W.C. Beck‘s cover of Jerry Jeff Walker’s, ‘Every Drop Of Water’ came out of a recording session which saw him laying down tracks for his ‘Facecomber’ album. Now he’s released it as part of a two song EP, ahead of his forthcoming album, ‘A Mostly Quiet Life’, which is set to come out this August.
The release pays homage to two greats we lost to the Covid-19 Pandemic – Walker, who died in October 2020, and John Prine – who we lost in April the same year. Beck covers Prine’s ‘Blue Umbrella’ on the EP.
Beck’s vocals are rich and sonorous, he sense that he feels every note, and he’s singing each with purpose and perhaps a tinge of sorrow.
In addition to singing, Beck played all the instrumentals, including acoustic guitars, electric guitar, and organ, showing just how much of a talent he is.
Speaking about the track, W. C. said,
“Jerry Jeff Walker has been a huge inspiration of mine for about as long as I’ve been playing music and when we lost him to Covid in October of 2020, I was pretty devastated. I have most of his albums on vinyl and have covered his tunes for years. Deep in the Covid strange times, I was working on‘Facecomber’and listening to some music on Amazon Music and his version of ‘Every Drop of Water’ came on shuffle. I had somehow never heard it and it stopped me dead in my tracks – I think I must have hit repeat on that song 50 times. It was one of those times were you feel like a song is speaking directly to you alone and I knew I wanted to cover it as a tribute to Jerry Jeff”.
It’s a more slowed down version of the track compared to Walker’s original; and while he maintains the country vibe of the track, in Beck’s hands it’s given an almost pop treatment. Dare I say there’s even a bit of a Jimmy Buffett vibe going on there – it’s friendly, relaxed, and welcoming. Saying this, it’s clear Beck is reflective about both the words of the song, and the loss of Walker, who had had a large influence on his music. You can feel this especially as he sings, “every drop of water shapes a stone” – he’s the stone that’s been shaped by the drops of Walker’s music.
You can stream ‘Every Drop Of Water’ on Spotify, and find out more about W. C. Beck and his music online on his official website, Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube.