Showing posts with label 2020. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 2020. Show all posts

Saturday, August 8, 2026

Suzanne Vega - Cover Versions, Volume 2: 1997-2022

Here's the second and final volume of cover versions performed by Suzanne Vega. As I mentioned in my write-up for Volume 1, she's very rarely put any covers on her studio albums, but she's done some in concerts and in non-album projects. This completes all the ones I could find.

Most of the songs here are officially released. But there are four unreleased ones: "Blowin' in the Wind," "The Man Who Sold the World," "Femme Fatale," and "Dreaming." All of those come from concert bootlegs.

As for the officially released ones, three of them - "Behind Blue Eyes," "Solitaire," and "Have You Met Miss Jones" - are from a DVD called "Live at Montreux 2004." Three more are from a rarities album simply called "Rarities." That leaves three songs, which are from different "various artists" compilations.

By the way, in late 2025, Vega released a new studio album, "Flying with Angels." I think it's very good. If you haven't given it a listen yet, you should. I've been wanting to post a concert of her performing songs from that album, but I haven't come across anything with worthy sound quality yet. 

This album is 42 minutes long. 

01 Coventry Carol (Suzanne Vega)
02 Erie Canal (Suzanne Vega with Dan Zanes)
03 Behind Blue Eyes (Suzanne Vega)
04 Solitaire (Suzanne Vega)
05 Have You Met Miss Jones (Suzanne Vega)
06 Blowin' in the Wind (Vanessa Paradis & Suzanne Vega)
07 The Man Who Played God (Sparklehorse with Suzanne Vega)
08 Streets of Laredo (Suzanne Vega)
09 Femme Fatale (Suzanne Vega)
10 Walk on the Wild Side (Suzanne Vega)
11 Dopamine (Mitchell Froom with Suzanne Vega)
12 The Man Who Sold the World (Suzanne Vega)
13 Dreaming (Suzanne Vega)

https://pixeldrain.com/u/6tJ2iy66 

alternate: 

https://bestfile.io/en/vkIJ2fVYijhItZ7/file

The cover image is from 1997. I don't know anything beyond that. The background was plain white. I didn't like that, so I pasted in the same background that appeared in the cover for Volume 1. 

Wednesday, June 24, 2026

Madison Cunningham - Weekly Covers, Volume 2 (2019-2020)

Just yesterday, I posted "Volume One" Of singer-songwriter Madison Cunningham, singing a collection of cover versions. This is the second and final volume of the same.

Many of the songs from this series date to 2019, when she Released one cover so per week on her YouTube page. It ended before the end of 2019. But then the Covid pandemic hit the world in early 2020. That caused her to revive her weekly covers series. But that only lasted for a few months before she stopped again. Since that time, she's concentrated on her original material. I was only able to find a couple more covers she did, not nearly enough for a third album. But I recommend you check out her original album. They are very good and a cut above the usual.

This album is an hour and three minutes long.

Here are the original artists for the songs:

01 Killing the Blues - Rowland Salley
02 Gentle on My Mind - John Hartford
03 Rocks and Water - Deb Talan
04 Don't Talk [Put Your Head on My Shoulder] - Beach Boys
05 Manifest - Andrew Bird
06 I'm Getting Ready - Michael Kiwanuka
07 Song Name Unknown - T Bone Burnett
08 California - Joni Mitchell
09 The Kiss - Judee Sill
10 Smoke Gets in Your Eyes - Jerome Kern & Otto Harbach / The Platters
11 Hands on the Wheel - Willie Nelson
12 Sweet Old World - Lucinda Williams
13 Who Is He [And What Is He to You] - Bill Withers
14 The Age of Worry - John Mayer
15 Summer's End - John Prine
16 Hold On - Tom Waits
17 One Little Song - Gillian Welch
18 Sister Rosetta Goes Before Us - Sam Phillips

And here's the usual song list: 

01 Killing the Blues (Madison Cunningham)
02 Gentle on My Mind (Madison Cunningham & Andrew Bird)
03 Rocks and Water (Madison Cunningham & Joey Ryan)
04 Don't Talk [Put Your Head on My Shoulder] (Madison Cunningham)
05 Manifest (Madison Cunningham)
06 I'm Getting Ready (Madison Cunningham & Sam Weber)
07 Song Name Unknown (Madison Cunningham)
08 California (Madison Cunningham)
09 The Kiss (Madison Cunningham)
10 Smoke Gets in Your Eyes (Madison Cunningham)
11 Hands on the Wheel (Madison Cunningham)
12 Sweet Old World (Madison Cunningham)
13 The Age of Worry (Madison Cunningham)
14 Who Is He [And What Is He to You] (Madison Cunningham)
15 Summer's End (Madison Cunningham)
16 Hold On (Madison Cunningham)
17 One Little Song (Madison Cunningham & Jacob Collier)
18 Sister Rosetta Goes Before Us (Madison Cunningham)

https://pixeldrain.com/u/rqdNgzDk

alternate:

https://bestfile.io/en/vT6vTkEdjOggY0s/file

The cover photo is a screenshot I took from the video for the song "Hold On," included here. 

Saturday, June 20, 2026

Covered: Brian Wilson, Volume 5: 2017-2026 (A Fabio from Rio Guest Post)

Finally, we arrive at the last volume of this "Covered" project, bringing Fabio’s "Brian Wilson Week" to a close just in time to celebrate what would have been Brian’s 83rd birthday on June 20, 2026. (He died on June 11, 2025.)

This volume focuses on more recent performances, spanning the years 2017 through 2026. In fact, the final track was released only a few weeks before this post went online. Together, these recordings provide yet another illustration of Wilson’s enduring influence across multiple generations of musicians.

One track deserves a bit of additional explanation, as it touches on a subject that some readers may find controversial. Dae Lim’s version of "Let’s Put Our Hearts Together" is a hybrid creation that combines archival material, original recordings, and a degree of AI (Artificial Intelligence) assistance. Dae recorded new vocal parts and worked with existing Beach Boys-related material, using AI-based tools to help blend timbres and stylistic elements in a way that evokes the sound of a classic Beach Boys recording. The result is something akin to uncovering a previously unheard Beach Boys tape based on fragments and possibilities rather than a genuine lost master. Whether one embraces or rejects that approach, the results are certainly intriguing and worth hearing.

Note also, I have a policy of only including one version first song in these Covered projects. However, for Wilson, Fabio and I couldn't resist, including two versions of possibly two of his greatest creations, "Good Vibrations" and "God Only Knows." The second version of "Good Vibrations" is here, while all the other ones are included in earlier volumes.

If there are any Brian Wilson songs that you feel we should have included and we didn't include, please let us know. Sometimes we can make additions after the initial posting. But keep in mind there are some excellent Beach Boys songs that were not written or written by him. Perhaps at some future point we might make a covered album for the other Beach Boys.

Thanks again to Fabio from Rio for spearheading this project.

This album is 59 minutes long.

