Song Review – Elle King Covers Tyler Childers’ “Jersey Giant”
It’s really hard to know what exactly to make of Elle King. Even before she was country, people we’re saying she was country, or should be country. She’s collaborated with country artists like Miranda Lambert and Dierks Bentley previously, and cut songs that sure sounded more country than not along with others that are more blues, soul, and rock. Now Elle King has made it country music official, announcing she will be releasing a country album called Come Get Your Wife on January 27th, 2023 via RCA/Sony.
The song that Elle King is really pushing as her debut country single at the moment is the buzzwordy and ripe for radio “Try Jesus.” But it was recently announced she would be one of the openers on the upcoming Tyler Childers “Send in the Hounds Tour,” and as part of that announcement, King has released a cover version of Tyler’s unreleased song “Jersey Giant” with Tyler’s blessing. Sufficed to say, this thing is pretty great.
Written by Tyler Childers some 10 years ago, and cherished to the point of being worn out via video renditions by many dedicated Childers fans, “Jersey Giant” is a unique composition for Childers since it features a bridge within the verse/chorus structure. Some may see it as sacrilege that anyone but Childers recorded this song in the studio first, but Elle King does it justice by connecting with the Appalachia folk/bluegrass lineage native to Tyler Childers songs.
Besides, since Childers will never record a studio version of the song, someone should. According to Tyler, he was tired of the song shortly after he wrote it. Since it references a woman that is not his sweet Lady May, and also mentions drinking in an era where he’s now sworn to sobriety, it just may not fit as something Childers wants to sing about at the moment.
There is a whole slew of unreleased Tyler Childers songs out there. He seemingly wrote two songs for his recent album Can I Take My Hounds to Heaven? in “Percheron Mules” and “Luke Chapter 2 Verses 8-10,” and left them off in lieu of four cover songs/traditionals on what’s basically a 8-song album, not to mention fan favorites like “Messed Up Kid” and “Nose to the Grindstone” still don’t have studio versions. Elle King was smart to pounce on “Jersey Giant.”
If we’re being honest, King is about as wild-assed and unpredictable as they come. On the CMA Awards earlier this week, she was playing a piano with her feet, and sticking her tongue out at the camera with “The Killer” emblazoned across her ass while tributing Jerry Lee Lewis. She’s a lot, let’s just say. Uninhibited.
But the genius of Elle King’s version of “Jersey Giant” is the reservation she displays in her performance. It doesn’t exactly show off what Elle King is capable of vocally, but she takes an excellent song and does it in a style reverent to the Tyler Childers universe to ingratiate herself to the independent side of country fans before she heads out on tour in front of them.
Good song.
8.5/10
November 12, 2022 @ 8:47 am
Isn’t she also Rob Schneider’s daughter?
November 12, 2022 @ 9:07 am
Yeah I find that crazy and strange for some reason. She’s extremely talented for sure. Who knew that would come from funny man Rob Schneider.
November 13, 2022 @ 7:43 am
Google “Rob Schneider sings Roy Orbison”. At the end of a Netflix special, he does a duet of the Roy Orbison classic In Dreams with his daughter.
November 12, 2022 @ 12:36 pm
I had heard stories they weren’t very close for a while. It was after he remarried years later and had two more daughters did she really start to reconnect and get along with her dad. One comedian told a story about opening for Schneider and then while in town, Schneider and King went to some karaoke bar and totally killed it. He said they get along great. She seems to be in a pretty good place now.
November 12, 2022 @ 9:04 am
Great song. Elle King is real good live so whoever gets to see her as an opener for Childers is going to get a heck of a show.
November 14, 2022 @ 11:12 am
I agree! I remember going to Dierks’ inaugural 7 Peaks festival and seeing her on the line-up thinking, wow, he really gave her a spot on this bill just so she could be here to sing their duet?! She’s not even country! Boy, was I wrong, it was one of my favorite sets of the festival. She rocked.
November 12, 2022 @ 10:00 am
Love it!
November 12, 2022 @ 10:58 am
Can’t say I like her, but this is pretty impressive.
November 12, 2022 @ 1:21 pm
I like it. But I wouldn’t say I love it. If sounds very tame, like a bunch of good musicians and a good singer decided to record this song this way.
I get a vibe that they could have done it in one take when hungover, and tomorrow could do it totally different.
Not saying its bad, just seems too….. effortless?
Still, I like it. Good music, great voice, great song.
November 12, 2022 @ 1:35 pm
I just about drove off the road from laughter when her first big hit Exes And Ohs came on some playlist years ago. She’s funny, a gifted vocalist, and she absolutely deserved to transition into country music in my opinion.
November 12, 2022 @ 1:57 pm
So sick of hearing about this obscure unreleased TC song and treating it like TVZ incarnate. Whatever happened to liking the music you like and shutting the fuck up about it? You know how to tell if someone is a Childers or Zach Bryan fan? You don’t need to because they’ll tell you, it’s basically a personality trait at this point.
November 12, 2022 @ 2:04 pm
I’ve never had much of an opinion on her, one way or another. This is the first time she’s piqued my interest. Speaking of Tyler C., it looks like Way of the Triune God is on the Billboard country airplay chart, though it’s definitely near the bottom.
November 12, 2022 @ 2:22 pm
I was just wondering what you might think of this song after you remarks about her on the CMA’s. I agree, she can be a lot. She is also incredibly versatile and talented. I love this song. Had not heard it before and glad I had not. Fresh and new to me!
