched soft-rock flirtation "All My Love" is stripped down and rebuilt as a smoky number reminiscent of the Dixie Flyers' early-70s work with Aretha Franklin, and in place of Robert Plant's weightless murmur is a deeply hurt-sounding yet tough performance from LaVette. While the album's other great moments take a similar approach-- a stirring update of the Stones' "Salt of the Earth", her swooning glide through Pink Floyd's "Wish You Were Here," and a version of McCartney's "Maybe I'm Amazed" where her raspy take on Sir Paul's wordless post-chorus vocalizations is worth the price of admission alone-- it's a template that fits across the board. And while it wouldn't fit such a dignified record to call it payback, it's hard not to appreciate the karma of some of the most well-worn rock standards of LaVette's hard-fought early years rendered new again through a voice time almost forgot.
