Full Albums: Bob Dylan’s ‘Empire Burlesque’

 Posted by at 5:00 pm  5 Responses »
Oct 022015
 

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

BobDylanEmpireBurlesqueCountry

Empire Burlesque is Bob Dylan’s best country album since New Morning. Or, well, it should have been. Instead, it is considered a nadir of his career.

All the previous Full Albums selections we’ve done for Bob have been undisputed classics: Highway 61 Revisited, Blonde on Blonde, John Wesley Harding. Empire Burlesque is the opposite. Bob reportedly asked his producer to make him sound like Prince for this 1985 album. Now, his voice is as far from Prince as you can get, so they surrounded his rasp with drum machines, synthesizers, and chirpy backing vocals. Needless to say, it sounds nothing like Prince, and not a lot like Dylan. I’ve always defended this album, but if you can’t stand Men At Work or Culture Club, this may not be the album for you. Continue reading »

Iron & Wine and Ben Bridwell Rework Talking Heads For Newly Released Covers Album

 Posted by at 11:00 am  No Responses »
Jul 272015
 
SamBenScreenshot2-600x458

Long time friends Sam Beam (better known under his stage name Iron & Wine) and Ben Bridwell from Band Of Horses finally get around to fulfilling their longtime wish of collaborating on a covers album with the release of Sing Into My Mouth earlier this week. Continue reading »

Iron & Wine And Ben Bridwell Tease Covers Album with Sade and Unicorn

 Posted by at 10:00 am  No Responses »
Apr 282015
 

You know how during summer blockbuster season trailers for awesome movies being released in December are shown? Turns out Iron & Wine‘s Sam Beam and Band of Horses‘ Ben Bridwell decided to take a similar approach when teasing their upcoming covers album. Sing Into My Mouth, a joint effort in covers, is not being released until July 17th, but the two singer songwriters figured they would give us a taste three months early with two covers of Sade and Unicorn. Continue reading »

Iron & Wine and Rhiannon Giddens Cover Bob Dylan’s “Forever Young” for ‘Parenthood’

 Posted by at 10:00 am  2 Responses »
Feb 172015
 

Rhiannon Giddens of the Caroline Chocolate Drops just released a terrific mostly-covers album, but she’s already dropped another cover, this one a duet with Sam Beam of Iron & Wine. For the series finale of the NBC show Parenthood they took on Bob Dylan‘s “Forever Young” (a little on the nose perhaps?). They briefly appeared in the episode recording the track too. Continue reading »

Vote Now to Choose Songs for A.V. Undercover

 Posted by at 3:00 pm  No Responses »
Jan 252013
 

A.V. Undercover from the A.V. Club has a very simple equation: 25 songs+25 artists= 25 unique covers. As each band enters the studio they choose from the remaining songs, covering them faithfully, or more often, creatively. The results speak for themselves over the years, from GWAR being stuck with Kansas‘ “Carry on My Wayward Son,” to Iron & Wine‘s version of George Michael‘s “One More Try,” to They Might Be Giants including the staff of the A.V. Club to join in on Chumbawamba‘s “Tubthumping.” Continue reading »

Iron and Wine Covers “Long Black Veil” for Johnny Cash Tribute Album

 Posted by at 10:00 am  1 Response »
Aug 202012
 

Earlier this year, folk singer-songwriter Sam Beam, better known by the stage name Iron and Wine, joined a bill of prominent country artists including Willie Nelson, Lucinda Williams, and Sheryl Crow for a tribute show in honor of Johnny Cash’s 80th birthday. The concert was released on CD/DVD last week as We Walk the Line: A Celebration of the Music of Johnny Cash. Beam’s contribution to the album was a take on the much-covered track “Long Black Veil,” which Cash recorded for his 1965 album Orange Blossom Special. Continue reading »

 Older Entries  Newer Entries