British rock mag NME assembled this song by song cover album of the Beatles´ classic (in honor of the album´s 20th anniversary, and with all proceeds going to a child abuse charity), and had enough sway to pull in some considerable talent, instead of the third-rate bands that usually pad out such endeavors. All songs were recorded especially for the project, and since then, not many have made it back on the artists' respective releases. Not that everything's great: Wet Wet Wet´s facile stab at "With a Little Help From My Friends" is the least of everything here, yet it was the one track to make it in the charts. But what a pleasure to hear Sonic Youth replace sitar with feedback for "Within You Without You," Courtney Pine jazz up "When I´m Sixty-Four," and witness Michelle Shocked revamp "Lovely Rita" as a lesbian love song. And the whole project ends with the Fall´s cover of "A Day in the Life," which manages -- whereas many other groups have failed -- to retain all of the original´s cathartic energy and release, and a definite reason for picking this up.

(by Ted Mills, All Music Guide)

Nach Pink Floyds »Dark Side Of The Moon« haben Wayne Coyne und seine Jungs es schon wieder getan: Für ihr neues Album »With A Little Help From My Fwends« hat die Band jeden einzelnen Beatles Song des 1967 erschienenen Klassikers neu interpretiert und den Stücken mit Hilfe von befreundeten Künstlern wie Miley Cyrus, Moby, My Morning Jacket, J. Mascis, Dr Dog, Phantogram, Tegan and Sara, Grace Potter und Electric Würms ein neues Gewand verpasst.

»With A Little Help From My Fwends« ist nicht nur mit der Hilfe von Freunden entstanden, sondern soll auch helfen: alle Verkaufseinnahmen werden an die gemeinnützige Organisation The Bella Foundation gespendet, die Geringverdiener, ältere Menschen und unheilbar Kranke bei der Pflege ihrer Haustiere und ihren Tierarztkosten unterstützt.

Elvis Costello und der preisgekrönte Produzent Sebastian Krys haben eine beeindruckende internationale Besetzung einiger der größten Latin-Rock- und Pop-Künstler aus der ganzen Welt zusammengebracht, um das Album „This Year's Model“ von Elvis Costello and The Attractions komplett auf Spanisch neu zu interpretieren. Auf „Spanish Model“ sind Künstler wie Cami, Draco Rosa, Fito Páez, Francisca Valenzuela & Luis Humberto Navejas (Leadsänger von Enjambre), Gian Marco & Nicole Zignago, Jesse & Joy, Jorge Drexler, Juanes, La Marisoul, Luis Fonsi, Morat, Nina Diaz, Pablo López, Raquel Sofía & Fuego, Sebastián Yatra, und Vega. Die von den Originalversionen beseelten spanischsprachigen Adaptionen sind mit den klassischen Studioauftritten der Band unterlegt, die von den Original-Masteraufnahmen stammen und von Krys neu abgemischt wurden. Zusätzlich erscheint auch das Originalalbum von 1978 nochmals als geremasterte Version.

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Der musikalische Wirbelwind hat sich daran gemacht, sein 1978 erschienenes Album THIS YEAR’S MODEL von 1978 ganz neu aufzunehmen.​ Er hat den Songs einen frischen Español-Anstrich verpasst und das Album damit in die Musikwelt des 21.​Jahrhunderts katapultiert.​/p>

(Good Times, Dezember 2021/Januar 2022)

Am 24. August 2019 erschienen TTB und der Lead-Gitarrist von Phish, Trey Anastasio, auf der Bühne des "Lockn'2019" in Arrington/Virginia. Sie begannen mit "I Looked Away" und ließen es in "Bell Bottom Blues" übergehen, die ersten beiden Songs von Eric Claptons "Layla" - Album. Als das Publikum dann staunend "Keep On Growing" hören durfte, wurde es klar: TTB und Trey würden das komplette Album covern. Das vollständige Konzert ist auf diesem Release endlich für alle nachvollziehbar.

Aber die Verbindungen zwischen der Band und dem Album sind tief verwoben: Angetrieben von zwei der größten Gitarristen des zwanzigsten Jahrhunderts, Eric Clapton und Duane Allman, wurde Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs zufällig am 9. November 1970 veröffentlicht, dem Tag von Susan Tedeschis Geburt. Später waren Chris und Debbie Trucks solche Fans des Albums, dass sie inspiriert wurden, ihren erstgeborenen Sohn Derek zu nennen. Jahrzehnte später war Trucks fünfzehn Jahre lang Mitglied der Allman Brothers Band und tourte ausgiebig mit Clapton. Die Verbindung zwischen der Musik und den Interpreten ist so tief, dass sich dieses Album fast schon vorherbestimmt anfühlt.

