Past years, cover albums, tributes, hands I’ve shook, concerts, Rock Snobs, top 90s acts, guilty pleasures misc…
2002
2001:
This from a page I was producing for Public Interactive, which syndicated content to pubradio websites nationwide.
The ’90s:
The first half of the decade was far richer aesthetically than the second, even without Nirvana. And yes, that was probably an oversite. But then again, everybody missed Ride. If you get to clicking around in there, you’ll find almost all the work I did, except for radio, which I’m working on compiling backwards. A lot of the MONITOR RADIO stuff is lost to history, though.
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:
- The Band MOONDOG MATINEE (1973)
The Beatles BEATLES AT THE BEEB (1962-66) (the great apprenticeship)
Yo La Tengo FAKEBOOK (1989)
Patti Smith TWELVE (2007)
Dwight Yoakam UNDER THE COVERS (1997)
Todd Rundgren FAITHFUL (1976) (half covers, so good they count double)
John Lennon ROCK’N’ROLL (1973)
Paul McCartney RUN DEVIL RUN (1999) (nearly all covers, with originals blending right in)
Willie Nelson TO LEFTY FROM WILLIE (1977)
John Fogerty BLUE RIDGE RANGERS (1973)
Bubbling Under:
- HINDU LOVE GODS (Warren Zevon w/REM) (1990)
Joan Jett THE HIT LIST (1990)
Willie Nelson STARDUST (1978) [produced by Booker T. Jones]
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:
- Neil Young
Bruce Springsteen
Bonnie Raitt (C&W 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:
- Rosanne Cash
Elvis Costello
Leonard Cohen
Joni Mitchell
Lucinda Williams
HANDS I’VE SHAKEN (no particular order): Oscar Peterson, Eddie Albert, Andras Schiff, Stephen Bishop Kovacevich, Phyllis Diller, Marian McPartland, David Lindley, Rosanne Cash, Richard Thompson, John Leventhal, Zubin Mehta, Leonard Bernstein, Robert Gottlieb, Peter Guralnick, Greil Marcus, Vince Aletti, Robert Gottlieb, Dan Rather, Zubin Mehta, Joan Osborne, Joel Krosnick, Malcolm Bilson, Alicia de Larrocha, Jan DeGaetani, Paul Katz, Claude Frank, Jonathan Lethem…
TOP TEN ROCK CONCERTS (fab dinner party game):
1. Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, Red Rocks Amphitheatre, Denver, June 20, 1978
[fresh out of high school, entranced by DARKNESS, in advance of Dave Marsh’s RS cover story… by the third number, ” Spirits in the Night,” when he lept into the front rows with us and started dancing, you felt certain you were in the presence of greatness… I kept thinking “this is what it must have felt like to see Elvis…” A life-changing event.]
2. The Who (Who By Numbers tour), Denver Coliseum, December 1975
3. Bob Dylan and the Band, Denver Coliseum, January 1974
4. Paul McCartney and Wings, Denver Coliseum, May 1976
5. Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band, War Memorial, Buffalo, NY, December 1984
6. Nick Lowe and his Cowboy Outfit, Paradise, Boston, 1995
7. Marshall Crenshaw (trio) [opened with “I’m Sorry But So Is Brenda Lee”], Paradise, Boston, 1989
8. Fats Domino, Jazz and Heritage Festival, New Orleans, 1989 [humped his piano all the way across the stage]
9. Richard Thomson, Rochester, NY, 1985
10. George Harrison, Denver Coliseum, 1974 [this tour was unjustly slammed: Willy Weeks on bass, Andy Newmark on drums, Robben Ford (!) on guitar, Billy Preston on keybs with solo spots… and “In My Life” was searing… Harrison had a blast]
Three lists for Rock Snob’s Dictionary‘s “real” and “snob” formats, which makes more and more sense as you work on it:
REAL FAVS (changes daily, no particular order)
1. BLONDE ON BLONDE + BASEMENT TAPES + BEFORE THE FLOOD + LOVE AND THEFT, Bob Dylan (w/Band etc)
2. LET IT BLEED, Rolling Stones
3. BAND OF GYPSIES, Hendrix
4. STAR TIME, James Brown box
5. MOONDOG MATINEE, The Band
6. PLASTIC ONO BAND, John Lennon
7. NEBRASKA, Bruce Springsteen
8. JACK JOHNSON, Miles Davis
9. THE COMPLETE BEATLES AT THE BBC (Great Dane), Beatles
10. SIGN O’ THE TIMES, Prince
SNOB SUBS (fixed for all eternity)
1. TIME OUT OF MIND, Bob Dylan
2. SOME GIRLS, Rolling Stones
3. TROUT MASK REPLICA, Captain Beefheart
4. AIRPORT BACKGROUND HUM, Brian Eno
5. LOVELESS (aka MASSIVE ANAL BLEEDING), My Bloody Valentine
6. THE MILLION-DOLLAR QUARTET, Presley, Cash, Perkins, Lewis
7. BITCHES BREW, Miles Davis
8. IMPERIALIZED BEDROOM MELODRAMAS, Elvis Costello
9. BORN IN THE U.S.A., Bruce Springsteen
10. SIGN O’ THE TIMES, Prince
FANTASY COVERS [“Title” (Original), fantasy version]
1. “A Man Needs A Maid” (Neil Young), pj harvey
2. “Our Lips Are Sealed” (Go-Gos), Sleater-Kinney
3. “Change Partners” (Steve Stills), Melissa Ethridge
4. “Love For Sale” (Cole Porter), Marie Osmond
5. “White Wedding” (Billy Idol), Martha Quinn (early MTV VJ)
6. “Your Pretty Face is Going to Hell” (Iggy Pop), Britney Spears
7. “The End” (Doors), John McCain (courtesy Robert Smigel)
8. “Baby Got Back” (Sir Mix-A-Lot), Clay Aiken
9. “Stoney End (Laura Nyro), Chrissie Hynde
10. “These Boots Are Made For Walkin'” (Nancy Sinatra), Belinda Carlisle
TOP 90s ACTS (randomly)
1. Ride
2. Beck
3. Pavement
4. Portishead
5. Ivy
6. Cardigans
7. Gorillaz
8. DJ Shadow
9. Los Lobos/Latin Playboys
10. Mekons/Langford
11. Pretenders
12. Old 97s
13. Bottle Rockets
14. Dwight Yoakam
15. Bonnie Raitt
16. PJ Harvey
17. Luna
18. Yo La Tengo
19. Iris Dement
20. Nirvana
GUILTY PLEASURES
1. Paul McCartney MCCARTNEY (1970)
2. Graham Nash SONGS FOR BEGINNERS (1971)
3. Alice Cooper SCHOOL’S OUT (1971)
4. James Gang LIVE IN CONCERT (1973)
5. Harry Nilsson A TOUCH OF SCHMILSSON IN THE NIGHT (1973)
6. Elton John CAPTAIN FANTASTIC (1975)
7. Amy Grant HEART IN MOTION (1991)
8. Frank Sinatra FRANCIS A. & EDWARD K. (1967)
9. Badfinger GREATEST HITS
10. Todd Rundgren FAITHFUL (1976)