01 Kiss Me Baby (Kayla Williams)
02 Let Him Run Wild (Malibu Buckeroo)
03 That's Not Me (Suburb Smoking)
04 Busy Doing Nothing (Samantha Sidley)
05 Caroline, No (Chrissie Hynde)
06 'Til I Die (Tim Swisher & Cosmic Restoration Band)
07 All I Wanna Do (Mapache)
08 Dance, Dance, Dance (Johnathan Pushkar)
09 Good Vibrations (SAER)
10 Help Me Rhonda (Weeklings)
11 I'd Love Just Once to See You (Anderson Council)
12 Thank Him (Gracia Rother)
13 Meant for You (She & Him)
14 All Summer Long (Skelgro)
15 Melt Away (She & Him)
16 Let the Wind Blow (Royal Fuse)
17 And Your Dream Comes True (Harvard Krokodiloes)
18 Let's Put Our Hearts Together (Dae Lims with the Beach Boys)
19 Little Saint Nick (Moon Loungers)
20 Your Summer Dream (Gracia Rother)
21 Wendy (Adam Michel)

https://pixeldrain.com/u/gGPa3DBS

alternate:

https://bestfile.io/en/rBCDmQrldMV8o91/file

The cover image is from 2016. 

Friday, June 5, 2026

Emmylou Harris & Buddy Miller - City Winery, Nashville, TN, 11-10-2020

So far, I've posted three albums that featured Emmylou Harris performing with others in a series of concerts at the City Winery in Nashville in 2020 and 2021. There were six in all, and all of them were pay-per-view webcasts at the time. Here's one more. This one has Emmylou Harris paired up with Buddy Miller.

I've posted a lot from Harris already, so I don't feel any need to say anything about her. However, here's a bit about Miller. The intro to the Wikipedia entry on him doesn't say much, but here it is anyway:

"Steven Paul 'Buddy' Miller is an American singer, songwriter, musician, recording artist and producer, currently living in Nashville, Tennessee. Miller is married to and has recorded with singer-songwriter Julie Miller."

Let me add some more to that. He got his start in music in the late 1970s. In 1980, he started his own band. But he didn't have much success at first. For the rest of the 1980s, and into the 1990s, he made a living as a session musician and also playing in bands led by others. He released his first solo album in 1995. From that point forward, his career slowly began gaining momentum. Although he never had any hits, he won a Grammy Award in 2010, and was nominated three other times.

Over the years, he's been involved in various music projects with Harris. For instance, according to Wikipedia, Miller toured as lead guitarist and backing vocalist for Emmylou Harris's Spyboy band, and for Emmylou Harris and Linda Ronstadt on their Western Wall tour. In 2004, he toured with Emmylou Harris, Patty Griffin, Gillian Welch and David Rawlings as the Sweet Harmony Traveling Revue. In 2009, he joined Emmylou Harris, Patty Griffin and Shawn Colvin on tour as Three Girls and Their Buddy. 

In this concert, Harris and Miller typically traded songs. However, there were a lot of duets as well. It was just the two of them performing with acoustic instruments. 

The concert with Harris, Carlene Carter, and Marty Stuart at this venue was given to me by an anonymous person. That same person also gave me this one. So, thank you! I believe this is the first time this has been publicly available on the Internet.

Unfortunately though, this concert starts abruptly, with no introduction. I checked the song list with the list at setlist.fm, and I found out the first three songs are missing. Those songs are: "Blackhawk," "Burning the Midnight Oil," and "Gulf Coast Highway." If anyone has the missing songs, please let me know, and I'll add them in.

This album is an hour and 20 minutes long.

01 Don't Tell Me (Buddy Miller)
02 talk (Emmylou Harris)
03 Home Sweet Home (Emmylou Harris)
04 talk (Emmylou Harris & Buddy Miller)
05 Shelter Me (Buddy Miller)
06 talk (Emmylou Harris)
07 Love Hurts (Emmylou Harris & Buddy Miller)
08 talk (Emmylou Harris)
09 I Don't Mean Maybe (Emmylou Harris & Buddy Miller)
10 talk (Emmylou Harris)
11 My Antonia (Emmylou Harris & Buddy Miller)
12 talk (Buddy Miller)
13 I Love (Buddy Miller)
14 talk (Emmylou Harris)
15 That's How I Got to Memphis (Buddy Miller)
16 talk (Emmylou Harris)
17 Big Black Dog (Emmylou Harris)
18 talk (Buddy Miller)
19 All My Tears [Be Washed Away] (Buddy Miller)
20 talk (Emmylou Harris)
21 Your Long Journey (Emmylou Harris)
22 talk (Buddy Miller)
23 Gasoline and Matches (Buddy Miller)
24 talk (Emmylou Harris)
25 The Pearl (Emmylou Harris)
26 Wide River to Cross (Buddy Miller)
27 talk (Emmylou Harris)
28 Green Pastures (Emmylou Harris & Buddy Miller)
29 talk (Emmylou Harris)

https://pixeldrain.com/u/4XxXNroD

alternate: 

https://bestfile.io/en/BfCNxR6GQ8xzsxq/file

The cover image is a screenshot I took from a video of this exact concert. 

Wednesday, June 3, 2026

Covered: George Harrison, Volume 6: 2015-2025

Here's the sixth and last "Covered" album for George Harrison.

Most people love the Beatles, and pretty much all their songs. So all of the songs Harrison wrote that were done by the Beatles have gotten good cover versions in this series. But, with the exception of his very popular album "All Things Must Pass," his solo career has gotten much less attention, and thus fewer covers. I've strived to include covers of all the songs I like from him. I couldn't always find even a decent cover, but I was successful most of the time.

In my opinion, Harrison was a very fascinating songwriter. On one hand, being in the Beatles, he learned from Paul McCartney and John Lennon how to write very catchy and poppy melodies. But on the other hand, he had a natural tendency to write songs with unusual and complicated chords. This led to Lennon repeatedly complaining how difficult it was to learn how to play Harrison's songs. On Harrison's best songs, he somehow managed to combine being catchy and poppy with unusual and complicated chords and other musical moves. That's not easy to pull off. 

But unfortunately, that has been another big reason many Harrison songs haven't been covered that much. He almost never wrote three or four chord songs. Out of the six volumes, this is the one where I have the most of his obscure and rarely covered songs, usually from his solo career. That's because, when looking for cover versions, my last resort is to find unreleased versions by lesser known musicians on YouTube. Most of those have taken place in the last ten years or so (as I write this in June 2026). Songs that fall into that category on this volume include "Nowhere to Go," "Cosmic Empire," "Poor Little Girl," "Miss O'Dell," "Beautiful Girl," and more. However, I always maintained quality control. There are a few more Harrison songs I wanted to include where none of the cover versions I found were good enough, in my opinion.

Two of the songs here have "[Edit]" in them. For "Circles" by Pete Zolli, there was some drumming on the song that I didn't like. Something about it seemed off. So I used the MVSEP program to remove the drumming. I thought the song was better that way. And for "Miss O'Dell" by Christopher Clause, this is a nice song, but little known, since it only ever came out as a B-side. So I didn't have many covers options. The version by Clause is very good. However, it was something he did live in the studio and then posted on YouTube. And in the live version, he kept making brief talking asides during the instrumental parts of the song. I thought all that talking was unnecessary and distracted from the song, so I used MVSEP to get rid of that, and just keep the singing.

It's very sad that Harrison died as young as he did. It's also a shame, from a musical point of view, That from 1982 until his death in 2001, he only put out two albums of new songs. We could have had so much more music from him. But at least what he did was usually of a high quality. His Beatles songs will never be forgotten. But I hope this series helps people better appreciate the songs he wrote in his solo career as well.

This album is an hour and two minutes long. 

