Bill Callahan & Bonnie 'Prince' Billy cover Lou Reed's "Rooftop Garden" with George Xylouris

Bill Callahan and Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy‘s collaborative covers series continues into 2021 with this version of Lou Reed’s “Rooftop Garden” (from 1983’s Legendary Hearts). As with all the other covers in the series, a third collaborator provides the music and this time its Greek musician George Xylouris. Say Drag City:

Lou Reed’s vision of domestic placidity and shared moments of remove amid the urban squalor meets George Xylouris’ Cretan lute arrangement, transforming into a dervish dance for Bill Callahan and Bonnie Billy, tapping an ancient and universal source, freeing the spirit to travel up on the roof or down the garden path into revelation.

The cover art this time is by George’s daughter, Apollonia Xylouris. You can listen to their cover and Lou Reed’s original below.

Previous covers in the series: Yusuf/Cat Stevens’ “Blackness of the Night” made with AZITA; Hank Williams Jr’s “OD’d in Denver” made with Chavez’s Matt Sweeney; Dave Rich’s “I’ve Made Up My Mind” with Alasdair Roberts; The Other Years’ “Red Tailed Hawk” made with Matt Kinsey; Billie Eilish’s “Wish You Were Gay” with Sean O’Hagan; Steely Dan’s “Deacon Blues” with Bill MacKay; and Smog’s “Our Anniversary” with Dead Rider; Jerry Jeff Walker’s “I Love You” with David Pajo; Robert Wyatt’s “The Sea Song” with Mick Turner; and Little Feat’s “I’ve Been the One” with Meg Baird.