More than a few artists have covered this song, but no version comes close to this one by The New Lost City Ramblers.
Just listen to the tempo – like a rattletrap Ford hitting every bump in the road; the relentless picking that makes it sound as though the instruments could fall apart any second; Mike Seeger’s fixed, maniacal lead vocal – less reflective of a dispassionate narrator than the drunken driver himself.
The whole thing sounds almost itchy, as though the drunk in the title is scratching at imaginary bugs – an illusion brought on by the delirium tremens symptomatic of late-stage alcoholism. In that sense, this track reminds me of Pete Seeger’s version of “Darling Corey”; they both have that climbing-the-walls quality.
This is The New Lost City Ramblers with “Drunken Driver”.
Just listen to the tempo – like a rattletrap Ford hitting every bump in the road; the relentless picking that makes it sound as though the instruments could fall apart any second; Mike Seeger’s fixed, maniacal lead vocal – less reflective of a dispassionate narrator than the drunken driver himself.
The whole thing sounds almost itchy, as though the drunk in the title is scratching at imaginary bugs – an illusion brought on by the delirium tremens symptomatic of late-stage alcoholism. In that sense, this track reminds me of Pete Seeger’s version of “Darling Corey”; they both have that climbing-the-walls quality.
This is The New Lost City Ramblers with “Drunken Driver”.
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