Über Layla sagte Derek Trucks: "Zu der Zeit, als ich anfing, Gitarre zu spielen, war der Klang von Duane Allmans Slide fast eine Besessenheit. Sein Spiel auf Layla ist immer noch einer der Höhepunkte für mich. Der Geist, die Freude, die Kühnheit und die Selbstverständlichkeit. Mein Vater hat mir und meinem Bruder diese Platte zum Einschlafen vorgespielt und sie so noch tiefer in meine DNA gebrannt."

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Mit feinen, passgerechten Arrangements samt gospeligem Chorgesang und fetten Bläsern begeistert die moderne Umsetzung von Layla in nahezu jedem Augenblick.​

(Good Times, August/September 2021)

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Performance und Klangqualität sind schlichtweg genial, als Special Guest glänzt Phish-Mastermind Trey Anastasio.​ Höhepunkt ist natürlich das neunminütige ›Layla‹.​

(stereoplay, August 2021)

Produktinfo

Die englische Singer / Songwriterin schenkt uns zum 70. Geburtstag von Bob Dylan ein Meisterwerk mit Dylan Cover-Versionen ! - "Man, that "St Augustine" from Thea, it's one of the greatest Dylan covers" (Bruce Springsteen)

Wieder ein neues Album von Thea Gilmore! So manch einer wird sich über die wahre Flut von Album-Veröffentlichungen der englischen Songwriterin hierzulande wundern, da ja im November das "Winter-Album" "Strange Communion" und dann im März mit "Murphy's Heart" schon ein weiteres Album erschien. Grund für diese Emsigkeit ist und war, dass die beiden genannten Alben in England schon erschienen waren und man hierzulande aufholen musste. Nun sind wir aber mit England im Gleichschritt und präsentieren Euch das neue Thea Gilmore Album "John Wesley Harding" zu dem wir Euch hier den Originaltext als Info geben, den Thea selbst verfasst hat.

Product Information

In celebration of Bob Dylan's 70th birthday, Thea Gilmore will release a new album, a recording of Dylan's acclaimed John Wesley Harding, through Fulfill Records. The album's release will be supported with a headline show at London's Union Chapel on Tuesday, May 23, the day of Dylan's birthday. "John Wesley Harding' is one of my very favourite Bob Dylan Dylan albums. It is also my new album. In 2002 I had been invited to contribute a track to a CD of Dylan covers featured on a national music magazine. I had intended to record "What Was It You Wanted" , but late the night before the session my producer and I were still sifting through albums and we suddenly changed our minds. A quick call the next morning confirmed that no-one else had bagged "St Augustine", so away we went. With the mighty Robbie McIntosh on guitar using a tape echo which was on the edge of breakdown throughout the whole day, Paul Beavis on drums and Nigel Stonier on bass, we recorded "St Augustine" live in a Cheshire studio in about five hours. Longer than Bob took but I blame technology for this sort of thing. And it could have all stopped there.

But over the months, then the years, e-mails continued to come in from all over the world about the track. One journalist in the US told me he had spent 30 years collecting thousands of Dylan covers and it was in his top five. And when in 2008 I met Bruce Springsteen, who most graciously had been in print as a fan of my work for some years, he told me - in around the third sentence he uttered to me - "Man, that St Augustine, it's one of the great Dylan covers".

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Die Folkrock-, Gospel-, Country-, Acid Rock-(!) und Blues-Arrangements - die inspiriert und schön originell ausgetüftelt - demonstrieren nur noch mehr die ganzen Songqualitäten ausnahmslos aller Vorlagen.

(Stereo, August 2011)

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Die Songschreiberin interpretiert das Album des Meisters neu.

(Rolling Stone, Juli 2011)

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So macht das Tributzollen Spaß – respektvoll und erstklassig, aber ohne falsche Bescheidenheit.

