Greg Duncan

Greg was born, raised and still resides in the middle of nowhere, Winnipeg, Manitoba (look it up, it actually is the middle). He inherited his love of covers from his father, who used to sit him down and make him listen to old jazz standards and whistle the themes through the solos. In the real world he is a critical care nurse, but outside of work he's an amateur guitarist who has a strange obsession with old-time, fingerstyle guitar and pop music (go here for an example). He has a long history of expressing opinions about music, often having to later eat his own words.

Sep 202013
 

Full Albums features covers of every track off a classic album. Got an idea for a future pick? Leave a note in the comments!

innervisions covers

The early- to mid-’70s marked the pinnacle of Stevie Wonder’s career, both in terms of chart success and recorded output. Between 1972 and 1976 he released one Top-5 and three Number 1 albums, including his 1976 magnum double-opus Songs in the Key of Life, recorded when Wonder was only 26 years old. Innervisions, released in 1973, is arguably the cream of this crop.
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Aug 252013
 

They Say It’s Your Birthday celebrates an artist’s special day with other people singing his or her songs. Let others do the work for a while. Happy birthday!

Forty-six years old. In some ways, it’s hard to believe that Jeff Tweedy, the songwriting genius behind Wilco, has hit his late forties. On the other hand, think back, way back through his recorded output. When Wilco released their first album 18 years ago, Tweedy was already a groundbreaker, having co-founded Uncle Tupelo with Jay Farrar eight years earlier. Together, they practically invented the genre of alt-country before their acrimonious split, when Tweedy was just 26 years old.

Not one to rest on his laurels, Tweedy assembled Wilco out of the ashes of Tupelo’s touring band and slowly built a following. The band teetered on the edge of disaster when they presented their masterpiece Yankee Hotel Foxtrot to their label, only to have it rejected. Instead of going back into the studio to record a boy-band album or whatever the hell the label wanted, they bought the master tapes back and walked. Eventually they signed to a subsidiary of the same company (go figure), and the album came out and went gold. From there on, Tweedy & Company have continued to push the sonic envelope and remain just as vital as ever.
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Aug 162013
 

Five Good Covers presents five cross-genre reinterpretations of an oft-covered song.

1967 found the Rolling Stones still struggling to find their true voice. Sure, they’d had their across-the-board number-one hit a couple of years earlier with “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction,” but both their singles and albums found them following the trends of the day, not truly leading the way. It wouldn’t be until 1968’s “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” that they would really break free of the pack and enter their glorious Golden Age.
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Jul 262013
 

In the Spotlight showcases a cross-section of an artist’s cover work. View past installments, then post suggestions for future picks in the comments!

When you think of Stevie Nicks, you think of her as an artist whose songs are frequently covered, not one who does the covering. After all, why would someone who can write Fleetwood Mac classics like “Dreams” or “Rhiannon” and solo classics like “Stand Back” and “Edge of Seventeen” feel the need to play other people’s songs?
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Jul 122013
 

Cover Classics takes a closer look at all-cover albums of the past, their genesis, and their legacy.

Considering The Beatles’ impact on music, pop culture and beyond, surprisingly few filmmakers have taken on the challenge of telling the legendary band’s story on the big screen. Director Iain Softley stands apart as one of the few who wasn’t daunted; his very first film, Backbeat, tells the story of the Beatles’ raucous early years as a cover band, performing in the seedy red-light district of Hamburg, Germany. The film concentrates on the love triangle amongst John Lennon, then-bassist Stuart Sutcliffe, and German photographer Astrid Kirchherr.
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Jan 242012
 

Though Bob Dylan moved away from his role as a ‘protest singer’ long ago — we saw Another Side by his fourth album — his name will forever be associated with social activism. The international human rights organization Amnesty International rose out of the same turbulent era as Dylan, forming in 1961, the year Dylan recorded his first album. Fitting, then, that in celebration of their 50th birthday, Amnesty would call on artists to contribute their Dylan covers to the massive four disc set Chimes of Freedom: The Songs of Bob Dylan Honoring 50 Years of Amnesty International. Continue reading »