01 Crackerbox Palace (Jonathan Di Renzo)
02 This Is Love (Suburban Skies)
03 You Know What to Do (Weeklings)
04 Only a Northern Song (Walker's Run)
05 Fish on the Sand (Allah-Las)
06 Nowhere to Go (Danny McEvoy)
07 Piggies (Morgan James)
08 You Like Me Too Much (Randy Bachman)
09 Cosmic Empire (Mac Randall)
10 Not Guilty (Jeffrey Detrick)
11 Run of the Mill (Deer Tick)
12 Rising Sun (Jeff Andrews)
13 Devil's Been Busy (Leeroy)
14 Poor Little Girl (Judge Timbers)
15 Circles [Edit] (Pete Zolli)
16 End of the Line (Dominique Cotten)
17 Miss O'Dell [Edit] (Christopher Clause)
18 Beautiful Girl (Rod Switzer)

https://pixeldrain.com/u/WPizpn7X 

alternate:

https://bestfile.io/en/NMFjWDMwTqQklwz/file

The cover image is from about 2000.

Friday, May 29, 2026

Emmylou Harris, Carlene Carter & Marty Stuart - City Winery, Nashville, TN, 11-16-2020

In late 2020 and into 2021, Emmylou Harris hosted some special concerts at the City Winery in Nashville, Tennessee. The world was still dealing with the Covid pandemic, so she couldn't tour. But she held a few webcast concerts for local charities, with Covid distancing rules in place for the sparse audiences. Recently, I posted two of them. I thought that was all I could find. But then a kind anonymous person saw those posts, and sent me more. In each one, she had a special guest or guests. This time, it's Carlene Carter and Marty Stuart.

Carter was the daughter of June Carter Cash with her first husband, Carl Smith. Since her mother went on to be married to Johnny Cash for most of her life, Carlene became a member of the Cash musical family, as well as the closely related Carter musical family. She also was married for all of the 1980s to singer-songwriter Nick Lowe. She had a solo music career starting in the late 1970s. Her popularity peaked in the early 1990s, with some hit albums and singles on the U.S. country charts.

Here's her Wikipedia page:

Carlene Carter - Wikipedia

The Wikipedia entry intro for Marty Stuart is better than the one for Carlene Carter, so I'll quote it here:

"John Marty Stuart (born September 30, 1958) is an American country and bluegrass music singer, songwriter, and musician. Active since 1968, Stuart initially toured with Lester Flatt, and then in Johnny Cash's road band before beginning work as a solo artist in the early 1980s. He is known for his combination of rockabilly, country rock, and bluegrass music influences, his frequent collaborations and cover songs, and his distinctive stage dress. His greatest commercial success came in the first half of the 1990s... Stuart has recorded over 20 studio albums, and has charted over 30 times on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts. His highest chart entry is 'The Whiskey Ain't Workin'', a duet with Travis Tritt."

Like Carlene Carter, he also ended up related to Johnny Cash. His first wife was Johnny's daughter Cindy. Since the late 1990s, he's been married to country star Connie Smith.

Here's his Wikipedia page:

Marty Stuart - Wikipedia 

This is an acoustic concert. The three stars performed in songwriter circle style, with each of them taking turns singing their songs. In the song credits, I only listed the lead singers. On many songs, whoever the lead singer was often was assisted by backing vocals by one or both of the others.

The music here is unreleased. After I got the video, I converted it to audio and broke it into mp3s. The sound quality is excellent. The only problem was the banter between songs was very low, so I generally boosted the volume for those bits. The webcast had been a pay-per-view thing, which is now defunct. I believe this is the first time this concert is publicly available on the Internet. Thanks again to the anonymous donor.

This album is an hour and 28 minutes long.

01 talk (Emmylou Harris)
02 Gold Watch and Chain (Emmylou Harris, Carlene Carter & Marty Stuart)
03 talk (Emmylou Harris)
04 Easy from Now On (Emmylou Harris)
05 talk (Carlene Carter)
06 The Bitter End (Carlene Carter)
07 talk (Marty Stuart)
08 Ready for the Times to Get Better (Marty Stuart)
09 talk (Emmylou Harris)
10 Blackhawk (Emmylou Harris)
11 talk (Carlene Carter)
12 Sad Clowns (Carlene Carter)
13 talk (Marty Stuart & Carlene Carter)
14 Fault Lines (Marty Stuart)
15 talk (Emmylou Harris & Marty Stuart)
16 Spanish Johnny (Emmylou Harris & Marty Stuart)
17 talk (Carlene Carter)
18 To Change Your Heart (Carlene Carter)
19 talk (Marty Stuart)
20 Tempted (Marty Stuart with Emmylou Harris)
21 talk (Emmylou Harris)
22 Strong Hand (Emmylou Harris)
23 talk (Carlene Carter)
24 Foggy Mountain Top (Carlene Carter)
25 talk (Marty Stuart)
26 Orange Blossom Special (Marty Stuart)
27 talk (Emmylou Harris)
28 The Road (Emmylou Harris)
29 talk (Carlene Carter)
30 Me and the Wildwood Rose (Carlene Carter)
31 talk (Marty Stuart)
32 Time Don't Wait (Marty Stuart)
33 talk (Emmylou Harris)
34 Beyond the Great Divide (Emmylou Harris, Carlene Carter & Marty Stuart)

https://pixeldrain.com/u/JU8MPLz8

alternate:

https://bestfile.io/en/0v6GnvJAu0XQwkJ/file

The cover image is a screenshot I took from a video of this concert. From right to left: Carlene Carter, Emmylou Harris, and Marty Stuart. I used Photoshop to move Carter closer to the other two. 

Tuesday, May 26, 2026

Covered: Neil Young: Alternates, Volume 4: 2016-2026 (A Fabio from Rio Guest Post)

In recent days, I've been posting four alternate "Covered" album by Neil Young. As I explained previously, I mostly picked the songs in the ten volume "Covered" series for him. But these four are the turn for guest poster Fabio from Rio to make the picks. This is the fourth and last of those alternates.

There's not much else to say that I didn't say in previous write-ups. However, I'll reiterate that, for these four alternate volumes as a whole, about half the songs are different versions of songs on the original ten-volume "Covered" series, and the other half are songs that didn't get included there. But I'd say on this volume, only a few are unique, like "Ramada Inn," "Hey Babe," and "Human Race." And there actually are two versions of "Pressure" in these alternate albums, and none in the original 10-volume series.

Thanks again for Fabio for his role in making all these albums, both the original series and this series of alternates.  

This album is an hour and five minutes long. 

01 Pressure (Ossifer)
02 Expecting to Fly (Jakob Dylan & Regina Spektor)
03 Ambulance Blues (Jeff Rosenstock, Laura Stevenson)
04 The Losing End (Bill Janovitz)
05 Thrasher (Scott the Hoople)
06 Like an Inca (Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real)
07 Ramada Inn (Scott the Hoople)
08 Hey Babe (Jeff Rosenstock & Laura Stevenson)
09 Human Race (Bernhard Schafers)
10 Lotta Love (Juliana Hatfield)
11 Give Me Strength (Emma Swift)
12 Such a Woman (Charlie Greene)
13 Comes a Time (Lena Hall)

https://pixeldrain.com/u/x61VMjCZ 

alternate:

https://bestfile.io/en/0rXP3r6JnwvGlv0/file

The cover image is from 2012 or thereabouts.

