Somewhere on my list of New Year’s resolutions, there’s a simple one: Must get replacement copy of Rocksteady, the newest album from Big Head Todd & The Monsters that came out earlier this year. True to its title, Rocksteady definitely maintains a steady rockin’ pace throughout the entire album, but the promo copy I received has skip skip skipping on several of the tracks. Which is fine, because I’m always happy to throw dollars at the Big Head Todd boys.

Checking in, I discovered that they’ve got quite a bit going on at the moment, including a $10 download featuring a full album performance of their Midnight Radio LP, commemorating the 20th anniversary of its release.

At present, the band is out on a set of tour dates labeled as “Big Head Blues Club – Blues at the Crossroads.”  The current tour dates are a preview for an interesting project due for release in February of next year,  an album celebrating the 100th birthday of Robert Johnson.  Recorded at Ardent Studios with a slew of special guests, it looks to be a killer.

As the above proves, there’s never a shortage of things to listen to for Big Head Todd fans.  I came across the following covers compilation via Hear Rock City and it’s a nice collection of recordings sourced from the band’s shows on Archive.org. Although I’m a cover song kinda guy, I do like it when a band actually does  something interesting with a familiar song instead of putting forth a straight forward version by the numbers.  And truthfully, I’ve never really met a cover of “Suspicious Minds” or “Friend of the Devil” that I didn’t like.

Long May You Run
Friend of the Devil
Tangerine
Tumbling Dice
Black Betty
Ring of Fire
Voodoo Chile
Train Kept A Rollin’
James Brown Medley
Suspicious Minds
Custard Pie
Jesus Just Left Chicago
Red House
Polk Salad Annie
Boom Boom

photo above – BHTM in Boulder, CO, from the official website