“’Beautiful Child’ has been turned into a minor key song because, well, it really should have been one in the first place!” So says Bill Callahan of his cover of Fleetwood Mac’s classic, recorded as part of a Smog Peel Session which is officially coming out as “The Holy Grail” on December 10th via Drag City.
December 2001, Maida Vale: Bill Callahan’s “Smog” perform with demonstrative zeal for their British witness at the BBC, shimmering and hissing with a Lynchian vibe of U.S. darkness in the invariable shadows of the fallen towers. Callahan & band (Jessica Billey, Mike Saenz and Jim White) cover Stevie Nicks, Lou Reed and Smog with grey, ashen resolve and tour-torn flexibility, amassing a bruised, plaintive essence of humanity with their efforts.
The Fat Angel Sings 