Paul Weller has released a new single, Clive’s Song. The track, which was recorded at Weller's Black Barn studios in Ripley, Surrey, comes from his upcoming covers album Find El Dorado, and features guest vocals from Led Zeppelin legend Robert Plant.
Clive's Song was originally written by the Incredible String Band's Clive Palmer for Scottish folk singer Hamish Imlach, who released it on his 1971 album Old Rarity.
"Robert Plant didn’t need persuading when Paul invited him to Black Barn for the resulting session," says a statement accompanying the release. "Plant is a walking treasury of tales that stretch way back before Led Zeppelin. He regaled everyone present with tales of going to see Son House and Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee when the American Folk Blues Festival reached Birmingham Town Hall in 1967.
"And then when the music started, he and Paul swapped between harmonies and lead vocals, pausing only for Robert to grab one of many harmonicas he had brought with him and unleash a solo that billows through the song like a gust front through a wheat field."
Find El Dorado will be released on July 25 and is available to pre-order now. It also includes contributions from Irish singer-songwriter Declan O’Rourke, Oasis man Noel Gallagher, folk singer Amelia Coburn and Senegalese kora player Seckou Keita. Full tracklist below.
Paul Weller: Find El Dorado tracklist
Original artists in brackets
1. Handouts in the Rain (Richie Havens)
2. Small Town Talk (Bobby Charles)
3. El Dorado (Eamon Friel)
4. White Line Fever (The Flying Burrito Brothers)
5. One Last Cold Kiss (Christy Moore)
6. When you are a King (White Plains)7. Pinball (Brian Protheroe)
8. Where There’s Smoke, There’s Fire (Willie Griffin)
9. I Started a Joke (Bee Gees)
10. Never the Same (Lal and Mike Waterson)
11. Lawdy Rolla (The Guerrillas)
12. Nobody’s Fool (The Kinks)
13. Journey (Duncan Browne)
14. Daltry Street (Jake Fletcher / PP Arnold)
15. Clive’s Song (Hamish Imlach)
