Don Letts helms latest Late Night Tales instalment, Version Excursion

An ode to cover songs.

Don Letts has curated the latest instalment of the Late Night Tales compilation series, called Version Excursion, released via Late Night Talesthis September.

Watch next: Inside Don Letts’ record collection

Speaking about the 2xLP, Letts shares: “I wanted to carve out a space that was distinctly my own – something that reflected my musical journey and the culture clash that’s made me the man I am today.”

Exploring the art of cover songs, the album “crosses time space and genre, from The Beach Boys to The Beatles, Nina Simone to Marvin Gaye, The Bee Gees to Kool & The Gang, The Clash to Joy Division and beyond. You’d think it impossible to draw a line between ’em but not in my world. Fortunately, the ‘cover version’ has played an integral part in the evolution of Jamaican music and dub covers were just a natural extension.”

Its 21 tracks feature music by artists including Dennis Bovell, John Holt, Ash Walker, Cornell Campbell, Khruangbin, Mad Professor, Quantic, Gentleman’s Dub Club, and The Tamlins, and more.

Version Excursion follows Jordan Rakei’s instalment in the label’s mix series.

Pre-order Version Excursion here in advance of its 24th September release, check out the artwork and tracklist below.

Tracklist:

1. Ghetto Priest – ‘Hercules’ (North Street West ‘Late Night Tales’ Dub) (Exclusive remix) – Originally recorded by Aaron Neville
2. Prince Fatty & Shniece McMenamin – ‘Black Rabbit’ – Originally recorded by Jefferson Airplane
3. Wrongtom Meets The Rockers – ‘Dub In The Supermarket’ (Exclusive remix) – Originally recorded by The Clash
4. Gaudi Meets The Rebel Dread ft. Emily Capell – ‘E = MC2’ (Exclusive track) – Originally recorded by Big Audio Dynamite
5. Rude Boy – ‘Superstylin’’ (Exclusive remix) – Originally recorded by Groove Armada
6. Capitol 1212 ft. Earl 16 – ‘Love Will Tear Us Apart’ (Full Vocal Dub) (Exclusive remix) – Originally recorded by Joy Division
7. Quantic Presenta Flowering Inferno – ‘All I Do Is Think About You’ (Far East Dub) (Exclusive remix) – Originally recorded by Tammi Terrell
8. Zoe Devlin Love ft. Tim Hutton – ‘Caroline No’ – Originally recorded by The Beach Boys
9. John Holt – ‘You’ll Never Find Another Love Like Mine’ (Mad Professor 2021 Dub) (Exclusive remix) – Originally recorded by Lou Rawls
10. Cornell Campbell – ‘Ital City Dub’ (Exclusive remix) – Originally recorded by Marvin Gaye
11. Matumbi – ‘(I Can’t Get Enough Of) That Reggae Stuff’ – (Dennis Bovell Remix) (Exclusive remix) – Originally recorded by Kool & The Gang
12. Gentleman’s Dub Club ft. Kiko Bun – ‘Use Me’ (Ben McKone Dub) – Originally recorded by Bill Withers
13. Black Box Recorder – ‘Uptown Top Ranking’ – Originally recorded by Althea and Donna
14. OBF – ‘Sixteen Tons of Dub’ – Originally recorded by Merle Travis
15. Yasushi Ide – ‘Ain’t No Sunshine’ (Space Dub Mix) (Exclusive remix) – Originally recorded by Bill Withers
16. The Tamlins – ‘Baltimore’ – Originally recorded by Randy Newman
17. 15 16 17 – ‘Emotion’ (Dennis Bovell Remix) (Exclusive remix) – Originally recorded by Samantha Sang
18. Ash Walker – ‘There’s Nothing Like This’ (Exclusive track) – Originally recorded by Omar
19. The Senior Allstars – ‘Slipping Into Darkness’ – Originally recorded by WAR
20. Easy Star All-Stars – ‘Within You Without You’ – Originally recorded by The Beatles
21. Khruangbin – ‘Dern Kala’ (Khruangbin Dub Mix)

Photo by: Dan Medhurst