THE PERSUASIONS: THE PERSUASIONS SING U2 (Chesky)

Bob Dylan once told Bono that U2’s songs would last forever—but no one would be able to play them. The Persuasions, being an a cappella band, have found the loophole in this prediction…or curse. Fun trivia fact: Now in their fourth decade of recording soul, gospel, blues, R&B, and everything that strikes their fancy, the “godfathers of a cappella” got their start in the record business thanks to Frank Zappa. They paid tribute to him on 2000’s Frankly a Cappella, which was so well received they’ve been releasing single-artist tributes ever since, including one honoring the Grateful Dead called Might As Well. The Persuasions Sing U2 lacks these disks’ catchy titles but the band has kept the magic—at least as well as anyone could after the departure of founding member Jimmy Lawson.

The Persuasions have the incredible blend born from long acquaintance and the instinct, born from gospel, to grab a song’s soul. The more soulful the U2 song, the better the Persuasions can sing it. They set “Sometimes You Can’t Make It on Your Own,” a song Bono wrote for his late father, in a bare-bones arrangement as stark as it is tender. They sing “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking for” like they know they’ll be at search’s end any second. And their take on “Mysterious Ways” is not just sly, but Family Stone to boot.

They’re not afraid to take on buried jewels like Zooropa’s “The Wanderer,” or to completely rethink the arrangement to “Pride (in the Name of Love)” so it becomes the second cousin of “Duke of Earl.” They don’t get cowed by the Irish band’s legacy—probably because they came to the project largely unaware of it. That means this CD’s real magic is in the thrill of discovery.

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