(Good Times, August / September 2011)

Delta Sweete was Bobbie Gentry's 1968 follow-up to her hugely popular Ode to Billie Joe record — the title track topped the pop charts and made the country Top 20. Although it doesn't quite match the quality of Ode, Delta Sweete does contain a good selection of Gentry originals and some fine covers. The "Sweete" in the title refers to both Gentry's southern-belle good looks (her publishing company was called Super Darlin') and the album's suite structure. The 12 segued songs detail Gentry's idyllic Mississippi childhood and include portraits of home and church life ("Reunion," "Sermon"), as well as recollections of blues and country hits she certainly heard as a youngster ("Big Boss Man," "Tobacco Road"). In fact, the prevailing sound on both Delta Sweete and Ode to Billy Joe is a swampy, folk-tinged combination of blues and country, with uptown touches like strings and horns seemingly added to reflect the then modern styles of soul and the Nashville sound. Gentry also includes some dreamy, pastoral originals like "Morning Glory" and "Courtyard," songs that could've been written by melancholy folkster Nick Drake. In light of all the album's good qualities, then, it's a shame it's out of print. Collectables' The Golden Classics of Bobbie Gentry combines the Ode to Billie Joe album with a few tracks from Delta Sweete, including the hits "Okolona River Bottom Band" and "Louisiana Man."

(by Stephen Cook, All Music Guide)

Bei Mercury Revs »The Delta Sweete Revisited« handelt sich um eine Neuauflage von Bobbie Gentrys vergessenem Meisterwerk aus dem Jahr 1968, und es enthält eine beeindruckende Liste von Gastsängerinnen: Norah Jones, Hope Sandoval, Beth Orton, Lucinda Williams, Rachel Goswell, Vashti Bunyan, Marissa Nadler, Susanne Sundfør, Phoebe Bridgers, Margo Price, Kaela Sinclair, Carice Van Houten sowie Laetitia Sadier.

»The Delta Sweete« beeinflusste die Band schon bei ihrem 1998 veröffentlichten Album »Deserter Songs«. Es war also nur eine Frage der Zeit, dass sich Mercury Rev an eine Neuauflage trauten. Nun ist es soweit - und sie sind nicht alleine: Gentrys Geschichten bekommen durch die auserwählte Stimmbesetzung von Frauen aus dem Folk- und Alternative-Bereich eine ganz neue, aufregende Note.

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Ein in vieler Hinsicht bemerkenswertes Zusammentreffen von ebenso eigensinnigen wie einzigartigen Kreativ-Köpfen, ein über die Jahrzehnte hinweg fruchtbares kongeniales gemeinsames Wirken von wahren Ausnahme-Artisten unter den Musikschaffenden. Und ganz nebenbei eine ausgesuchte gelungene Versammlung beeindruckendster Stimmen der weiblichen Sangeskunst des aktuellen Musikgeschehens. Nicht nur, dass das seit Jahrzehnten im eigenen Klangkosmos aufspielende, häufig prägend wirkende Pionier-Projekt von Jonathan, Grasshopper und Jesse Chandler sich mit The Delta Sweete Revisited einem fast vergessenen, seiner Zeit weit vorauseilenden Psyche-Folk-Rock-Edelstein widmet und seiner Schöpferin ein klingendes Denkmal setzt, es gelingt den dreien zudem, die 12 Weisen behut- und einfühlsam, mal nah am Original, mal ganz ins eigene Phantasie-Idiom übersetzt in die zauberreiche Zeitlosigkeit des Hier & Jetzt zu übertragen. Den finalen Segen erhält das oft orchestral herrlich ausschweifende Tribut durch die vielfältige vokale Veredlung durch die ausgewählte Schar von 12 einzigartigen Sängerinnen, die dieser beispielhaften Song-Kollektion aus Gentry-Originalen (obwohl auf dem 1968 veröffentlichtem Ursprungswerk nicht dabei, wurde Ode To Billy Joe als angemessener Albumausgang gewählt) und auserlesenem Fremdwerk (Big Boss Man/Dixon, Parchman Farm/Mose Allison, Tobacco Road/Loudermilk) ihre jeweils eigenen Namen und Noten verleihen, um so ein vor allem auch stimmlich vielfarbig schillerndes Kunstwerk entstehen zu lassen. Jede für sich weiß den oft wehmütigen Weisen den individuell-intensiven Gesangsstempel aufzudrücken, sodass nur die Aufzählung sämtlicher Stimmen diesem respekt- und kunstvollen, vokal-vielfarbigen Psyche-Country-Kaleidoskop gerecht werden kann – mit dabei: Norah Jones, Hope Sandoval, Rachel Goswell, Carice van Houten, Laetitia Sadier, Margo Price, Susanne Sundfor, Vashti Bunyan (w/ Kaela Sinclair), Phoebe Bridgers, Marissa Nadler, Beth Orton und Lucinda Williams!!! (gestattet mir die drei Rufzeichen)

(cpa, Glitterhouse)

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Ohne sich dem aktuellen Zeitgeschmack anzubiedern, holen sie die Originale ins Heute. Einige der Nummern bekommen eine orchestral-cineastische Breite, als habe Lee Hazlewood mitarrangiert. Besonders schön: Hope Sandovals lasziver Slow-Blues ›Big Boss Man‹, Marissa Nadlers im Pulp- Fiction-Sound daherkommendes ›Refraction‹ und Carice van Houtens Southern-Gothic- Spuk ›Parchman Farm‹.

(Good Times, Februar / März 2019)

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Bobbie Gentry had a huge hit in 1967 with "Ode to Billie Joe," the haunting single that introduced her strong, sultry voice and flair for combining Southern Gothic drama with details so vivid that it feels like listeners are living her stories with her. She expanded on the world she built with that song on 1968's full-length The Delta Sweete, but unlike "Ode to Billie Joe," it was not a huge hit; its pioneering symphonic-country-folk-pop didn't even crack the top 100 of Billboard's Top LPs chart. Fortunately, the acclaim for Gentry's work grew as the years passed, and Mercury Rev's Bobbie Gentry's the Delta Sweete Revisited reflects her latter-day status as a country icon. Of course, Mercury Rev also knows something about being underappreciated. During the '90s, their experimental rock and dream pop earned glowing reviews, but little in the way of label support or commercial success. That changed with their 1998 breakthrough, Deserter's Songs, which added touches of Americana that they return to on Revisited. Enlisting an all-star roster of established and up-and-coming female vocalists -- including Lucinda Williams, Vashti Bunyan, and Phoebe Bridgers -- Mercury Rev heighten the mystical qualities of Gentry's music as well as their own. Many of Revisited's best moments play like a beautiful dream of the original: "Okolona River Bottom Band" combines sweeping strings and brass and Norah Jones' dusky voice into a shimmering creation myth that sprinkles the album with stardust as it calls it into being. The band couldn't have chosen a better singer than Marissa Nadler to transform "Refractions" into a phantasmagorical reverie, and their collaboration with Laetitia Sadier on "Morning Glory" is truly inspired; her intimate performance and the band's sunny symphonic pop make for one of Revisited's sweetest standouts. Throughout the album, Mercury Rev skillfully balance their signature sound with period-faithful details. The swirling flutes and brass squalls surrounding Rachel Goswell on "Reunion" evoke Boces as much as they do Deserter's Songs. Later, the harmonica, glockenspiel, and whistling that adorn Beth Orton's reverent performance on "Courtyard" hark back to 1968 without feeling slavish. As the band puts The Delta Sweete through their prism, they filter out some of the album's earthy realism with mixed results. Hope Sandoval's hazy sensuality makes "Big Boss Man" subversively flirtatious instead of defiant like Gentry's version, and the ornate arrangement on "Tobacco Road" glosses over the song's tale of lifelong struggles. On the other hand, the band intensifies "Parchment Farm"'s foreboding with the help of a stoic Carice van Houten, while Margo Price's flinty twang makes "Sermon" a showstopper. Since "Ode to Billie Joe" is so inextricably linked with Gentry's legend, it's not surprising that Mercury Rev included it on their version of The Delta Sweete even though it didn't appear on the original. With its lavish arrangement and Williams' gritty performance, the band find new ways of celebrating one of the great underappreciated artists of the '60s and '70s -- something that's true of Bobbie Gentry's the Delta Sweete Revisited as a whole.

(by Heather Phares, All Music Guide)

After satisfying their nine-title/dozen-disc deal with Warner Brothers, the Dead began their own record labels: Grateful Dead Records (for group releases) and Round Records (for solo projects). Wake of the Flood was the first Dead disc issued entirely under the band's supervision -- which also included manufacturing and marketing. Additionally, the personnel had been altered as Ron "Pigpen" McKernan had passed away. The keyboard responsibilities were now in the capable hands of Keith Godchaux -- whose wife Donna Jean Godchaux also provided backing vocals. It had been nearly three years since American Beauty -- their previous and most successful studio album to date -- and, as always, the Dead had been honing the material in concert. A majority of the tracks had been incorporated into their live sets -- some for nearly six months -- prior to entering the recording studio. This gave the band a unique perspective on the material, much of which remained for the next 20-plus years as staples of their concert performances. However, the inspiration and magic of the Grateful Dead's music has always been a challenge to capture in the non-reciprocal confines of a studio. Therefore, while Wake of the Flood was certainly as good -- if not arguably better than -- most of their previous non-live efforts, it falls far short of the incendiary performances the band was giving during this era. There are a few tracks that do tap into some of the Dead's jazzier and exceedingly improvisational nature. "Eyes of the World" contains some brilliant ensemble playing -- although the time limitations inherent in the playback medium result in the track fading out just as the Dead start to really cook. Another highlight is Bob Weir's "Weather Report Suite," which foreshadows the epic proportions that the song would ultimately reach. In later years, the band dropped the opening instrumental "Prelude," as well as "Part One," choosing to pick it up for the extended "Let It Grow" section. The lilting Jerry Garcia ballad "Stella Blue" is another track that works well in this incarnation and remained in the Dead's rotating set list for the remainder of their touring careers.

