Morse, Portnoy, George launch video for cover of ‘Hymn 43’

14th July 2020 0 By Jon Deaux

Neal Morse, Mike Portnoy & Randy George are returning to their Cover To Cover series of albums with ‘Cov3r To Cov3r’, the brand new third instalment. Featuring their renditions of classic tracks by the likes of King Crimson, Jethro Tull, Gerry Rafferty, David Bowie & more (including their cover of ‘No Opportunity Necessary, No Experience Needed’ featuring vocals from Yes singer Jon Davison), the album will be released on the 24^th July as CD, Gatefold 2LP + CD & as Digital Album.

It is just 2 weeks till the album is released, and today they have launched a video for their cover of Jethro Tull’s Hymn 43.

Neal Morse comments: “When I was young and they packed me off to school, someone played me the second side of the Aqualung album by Jethro Tull and I was immediately consumed by it. Hymn 43 being one of my favorite tracks I was thrilled when the guys wanted to record this one. We kicked it out in one or two takes and it was a gas!”

They recently launch a video for their cover of ‘It Don’t Come Easy’, originally by Ringo Starr,

The band previously released a video of their cover of Gerry Rafferty’s classic ‘Baker Street’.

As well as ‘Cov3r to Cov3r’, the ‘Cover To Cover Anthology (Vol. 1 – 3)’ will be released on the same day, collecting all 3 instalments together over 3 discs. The first two albums have also been newly re-sequenced and remastered, and will also be available on digital services. The albums have also been given brand new artwork, created by Thomas Ewerhard (Sons of Apollo, The Neal Morse Band, Avantasia).

‘Cov3r to Cov3r’ on Jewelcase CD & Gatefold 2LP + CD, and ‘Cover to Cover Anthology (Vol.1-3) on Limited 3CD Digipak are now available to pre-order here:

Cov3r to Cov3r: https://MorsePortnoyGeorge.lnk.to/Cov3rtoCov3r

Cover to Cover Anthology: https://MorsePortnoyGeorge.lnk.to/CovertoCoverAnthologyVol1-3

Morse, Portnoy & George first worked together on Neal Morse’s Testimony Live project back in 2003, and since then they have devised and recorded countless Neal Morse albums, including three with The Neal Morse Band.

The three friends have also released music as Morse, Portnoy & George: so far, two Cover to Cover albums have been produced, each being a collection of covers of their favorite songs. As Portnoy explains: “One of the first things myself, Neal and Randy usually start talking about what we can cover when we gather for one of Neal’s solo albums, should we have some leftover time at the end of the session. Most of the songs are rooted in the 60s and 70s and are songs / bands we grew up with.” Explains George, “We all share an attachment for this era of music, so we each throw out song ideas, see what sticks, and record the ones we like the most!”

The trio has covered songs from such greats as, Paul McCartney, Cream, The Who, Jethro Tull, Steely Dan, and many more. They also have also covered some prog classics from the likes of King Crimson and Yes.

The full track-listing for all 3 Cover To Cover volumes is below.

Cover To Cover: