Credit: David AbbottHall & Oates singer John Oates has teamed up with one-time Fleetwood Mac singer Bekka Bramlett to cover the Steve Forbert tune “I Blinked Once,” for an upcoming tribute album titled An American Troubadour: The Songs of Steve Forbert. The track was released today, April 21, as the first single from the record.
Oates and Bramlett also shot a video for the soulful roots-rock song: it features them belting out the tune together on a soundstage and on a deserted country road, as well as capturing them taking a drive in an old convertible. You can check out the clip at Blue Rose Music’s official YouTube channel. The track also is streaming at the label’s SoundCloud page.
Oates says about recording the tune, “It was very cool for me to be able to re-imagine…’I Blinked Once.’ I was drawn to [Forbert’s] great lyrics and ability to take a simple idea and craft it into a memorable song.”
He adds, “We gave it a harder edge in the production and turned it into a duet with myself and the legendary Bekka Bramlett, whose energy is a thing to behold.”
“I Blinked Once” originally was featured on Forbert’s 1988 album, Streets of This Town. Steve says the tune “was one of the easiest songs that I have ever written…I got up in the middle of the night and wrote it by moonlight.”
Forbert probably is best-known for his 1980 hit “Romeo’s Tune,” which reached #11 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
Copyright © 2017, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.