For a third year, on Sunday night (12.18,) Dave Grohl and producer/songwriter Greg Kurstin released “Hanukkah Sessions,” a collection of cover songs made famous by Jewish musicians.
In a twist to this year’s efforts, each of the songs were recorded live on December 5 with a cast of all-star guests taking the stage at the 250-capacity Largo club.
For the first of the eight night celebration, the musical duo brought in director Judd Apatow to handle vocals on the Blood, Sweat & Tears’ 1969 Grammy-nominated #2 Billboard Hot 100 hit “Spinning Wheel,” (which, according to Variety, was inspired by a karaoke night in Hawaii with Grohl’s family.) “A little blood and plenty of schvitz went into this year’s Hanukkah Sessions — but the only tears you’ll be shedding will be tears of nachas when you hear Judd Apatow sing ‘Spinning Wheel’ by Blood, Sweat & (No) Tears!” read the video’s description.
About the recording Apatow said “This is a song that means a lot to me, it was performed by the great Hank Kingsley [Jeffrey Tambor] on The Larry Sanders Show. This is a tribute to Garry and to Hank,” referring to the infamous sidekick on the fake talk show hosted by his late friend Garry Shandling. And with Grohl on the cans and Kurstin on keys, Apatow sang-talked the swinging psychedelic soft rock classic.
In the midst of the first COVID-19 winter, Grohl and Kurstin released the intial “Sessions” in December 2020 , dropping one new cover for each night of the holiday. And given the rise in American antisemitic incidents and hate speech, proceeds from the Largo night went to the Anti-Defamation League.
Among the other guests at Largo were P!nk, Kurstin’s The Bird and the Bee collaborator Inara George, Grohl’s mighty-voiced 16-year-old daughter Violet, Beck, the Yeah Yeah Yeah’s Karen O and Jack Black.
The inaugural 2020 “Sessions” featured covers of songs by the Beastie Boys, Drake, Mountain, Peaches, Bob Dylan, Elastica, The Knack and the Velvet Underground, while last year’s edition included Lisa Loeb’s “Stay (I Missed You),” the Ramones’ “Blitzkrieg Bop,” Barry Manilow’s “Copacabana (At the Copa),” the Clash’s “Train in Vain,” Kiss’ “Rock and Roll All Night,” Van Halen’s “Jump,” Amy Winehouse’s “Take the Box” and Billy Joel’s “Big Shot.”
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Author: Saul Goode
Photo: YB13D