My Morning Jacket’s Jim James picks his favourite love song
Indie-rock elders My Morning Jacket are no strangers to songs of love and romance. Forming in Kentucky at the end of the 20th century, the band have spent the past 20 years penning some of the finest psychedelic indie rock tracks America has ever produced. Frontman Jim James’ favourite love song, however, is an unexpected choice.
Finding fame in the indie renaissance of the early 2000s, My Morning Jacket quickly cemented themselves as a notable presence on the scene. Their sound is often defined as southern rock, but it tends to be much more complex than given credit for, blending psychedelic rock, indie, and some country influences too. The band found early success touring in Europe, becoming known for their fantastic live performances.
The success of their seminal album, Z, is credited with breaking the band into the mainstream. Drawing parallels with everybody from the likes of Radiohead to Neil Young, the record is undoubtedly the band’s magnum opus. As an album, it also allowed My Morning Jacket to expand upon their usual indie country sound, incorporating elements of dub and reggae onto the record.
The band has maintained their early success throughout the 2000s into the present day. Continuing to make music, including the recently released Happy Holiday Christmas album, the Jim James-fronted group show no signs of slowing down. Although the band have not yet managed to eclipse the release of Z, their new material continues to witness both commercial and critical success. Their recent live albums, including one of their 2004 Bonnaroo set, really encapsulates the infectious quality of the group’s performances.
As with the vast majority of indie, rock and pop music, romance has been a common theme throughout a lot of My Morning Jacket’s material. The tender and soothing vocals of James make him a perfect frontman to espouse tales of love and relationships. For instance, one of the band’s most successful tracks, ‘Golden’, is a kind of universal love song detailing how romantic relationships change with time, like life itself. Asked to select his personal favourite love song, however, James’ pick is much more melancholic.
‘I Get Along Without You Very Well (Except Sometimes)’ has been recorded multiple times since it was first composed in 1939. The likes of Billie Holiday, Chet Baker, The Durutti Column, and Marianne Faithful have all released versions of the track over the years. One of the best-known versions comes from Nina Simone, and it is her recording that James chooses as his definitive love song. “No one really brings it home quite like Nina Simone,” James explains that celebrating romance is difficult. “If you are in love and life is sweet, it can be so great. But if you are on the other end of the spectrum, feeling pain and loss, it can be so very tough.”
Exploring love, heartbreak and independence in a way that only Nina Simone could do, the brilliance of the track is undeniable. Although it is perhaps not the first song you think of when thinking about romance, as James explains, “Perhaps this will be of some comfort to the lonely hearts, and bring them some peace, as it has done for me, on repeat for so many listens.”