(by Lindsay Planer, All Music Guide)

The Blues For Allah Project by Joe Gallant & Illuminati provides Deadheads an alternative style of music to hear one of the Dead´s most intricate albums. A fusion of jazz & lounge-music (for lack of a better genre), Gallant and his supporting cast perform live from New York City, and infuse the lyrics of Garcia & Hunter into the mystical music of Blues For Allah. The Help/Slip/Franklin that opens sets the tone for the entire project with an amazing vocal range, and excellent backing horns. A must-hear for Deadheads.

(Jim Grandinetti)

It is generally agreed that the Grateful Dead's late-'70s studio releases left even the most enthusiastic Deadheads longing for something more. The theory is that the band's momentum is best experienced during the ebb and flow of a live performance rather than the somewhat clinical tedium of a recording studio. Terrapin Station marks several milestones for the Grateful Dead: it was the band's first studio album in two years, as well as their return to a major label -- in this case Arista Records. More significant however is the use of an outside (read: non-Grateful Dead) producer. This was only the second time in which the Dead did not seize complete control. And the first time in a decade that they would relinquish their production reigns. They chose Keith Olsen -- a former member of the '60s garage rock band Music Machine -- whose production roster also included other Bay Area notables including the Sons of Champlin and Santana. Musically, Terrapin Station offers a few choice glimpses of the band doing what it does best. While the most prominent example is the album's extended title suite, there are a few others such as the cover of the Rev. Gary Davis gospel-blues "Samson and Delilah" and a resurrection of the Martha & the Vandellas hit "Dancin' in the Streets." The latter tune was originally performed by the Dead in their mid-'60s repertoire. What was once a garage rock and psychedelic reading has evolved into a 4/4-time, brass-influenced disco arrangement. Luckily, their extended versions during concert performances were infinitely more tolerable. Parties interested in examining the contrast between the studio and live performance versions of Terrapin Station material should seek the archival concert release Dick's Picks, Vol. 3. This two-disc set not only captures the band exactly two months and two days prior to the release of Terrapin Station, it also features stellar performances of every track from the album sans the up-tempo rocker "Passenger."

(by Lindsay Planer, All Music Guide)

Regardless of your feelings about the Grateful Dead, there is much to enjoy on this amusing, sprawling effort. Led by bassist Joe Gallant, Terrapin seeks to recreate the Dead´s most "difficult" album, Terrapin Station. In Gallant´s hands, however, Terrapin is rendered as a reeling big band adventure, complete with vocalists from basketballer Bill Walton to jazz diva Patricia Barber to former Zappa vocalist Ike Willis. Musically, the recording is a whirling affair, slipping from straight-up big band to soul to more experimental passages with grace and humor.

(S. Duda)

Hitchcock was so shaken by the entire Groovy Decay disaster that he retired from recording for two years. When he returned in 1984 with I Often Dream of Trains, it was clear that the time off had affected his music. A collection of spare, acoustic-based pop-folk songs, I Often Dream of Trains is one of Hitchcock's most introspective and charming records. Instead of creating an impenetrably personal album, the stripped-down instrumentation actually opens up the songwriter's world, allowing the ballads ("Trams of Old London," "Cathedral," "Flavour of Night") to sit comfortably next to the jokes ("Uncorrected Personality Traits"). Alternating between acoustic guitars and solo piano, the music is never fragile, adding a strong support to Hitchcock's eccentric lyrics.

(by Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide)

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After the debacle that was the making of 1982's Groovy Decay, Robyn Hitchcock briefly retired from music, and when he returned it was with an album that offered a thoroughly uncompromised vision of Hitchcock's imagination. Released in 1984, I Often Dream of Trains was a primarily acoustic set with Hitchcock handling nearly all the instruments and vocals by himself; the tone is spare compared to the full-on rock & roll of his recordings with the Soft Boys or his solo debut, Black Snake Diamond Role, but the curious beauty of Hitchcock's melodies is every bit as striking in these stripped-down sessions, and the surreal imagery of "Flavour of Night," "Trams of Old London," and the title song comes to vivid and enchanting life. Hitchcock's off-kilter wit has rarely been as effective as it is on this album; the jaunty harmonies of "Uncorrected Personality Traits" are the ideal complement for the song's psychobabble, "Sounds Great When You're Dead" manages to be funny and a bit disturbing at once, and the drunken campfire singalong of "Ye Sleeping Knights of Jesus" was joyously sloppy enough to inspire a cover by the Replacements. There's a slightly ramshackle quality to these recordings, but Hitchcock was rarely in more uniformly fine form as a songwriter, and there is a consistency of tone to the disc that makes it all the more effective, drawing listeners into a curious world of its own and allowing them to explore the surroundings and their quiet splendor. And Hitchcock has rarely recorded a song as luminously gorgeous as "Autumn Is Your Last Chance." Hitchcock would pick up his electric guitar and reunite with his band the Egyptians in 1985, releasing two fine albums in one year, but I Often Dream of Trains was a simple and marvelously effective return to action that's all the more winning for its subdued, tentative tone.

(by Mark Deming, All Music Guide)

Soft Boys, Robyn Hitchcock & The Egyptians, solo, unzählige Kollaborationen mit illustren Musikerkollegen, u.s.v.m. Seit fast 35 Jahren durchschreitet der kauzige Engländer das unebene Gelände zwischen Indie Pop, Psychedelia, Singer/Songwriter, Alt.Folk, New Wave und Guitar Rock nicht immer erfolgreich, auch nicht immer geschmacklich gelungen, aber immer im aufrechten Gang des unangepassten, untrendigen, popgesetzlosen Künstlers, der seine gar nicht so kleine Fangemeinde stets von Neuem zu begeistern weiß. Ein schwergewichtiger Moment in seiner Karriere war in 1984 das spleenige, ruhige, lofi-artige Album 'I Often Dream Of Trains', markierte es eine Zeit der Selbstfindung nach den Soft Boys und vor der aufregenden Solophase, die erst noch beginnen sollte. Fast 25 Jahre später ging Hitchcock mit den zum Teil bedeutenden Songs, die nichts von ihrer magnetisierenden Wirkung verloren hatten, auf eine ausgedehnte Tour. 'IODOT In New York' ist ein Mitschnitt eines wahrlich begnadeten Abends im Symphony Space, Ecke Broadway/95. Straße vom 22.11.08. Hitchock (Acoustic & Electric Guitars, Piano, Harmonica, Vocals) meist im Trio mit Terry Edwards (Keyboards, Trumpet, Sax, Electric Guitar, Harmony Vocals) und Tim Keegan (Acoustic & Electric Guitars, Harmony Vocals), feat. Trompeter Amir El Saffar und Sängerin Gaida Hinnawi als gelegentliche Gäste. Die CD bringt 74 Minuten komprimiert Musik, die DVD hat z.T. lange Ansagen vor den Songs, in denen der Meister seinen speziellen Humor beweist, Videosequenzen, Interviews, Credits, etc. (chill)

Neuaufnahme des (fast) kompletten Klassikers (incl. der späteren CD-Bonusstücke) live 2008 in NY, + 4 weitere Songs (z.B. das tolle Goodnight I Say). Tim Keegan, Terry Edwards unterstützen (2.Ak.Gitarre, Piano/Orgel, Trompete, Bass, Sopransax), sparsame filigrane aber ausgeprochen sorgfältige Arrangements. Meist ruhig/poetisch bis leise und sanft bzw. relaxt und akustisch (ab und zu spielt Robyn E-Gitarre), aber selten folkig; eher (teils balladesker oder verlangsamter) Songwriter-Pop oder gar verkappte/nackte Rocksongs – manchmal sehr rhythmisch bis hin zu Stakkato/dezent hämmernder Begleitung, 2x auch psychedelisch. Was noch mehr auffällt als bei der Original-LP ist die melodische Schönheit, die Substanz vieler Stücke! Die DVD (1:28 Std.) kommt mit eingeschobenen Interviewschnipseln und längeren humorvollen Ansagen + 12-Min.-Bonusfilm. Lohnend!(dvd)

(Glitterhouse)

