Jake Xerxes Fussell - "Oh Captain"
Photo by Brad Bunyea The latest single from North Carolina's Jake Xerxes Fussell is technically a cover, but it's a song from the 1920's, so most of us aren't going to recognize it. "Oh Captain" was orignally recorded by Willis Laurence James for Paramount Studios. Fussell's version keeps the classic folk feel, but he makes "Oh Captain" still sound current almost one hundred years later. That's what makes Fussell's music so intriguing: His ability to sound classic and modern at the same time. Fussell has this to say about Willis Laurence James: “James spent much of his life collecting and interpreting and writing about African American worksongs, yet few have recognized his short, obscure stint as a recording artist. Turns out he was a trained singer who taught in the music department for years at Spelman College, whose library still holds his archive. I became fascinated with him and his work, so this song is my little homage to ...