“Missing the Point“
No. 3 on Austin’s Book People New and Noteworthy page.
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ART OF COVERS
Ever since David Byrne’s BELEZA TROPICALE (1989) compilation, I’ve followed Bahia’s Caetano Veloso, even wrote up his Knopf autobiography for Boston Review, a piece that never ran. One of the first things I admired was his taste in covers: Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean,” sung with a delicate irony, on his eponymous Nonesuch release in 1986 (still my favorite Veloso CD). His new release is all covers, A FOREIGN SOUND (Nonesuch), a mixed bag, but a keeper for song choices alone (Richard Rodgers’s “I Must Have Done Something Good,” Kurt Cobain’s “Come As You Are”). It got me thinking about the cover genre in more detail. Here’s a couple lists I threw together for kicks, and more on Veloso soon.
COVER ALBUMS
A single act covering a variety of songwriters. Must reveal new things about the originals, with points awarded for obscure revelations, arrangements, genre insights, and fresh angles on original recording/performer(s) AND interpreter. That is, a cover becomes poetry when it casts light in all directions. Omitted from this category are GENRE EXERCISES, like Rondstadt’s Nelson Riddle affair, WHAT’S NEW, where an artist attempts a complete stylistic crossover. Exceptions prove the rule:
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The Band MOONDOG MATINEE (1973)
The Beatles BEATLES AT THE BEEB (1962-66) (the great apprenticeship)
Yo La Tengo FAKEBOOK (1989)
Dwight Yoakam UNDER THE COVERS (1997)
Todd Rundgren FAITHFUL (1976) (half covers, so good they count double)
HINDU LOVE GODS (Warren Zevon w/REM) (1990)
John Lennon ROCK’N’ROLL (1973)
Paul McCartney RUN DEVIL RUN (1999) (nearly all covers, with originals blending right in)
John Fogerty BLUE RIDGE RANGERS (1973)
Willie Nelson TO LEFTY FROM WILLIE (1977)
Bubbling Under:
- Joan Jett THE HIT LIST (1990)
Willie Nelson STARDUST (1978) [produced by Booker T. Washington]
Harry Nilsson A TOUCH OF SCHMILSSON IN THE NIGHT (1973) (included here precisely because it’s more than a GENRE EXERCIZE: he sings these standards, and reveals original lyrics to “Makin’ Whoopee,” as rock’n’roll.)
Everything But the Girl ACOUSTIC (1992, fleshed out with originals)
David Bowie PINUPS (1973)
Guns ‘N’ Roses THE SPAGHETTI INCIDENT? (1994)
Joan Osborne RIGHTEOUS LOVE (2000)
Michael McDonald MOTOWN (2003)
Leon Russell HANK WILSON’S BACK (1973)
Beach Boys PARTY! (1965)
ACTS WITH COVER ALBUMS STILL IN THEM:
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Neil Young
Bruce Springsteen
Bonnie Raitt (please oh please)
Bob Dylan
Chrissie Hynde
NRBQ
TRIBUTE ALBUMS
Single act dedicated to single composer/act, far fewer success stories. Must convey a sense of how the material shape(s)(d) the interpreter(s).
- The Byrds BYRDS PLAY DYLAN (NA)
Coulson Dean McGuinness and Flint LO AND BEHOLD! (Sire) (all Dylan)
Bottle Rockets SONG OF SAHM (all Doug Sahm)
Pine Valley Cosmonauts THE MAJESTY OF BOB WILLS (Bloodshot)
SONGWRITERS DESERVING OF MORE COVERS:
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Rosanne Cash
Elvis Costello
Leonard Cohen
Joni Mitchell
Lucinda Williams