Jack White knows how to keep busy. In the last 3 years he has released 5 albums with The White Stripes, The Raconteurs and The Dead Weather and toured with all 3 bands—including a monumental run through every province and territory of Canada. He produced albums by his wife, Karen Elson, and rockabilly goddess Wanda Jackson, in addition to writing and recording the theme for the James Bond movie Quantum of Solace. To top it all off, he runs his own record label, Third Man Records, and yet still managed to find time to surface with an appearance as the first musical guest on Conan O’Brien’s new show. Feeling inadequate yet?
For the latest release in Third Man’s Blue Series of limited edition 7-inch singles, White produced U.K. indie-folk ingénue Laura Marling. Marling, who at the ripe old age of 20 has two Mercury Prize-nominated albums to her name, covers Jackson C. Frank’s “Blues Run the Game”—a track most associated with Simon and Garfunkel—and Neil Young’s “The Needle and the Damage Done.” She sings with wisdom well beyond her years, and White complements her performances with superbly intimate production. Check them out below.
Laura Marling – The Needle and the Damage Done (Neil Young cover)
Find more on Laura Marling at her website or MySpace.
Hmmm … not sure what to think about “The needle” cover. It may just be me, ber vocal inflections seem to detract from the subject, When she sings mmm mmm at 0.25 and 0.41 its sounds like someone just put a plate of freshly baked cookies in front of her. The whole thing is sung just a little too jauntily for the subject imho. At 0.32 she sings “I hit the city …” with every inflection suggesting she is about to go on a shopping spree.
ber = but her