Song Review: Eric Krasno and Otis McDonald - “Sugar Magnolia”
The interesting thing about Eric Krasno and Otis McDonald’s cover of “Sugar Magnolia” is how the pair stick so close to the Grateful Dead’s American Beauty version, yet stray so far.
The result is like a musical Rubik’s Cube - easy to be enamored with but nearly impossible to determine what, exactly, is the allure.
The departures are subtle: slight twists on the melody, rhythm and background vocals; sneaky aural allusions to the Allman Brothers Band; and a slickness the Dead typically eschewed.
All of the which render Krasno and McDonald’s “Sugar Magnolia” a track that’s difficult to crack - part remake, part reinterpretation and neither of the preceding.
Grade card: Eric Krasno and Otis McDonald - “Sugar Magnolia” - B
7/24/23
