Dave Grohl, Greg Kurstin and director Judd Apatow have shared their take on Blood, Sweat & Tears‘ 1968 hit “Spinning Wheel.”
Apatow handles vocals on the track, with Grohl on drums, Kurstin on keyboards and a brass trio in support. The cover was reportedly inspired by a karaoke night the director spent in Hawaii with Grohl’s family.
You can watch the video below.
This is the first installment of Grohl and Kurstin’s 2022 Hanukkah Sessions series, a project now in its third year of paying tribute to Jewish musicians. For the first time this year the songs were recorded in front of a live audience, with the duo joined by stars such as Beck, Pink, Tenacious D singer Jack Black and Karen O. of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs at a Dec. 5 show in Los Angeles.
“This project, which initially began as a silly idea, grew to represent something much more important to me,” the non-Jewish Grohl explained at the end of the 2020 Hannukah Sessions series. “It showed me that the simple gesture of spreading love and joy and happiness goes a long way.”
Blood, Sweat & Tears’ co-founder Steve Katz first gained fame as guitarist for the all-Jewish band the Blues Project, although in 2008 he told the Jerusalem Post that the group’s shared heritage wasn’t part of any grand plan. “We never got together because we were all Jewish. I guess it happened because there were so many Jewish musicians in New York.”
In 1968 Katz and keyboardist Al Kooper left the Blues Project to form Blood, Sweat & Tears. The horn-charged band’s original eight-man lineup included fellow Jewish musicians Randy Brecker, Bobby Colomby and Fred Lipsius. After their debut album failed to generate major sales Brecker and Kooper left the band over creative differences.
Brecker was replaced by the Jewish-born Lew Soloff, and the band brought in new lead singer David Clayton-Thomas for their self-tilted 1968 sophomore album. The album was a smash hit, selling over four million copies and yielding three Top 5 singles including the Clayton-Thomas penned “Spinning Wheel.”
Hear Blood, Sweat & Tears Perform ‘Spinning Wheel’