Tommy Emmanuel Premieres Cover of "(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay," Featuring J.D. Simo

Last week, Tommy Emmanuel announced Accomplice One, a duets album with an impressive guest list that includes Jason Isbell, Mark Knopfler, Ricky Skaggs and Rodney Crowell, to name a few. Today, GuitarWorld.com presents the exclusive premiere of one of the album's most scintillating tracks, a cover of Otis Redding's timeless "(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay," featuring J.D. Simo.

The intimate video—showing Emmanuel and Simo running through the song, and trading off lead vocals—shows their easy rapport, and their obvious musical chemistry.

“I just showed up looking forward to a fun day with Tommy," Simo said of the collaboration. "I was open to whatever he had in mind, whether something with vocals or instrumental."

"It was a very fun experience I must say! It was pretty apparent quickly what I could do to complement what he was doing. It was intuitive and easy. Cab Calloway always said ‘when you don't have good musicians, there's nothing you can say, and when you’ve got great musicians you don't have to say anything.’ Suffice to say, with Tommy, it's a pleasure and a joy.”

You can check out the lovely duet for yourself below.

For more information on Accomplice One and 'Pickin'—Emmanuel's other forthcoming album—stop by tommyemmanuel.com.

Accomplice One Tracklist:

  • "Deep River Blues" with Jason Isbell
  • "Song and Dance Man" with Ricky Skaggs
  • "Saturday Night Shuffle" with Jorma Kaukonen & Pat Bergeson
  • "Wheelin' & Dealin'"with J.D. Simo & Charlie Cushman
  • "C-Jam Blues" with David Grisman & Bryan Sutton
  • "(Sittin' On) The Dock of The Bay" with J.D. Simo
  • "Borderline" with Amanda Shires
  • "You Don't Want To Get You One Of Those" with Mark Knopfler
  • "Keepin' It Reel" with Clive Carrol
  • "Looking Forward To The Past" with Rodney Crowell
  • "Purple Haze" with Jerry Douglas
  • "Rachel's Lullaby" with Jake Shimabukuro
  • "Djangology" with Frank Vignola & Vinny Raniolo
  • "Watson Blues" with David Grisman & Bryan Sutton
  • "Tittle Tattle" with Jack Pearson
  • "The Duke's Message" with Suzy Bogguss

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Jackson Maxwell

Jackson is an Associate Editor at GuitarWorld.com. He’s been writing and editing stories about new gear, technique and guitar-driven music both old and new since 2014, and has also written extensively on the same topics for Guitar Player. Elsewhere, his album reviews and essays have appeared in Louder and Unrecorded. Though open to music of all kinds, his greatest love has always been indie, and everything that falls under its massive umbrella. To that end, you can find him on Twitter crowing about whatever great new guitar band you need to drop everything to hear right now.