Pat Green Recruits Joe Ely to Cover U2’s ‘Trip Through Your Wires’ [LISTEN]
Texas music mainstay Pat Green and his hero and friend Joe Ely added ample Southwest flavor to “Trip Through Your Wires,” a cut from U2’s seminal album, Joshua Tree.
The pair adds vocal twang, Spanish-favored accordion accompaniment, and slide guitar to the original tune’s iconic harmonica runs. These added elements magnify the fact that U2 and producer Daniel Lanois' bluesy, rhythmic original sounds a lot like what we'd now call roots music.
For Green, the song offers a chance to work with one of his main artistic influences.
“Years ago, watching Joe Ely perform, I decided this is what I want to do with my life,” says Green in a press release. “I am blessed to have recorded this song with one of my heroes, and luckier still to count he and his wife Sharon as my friends. We’ve picked guitars on porches and stages for years. Having studio fun was just a natural progression for two guys from Texas.”
Beyond his Texas country legacy, Ely makes sense as a collaborator for a song contrived across the Atlantic and made possible by punk rock and new wave. After all, he toured and collaborated with The Clash. Ely even helped Joe Strummer sing backup vocals, horribly translated into Spanish, on latter-day Clash hit "Should I Stay or Should I Go."
U2 bandmates Bono, Larry Mullen and Adam Clayton co-wrote the song with Dave Evans. Justin Pollard produced Green’s new version. Per a press release, Green is currently on the road with select dates scheduled across Louisiana, Texas and Iowa through October, with plans to announce more new music in the coming months.
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