PREMIERE: The Band's Garth Hudson Joins Alexis P. Suter On Moving George Harrison Cover

Premiering today via Live For Live Music on what would have been George Harrison‘s 83rd birthday, Alexis P. Suter Band‘s live cover of Harrison’s “Isn’t It a Pity” brings together two singular talents: Suter’s towering, gospel-rooted voice and the late Garth Hudson of The Band, here playing accordion in one of his final recordings.

Recorded in 2011 in New York’s Hudson Valley, the track is the second single from Suter’s forthcoming ninth album, Just Stay Live: Recorded Live at the Falcon. The album—due out March 17th on NOLA Blue Records—spans gospel, blues, jam, and rock and roll, with songs by Harrison, Bob Dylan, and Gregg Allman alongside Suter originals.

“Singing ‘Isn’t It A Pity’ was an emotional moment in music for me,” Suter said. “Hearing Garth pour his soul into this song had all of us enchanted. I was transformed in that moment singing, connecting and healing at the same time. It was an emotional full circle for me, a profound music moment for all of us.”

For fans of The Band, Suter’s name may ring a bell. She was a mainstay of Levon Helm‘s famed Midnight Rambles in Woodstock, appearing more than 100 times at those concerts. Helm also brought Suter along to open for him at the Beacon Theatre and other major venues before he passed away in 2012. Their longstanding partnership grew out of an awkward but ultimately fortuitous encounter when the two found themselves seated together in the back of a limousine. That chance meeting blossomed into a lasting friendship between the two musicians.

“He really took us under his wing,” Suter recalled in a 2018 interview with Living Blues. “He used to call my mother, just to see how she was doing. He said she reminded him of home.”

Raised in Brooklyn and first shaped by gospel and church singing, Suter is a three-time Blues Music Award nominee. Over a 35-year career she has opened for B.B. King, Etta James, Bo Diddley, Allen Toussaint, and Emmylou Harris. The six-piece band behind her—featuring fellow Brooklyn natives Ray Grappone (drums), Jimmy Bennett (guitar), Daniel Weiss (keyboard), Peter Bennett (bass) and Vicki Bell (producer, vocals and percussion)—has played together for nearly three decades.

Check out the video for “Isn’t It a Pity” featuring Garth Hudson below. Click here to pre-order/pre-save Just Stay Live.

Alexs P. Suter Band ft. Garth Hudson – “Isn’t It A Pity” (George Harrison)