Cover Classics: Cat Power’s “The Covers Record” and “Jukebox”

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Dec 072018
 

Cover Classics takes a look at great covers albums of the past, their genesis and their legacies.

Black Friday may have gone, but here’s a twofer bargain.

Cat Power, aka Chan Marshall, has produced two near-full album cover classics in her career (so far), which doesn’t even begin to fully address her never-more-quirky approach to the songs of others. Not that she is lost for any words of her own! She’s got a back catalogue stretching across many styles and many genres, from raw scratchy indie through slinky southern soul, a touch of electronica and back again, yet always unmistakably herself. Her career has seen her seemingly beset by internal demons; many had written her off until her triumphant return this fall with Wanderer, containing ten of her own songs, and one contender for our Cover Songs of the Year post.

But it is back to 2000 we first go, to The Covers Record. Allegedly a disappointment to her record company, who had appreciated this was an artiste worth their investment, but even with lackluster promotion it became a slow burning triumph. Praise and plaudits accumulated over the years, not least as box set dramas required ever more diverse musical accompaniments.
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The Best Fleetwood Mac Covers Ever

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Apr 272018
 

‘The Best Ever’ series counts down our favorite covers of great artists.

fleetwood mac covers

Lindsey Buckingham is out of Fleetwood Mac for reasons that, a few weeks later, remain as enigmatic as many of the band’s best songs. He was fired – or quit? – amid reports that he wanted to work on a solo album while everyone else wanted to tour. This after reports a couple years ago that he wanted to do a Fleetwood Mac album and Stevie didn’t. Their professional lives today are as complicated and messy as their romantic ones once were.

And let’s be honest: He’ll be back in a few years for a dramatic “reunion tour.” But why wait that long to celebrate this great band? We decided to use the excuse of the recent news to pay tribute to one of the most cover-able bands of all time. And lord knows we’ve paid tribute before, full album tributes to Rumours and Tusk and much more (a bunch of links a the bottom).

But now, just as we did with the Talking Heads last month, we’re looking at the entire catalogue, ranking the top thirty covers of Fleetwood Mac songs from any album or era. There’s no specific Lindsey-focus or anything. Though the majority of songs are from the the classic lineup (including a number from Lindsey’s passion project Tusk), a handful come from the band’s blues beginnings before he or Stevie joined. If the record sleeve said “Fleetwood Mac,” it was fair game for artists to reinterpret – and boy, have they ever. Without further ado, thirty artists who listened carefully to the sound, then played the way they felt it. Continue reading »

Five Good Covers: In The Pines (Where Did You Sleep Last Night) (Traditional)

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Jan 262016
 

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

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“In The Pines,” AKA “Where Did You Sleep Last Night,” AKA “Black Girl,” is a traditional Appalachian folk song, nearly a century and a half old, that encompasses elements of searing heartbreak, perceived betrayal, death (by decapitation in many cases), and murder. Not to mention the fact the the song title is named after a location where “the sun don’t ever shine” and “we shiver when the cold wind blows.”

Not exactly “Kumbaya,” right? Which is fortunate, because if this song had been about the warm and fuzzies, it never would have lasted to become the haunting classic it remains today.

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Full Albums: Fleetwood Mac’s ‘Tusk’

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Feb 202015
 

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

fleetwood mac tusk covers

Tusk‘s reputation as an infamous failure is pretty much cemented at this point. But it didn’t actually fail at all.
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Bill Callahan Turns Outlaw-Country Into Alt-Country on Waylon Jennings Cover

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Dec 162011
 

Waylon Jennings is referred to as the original outlaw-country artist. He owes much of that to the song “Ladies Love Outlaws” which became a hit for him in 1972. The man who wrote that song, Lee Clayton, also went on to pen the laid back tune “If You Could Touch Her at All,” recorded on Jenning’s 1974 album This Time. The track was produced by Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Duane Eddy and features The Crickets, Buddy Holly’s backing band, as musicians and vocalists. Continue reading »

Quickies: Mariachi El Bronx, Niteflights, These United States, Delta Drift, L.A. Girlfriend

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Nov 302011
 

Quickies rounds up new can’t-miss covers. Download ‘em below.

• When L.A. punk band the Bronx formed side project Mariachi El Bronx, many assumed it was a gag. Two albums into their new mariachi-band career, they clearly aren’t joking. Their new Roy Orbison cover shows some serious Mexicali chops (though we still want to hear what a punk-Bronx cover of this would sound like).
MP3: Mariachi El Bronx – Only The Lonely (Roy Orbison cover) Continue reading »