Alice Cooper has shared a cover of The Velvet Underground’s ‘Rock & Roll’, which is taken from his upcoming new album.

The rock icon will release a new record called ‘Detroit Stories’ next year, paying homage to his birthplace of Detroit.

His cover of the New York band finds its place on the record because of its links to Motor City. In 1971, the band Detroit recorded their own version of ‘Rock & Roll’, which was produced by Bob Ezrin. That version made its way to The Velvet Underground’s Lou Reed, provoking him to team up with the producer on his seminal album ‘Berlin’ (1973).

Cooper’s bright, raw take on ‘Rock & Roll’ was – like the rest of ‘Detroit Stories’ – produced by Bob Ezrin and features Detroit’s Steve Hunter on guitar and Johnny “Bee” Badanjek on drums. The track also sees him team up with jazz legend Paul Randolph, blues-rocker Joe Bonamassa and frequent collaborator Tommy Henriksen.

“Detroit was Heavy Rock central then,” Cooper said in a statement. “You’d play the Eastown and it would be Alice Cooper, Ted Nugent, the Stooges and the Who, for $4! The next weekend at the Grande it was MC5, Brownsville Station and Fleetwood Mac, or Savoy Brown or The Small Faces. You couldn’t be a soft-rock band or you’d get your ass kicked.

“Los Angeles had its sound with The Doors, Love and Buffalo Springfield,” Cooper said. “San Francisco had The Grateful Dead and Jefferson Airplane. New York had The Rascals and The Velvet Underground. But Detroit was the birthplace of angry hard rock.”

He continued: “After not fitting in anywhere in the US (musically or image-wise) Detroit was the only place that recognised the Alice Cooper guitar-driven, hard rock sound and our crazy stage show. Detroit was a haven for the outcasts. And when they found out I was born in East Detroit… we were home.”

‘Detroit Stories’ will be released on February 26, 2021, via earMUSIC. The tracklisting is as follows:

‘Rock & Roll’
‘Go Man Go (Album Version)’
‘Our Love Will Change The World’
‘Social Debris’
‘$1000 High Heel Shoes’
‘Hail Mary’
‘Detroit City 2021 (Album Version)’
‘Drunk And In Love’
‘Independence Dave’
‘I Hate You’
‘Wonderful World’
‘Sister Anne (Album Version)’
‘Hanging On By A Thread (Don’t Give Up)’
‘Shut Up And Rock’
‘East Side Story (Album Version)’

Meanwhile, Cooper recently released his own horror-themed party game, HorrorBox. The game sees players mix and match question and answer cards, scoring points for funny combinations in similar form to Cards Against Humanity.