Cover to Cover

Photo: Jaci Berkopec (Flickr)

I was so blown away by this version, I had to get it from the horse’s mouth how it came to be. So having spent time with Camilo Lara, I rang him and asked about its origins.

“I was in the studio recording mariachis and these guys, mariachis, always drink tequila when they are playing. So we started really early doing some recording and after like six hours or so we end up with like six or seven bottles of tequila” he told me.

“So I got all the mariachis to play the song and I recorded it in one take probably. And the next day with the hangover I was like, wow, what a mistake because it is such a difficult song because it’s not the Verve song, it’s a Rolling Stones-owned song. So I was like, OK, if this is not going to happen I’m just going to keep it as a rarity. But I asked for permission from the Rolling Stones and the next day they sent me the confirmation that they were OK with me recording it. So I think it’s great… It’s a memorable anthemic song and doing it the mariachi way it adds some serenata flavor.”

Least we forget Lara is also head of EMI Mexico.