November 12, 2022 @ 5:50 pm
Really great song
November 12, 2022 @ 10:11 pm
I don’t believe “Try Jesus” has been sent to radio yet. Her current single, just starting to get airplay, is “Worth a Shot,” a duet with Dierks Bentley,
November 12, 2022 @ 11:07 pm
Off topic, but…
CNN
—
Dolly Parton is the latest recipient of the Bezos Courage and Civility Award.
“Jeff [Bezos] and I are so proud to share that we have a new Bezos Courage and Civility Award winner — a woman who gives with her heart and leads with love and compassion in every aspect of her work,” Bezos’ longtime partner, Lauren Sanchez, posted on Instagram alongside a video of their speech Friday before awarding the grant to the country music legend. “We can’t wait to see all the good that you’re going to do with this $100 million award, @DollyParton.”
Wow.
It sounds like the intent is for Dolly to use this money for charitable purposes, but it also sounds like that will be up to her.
I guess for Bezos, $100 mil. is just walking-around money.
November 13, 2022 @ 5:25 am
Good song indeed. She did a great job with it. Speaking of Elle King she is bringing the Red Clay Strays with her on tour. I’m happy for them to get some more exposure. No offense to Elle but they are gonna steal the show.
November 13, 2022 @ 7:30 am
There’s a video of Elle checking out the Stray’s infamous tour van they bought for $500. You can tell she’s truly floored by the sweat and blood those guys have put into making the record and criss crossing the country to promote it all on their own. I agree with you – she’s going to have to bring it every night on stage having them open. Definitely one of the shows I am most looking froward to next year.
November 13, 2022 @ 6:53 am
I’m country music fan, and also a fan of Elle King, but so far I haven’t been a fan of any of Elle’s country songs. This song is the best one so far. However, the thing that makes Elle so great is her soulful vocals, yet even on this song her vocals seem so subdued. Not sure who is producing Elle’s venture into the country genre here, but it seems they have stripped Elle of what that makes her so good.
November 13, 2022 @ 5:35 pm
I don’t know if it detracts from the song, but I also noticed the same thing. She seems to be a very energetic individual, so I think it’s just goes against the grain for her to be subtle. She’s the daughter of Rob Schneider. There’s a baseline of crazy that goes with that. I dig her antics, and I don’t think she did anything in her CMA performance to deserve the head wagging in this post and in the comments for this post. Bunch of stiffs in here for this one.
November 13, 2022 @ 5:42 pm
Elle King’s subdued singing is actually one of the things I like about the song. Yes, she is usually a very expressive singer. But I think by just singing this one straight, she shows a reverence for the songwriting, and doesn’t turn in something that may be more polarizing to Tyler Childers/traditional country fans. But I also understand how folks who’d rather have the wild side of Elle King may find it tame.
November 13, 2022 @ 6:03 pm
I completely agree with your review of the song. However, I thought her CMA performance was fun, and it was 100% in the spirit of Jerry Lee. See:
https://youtu.be/ve9UFWdrzvs
November 13, 2022 @ 8:22 pm
I won’t argue differing preferences only to say, that I don’t think Elle’s recorded music has any vocals I’d consider outrageous. Expressive sure, if you mean she expresses the emotion or feelings that help enhance a song. He’ll, I’d say one of Tyler Childers assets is his expressive vocals. Seems an equally expressive rendition of one of his songs would be fitting.
Also, not sure what Elle’s father has to do with her singing abilities. Where’s the outrage from the posters who usually jump in here to defend people’s right to believe what they want, or have parents who may or may not have the same beliefs?
November 14, 2022 @ 4:59 am
I was trying to make a point that her CMA performance was on par for what we should expect from a generally wild and crazy family. Crazy in a good way, btw. I don’t know anything about, or care about, what her political stances are.
November 13, 2022 @ 10:41 am
Saw her open for Willie Nelson at the Illinois state fair… Sorry but she was terrible.. just a bunch of noisy screeching
November 13, 2022 @ 3:22 pm
I couldn’t finish watching her performance on the CMAs. Not my cup o’tea.
November 14, 2022 @ 11:03 am
I’ve always liked her voice. She’s also struck me as very pretty. That said I hate the snake tattoo on her throat. You don’t have to mutilate and disfigure yourself to be cool or accepted.
It will be revolutionary someday when a beautiful artist can just accept their body for what it is with no shame. Or any artist. Beauty can be defined in so many ways.
I like her music fwiw.
November 14, 2022 @ 9:34 pm
I did not who she was on the CMA Wed nite show but thought she was a very talented piano player
Great performance using her feet.
CMA s were great !!
I felt so bad for Allen Jackson coming up to receive his Wille Nelson Lifetime Achievement Award and he appeared to have diffuculty breathing.
Hope it is not to do with his health condition he announced last year
He is a gifted priceless entertainer
Broke my heart to see him struggling to breathe and talk.
November 15, 2022 @ 3:25 pm
She better play her version of ‘my Neck, My Back’ while on tour
November 17, 2022 @ 2:04 pm
I have loved her for years since I first heard Ex’s and Oh’s. Particularly like her country sounding tunes. I think she knocks this out of the park.
January 30, 2023 @ 5:55 pm
Trig, what about a review of “Come Get Your Wife”? Pretty please?
January 31, 2023 @ 12:16 am
It is currently sitting heavy in the listening rotation, and is up for review.
February 24, 2023 @ 5:29 pm
Elle was performing in Lexington, KY this past weekend and Tyler came out to sing this with her. Amazing!