But on Danzigs new covers albumSkeletons, out Friday, he demonstrates his broad spectrum of musical inspirations.
Danzig says he meant to balance between retaining the strengths of the original songs while adding his own flavor.
I just decided to bring my own style to them.
Credit: Paul Brown
Its a Danzig record.
You have to bring your own style to it.
Otherwise why do it?
Devils Angels (fromDevils Angelssoundtrack)
I love biker culture on film.
Of course its Hollywood, but theyre trying to capture the rebelliousness of biker culture.
Sometimes they succeed, sometimes its a little hokey, but that whole lifestyle, you know?
They were just meant to be background for the movie.
And so yeah, theres a couple lost gems in those movies that I love.
I wanted to update them and let people hear them.
I used to cut school all the time because school was boring for me.
I would stay home and watch old movies.
I remember Jailhouse Rock came on and I was like, what is this?
By the end, I was like, I want to do this.
And thats really how it started.
Its just a cool song Ive always liked.
I knew I could do something really cool with it.
I didnt want to do the obvious Elvis song, you know?
I like his delivery, his voice.
Hes not just standing there, hes moving around.
I dont like singers who just stand there.
Its boring to me.
I like singers who are really getting into it and showing you theyre getting into it.
I think he has all of that.
There was only one copy at the store and it wasnt even in its own section.
It was in like the new arrivals section, and I just knew it had to be good.
Ive never heard this but it has to be good.
And so I bought it, and it blew me away.
I went around turning everybody into my neighborhood onto the record.
I was definitely the first person in my town, if not the area, to buy that record.
There was only one.
And then of course they exploded.
All over the country it took everybody by storm.
Theirs had a ragtime honky-tonk piano, and ours has blaring, squeaking guitars.
I just like Steven Tylers ballsiness to say Im the lord of your thighs.
It reflects that time period, too, the early 70s.
Its also early in their career, so theyre still taking a lot of chances.
Its a great song.
The choruses never finished.
I wanted to make it more of a song.
I just wanted to do it as a straight-ahead song without all the stops.
I like the way it came out.
I really like The Everly Brothers a lot and its a song Ive always wanted to cover.
Theirs is more poppy, and I think mine is a little more melancholy.
I just thought they were magic.
I dont have to talk about how great the Everly Brothers are.
Their legacy speaks for itself.
