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Wino Wednesday: The Obsessed Cover Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “On the Hunt”

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Until a pair of live albums surfaced in 2012 to coincide with The Obsessed‘s touring reunion, their 2001 split with Jimmy Bower‘s underappreciated The Mystick Krewe of Clearlight was their final release. A 7″ vinyl put out on Southern Lord, it featured just one song from each band, both of them Lynyrd Skynyrd covers. For The Mystick Krewe of Clearlight, it was “Cheatin’ Woman,” and for The Obsessed, “On the Hunt,” both taken from Skynyrd‘s 1975 full-length, Nuthin’ Fancy.

Aside from being a ringing endorsement for that album, the single was kind of a curio for The Obsessed. By 2001, guitarist/vocalist Scott “Wino” Weinrich had moved on to Spirit Caravan — hell, by later in 2001, you could say Spirit Caravan were on their way out, though they didn’t disband until 2002 — and so far as I know The Obsessed weren’t playing any shows or anything like that. “On the Hunt” had also appeared on the 1999 Incarnate compilation, and it was recorded by Joe Barresi in 1994, so it’s not like Wino called up Guy Pinhas and Greg Rogers and said “let’s go,” but for The Obsessed having called it quits six years earlier, to have one song surface on a 7″ seems a little out of left field.

I won’t argue, though. With Dale Crover of the Melvins enlisted for a guest spot on drums and backing vocals, “On the Hunt” gets stomp to match its riffy groove, and while The Obsessed was never quite as arranged as Skynyrd — no piano, no 17 guitars or however many it wound up being — they pretty clearly get to the heart of the track with their cover. Wino was still covering “On the Hunt” as recently as 2010, though by then it was a solo acoustic rendering, so I guess he managed to strip it down even further some 16 years later. Go figure.

Enjoy and have a great Wino Wednesday:

The Obsessed, “On the Hunt”

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