In choosing to record Bob Marley's classic 1974 reggae album Natty Dread track-for-track in an instrumental jazz style, eight-string guitarist Charlie Hunter opened himself up for skepticism. Yet an idea that looked questionable in theory would prove stellar in practice, as Hunter turned Natty Dread -- with the songs sequenced exactly as they were on Marley's original release -- into one of the best CDs of his career. Hunter's customized eight-string instrument and prodigious talent allow him to play simultaneous guitar melodies and basslines, but his Wurlitzer organ simulations and walking bass aren't the only highlights of the opening "Lively Up Yourself." Alto saxophonist Calder Spanier and tenorman Kenny Brooks alternate between swinging leads and supportive harmonies, and drummer Scott Amendola gets in creative solo flurries near the end. Hunter's beautiful intro to "No Woman, No Cry" echoes both Pat Martino and Django Reinhardt; the saxophonists' interplay and Amendola's clever rimshots, tom-toms, and cowbell work lively up "Them Belly Full." The secrets to Hunter's success lie in separate amplifiers for his instrument's guitar and bass portions; great wah-wah pedal work to achieve keyboard tones, and the requisite brain power to play basslines with both thumbs while fretting and fingerpicking the melodies. All are illustrated in readings of the tranquil "Rebel Music," energetic "So Jah Seh" and the shuffling title track. Throughout Natty Dread, reggae is implied more often than played, as Hunter and his quartet portray the fun they had in arranging these pieces with performances both swinging and stirring (even dropping an "I Shot the Sheriff" quote into "Bend Down Low"). Spanier died after Natty Dread's release when he was struck by a car, and Hunter subsequently moved from California to New York and restructured his band. There's no telling what might have come afterward from this quartet of two saxophonists, a drummer, and Hunter, the one-man guitarist, keyboardist, and bassist.

(by Thom Jurek, All Music Guide)

"The 'Blue' album, there's hardly a dishonest note in the vocals," Mitchell told Rolling Stone in 1979. "At that period of my life, I had no personal defenses. I felt like a cellophane wrapper on a pack of cigarettes. I felt like I had absolutely no secrets from the world, and I couldn't pretend in my life to be strong. Or to be happy." With song after song of regrets and sorrow and a smoky-blue cover shot of Mitchell on the edge of tears, this may be the ultimate breakup album. Its whispery minimalism is also Mitchell's greatest musical achievement. Stephen Stills and James Taylor lend an occasional hand, but in "California," "Carey" and "This Flight Tonight," Mitchell sounds utterly alone in her melancholy, turning the sadness into tender art. (Rolling Stone)

Total album sales: 1 million - Peak chart position: 15

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Joni Mitchell hat nach dieser 1971er Scheibe noch erfolgreichere, ehrgeizigere und anspruchsvollere Alben gemacht -- ein besseres aber nie. Mit minimaler Begleitung (Stephen Stills und James Taylor sind zwei ihrer vier Gefolgsleute) beschwor die kanadische Nachtigall einen fesselnden Liederzyklus über Liebe, die gefunden und verloren wird, herauf. Obwohl Blue ein ungewöhnlich persönliches Werk ist, ist es auch erstaunlich offen und mutig. Lieder wie "All I Want", "Carey", "California" und "A Case of You" sind sowohl Poesie wie auch Popmusik.

(Steve Stolder, aus der Amazon.de-Redaktion)

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Schon früh malte, schrieb und komponierte sie: Songschreiberin Joni Mitchell verband akustischen Folk mit Elementen aus Jazz, Blues und Country - besonders gekonnt auf dem sinnlichen 71er Album Blue, auf dem die Amerikanerin Beziehungen durchleuchtet.

(© Audio)

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Mit diesem Meisterwerk aus zehn Songs, das anspruchsvoller komponiert und poetischer getextet war als die vorangegangenen drei LPs, etablierte sich Joni Mitchell 1971 als Songschreiberin und Interpretin ohne Konkurrenz. Die Arrangements ihrer Songs tendierten jetzt zu vollerer, mehr rockorientierter Instrumentierung, Baß und Schlagzeug waren nicht länger verpönt. Die längst überfällige CD-Version des Albums stellt das eklatanteste Beispiel an Klangverbesserung gegenüber einer LP das, das dem Rezensenten bis dato untergekommen ist. Obwohl keine Neuabmischung vorliegt, ist der CD/LP-Unterschied unter jedem klanglichen Aspekt dermaßen krass, daß sich ein verbaler Vergleich verbietet. Eine Muß-CD.

