“I’m A Believer” is far and away The Monkees‘ most popular song and, as a result, one of Neil Diamond‘s as well. No other Neil Diamond song has been covered as much as “I’m a Believer,” though “Sweet Caroline” is streamed significantly more nowadays than The Monkees’ biggest hit. Shrek helped with this too, of course. It’s one of those ubiquitous songs that can feel a little overplayed, in either of its most famous versions.
We last heard from mandolinist and singer AJ Lee when she joined The Brothers Comatose for “Harvest Moon.” She and her bluegrass band Blue Summit have been releasing music and touring for over half a decade. So I think the natural thing is to assume that this bluegrass cover of “I’m a Believer” is going to be high energy, as that’s often the case with bluegrass covers, especially those of pop songs that are already upbeat. But, instead, Blue Summit throw us a curveball, treating the song as a ballad.
And it starts out sounding very trad country. AJ Lee is normally the group’s lead singer but she takes a backseat to bandmate Scott Gates. Gates sings the song like an old country ballad and the rest of the group provides backing that, again, conjures the sound of traditional country. The fiddle gives it an old-timey feel as well. However, when Lee’s mandolin solo comes in, followed by a guitar solo, we’re firmly in bluegrass territory.
It’s a neat spin on a song that is almost always treated the same way the two most famous cover artists treat it, as an uptempo celebration. The lyrics of the chorus are still mostly ebullient but there’s just a hint of loss, of being trapped that is utterly absent from the “I couldn’t leave her if I tried” line in most versions.
Soooo sweet. Thanks you.