Appearing on the BBC Radio program, “Piano Room,” Tori Amos was promoting her newest album, In Times of Dragons, but she also worked in a few covers, including a moving version of the Bob Dylan classic “The Times They Are a-Changin’.” Backed by the BBC radio orchestra, conducted and arranged by Scarlet Halton, Amos offered up a version slower than Dylan’s original. And while Amos’ penchant for slowing down her covers doesn’t always connect, here it does so in spades.
Amos’ performance also included a bit of a challenge. Vernon Kay played for Amos a clip from an interview she did with him last year where she discussed learning “Sympathy For the Devil” by the Rolling Stones as a teenager, but needing to disguise the cover so that her religious parents wouldn’t catch it. She described that version as “more of a Mozart meets Bartok” cover.
So in this appearance, Kay requested Amos play her version of “Sympathy.” While she didn’t do that, Amos played a classically inspired instrumental version of “Beast of Burden,” that is as enjoyable to listen to as it sounds like it would be.
