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The Co-Dependents
Live at Mecca Café Volume 2
In the summer of 2001, Calgary roots-rockers The Co-Dependents recorded a series of gigs at the late, loved Mecca Café, which spawned the wonderful album, Live Recording Event.
Since then, the band has disappeared from the city scene, unable to continue due to the health problems of frontman and rock ‘n’ roll veteran Billy Cowsill. That was a real loss because The Co-D’s were one of Cowtown’s best.
What made it even more of a shame was that the band more or less faded away, never getting the swan song is deserved.
This album then, composed of studio-filled leftovers from those Mecca gigs, serves as the group’s farewell. And a find farewell it is.
To be sure, for a collection of tracks that didn’t make the cut on the last disc, nothing on Live at the Mecca Volume 2 sounds like a throw-away.
Without question, Cowsill is the star of the show. His soulful, Elvis-baked vocals flow through the album like molasses as the band does rootsy renditions of classics by the likes of The Beatles, Roy Orbison, The Everly Brothers, Patsy Cline and, of course, Mr. Presley himself. But guitarist Steve Pineo, bassist Tim Leacock and drummer Ross Watson accompany his flights of nostalgic fancy with finesse and style, their harmonizing providing a dream accompaniment to Cowsill.
If you’re looking for an album that captures the innocence and passion of old time rock ‘n’ roll, and the heartache of classic country, you’ll be hard pressed to find one that does the job quite like this.
The Co-D’s will be missed.
Heath McCoy
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