Thursday, May 14, 2026

Various Artists - Covered: Joan Baez, Volume 2: 2017-2023 (A Fabio from Rio Guest Post)

Here's the second and last "Covered" album for Joan Baez. Like the first one, it's a guest post by Fabio from Rio. 

If you want to know more, please read Fabio's notes, included in the download zip. In short, he feels Baez's songwriting has been underappreciated. As such, you don't see a lot of famous musical acts covering her songs. But just because someone isn't well known, that doesn't mean their cover version isn't good.

By the way, tracks 2 and 10 are unreleased versions. Track 2 was done in a studio without crowd noise. But for track 10, I used MVSEP to remove the cheering. 

This album is 46 minutes long.

01 Honest Lullaby (Monika Akselsen)
02 Prison Trilogy [Billy Rose] (Harpeth Rising)
03 Children of the Eighties (Chyi Yu)
04 Isaac and Abraham (Cameron Skillen & Melissa DuPuy)
05 The Story of Bangladesh (Bappa Mazumder & Elita Karim)
06 Gabriel and Me (Bay Love)
07 Love Song to a Stranger (Aoife O'Donovan)
08 Saigon Bride (Melmo)
09 Michael (Randy Bowles)
10 Children and All That Jazz (Genevieve Philips)

https://pixeldrain.com/u/D6rvk4os

alternate:

https://bestfile.io/PgcAF7l4Wx3yZAA/file 

The cover image is from 2017.

Monday, March 23, 2026

Various Artists - Covered: Neil Young, Volume 9: 2020-2022

Here's the ninth volume of the "Covered" series for Neil Young. We're getting near the end, with only one more volume after this. Once again, thanks to Fabio from Rio for doing most of the work putting this together. Here's Fabio's summary of this time period:

The early 2020s brought an unexpected new chapter in the long afterlife of Neil Young's songs. During the Covid pandemic years, musicians around the world turned to home recordings, livestream performances, and online collaborations. In that environment, Young's catalog proved once again remarkably adaptable: intimate acoustic songs worked perfectly in stripped-down home recordings, while his electric epics continued to inspire roots-rock and Americana bands. At the same time, Young himself remained a visible cultural figure, both through the expanding Neil Young Archives project and through public debates about streaming platforms and artists' rights. The covers in this volume reflect that moment: a mixture of independent artists, online collaborations, and established performers revisiting songs from every phase of Young's long career. 

--- 

Note that Fabio wrote individual paragraphs about all the songs in this volume. To see that, please look at the Word file added to the download zip file. Thanks again to Fabio for his help putting these albums together. 

This album is an hour and three minutes long.

01 Razor Love (Brandon Wolfe Scott with Stacey)
02 Unknown Legend (Mandolin Orange)
03 Eldorado (Sioux 13)
04 No Wonder (Blue Raincoat)
05 Lookout Joe (Marc Ford)
06 Be the Rain (Gil Michaels)
07 I'm the Ocean (Dark Wrangler)
08 It's a Dream (Cody Simpson & Ben Harper)
09 Surfer Joe and Moe the Sleaze (Rust for Glory)
10 Comes a Time (Jeff & Laura)
11 When God Made Me (Ronnie Drew & Eleanor Shanley)
12 Love in Mind (Cowboy Junkies)
13 Mother Earth (Zach)

https://pixeldrain.com/u/zDQePUMC

alternate:

https://bestfile.io/en/IkOROTCq0hkhVhu/file

The cover photo is from 2015. 

Friday, March 20, 2026

Various Artists - Covered: Neil Young, Volume 8: 2016-2020

As I write this, I’m sitting in an airplane, about to fly back to the U.S. I’m glad to see my plan to keep posting albums while on vacation has worked out. 

Here’s the next album in the Neil Young “Covered” series. There are two albums to go after this one. Once more, thanks to Fabio from Rio from doing most of the heavy lifting for these albums. Here is the intro to his notes:

By the late 2010s, Neil Young's songwriting had fully entered the digital age of reinterpretation. Covers were no longer limited to traditional tribute albums or major-label releases. Many now emerged through independent recordings, Bandcamp releases, streaming platforms, and fan communities online. At the same time, a younger generation of indie-folk, Americana, and roots musicians continued to rediscover Young's catalog, often gravitating toward the emotional honesty and melodic simplicity that have always defined his best work. Meanwhile, Young himself remained active both musically and politically, releasing albums that addressed environmental and social issues while also opening vast portions of his archival material through the Neil Young Archives project. The performances collected here reflect that ecosystem: established artists, roots musicians, and independent performers revisiting both classics and deep cuts from across his remarkable career.

--- 

Note that Fabio wrote individual paragraphs about all the songs in this volume. To see that, please look at the Word file added to the download zip file. Thanks again to Fabio for his help putting these albums together. 

This album is an hour and three minutes long. 

01 Country Girl (Sanford Markley & Paul Cronin)
02 Hangin' on a Limb (Lars Hall & Saga Eserstam)
03 Don't Be Denied (Norah Jones)
04 Long May You Run (Sarah Jane Scouten & the Paperboys)
05 My My, Hey Hey [Out of the Blue] (Keller Williams)
06 Alabama (Tedeschi Trucks Band)
07 Nothing Is Perfect (Change Partners)
08 Time Fades Away (Harrison Clock)
09 Heart of Gold (Charles Bradley)
10 Flying on the Ground Is Wrong (Kelley Suttenfield)
11 Vampire Blues (Rayland Baxter)
12 Sample and Hold (Joi Noir)
13 Buffalo Springfield Again (Danielle Brilo)
14 Everybody's Alone (Cajsalisa Ejemyr)
15 Through My Sails (Jeff Rosenstock & Laura Stevenson)
16 Light a Candle (Scott the Hoople)

https://pixeldrain.com/u/AFArzv51

alternate:

https://bestfile.io/en/GG7osrRgekL0szG/file

The cover photo is from 2008.

Wednesday, February 4, 2026

Various Artists - The Thrill Is Gone - A Tribute to B.B. King, Capitol Theatre, Port Chester, NY, 2-16-2020

The great blues legend B.B. King died in 2015, at the age of 89. I'm not sure what took so long, but five years later, there was this tribute concert celebrating his music. This is unusually long compared to most tribute concerts, at nearly four hours long. The vast majority of it was professionally recorded for a webcast, so the sound quality is mostly excellent. 

Note that I said "the vast majority" of this was professionally recorded, not all. That's because it seems a couple of performers didn't allow their songs to be included in the webcast. For those, I tried to find the songs elsewhere. I found a couple of the missing songs on YouTube, but the sound quality on those isn't as good as the rest. I couldn't find "You Shook Me" performed by Ann Wilson and Robert Randolph, as well as "Night Life" and "Take It Home" by Jamey Johnston. If anyone has those, please let me know and I'll add them in.

There was an impressive list of musicians who performed for this concert, including Buddy Guy, Warren Haynes, Derek Trucks, Susan Tedeschi, John Scofield, Ann Wilson (of Heart), David Hidalgo (of Los Lobos), Ivan Neville (of the Neville Brothers), Jimmie Vaughan (of the Fabulous Thunderbirds), Little Steven, Robert Cray, Robert Randolph, Shemekia Copeland, William Bell, and more.

Actually, this concert was performed two nights in a row, but only one night was broadcast. I don't know how different the other night might have been. 

