Ten Cover Songs I Love: Brass Buttons (#3)

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Strange, it didn’t sound as though it had rained that much, but boy, did it! That’s okay, I’m sitting in my favorite restaurant, having lunch, high and dry, and ready to give you another terrific song with two terrific versions. Here’s today’s cover song that I love as much as the original. #3: Brass Buttons - Poco I’m sure that someone is shocked! Oh, and “High and Dry” is a Poco song title, too. And here’s a really strange thing: although Gram Parsons wrote it and recorded it first, Poco’s version was released first! Right before Poco’s Crazy Eyes album was released Parsons died in a motel near Joshua Tree National Monument (now national park). (Quick aside: you can go spend the night in the room Parsons died in, but you need to book months in advance.) After Parsons died Gram’s wife, who didn’t really care for Gram’s girlfriend-on-the-side Emmylou Harris (gee, wonder why ), made the record label change things, removing photos of Harris and anything other than a passing credit mention. That delayed the release of Parson’s album until early 1974. So whether you consider Poco’s cover the “original” (since it technically was released first) or not, it hardly matters in the long run, because this is one great song. Lost love to the most heartbreaking degree (“the sun comes up without her, it doesn’t know she’s gone”), “Brass Buttons” is a simply splendid. And a post script: the title song to Poco’s Crazy Eyes album is about Gram Parsons. It’s almost as if they knew he wasn’t long for this world. Brass Buttons Written by Gram Parsons Originally recorded by Gram Parsons, 1973 Covered by Poco, 1973 And silver shoes: