See Charlie Worsham’s One-Man Band Cover of Clapton’s ‘Lay Down Sally’
In 1978, seven years before singer-guitarist Charlie Worsham was born in Jackson, Mississippi, English-born singer-guitarist Eric Clapton had a minor country hit with the J.J. Cale-influenced “Lay Down Sally.” The tune peaked at Number Three on the pop chart and just inside the Top Thirty on the country chart, and is a highlight of Clapton’s triple-platinum Slowhand LP.
The above video, from a back porch in Mississippi, has Worsham set up with just an acoustic guitar, amplifier and a loop pedal at his feet. It also flips the original’s quirkness of an “English musician doing American country,” as the performance helps publicize Worsham’s upcoming overseas tour.
“This is what I’m going to be bringing with me to the U.K. in November,” Worsham says of the minimal equipment that he’ll carry with him for what is being called the Mississippi to Manchester U.K. Tour. The trek launches in Doncaster, England, on November 12th.
Worsham, whose numerous “Cover Challenge” videos have spotlighted his inventive versions of songs by everyone from Katy Perry to the Steve Miller Band, demonstrates in mid-song the important role the loop pedal plays. It allows him to have more of a “band” sound as a solo artist in a brief, totally unexpected “Look, Ma, no hands” moment. Two minutes in, when it’s time for a Clapton-inspired solo, Worsham’s fingers breeze up and down the guitar neck effortlessly. (And in case you weren’t paying attention, he tears through another flawless solo 90 seconds later.)
The eight destinations on Charlie Worsham’s Mississippi to Manchester Tour include venues in Bristol, York and London, among others.