The music here remains unreleased. The sound quality is excellent, except for the few I took from other sources. Most of those are near the end, for instance "When Love Comes to Town" by Ann Wilson.

This album is three hours and 47 minutes long. 

01 talk (Wavy Gravy)
02 talk (Tony C.C. Coleman)
03 BB's Theme [Instrumental] (Tony C.C. Coleman)
04 talk (Tony C.C. Coleman)
05 You Upset Me Baby (Tony C.C. Coleman)
06 talk (Tony C.C. Coleman)
07 I Got a Mind to Give Up Living (Bob Margolin)
08 talk (Tony C.C. Coleman)
09 Let Me In (Bobby Rush)
10 talk (Bobby Rush)
11 Garbage Man (Bobby Rush)
12 talk (Tony C.C. Coleman)
13 Hummingbird (Val B. King & Frank Bacombe)
14 talk (Tony C.C. Coleman)
15 Let the Good Times Roll (Little Steven)
16 talk (Tony C.C. Coleman)
17 Beautician Blues (Southside Johnny)
18 talk (Tony C.C. Coleman)
19 Never Make a Move Too Soon (John Scofield & Ivan Neville)
20 talk (Tony C.C. Coleman)
21 Why I Sing the Blues (Kingfish)
22 talk (Tony C.C. Coleman)
23 Powerhouse [Instrumental] (David Hidalgo)
24 talk (David Hidalgo)
25 Need Your Love So Bad (David Hidalgo)
26 talk (Tony C.C. Coleman)
27 Please Love Me (Jimmy Vaughan)
28 talk (Jimmy Vaughan)
29 Woke Up This Morning (Jimmy Vaughan)
30 talk (Tony C.C. Coleman)
31 Blue Shadows (William Bell)
32 talk (William Bell)
33 Ain't Nobody Home (William Bell)
34 talk (Tony C.C. Coleman)
35 Paying the Cost to Be the Boss (Shemekia Copeland)
36 talk (Shemekia Copeland)
37 Call It Stormy Monday (Shemekia Copeland & John Scofield)
38 talk (Tony C.C. Coleman)
39 Three O'Clock Blues (Derek Trucks & Susan Tedeschi)
40 talk (Derek Trucks & Susan Tedeschi)
41 You Don't Know (Derek Trucks & Susan Tedeschi)
42 talk (Tony C.C. Coleman)
43 So Excited (Warren Haynes)
44 How Blue Can You Get (Warren Haynes)
45 talk (Tony C.C. Coleman)
46 Ghetto Woman (Robert Randolph with Ivan Neville)
47 talk (Robert Randolph & Ivan Neville)
48 Don't Cry No More (Robert Randolph & Ivan Neville)
49 talk (Tony C.C. Coleman)
50 I Like to Live the Love (Robert Cray)
51 Troubles, Troubles, Troubles (Robert Cray)
52 When Love Comes to Town (Ann Wilson)
53 Sweet Little Angel - It's My Fault (Buddy Guy)
54 talk (Buddy Guy)
55 The Thrill Is Gone (Buddy Guy, Derek Trucks, Ann Wilson, Robert Cray & Shemekia Copeland)
56 talk (Tony C.C. Coleman)
57 talk (Tony C.C. Coleman)
58 Everyday I Have the Blues (Everybody)

https://pixeldrain.com/u/YVLheabH

alternate:

https://bestfile.io/en/90vA8uFEYrvrlzM/file

The cover photo shows an encore from this exact concert. In the front row, from right to left: Robert Cray, Warren Haynes, William Bell, Susan Tedeschi, Shemekia Copeland, and (probably) Robert Rudolph.

Saturday, January 24, 2026

Various Artists - Covered: Tom Waits, Volume 4: 2013-2023 (A Fabio from Rio Guest Post)

Here's the fourth and last album in the "Covered" series celebrating the songs of Tom Waits by collecting cover versions.

Once again, I have to thank Fabio from Rio for being the prime mover behind putting these Waits albums together. He selected a large number of songs, and I narrowed it down to a reasonable amount. And one again, Fabio was nice enough to do the write up. So, take it away, Fabio:

--- 

Waits released his last studio record to date ("Bad as Me") in 2011. His later works revisit all earlier phases in fragmented, refined form. Waits alternates tender ballads with abrasive rhythm experiments, presenting a distilled, self-aware summary of his artistic language rather than a new stylistic break.

This last volume with performances from the 2010s and 2020s is mostly filled with female voices, hinting that, musically, Waits has become something of a ladies' man — at least for a younger generation of singers.

Here again we have a wild range of different styles, from forties-like doo-wop (Ice Cream Man) to eighties-drum-machine-electro-pop ("All Stripped Down"), from jazz and blues rock ("Fumblin' with the Blues", "Shore Leave") to americana and alt-country ("Walk Away", "Blue Skies").

We will also find adult contemporary ("In-Between Love"), dark cabaret ("Little Drop of Poison", "Starving in the Belly of a Whale"), R&B ("Such a Scream"), and confessional ballad ("Martha") in the mix.

Tom Jones makes "Bad as Me" his own. "Emotional Weather Report" is a deep cut taken from the little-known jazz and spoken-word Waits seventies album "Nighthawks on the Radio", which highlights Tom Waits' deadpan humor. 

Other standouts are Rosanne Cash's "Time" and Aimee Mann's version for "Hold On" - which kind of reminded me, in spirit if not in sound, of the acappella version sung by Emily Kinney as Beth Greene in "The Walking Dead" - one of the most poignant moments of the entire series(*). 

(*) You can check it out (along with Tom Waits' original version) at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GNeGLUAUbgQ&list=RDGNeGLUAUbgQ 

---

This album is 55 minutes long.

01 Walk Away (Steel Wheels)
02 Bad as Me (Tom Jones)
03 Emotional Weather Report (Marissa Mulder)
04 All Stripped Down (Lisa Bassenge)
05 Ice Cream Man (Hazelnuts)
06 Blue Skies (Lisa Bassenge)
07 In Between Love (Jennifer Porter)
08 Such a Scream (Good Paper of Rev. Rob Mortimer)
09 Fumblin' with the Blues (Natascha & the Spy Boys)
10 Little Drop of Poison (Ellie Gunn and the Firethornes)
11 Hold On (Aimee Mann)
12 Time (Rosanne Cash)
13 Starving in the Belly of a Whale (Belladone)
14 Martha (Jackie Greene)
15 Shore Leave (Nickel)

https://pixeldrain.com/u/iGci1BC9

alternate: 

https://bestfile.io/en/taTjklwbZnegYK6/file

The cover photo is a screenshot I took from a video of an interview he did around 2020.

Saturday, November 15, 2025

Various Artists - Covered: Antonio Carlos Jobim, Volume 3: 2012-2024 (A Fabio from Rio Guest Post)

Here is the third and final "Covered" album celebrating the songwriting of Antonio Carlos Jobim.

I didn't get around to writing about the basics of Jobim's life with the first two volumes in this series, so let me do that now. Jobim was born in 1927 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. In the 1940s, he made a living playing piano in bars and nightclubs in Rio. His first song to be recorded by someone happened in 1953. But he didn't have significant success until 1958, when Joao Gilberto recorded what would become one of his most famous songs, "Desafinado (Out of Tune)." Then, in 1964, he really hit it big with "The Girl from Ipanema." A version of that song by Stan Getz and Astrud Gilberto reached the Top Five in the U.S. singles chart. But its success went way beyond that. In fact, it has become the second most recorded song of all time, behind only "Yesterday" by the Beatles.

