L.A. Rats, the new supergroup comprising Nikki Sixx, Rob Zombie, John 5 and Tommy Clufetos, have released their first single, a cover of the Geoff Mack-penned country standard “I’ve Been Everywhere.”
The quartet’s rendition of the 1959 classic will appear on the soundtrack for the upcoming Netflix movie The Ice Road starring Liam Neeson.
L.A. Rats are far from the first act to cover “I’ve Been Everywhere.” Australian country singer Lucky Starr scored a hit with the tune in 1962, sending it to No. 1 on the Sydney charts. American country star Hank Snow turned it into one of his signature songs that same year, and his rendition topped the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart. Other notable artists to cover “I’ve Been Everywhere” include Johnny Cash and Asleep at the Wheel.
You can watch L.A. Rats’ new lyric video below.
It was Cash’s version that started the ball rolling for the new band after it had already been selected for inclusion in the movie soundtrack. Hearing that, Sixx thought: “Why don’t we just cut this?” He explained in a statement: “This song that’s so rock ’n’ roll, that’s so country, that’s so all of it – it’s the traveling circus, city to city, riff to riff, greasy cheeseburger, rinse and repeat. It’s poetry based on reality, and it’s something every one of us has lived.”
He added: “We all grew up thinking great bands don’t follow the rules or drive the speed limit. When I called Rob up, he said, ‘I’ve always loved Johnny Cash, and I’ve always loved this song.’ I think that’s what we all share … there’s the swagger you can feel, that energy you can smell. This song has all that, and that’s what we went after.”
Sixx said they hoped to “bring that fire that’s Johnny Cash” while also adding their own elements. “John 5 and I brought in this Zeppelin-y half-time thing from the beginning, with Rob talking on the outro. But I also did some stuff that suggested the original, like those big walks through the guitar parts upright player style, which is something I don’t do in Motley or Sixx:A.M. We all had that freedom to go other places, and we did.”
The members of L.A. Rats have extensive history together. Clufetos and 5 both played on Zombie’s 2006 album Educated Horses and 2010’s Hellbilly Deluxe 2 (5 has played on all of Zombie’s subsequent studio albums). Clufetos also drummed on several of 5’s solo albums, from 2007’s The Devil Knows My Name through 2010’s The Art of Malice. The guitar virtuoso also cowrote the three new original songs on Motley Crue’s 2019 soundtrack to The Dirt. In a 2019 interview with Outburn, 5 praised Sixx as “a phenomenal songwriter, lyricist, author, everything” and called the bassist his “best friend.”
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Rock’s Forgotten Supergroups