A record on a Motown sublabel called Weed, plus an amazing cover featuring a donkey and an elephant. That alone is usually enough to make me check out a record. And I definitely wasn’t disappointed.

CC Rides Again was released in 1969 on Weed Records, one of the shortest-lived and strangest Motown sublabels ever. Berry Gordy created the label specifically for American singer Chris Clark. But not much happened after that: exactly one LP, no singles, end of story.

Clark herself was an exception within the Motown universe. A white singer on a label otherwise almost exclusively associated with Black music.

Alongside several other cover versions, the album also features “With a Little Help From My Friends” by The Beatles. Clark takes less inspiration from the original and leans much more towards Joe Cocker’s legendary Woodstock version.

Her interpretation sounds huge, dramatic, and surprisingly heavy for a Motown-related production. An orchestra packed with force, thick horns, and electric guitars pushes the song much closer to late-60s rock than classic soul.

Or in short:
Motown launches a label called Weed, releases exactly one record, and on it you get a Beatles cover somewhere between soul, psychedelia, and Woodstock. Exactly the kind of story we love at CoverLove.