This song led many people to discover not only other songs written by Jobim, but songs from Brazil in general, especially bossa nova music. For a couple of years, there was a sort of bossa nova craze in Western countries, especially in the jazz world. Jazz musicians in particular fell in love with Jobim's songs, because they were both musically complicated and interesting while being tuneful and catchy. Many of his songs became standards. Looking at the website secondhandsongs.com in 2025, which tallies cover versions, I count 34 songs written or co-written by Jobim that have been covered over 100 times. It may not sound like a lot, but that's a crazy amount. By comparison, only 18 songs by Bob Dylan have been covered over 100 times. Or consider Carole King, one of the most successful songwriters of all time. Only eight of her songs have been covered over 100 times.

Jobim released several dozen albums, with about half of them being collaborations with other famous musicians. He often collaborated with singers, since he wasn't much of a singer himself. His own albums didn't sell that well, but his collaboration albums often did. Overall, he had much more success with other musicians covering his songs. 

Here's his Wikipedia entry, if you want to know more:

Antônio Carlos Jobim - Wikipedia 

He died in 1994 at the age of 67. As a result, all of the songs here are from well after his death. Most of them were written in the 1950s to 1970s, and it just so happens these are the versions that Fabio from Rio and I liked the best (since all three of these albums were put together by Fabio and myself). As with the two previous volumes in the series, the focus was on songs sung in English, when in fact there are even more covers of his songs in other languages, especially Portuguese, which is spoken in his home country of Brazil.

Thanks again to Fabio of Rio for his helping putting this Jobim albums together. I already had plans to make Covered albums from Jobim on my own. But they wouldn't have been nearly as good without Fabio's input, since he's much more familiar with this type of music than I am. 

This album is 46 minutes long. 

01 I Love You [Eu Te Amo] (Alessandra Maestrini)
02 Somewhere in the Hills [O Morro Nao Tem Vez] (Lisa Sanchez & Jon Eriksen Quartet)
03 Forever Green [Sempre Verde] (Trudy Kerr)
04 Photograph [Fotografia] (Stephanie Patton)
05 Little Bird [Passarim] (Daniel Vincke)
06 Once I Loved [O Amor em Paz] (Baila Nova)
07 This Happy Madness [Estrada Branca] (Delicatessen)
08 Useless Landscape [Inutil Paisagem] (Emma Pask)
09 Meditation [Meditacao] (Nicole Magolie)
10 One Note Samba [Samba de Uma Nota So] (Arpi Alto)
11 Wave (Natalie Jacob, Tamir Hendelman, Anthony Wilson & Kevin Winard)

https://pixeldrain.com/u/j7mfHvpG

alternate:

https://bestfile.io/en/yYPgPGsthdFUTHv/file

The cover photo is cropped from a photo of Jobim with Sting. I don't know when it was taken, but I'd guess it's from the 1990s, because the two of them collaborated on a song around then which was released in 1996. The original version was black and white, but I colorized it with the help of the Kolorize program.

Saturday, September 20, 2025

Various Artists - Gershwin Prize for Popular Song Honoring Garth Brooks, D.A.R. Constitution Hall, Washington, DC, 3-4-2020

Up until now, I've posted eight "Gershwin Prize for Popular Song" award concerts. There's a bunch more out there; they're just currently very hard to find. Happily, yesterday, a person anonymously sent me this one, so now I can post the ninth. I still call on people to help me post the other ones I've missed. If you have them, please share! Anyway, this one is from 2020, a couple of weeks before the world shut down due to the Covid pandemic, and honors Garth Brooks.

This one is pretty different from the other Gershwin Prize concerts I've found so far. The first half proceeded more or less usually, though it was unique that Brooks himself started the concert by playing a song. But then, instead of playing a couple of songs at the end, or even a few, Brooks basically played a mini-concert. He played no fewer than 15 songs at the end! Admittedly, many of these were short versions, usually only a minute or two, often acoustic cover versions. But still, about half of this tribute concert was performed by Brooks. By comparison, when Joni Mitchell would accept her Gershwin Prize three years later, she would sing only two songs.

The music here is unreleased, and the sound quality is excellent. 

This album is an hour and 45 minutes long. 

01 Ain't Goin' Down ['Til the Sun Comes Up] [Edit] (Garth Brooks with Keith Urban)
02 talk (Jay Leno)
03 Rodeo (Chris Stapleton)
04 talk (Chris Stapleton)
05 Shameless (Chris Stapleton)
06 talk (Keb Mo)
07 The River (Keb Mo)
08 talk (Jay Leno)
09 talk (Keith Urban)
10 We Shall Be Free (Keith Urban)
11 talk (Lee Brice)
12 More than a Memory (Lee Brice)
13 talk (Ricky Scaggs)
14 Callin' Baton Rouge (Ricky Scaggs & the Oak Ridge Boys)
15 talk (Margaret George)
16 For the Last Time (Trisha Yearwood)
17 talk (Trisha Yearwood)
18 The Change (Trisha Yearwood)
19 talk (David Rubenstein)
20 talk (Carla Hayden)
21 talk (Garth Brooks)
22 Vincent (Garth Brooks)
23 Operator [That's Not the Way It Feels] (Garth Brooks)
24 talk (Garth Brooks)
25 Unanswered Prayers (Garth Brooks)
26 talk (Garth Brooks)
27 Sing Me Back Home (Garth Brooks)
28 talk (Garth Brooks)
29 Make You Feel My Love (Garth Brooks)
30 talk (Garth Brooks)
31 [Sittin' On] The Dock of the Bay (Garth Brooks)
32 Ain't No Sunshine (Garth Brooks)
33 talk (Garth Brooks)
34 Wild World (Garth Brooks)
35 talk (Garth Brooks)
36 Night Moves (Garth Brooks)
37 talk (Garth Brooks)
38 That Summer (Garth Brooks)
39 talk (Garth Brooks)
40 The Thunder Rolls (Garth Brooks)
41 talk (Garth Brooks)
42 Piano Man (Garth Brooks)
43 American Pie (Garth Brooks)
44 talk (Garth Brooks)
45 Friends in Low Places (Garth Brooks)
46 talk (Garth Brooks)
47 The Dance [Edit] (Garth Brooks)

https://pixeldrain.com/u/6BuegDKz

alternate:

https://bestfile.io/en/VAr9F5qWXeMBnC7/file

The cover photo is from this exact concert. 

Tuesday, August 26, 2025

Norah Jones - Tryin' to Keep It Together - Non-Album Tracks (2020-2023)

Here's another collection of non-album tracks from Norah Jones.

The Covid pandemic dominated 2020 until 2022. During that time, Jones kept quite busy with frequent home concerts. She played enough unique songs in those concerts for me to post two albums of those (as well as all of his home concerts in full). This avoids all of that in other to avoid duplication. Additionally, during this time she hosted a podcast and played even more unique songs. I'm avoiding all those as well. Hopefully those will be the subject of a future album or two posted here, though she also has released an album of highlights from her podcast, called "Playing Along."

