Watch Kacey Musgraves Reinvent Gnarls Barkley’s ‘Crazy’
In 2006, when rapper CeeLo Green and producer-musician Danger Mouse joined forces as duo Gnarls Barkley, they were inspired in part by the work of Italian brothers Gian Piero and Gianfranco Reverberi, whose composition “Nel cimitero di Tucson,” became the basis of the worldwide smash hit “Crazy.”
Though Danger Mouse was heavily influenced by composer Ennio Morricone’s contributions to the spaghetti Westerns of director Sergio Leone, he likely had no idea the track would later reclaim some of its Western heritage at the hands of another artist whose fearless nature has seen her cover everyone from Willie Nelson to Coldplay.
Kacey Musgraves, whose recent tour was dubbed the Country & Western Rhinestone Revue, was joined by fiddle player Sara Watkins (Nickel Creek, Watkins Family Hour) during a performance on the Cayamo music cruise for a reinvention of the Gnarls Barkley hit. Their “Crazy” reboot starts out slowly then kicks into high gear, with Musgraves and company unleashing even more of the song’s original inspiration than the multi-million-selling single, which was previously covered by Nelly Furtado, the Kooks, and even Shawn Colvin during an appearance on NPR’s Prairie Home Companion. In spite of the location — the ship’s deck, with ocean breezes picking up throughout their performance — Musgraves’ band members were still outfitted in their fancy pink suits and cowboy hats, with Watkins the only one dressed for the casual occasion.
Musgraves is back on dry land as the Country & Western Rhinestone Revue hits Boston Friday, February 19th, with Sayreville, New Jersey, on the trek for Saturday, February 20th. Also on her itinerary for next month is a trio of appearances in the U.K. and Ireland for the Country 2 Country festival. See a list of upcoming tour dates here.