Overkill’s D.D. Verni & The Cadillac Band have joined forces with Reverend Horton Heat’s Jim Heath for a cover Of Bobby Darin and Johnny Mercer’s “Two Of A Kind.” That track will appear on the band’s new album, “Buckle Up,” which will be released on September 19.
Verni commented:
“Doing this song with the great Jim Heath was just a blast!. Total pro, he came it and we just hit it off, laughing telling stories etc. It’s funny to have two people from totally different backgrounds — I’m an Italian guy from New Jersey, and he’s a southern guy from Texas — to share a love for some of the same kind of music just speaks to the power of great songs.
I first saw Reverend Horton Heat up in Mass. They were doing the show the night before Overkill was playing the New England Metal And Hardcore Festival and I was blown away. Just a great band and a great guitar player. We had never met. I called him completely out of the blue and said, ‘I would love you to do this song with [me],’ and he graciously said, ‘Let’s do [it].’ I came to find out he was a big Johnny Mercer fan and I am a big Bobby Darin fan, so it just seemed a great match. We actually met the first time at the video shoot itself! Up until then, it had been phone calls and texts.”
Heath added:
“I’m so glad D.D. asked me to do this duet of ‘Two Of A Kind’. The original version by Bobby Darin and Johnny Mercer really speaks to me. When I listened back to my part, singing the Johnny Mercer part, I realized that I kind of sound like Johnny Mercer! I guess that all of those old J. Mercer records my parents played really rubbed off on me — why fight it?”
I’m thrilled to be on this recording and thrilled to be in the video. It’s an honor to be included with D.D. and such skilled musicians, recording engineers, and videographers.
Working with D.D. was great. D.D. Verni & The Cadillac Band have a unique take on swing music, and I think it’s pretty ingenious. The song is cool, and the arrangement is solid with heavy-hitter musicians. Then, when we did the video, during the breaks, I got to talk with D.D. at length about our careers and discovered that we have a lot in common. Our careers and lives kind of run parallel and there are many shared experiences.”
Metal Anarchy 