The first two songs are bonus tracks from her album "Pick Me Up Off the Floor." Tracks 3, 4, 7, 8, and 10 are unreleased. All of those are from concerts, though most of those were not in front of audiences due to the Covid pandemic at the time. For the two that did have audience applause, I got rid of that using the MVSEP program, so they would better fit in with the studio tracks.

Tracks 5 and 6 are bonus tracks from her 2021 Christmas album, "I Dream of Christmas." The song "I Dream of Christmas" was co-written by Jones, so it's a bit strange it was only a bonus track for the album that was given the same name as the song. Track 9, "Steer Your Way," is from a Leonard Cohen tribute album. The last two are also from a concert, but an officially released one, celebrating Willie Nelson's 90th birthday. 

This album is 45 minutes long.

01 Street Stranger (Norah Jones)
02 Tryin' to Keep It Together (Norah Jones)
03 Yes We Can Can (Norah Jones with Emily King, Abeena Koomson-Davis & Amy Helm)
04 Help Me (Norah Jones)
05 I Dream of Christmas (Norah Jones)
06 The Christmas Waltz (Norah Jones)
07 I've Got a Feeling (Norah Jones)
08 Let It Be (Norah Jones)
09 Steer Your Way (Norah Jones)
10 The Warmth of the Sun (Norah Jones)
11 Seven Spanish Angels (Allison Russell & Norah Jones)
12 Down Yonder (Norah Jones)

https://pixeldrain.com/u/r5vZwP11

alternate:

https://bestfile.io/3pMRR4toL41ylIB/file

The cover photo is from 2022. 

Monday, August 25, 2025

Ron Sexsmith - Reasons to Believe, Volume 8: 2016-2023

Back in early 2024, I started posting this series of non-album tracks by Ron Sexsmith. This was the idea of a musical associate, Pete the Greek, and I wouldn't have done it without his instigation and continual help. Finally, after a year and a half, the series comes to an end with this eighth volume. (Or at least it's ending until Sexsmith puts out another albums' worth of stray tracks, but that could take years.)

This album is a fairly even split between released and unreleased songs. The released ones are tracks 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 9, 10 and 11. One of those, "Flowers All Along the Pathway," is a bonus track from the Sexsmith album "The Vivian Line." Most of the rest are appearances on albums by other musical acts, or on various artists compilations.

That leaves the unreleased songs, which are the remaining six. These are all from concerts, home concerts, or radio shows. For the ones that had audience applause, I got rid of that using the MVSEP program to help them fit in with the other songs without applause. 

Thanks again to Pete the Greek for all his help with this series, and sorry it took so long to post it all.

This album is 49 minutes long. 

Here's a list of the original artists for each song: 

01 Twilight of the Season - Hidden Cameras with Ron Sexsmith
02 Don't Make Promises - Tim Hardin
03 Stay Loose - Gordon Lightfoot
04 Sorrow Town - Jamie Lawson & Ron Sexsmith
05 Suzanne - Leonard Cohen
06 Driving Home for Christmas - Chris Rea
07 How're You Holding Up - Humanist with Ron Sexsmith
08 If Not for You - Bob Dylan
09 The Faith - Leonard Cohen
10 Flowers All Along the Pathway - Ron Sexsmith
11 Granddad's Song - SunYears
12 I'll Never Fall in Love Again - Dionne Warwick
13 Dirty Life and Times - Warren Zevon
14 You Can Call Me Al - Paul Simon

Here's the usual song list: 

01 Twilight of the Season (Hidden Cameras with Ron Sexsmith)
02 Don't Make Promises (Hidden Cameras with Ron Sexsmith)
03 Stay Loose (Ron Sexsmith)
04 Sorrow Town (Jamie Lawson & Ron Sexsmith)
05 Suzanne (Ron Sexsmith)
06 Driving Home for Christmas (Ron Sexsmith)
07 How're You Holding Up (Humanist with Ron Sexsmith)
08 If Not for You (Ron Sexsmith)
09 The Faith (Ron Sexsmith)
10 Flowers All Along the Pathway (Ron Sexsmith)
11 Granddad's Song (SunYears with Ron Sexsmith)
12 I'll Never Fall in Love Again (Ron Sexsmith)
13 Dirty Life and Times (Ron Sexsmith)
14 You Can Call Me Al (Ballroom Thieves & Ron Sexsmith)  

https://pixeldrain.com/u/KVari7Y6

alternate:

https://bestfile.io/en/bwFSMMo5FWin5lc/file

The cover photo is from 2017. That's all I know about it.

Sheryl Crow - Nobody Told Me - Non-Album Tracks (2020-2022)

It's time for another stray tracks album from Sheryl Crow. Actually, I only need another song or two and I'll have enough to get caught up to present day. So I hope that'll happen soon.

After a 2019 album, "Threads," Crow said she was done with putting out albums and would switch to releasing singles instead. She hasn't entirely kept to that, since she released another album in 2024. But she has released fewer albums than before, and she also has released some songs only on singles. There are three single A-sides here, tracks 3, 9, and 10. Additionally, "Still the Same" is another original, released on a compilation album. Tracks 4, 5, 7, and 11 are from appearances on albums by other musical acts. 

That just leaves the unreleased songs. There are four of those, tracks 1, 2, 6, and 8. The first three were live but without an audience, because this was during the Covid pandemic, when home concerts were happening instead of concerts in front of crowds. For the tracks with audience noise (tracks 4 and 8), I removed the cheering with the MVSEP program so it would fit in with the studio tracks.

This album is 45 minutes long. 

01 Nobody Told Me (Sheryl Crow)
02 You Don't Know How It Feels (Sheryl Crow)
03 In the End (Sheryl Crow)
04 After the Fire Is Gone (Willie Nelson & Sheryl Crow)
05 How Can You Mend a Broken Heart (Barry Gibb & Sheryl Crow)
06 It's Only Love (Sheryl Crow)
07 Cool Down (Lucie Silvas & Sheryl Crow)
08 Rocket Man [I Think It's Going to Be a Long, Long Time] (Brandi Carlile & Sheryl Crow)
09 Circles (Sheryl Crow)
10 Promised Land (Toby Mac & Sheryl Crow)
11 Still the Same (Sheryl Crow)

https://pixeldrain.com/u/XxsYhEHE

alternate:

https://bestfile.io/en/parYCyNAHxa7Arb/file

For the cover art, I decided to do something different than the usual photo of Crow. I did an Internet search for Sheryl Crow art, and came up with this nice image. I don't know who made it.

Sunday, August 24, 2025

Various Artists - Let's Go Crazy: A Grammy Salute to Prince, Convention Center, Los Angeles, CA, 1-28-2020

A couple of days ago, I posted a Grammy tribute to Paul Simon in 2022. That's not the only such Grammy tribute, although they haven't always happened yearly. Here's one from 2020, paying tribute to Prince, who died in 2016.

In the Paul Simon tribute, there was a lot of talking between songs. But in this one, this is almost no banter whatsoever. It's possible some of that was cut out of the version I found, since even the applause at the ends of songs was usually brutally cut short after just a second or two. To make this a better flowing listen, I usually patched in more applause between songs, to give more breathing room before the next song began. 

There are lots of interesting versions of Prince's most famous songs here, often done by big name stars. Since most of Prince's songs are upbeat and funky, and there's no banter between songs, this plays like a party album.

Everything here is unreleased. The sound quality is excellent. 

This album is an hour and seven minutes long.

