In Memoriam: Stevie Ray Vaughan

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Aug 272013
 

In Memoriam pays tribute to those who have left this world, and the songs they left us to remember them by.

(His strings) were like fucking telephone wires. Just a little bit bigger piece of wood and you’d have a fuckin’ piano. – Robert “Cutter” Brandenburg, Stevie Ray Vaughan’s friend and roadie, on Vaughan’s guitar

He just sort of kicked everyone’s ass and no one seemed to fight back. – Jimmie Vaughan, on his brother outplaying him, Robert Cray, Eric Clapton, and Buddy Guy at his final performance in East Troy, Wisconsin

I’m just asking y’all to take care of yourself so you can be there for the ones that love you and need you the most. And they need you all the time. I know I do. – Stevie Ray Vaughan preaching a little grace to a Denver audience, November 1989


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Spin Doctors Can’t Be Wrong on Robert Johnson Cover

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Sep 142011
 

As tapes from the era can attest to, in 1991 you couldn’t turn on the radio without hearing the Spin Doctors’ two mega hits, “Two Princes,” and “Little Miss Can’t Be Wrong.” Shockingly, these guys are still making music together, and have been, off and on, since those early days. In support of the 20th anniversary of their debut album, Pocket Full of Kryptonite, they dropped by Rolling Stone to perform those two hits as well as a cover of Robert Johnson‘s “Stop Breaking Down.” Continue reading »

Live Collection: Warren Zevon

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Jul 082011
 

Live Collection brings together every live cover version we can find from a prolific artist.

Warren Zevon had paid his dues for years before his self-titled 1976 release would finally get him a fair amount of critical attention and a modest amount of airplay. In his first pass through L.A. he was a session musician and jingle writer, penned a few songs for the Turtles and released a forgettable solo debut in 1970. Then he spent a couple years on the road with the Everly Brothers, both together with Phil and Don and then with each of them solo, like a child of a divorce custody battle, as the brothers were beginning their estrangement. A self-imposed exile in Spain would follow and when Zevon returned to L.A. in late 1975, his pal Jackson Browne was there to help him get a record deal. Zevon had some things in common with his laid-back Asylum label contemporaries, but what separated his music from Browne, Linda Ronstadt and the Eagles was his ability to write caustic and satirical songs about unconventional people often in awkward situations. Continue reading »

Get Behind Me Satan: Thirty-Three Live Covers by the White Stripes

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Feb 032011
 

Our White Stripes tribute continues today with a massive live collection. The Stripes were known for their concert presence as much as anything and, with the freedom that only a two-person band can bring, they frequently performed covers both expected (delta blues) and not (Mazzy Star). Some songs appeared frequently over the years, others popped up for one night only. Sometimes they were planned performances, other times Jack White just started singing some lyrics.

Below, we give you a collection of cover songs the band performed on their 2005 Get Behind Me Satan tour. The set was originally compiled by a user over at the Little Room forum and his/her efforts amaze us to this day. Thirty-three songs, all available as MP3 downloads below. The audio quality ranges from pretty-good to fantastic. Download them individually or as a full set. Continue reading »

Live Collection: Cowboy Junkies

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Dec 222010
 

Live Collection brings together every live cover we can find from an artist. And we find a lot.

Hailing from the barren Canadian wilderness – make that the suburbs of Toronto – the Cowboy Junkies have come a long way in the 25 years since they formed. Clichéd though it may be, they recorded their first album, 1986’s Whites Off Earth Now!, in an actual garage. The band, consisting of the three Timmins and a friend on bass, have always featured cover tunes as an essential part of their repertoire, from the blues tracks on Whites, to their breakthrough version of The Velvet Underground’s “Sweet Jane”, to their upcoming collection of Vic Chesnutt covers.

For the latest edition of the Live Collection, we sifted through the Live Music Archive to bring you a set that spans the Junkies’ entire career (right up to a Chesnutt cover from October). Dedicated fans may not gasp at the song selection; the band does not throw in novelty “Like A Virgin” or “Run To The Hills” covers. Instead, they honor more obvious influences such as Townes Van Zandt, Bruce Springsteen and Neil Young. However, the casual listener who only knows the band through their one platinum album (1988’s The Trinity Session) may not expect the darkness of “State Trooper” or the foreboding of Robert Johnson’s “32-20 Blues”. Continue reading »

Review: Mason Porter, “Story of the Rifle”

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Dec 162010
 

Being the crossroads between folk, blues and country, the “roots” genre gives artists a wide catalog of tunes to cover. Not only that, but the genre lends itself to surprising cross-genre performances (Lissie provided a good example with her “Bad Romance”). Not surprising, then, that Mason Porter, a West Chester, PA-based roots/Americana quintet, chose to release an album of covers, Story of the Rifle, for their second long-player.

The album begins strongly with a laid-back version of Mississippi John Hurt’s “My Creole Belle.” Their easy, open arrangement recalls sitting outside around a campfire on a hot summer’s night, sounding deliciously impromptu. The frantic shuffle of The White Stripes’ “Hotel Yorba” shows how the band soars when on cross-genre interpretations. They infuse Bob Dylan’s “Girl from the North Country” with a fully realized regret that Dylan only hints at in his original. Continue reading »

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