Wesley Schultz Releases Cover of Eric Clapton's 'Bell Bottom Blues' & Phoebe Bridgers Releases Cover of (Sandy) Alex G's 'Powerful Man'

Today, Wesley Schultz of The Lumineers and Phoebe Bridgers released new songs as part of the new Amazon Original "Produced By" series featuring producer Simone Felice, only on Amazon Music. "Produced By" is a series of Amazon Original music developed to spotlight today's community of producers working behind the scenes to develop the best in music. "Produced By" pairs producers with a collection of some of today's top artists across various genres to create exclusive, new recordings for Amazon Music listeners.

Wesley Schultz's cover of "Bell Bottom Blues" was recorded at The Clubhouse in Rhinebeck, NY with Simone Felice and features vocals from Cindy Mizelle and Conor Oberst, and piano & keyboards by David Baron who also co-produced, recorded, and mixed the song.

Simone Felice on recording "Bell Bottom Blues": "Wes and I were looking forward to this session. It had been a few years since we made Cleopatra and the fever to get back in the studio together has been building for all of us. Throughout August we spitballed and threw around four or five different ideas for which song we should do. Should we try an original? An old well-loved cover? A weird, obscure cover? The night before we were planning to record we took a long ride in the mountains. On our way to stop in and see a friend's band we both deejayed a bit in my car and landed on this song that had been haunting me all year. I remembered hearing it when I was a kid, some late 70's flashback riding in my dad's van with an ice cream cone and a contact high, but this past winter, deep in the inevitable Catskills cabin fever low vitamin N*E*R*D blues, I rediscovered it by accident while binging on Martin Scorsese and coming across his brilliant film about George Harrison: Living In The Material World. I was shaken and moved by the story behind the scenes, how George's close friend Eric Clapton fell in love with his wife Pattie Boyd, and all the drama, pain, music and emotion that followed. I was glad to learn this song was new to Wes and loved how much hearing it for the first moved him. When we got to the studio the next morning I was surprised and moved when Wes said: 'Let's do Bell Bottom Blues, I can't get it out of my head.' I heartily agreed, without a second thought, and we dove right in with my man David Baron, scrambling to set up mics, find the right key and learn the piano chords. It was the kind of studio moment you hear people talk about and hopefully experience yourself a few times on the rocky journey of making records. Pure spontaneity, inspiration, danger and teamwork."

"Echoing what Simone has said, we had a few songs lined up to try out once we got into the studio," explains Wesley Schultz. "But a chance thing happened where Simone showed me a song on a ride over to see a friend's band through the Catskills Mountains. I had never heard this song, and that felt impossible. The movement, the emotion and the story behind it all hit me at once. The next day I said to Simone, Let's do that one, thinking he'd say I was crazy. But he lit up and we had the amazing David Baron there who had never really heard the tune either. You can hear us working through the song like someone searching for gold in a pitch black cave. There's something raw and dangerous about the moment when it's all being figured out."

Phoebe Bridgers' cover of (Sandy) Alex G's "Powerful Man" was also recorded at The Clubhouse in Rhinebeck, NY with Simone Felice, and features Conor Oberst(harmonica), Ethan Gruska (keyboards, piano, guitar), and David Baron(keyboards).

"Produced By" with Simone Felice on Amazon Music was announced earlier this week and saw Amazon Original releases from Conor Oberst and The Felice Brothers. Stream all four songs [add link to full playlist] only on Amazon Music. Future "Produced By" installments will feature acclaimed producers and artists from a variety of genres including Latin, Indie, Country, and R&B.

Simone Felice is a founding member of internationally acclaimed Catskill Mountain based artists The Felice Brothers, whose seminal albums remain some of the most influential works of this century's folk-rock revival. Simone has been hailed as one of the great songwriter-poets of his generation, bringing these gifts and history to his work as a prolific record producer. Recent projects include The Lumineers #1 worldwide hit, Cleopatra, Bat For Lashes stunning Mercury Prize shortlisted concept album, The Bride, and new releases by Jade Bird, Ian Felice, Noah Kahan, Matt Maeson, and Vance Joy.

Amazon Music listeners can simply ask, "Alexa, play the playlist Produced by Simone Felice" in the Amazon Music app for iOS and Android and on Alexa-enabled devices. addition to the new track, Amazon Music listeners can access hundreds of Amazon Originals featuring both emerging and established artists across numerous genres, available to stream and purchase only on Amazon Music.

Listen here.

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