Chris Isaak updates the classics

Published December 18, 2011 5:00am ET



Don’t let Chris Isaak fool you. Yes he has a new album, “Beyond the Sun” and a new label, Vanguard, but he’s still the same insightful artist that created hits such as “Wicked Game” and “Baby Did a Bad, Bad Thing” in the mold of his musical idols including Elvis Presley, Roy Orbison and other greats on the famous Sun Records’ label. That’s why Isaak said he wanted his Vanguard debut to be made up of renditions of the classics of those artists and some of their labelmates.

“I did this because I love this music — that’s the entire reason,” Isaak said. “You gotta listen to the original ones — they’re classics – they’re awesome but you can have fun with them. These guys discovered this music for us and we had to rediscover it. There’s no way to do it exactly like they did it, so you’ve gotta give a little bit of your own take on it.”

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