They Say It's Your Birthday: David Byrne

Posted by Jordan Becker at 5:00 pm 1 Response »
May 142013

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!

Like any self-respecting rock musician these days, David Byrne has a musical currently running in New York, Here Lies Love, a disco extravaganza about Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos, and today he will celebrate his 61st birthday basking in its excellent reviews and an extended run. Although Byrne will always be known for his work with Talking Heads, he has also released solo albums of wildly varied styles, written books, created visual art projects, directed films and written music for movies, television, ballet and opera (winning an Oscar for his work on The Last Emperor). He has collaborated with artists as diverse as Brian Eno, Fatboy Slim, St. Vincent, Twyla Tharp, Phillip Glass, Robert Wilson, Selena, and Thievery Corporation. Not to mention running a record label and an Internet radio station. Also, he has designed bicycle racks. Continue reading »

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They Say It's Your Birthday: Richard Thompson

Posted by Patrick Robbins at 5:00 pm 1 Response »
Apr 032013

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!

Electric, Richard Thompson’s newest album, followed the pattern of all his releases – first-rate material, critical hosannas, sales to his devoted core following, and no long-deserved breakthrough to the masses. Having been through this for four and a half decades now, he’d be forgiven for growing complacent with this level of acceptance; instead, he continues to take chances, and his playing and songwriting continue to stand astride a very tall mountain with very little room for others to join him at the peak. Continue reading »

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In the Spotlight: Mary Lou Lord

Posted by Patrick Robbins at 5:00 pm 1 Response »
Feb 222013

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!

Mary Lou Lord is a music lover. For starters, she was busking for eight years before being signed to a label; there are bands in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame whose careers are shorter than that. She cofounded the Boston chapter of Girls Rock Camp, a summer program designed to foster a positive atmosphere for girls to become empowered through music education. She shares songs that are new to her on her Facebook page, and when she talks about Connie Converse, or points out how much Neil Young’s “Pocahontas” sounds like Carole King’s “He’s a Bad Boy,” you can’t help but get caught up in the giddy excitement of her discovery. Continue reading »

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Cover Classics: Beat the Retreat: Songs By Richard Thompson

Posted by Patrick Robbins at 5:00 pm No Responses »
Sep 142012

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

Richard Thompson is an ideal subject for a tribute album. He’s been acknowledged as the most underrated guitarist in rock for so long he’s in danger of losing the title. His songwriting is inspired, both musically and lyrically. If his singing voice is by default the weak leg in the tripod, that only means a band can put their own stamp on it with greater ease. To top it off, his cult audience would guarantee small but significant sales to people who knew music and who would be more open to a wide range of approaches to Thompson’s songs. 1994′s Beat the Retreat: Songs by Richard Thompson is a gathering of some of Thompson’s best work, performed by disparate artists with devoted followers of their own, bringing all their contrasting styles to salute one man – as such, for all its flaws, it has become an archetypal tribute album. Continue reading »

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Full Albums: Richard and Linda Thompson's 'I Want To See the Bright Lights Tonight'

Posted by Patrick Robbins at 5:00 pm 3 Responses »
Oct 142011

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

Richard Thompson’s solo debut, Henry the Human Fly, began with a song that contained the line, “Don’t expect the words to ring too sweetly on the ear.” This would become his songwriting credo, as he penned lyrics that were incisive, emotive, and not the least bit sentimental, bringing them home with an equally biting guitar. His wife Linda sang with a powerful clarity, her voice full of aching, mischief, mourning, celebration, or whatever else the song might call for. She’s fully entitled to her equal billing. On their debut release as a couple, 1974’s I Want To See the Bright Lights Tonight, Richard and Linda Thompson report what they’ve encountered on a very British Desolation Row, in a musical language that could have been written half a millennium ago or the day after tomorrow. Continue reading »

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Imitation of Life: Remembering R.E.M. Through Their Covers

Posted by Ray Padgett at 5:00 pm 3 Responses »
Sep 222011

As you’ve surely heard by now, R.E.M. broke up yesterday via an understated note on their website. Just as it began, the entire enterprise ended not with a bang, but with a murmur. The quartet-turned-trio performed together for 31 years, 15 albums, and countless “R.E.M. changed my life” exclamations in the ‘80s and ‘90s.

