Live Collection brings together every live cover we can find from an artist. And we find a lot.
You think Vermont music, you might think flanneled hippies strumming mandolins. Not Grace Potter and the Nocturnals. They may come from the great wooded north, but their big soul sound comes straight from Dixie with a side of south-side Chicago. Potter is a vocal tour de force, a skinny white girl with an enormous voice. She can do a two-hour show without fading a bit and her hot four-piece band keeps right in step. Searing guitar solos abound, but nothing can upstage that voice.
Through years of near-constant touring, the band has amassed quite a stack of covers. In our latest Live Collection, we collect every concert cover we could find (thanks archive.org!). That includes blasts through Blondie, My Morning Jacket, and a whole lot of Neil Young – including a 14-minute “Cortez the Killer” that should be required listening for any rock band. Josh Ritter joins the band on John Prine’s “Pretty Good,” but otherwise they don’t need any help in blowing the roof off any building they play.
As a special bonus, below the main set we have the thematic new covers from their 2009 New Year’s Eve show. The band had clearly been spinning the Top Gun soundtrack a lot; they cover seven songs from the darn thing! And not just the original soundtrack either. The band apparently took to the 1999 Special Edition CD, cause they run through three of the four old-school bonus tracks as well. In between ’80s classics like “Take My Breath Away” and “Danger Zone,” the band throws out Top Gun lines as a wink to clued-in audience members. “This is Ghost Rider requesting permission for a flyby!” Permission granted.
Download each song individually below or all 36 at the bottom. A * next to a song signifies a must-have MP3. Did I miss any? Post a note in comments! If you include a link, I’ll add the song to the main post. Update: New songs added 9/4.
Live Collection: Grace Potter and the Nocturnals
Angel Band (Trad. cover)
Arizona (Kings of Leon cover)
Be My Husband (Nina Simone cover)
Come and Go Blues (The Allman Brothers cover)
Come On into My Kitchen (Robert Johnson cover) NEW
Come Together (The Beatles cover)
Cortez the Killer (Neil Young cover) *
Down by the River (Neil Young cover)
Farmer John (Don & Dewey/Neil Young cover)
Feel Like Makin’ Love (Bad Company cover)
Getting in Tune (The Who cover)
Golden (My Morning Jacket cover)
Heart of Glass (Blondie cover) *
Hey Jude (The Beatles cover) NEW
I Shall Be Released (Bob Dylan cover)
Jet Airliner (Steve Miller Band cover)
Joy (Lucinda Williams cover) NEW
Judy Is a Punk (The Ramones cover) NEW
Live with Me (The Rolling Stones cover)
Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard (Paul Simon cover) NEW
Mystery Train (Junior Perkins cover) *
No Expectations (The Rolling Stones cover)
Pain in My Heart (Otis Redding cover)
Paint It Black (The Rolling Stones cover) *
Pretty Good (w/ Josh Ritter) (John Prine cover)
Ruby Tuesday (The Rolling Stones cover) NEW
Runnin’ Down a Dream (Tom Petty cover)
Skinny Woman (R.L. Burnside cover)
Sneakin’ Sally through the Alley (Allen Toussaint cover)
Sweet Emotion (Aerosmith cover) *
Tonight I’ll Be Staying Here with You (Bob Dylan cover) NEW
Tonight’s the Night (Neil Young cover)
Try (Just a Little Harder) (Janis Joplin cover)
White Rabbit (Jefferson Airplane cover) *
Who Knows (Jimi Hendrix cover)
Woodstock (Joni Mitchell cover)
You Gotta Move (The Rolling Stones cover)
Your Time Is Gonna Come (Led Zeppelin cover)
BONUS: A Top Gun New Years (Higher Ground Ballroom, Burlington, VT):
Top Gun Anthem (Steve Stevens) -> Danger Zone (Kenny Loggins cover) -> Mighty Wings (Cheap Trick cover) -> Auld Lang Syne -> Top Gun Anthem *
Take My Breath Away (Berlin cover)
(Sittin’ On) The Dock Of The Bay (Otis Redding cover) *
Great Balls of Fire (Jerry Lee Lewis cover)
Top Gun Anthem (reprise) -> Danger Zone (reprise)
You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’ (The Righteous Brothers)
Check out more Grace Potter and the Nocturnals at their website or MySpace. Download tons of live shows at archive.org. Also, don’t miss last month’s Live Collection featuring the Drive-By Truckers.
[…] “Cortez the Killer” […]