Mar 032011
Tribute albums give established artists a chance to tip their hat to a friend or influence and provide valuable exposure for up-and-coming acts looking to access a larger audience. Once in a while, a strange theme pops up – remember, SIN-atra the heavy metal tribute to Ol’ Blue Eyes drops March 29th! It seems like a lot of tribute album news has cropped up in the past week, so Cover Me rounded up the most interesting-looking ones.
- American Laundromat Records recently announced the release of Please, Please, Please: A Tribute To The Smiths, due in the fall. It features newly recorded covers of Morrissey and the gang by The Wedding Present, Katy Goodman (La Sera, Vivian Girls) and Tanya Donnelly (Throwing Muses, Belly) among others. Several deluxe bundles are available for pre-order here.
- We lost heavy metal legend Ronnie James Dio last year, and now his wife, Wendy, is planning a tribute to her late husband. Dave Grohl, Lemmy, Rob Halford (Judas Priest) and Glenn Hughes (Deep Purple) have already signed on, with Grohl performing “Mob Rules.” Sounds like a good one.
- For those of you still in the throes of the post-breakup blues, Five Three Dial Tone Records hope to help with their tribute to the White Stripes, Hello Operator. They have only made only 333 copies (a good Jack White-ey number), all on cassette, and will distribute them at the Metro Times Blowout, a Detroit-area musical showcase on this week. The full thing will be streaming online next week. You could also beg for a copy if they have extras!
- Beck, Robert Smith (The Cure) and Phil Collins all recorded tracks for the forthcoming tribute to the late John Martyn. The psych-folk guitar virtuoso, who died in 2009, melded American country blues, jazz and British folk to create an unparalleled body of work. The tribute, Johnny Boy Would Love This, drops on July 12 and also features The Swell Season, Beth Orton and Devendra Banhart.
Now if only we could shake it up a bit. We’re talking Phil Collins on the Dio tribute, and Lemmy singing “Girlfriend In A Coma”! Here’s hoping.