01 Let's Go Crazy (H.E.R. & Gary Clark Jr.)
02 I Would Die 4 U (Miguel)
03 Nothing Compares 2 U (John Legend)
04 Controversy (St. Vincent)
05 1999 (Juanes)
06 The Beautiful Ones (H.E.R.)
07 Little Red Corvette - When Doves Cry - Kiss (Usher)
08 Manic Monday (Chris Martin & Susanna Hoffs)
09 Jungle Love - Cool - The Bird (Morris Day & the Time)
10 Darling Nikki (Foo Fighters)
11 Adore (Earth, Wind & Fire)
12 Sign O' the Times (Common & Sheila E.)
13 Raspberry Beret (Beck)
14 The Cross (Gary Clark Jr.)
15 America - Free - The Glamorous Life (Sheila E.)
16 Delirious (Maya Rudolph, Gretchen Lieberum & the Revolution)
17 Purple Rain (Mavis Staples & the Revolution)
18 Baby I'm a Star (Sheila E. & All-Stars)

https://pixeldrain.com/u/sDXfRJEg

alternate:

https://bestfile.io/en/gbGt1ut1LUSTASX/file 

The cover photo shows Chris Martin and Susanna Hoffs singing "Manic Monday" under a giant picture of Prince.

Wednesday, June 4, 2025

John Fogerty - Weeping in the Promised Land - Non-Album Tracks (2013-2022)

I recently got a request from a commenter to post more of my non-album track albums by John Fogerty. I only have one more by him before we get to the present day, more or less. So here it is. (And by the way, I still have lots of these stray track albums to post by various musical acts, but they've been on the backburner compared to BBC albums and other things recently.)

In 2013, the year of the first song in this album, Fogerty was 68 years old. In 2022, the year of the last song in this album, he was 77 years old. As I write this in 2025, he still has a strong voice and plays lead guitar very well, but it's obvious his songwriting creativity has slowed way down. He hasn't released an album of new original songs since 2007. So the songs here mostly consist of cover versions, plus acoustic versions of songs from earlier in his career, with only a couple new originals ("The Holy Grail" and "Weeping in the Promised Land").

The first song, "Sharp Dressed Man," is a ZZ Top song done with Billy Gibbons, the lead vocalist and lead guitarist in ZZ Top. Both Fogerty and Gibbons sang and played lead guitar on it. It's unreleased, from a bootleg. "New Orleans" is a cover of a 1960s hit performed in concert for a Dr. John tribute album. "Give Peace a Chance" and "In My Life" are John Lennon songs done for a Lennon tribute concert in 2015. They come from an official album of highlights of that concert. Tracks 5, 6, 11, and 12 are unreleased acoustic versions of hits Fogerty had earlier in his career, mostly from when he a member of Creedence Clearwater Revival. They're from radio or Internet shows. "Long as I Can See the Light" is particularly interesting since it was played on piano instead of guitar as usual. 

"Love and War" is a song performed with country star Brad Paisley from his 2017 album, also called "Love and War." "I Won't Back Down" is a cover of the classic Tom Petty song. This is from an concert bootleg, and the sound quality is a little poorer than the other songs. "The Holy Grail" is a single from 2018, and "Weeping in the Promised Land" is a single from 2021. 

"With a Little Help from My Friends" is a cover of the Beatles song from the 2019 official live album "50 Year Trip: Live at Red Rocks." However, it is done in the same style as Joe Cocker's famous hit cover version. "Walk, Don't Run," is a cover on the famous instrumental hit by the Ventures. Fogerty only performed it once in concert, on January 22, 2022, because it was done in honor of the lead guitarist for the Ventures, Don Wilson, who died earlier in the day. Finally, "The City of New Orleans" is yet another cover song of a classic, done from a various artists collection of train songs in 2022.

This album is 49 minutes long.

01 Sharp Dressed Man (John Fogerty & Billy Gibbons)
02 New Orleans (John Fogerty)
03 Give Peace a Chance (John Fogerty)
04 In My Life (John Fogerty)
05 Have You Ever Seen the Rain [Acoustic Version] (John Fogerty)
06 Centerfield [Acoustic Version] (John Fogerty)
07 Love and War (Brad Paisley & John Fogerty)
08 I Won't Back Down (John Fogerty)
09 The Holy Grail (John Fogerty with Billy Gibbons)
10 With a Little Help from My Friends (John Fogerty)
11 Bad Moon Rising [Acoustic Version] (John Fogerty)
12 Long as I Can See the Light [Piano Version] (John Fogerty)
13 Weeping in the Promised Land (John Fogerty)
14 Walk, Don't Run [Instrumental] (John Fogerty)
15 The City of New Orleans (John Fogerty)

https://pixeldrain.com/u/QmbAsD2Q

alternate: 

https://bestfile.io/en/F6uTZi3doqx4Kvi/file

The cover photo is from a concert at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada on April 8, 2013.

Wednesday, April 23, 2025

Paul Weller - BBC Sessions, Volume 18: 2018-2024

Here's another album of Paul Weller performing for the BBC. This is a collection of BBC studio sessions, from 2018 to 2024.

I'm finally getting close to the end of the BBC albums from him that I want to post. I'm caught up to the present day with studio sessions (since I'm writing this in early 2025). However, I still have two more BBC concerts to post. And I assume he'll keep performing for the BBC in the future, since he's been doing so ever since he first started getting widespread attention back in 1977.

Everything here is officially unreleased, from lots of different sessions. The first four songs are from 2018. The next one is from 2019. Tracks six and seven are from 2020. Track eight is from 2021. The remainder are from 2024. A couple of the songs had some audience applause. But I used the MVSEP audio program to get rid of all of the applause, so everything sounds like a studio recording.

For the most part, the songs are originals from Weller's then-current albums, or occasionally from earlier in his music career. However, he included some covers he didn't put on albums. For instance, "Days" is the Kinks classic. "Nobody's Fool" is an obscure track also by the Kinks, only later released as a bonus track. This version was performed with Suggs, who is the lead singer of the band Madness. "What Does It Take (To Win Your Love)" is a classic 1970s soul song first done by Jr. Walker and the All-Stars. "Say You Don't Mind" was a minor hit in 1967 by Denny Laine, who was the first lead singer for the Moody Blues back in the 1960s.

This album is an hour and one minute long.

UPDATE: On August 11, 2025, I added two songs I'd previously missed, "Flying Fish" and "I Woke Up." 

01 Days (Paul Weller)
02 What Would He Say (Paul Weller)
03 Movin On (Paul Weller)
04 Gravity (Paul Weller)
05 Nobody's Fool (Suggs & Paul Weller)
06 More (Paul Weller)
07 Village (Paul Weller)
08 What Does It Take [To Win Your Love] (Paul Weller)
09 Jumble Queen (Paul Weller)
10 Soul Wandering (Paul Weller)
11 Flying Fish (Paul Weller)
12 I Woke Up (Paul Weller)
13 What Was I Made For (Paul Weller)
14 Have You Ever Had It Blue (Paul Weller)
15 Rise Up Singing (Paul Weller)
16 Say You Don't Mind (Paul Weller)
17 Burn Out (Paul Weller)

https://pixeldrain.com/u/QoZeVZPE

alternate:

https://bestfile.io/en/N1iS0XVnSZ0LEIz/file

The cover photo is from an appearance on the "Later... with Jools Holland" TV show in 2024.