They Say It’s Your Birthday: Eddie Vedder

 Posted by at 10:30 am  4 Responses »
Dec 232010
 

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!

Some time ago, a rugged, righteous man made his presence known to the world. He had a great respect for certain past traditions, but also some funny ideas about how to move forward. And let’s not forget his wicked beard. He’s influenced western culture more than anyone would’ve first imagined, and people now worship him as an icon and maybe even a savior. His name is revered far and wide: Eddie Vedder.

Yes, the celebrated grunge/alt. rock trailblazer and Pearl Jam founder, born Edward Louis Severson III, turns 46 today, and we thought we’d celebrate with some pretty great covers that span his entire body of work. Continue reading »

Allison Crowe Shows Us What “Sweet Dreams” Are Made Of (Cover Me Premiere)

 Posted by at 4:00 pm  8 Responses »
Nov 082010
 

Back in June Cover Me shone the spotlight on Canadian songstress Allison Crowe. We couldn’t fit in everything though, so that last post omitted the two renditions of Eurythmics‘ singer Annie Lennox’s “Why” from Crowe’s latest album, Spiral. Perhaps those recordings provided the impetus for a couple of Hollywood producers to call up Allison earlier this year to commission a recording of Eurythmics’ new wave classic “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This).”

“I learned this song, in its entirety, in the summer in about an hour to record as part of a movie soundtrack,” Allison tells Cover Me. “That didn’t pan out – but what did come of it was learning a song that I’ve always tinkered around with on the piano. I love Annie Lennox’s voice and songs. She’s a very cool lady – and extremely talented, so it’s a lot of fun to be able to cover more than one song of hers! There is something very healing about yelling ‘hold your head up – keep your head up’ at the top of your lungs.” Continue reading »

In the Spotlight: Allison Crowe

 Posted by at 5:00 pm  3 Responses »
Jul 282010
 

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!

There are some voices that speak (or sing) for themselves. You know the ones. Voices where it doesn’t matter what they sing. Voices where it doesn’t really matter what instruments support them. Solomon Burke has such a voice. Jeff Buckley had it. Allison Crowe has it too.

Born in British Columbia, Crowe has amassed a loyal following in Canada and Europe. The songwriter’s songwriter pure tones sound like a bell, no show-off acrobatics necessary. The amazing thing isn’t just that she performs the best version of Leonard Cohen‘s oft-covered “Hallelujah” (sorry Jeff); the amazing thing is that she does so using the same solo piano style that everyone else does. There’s nothing particularly creative about it; her voice is just that good! So throw all those other “sensitive” covers. This one’s the keeper.

Her others are equally charming. The Beatles’ “In My Life” gets the uplifting piano too, while Cyndi Lauper‘s “Time after Time” mixes it up with – wait for it – a guitar! A full band joins in for Pearl Jam’s “Indifference” and the Rolling Stones’ “Shine a Light,” but as always Crowe’s voice is the star. Continue reading »

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