Over the course of their career, the band performed countless covers. From the very beginning, they seemingly relished every opportunity to pay tribute to their influences, tacking covers onto singles, compilations, and their annual Christmas fan club records. In the whole lot, there are few duds. Through a combination of smart selections (no novelty rap covers here) and a rare ability to extract the essence of a lyric or melody, they made just about every song they tackled sound like an R.E.M. original. To remember the beloved band, we look back chronologically at some of their most important and best-known covers. Continue reading »

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Five Good Covers: The Weight (The Band)

Posted by Steve Ciccarelli at 5:00 pm 6 Responses »
Aug 172011

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

Once in a generation there comes a song so good, so perfectly written and arranged, that it transcends pure aural pleasure and becomes an anthem. The Band’s “The Weight” is one of those songs, without question – Easy Rider, anyone? If that doesn’t make you want to take a Harley across state lines, what would? Continue reading »

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Cover News: November 13, 2009

Posted by Ray Padgett at 4:07 am No Responses »
Nov 142009

Cover News is a weekly feature keeping you up to date on the goings-on in the world of cover tunes, tribute albums, etc. Plus, at the bottom we post our array of cover tunes we’ve been sent in the past week. Have you recorded a cool cover? Send an mp3 to the email address on the right!



This Week’s News

Thanksgiving’s coming up in a few weeks and Cover Me’s very thankful for its readers! So out post on Thanksgiving will be requests. Request any cover, from the particular (Do you have Lightspeed Champion’s cover of ‘When You Were Young’ by the Killers?) to the general (Know any good covers of ‘Bat Out Of Hell’? or Has My Morning Jacket done any cover songs?) and I’ll try to get it for ya! Submit requests in the comments here, via the email address on the right, or at our Twitter page. You’ve got a week and a half. All requests (or as many as I can find) will go up the Monday before Thanksgiving.

A few weeks late for our Halloween post, Frank Sinatra’s “Witchcraft” has been covered by seven different artists in a new Cover Song Throwdown. Vote for your favorite! [Acoustaclaw Records]

A little late on the boat here, but this Brazilian blog is counting down 1001 Covers You Need to Hear Before You Die. He’s only at #75, so there’s plenty of time to catch up. [1001 Covers]

A hardcore Umphrey’s McGee fan and friend of the band passed over the summer. In tribute to him, Umphrey’s has officially released Cover It, a two-disc st of live covers he had put together. They take on The Beatles, Guns n Roses, Pink Floyd and more in this two-disc set. [Live Downloads]

Beck has finished up his covers of Songs of Leonard Cohen (download them all here) and now is off on covers of Skip Spence’s Oar. Along for the ride this time to take on the Jefferson Airplane/Moby Grape man: Wilco! [Record Club]

Solange Knowles (aka. Beyoncé’s sister) takes on the Dirty Projector’s “Stillness Is the Move.” Universal Records is apparently having a fit despite officially liscencing it, but you can still download it here. [Stereogum]

Weezer decided to cover Coldplay’s “Viva La Vida” recently. “It’s one of those rare songs I can listen to over and over again without getting sick of it,” lead singer Rivers Cuomo says. If only the rest of the world agreed. [I Heart Radio]

I prefer Coldplay covering Michael Jackson, a week earlier, for the same program. [YouTube]

Gavin Rossdale (aka. Mr. Gwen Stefani) covers a Joy Division song for the Criminal Minds TV show. While dressed up as a vampire. Some obscure tune too, called “Love Will Rip Us Asunder” or something. [Videogum]

We mentioned Peter Gabriel’s upcoming covers a while back for his work with Radiohead. Well now the full tracklist has been released of Scratch My Back (clever name) and it’s got Lou Reed, David Bowie, The Killers and more! [Pitchfork]

New Muppets tribute album with Andrew Bird and Weezer! That says it all. [Exclaim]

This Week’s Submissions

Left With Pictures – 1952 Vincent Black Lightning (Richard Thompson) [more]

Paul Masson – My Girls (Animal Collective) [more]

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