(© Stereoplay)

This wonderful album, recorded with help from an all-star crew including David Crosby, Neil Young, Dave Mason, and Rita Coolidge, may not be the best solo record to come out of the CSNY orbit (Neil Young has it beat), but it is the most charming and genial. Like Graham Nash's "Marakesh Express" and "Teach Your Children," it inevitably brings a smile to anyone who hears it. From the soaring "I Used to Be a King" (almost a distant, mature, altered point-of-view sequel to "King Midas in Reverse") through the gossamer "Simple Man" to the wah-wah-laden "Military Madness," the record is filled with gorgeous melodies, flawless singing, and lyrical complexities that hold up decades later. "Man in the Mirror" is almost Nash's answer to Young's "Nowadays Clancy Can't Even Sing," even containing similar tempo changes; only "Chicago," with its belated telling of one version of the tale of the 1968 Democratic National Convention, seems dated.

(by Bruce Eder , All Music Guide)

Nicht nur als willkommene Verneigung, sondern auch als Album/Lied-Sammlung höchst gelungenes Projekt: Uns nah und näher ans Herz gewachsene Namen wie Port O Brien, Brendan Benson, Vetiver, Robin Pecknold (Fleet Foxes), Greg Weeks, Bonnie Prince Billy und Alela Diane nahmen sich in seiner Gänze des Debut-Albums des Singer-Songwriter-Feintöners und Harmoniegesang-Meisters Graham Nash zu Herzen und schenken uns mit Be Yourself eine respektvolle, bewegende, vielschichtige, wohlklang-gefüllte Neu-Fassung der Songs For Beginners. Dabei gelingt es allen Beteiligten auf unterschiedlichste Art, die Goldene Mitte zwischen liebenswert-nostalgischer Nash-Nähe, Steel-beglänztem Sonnenschein-Country-Pop und fragil-verletzlichem Singer-Songwritertum zu treffen, wobei sich verträumte Balladen-Kleinodien, Akustik-Folk-Feinheiten, psychedelische Schweb-Momente und mitreißende Rock-Energie-Ausbrüche perfekt die Waage halten. Sich für einzelne Glanzlichter zu entscheiden fällt eben so schwer, wie es dem gelungenen Gesamtwerk Unrecht täte, dennoch strahlt unter den unaufdringlich prächtigen Songs Military Madness (Port O Brien), Better Days (Brendan Benson), Wounded Bird (Grahams Tochter Nile), Be Yourself (Robin Pecknold), Man In The Mirror (Moore Brothers), Simple Man (B“P“B) oder Theres Only One (Alela Diane) die psychedelisch schillernde, kraftvoll ausufernde Sleepy Sun-Fassung von Chicago (mit einem Epilog von Nile Nash) als Krönung eines besonderen Tributs hervor.

(cpa, Glitterhouse)

Carla Bozulich, former frontwoman of both Ethyl Meatplow and the Geraldine Fibbers does Willie Nelson? You bet your ass she does, and Nelson digs it. Just ask him — he plays guitar on three tracks, and duets with Bozulich on a pair of tunes. Musically, Bozulich does a very faithful, if expressionist, reading of Nelson's bona fide classic concept album. His trademark nylon string picking on "Tome Of The Preacher" offers an aural view of just how faithful her reading is. But Bozulich has gone one further, too, recording the album as if it were written in the current day rather than in the 1970s: the dramatic soundscapes, aural textures, and subtle dissonances add a cinematic dimension to the text, making it reflect out from itself rather than be reiterated as a single person narrative. Nelson's version was large in scope because it was so insular, and Bozulich's is so intimate as to be nearly suffocating, because its vision is wider. With the help of Nelson, Nels Cline, Scott Amendola, Devin Hoff, Jenny Scheinman, her sister Leah, and others, Bozulich brings the notion of folk's "New Weird America" to the populace. There is an organic death to these songs as articulated in this way: just check the mournful droning tempo on the medley of "Time of the Preacher" with "Blue Rock, Montana," and the "Red Headed Stranger" theme. Guitars wind out minimally in maximal space. Her voice intones out over a desolate aural desert with the mournful weight of grief and history in its grain. Elsewhere, on Hank Cochran's "Can I Sleep In Your Arms" with Nelson, the pair bring a genuine amorous ache to the fore that transcends all genres of popular music. Likewise on the following cut, T. Texas Tyler's "Remember Me," sounds like Billie Holiday being channeled by Marlene Dietrich as Bozulich responds to Cline's gloriously narcotic jazz guitar intro, allowing the grief of love's loss to inhabit her spirit wholly. Nelson is back in true duet fashion on "Hands On the Wheel," and it as pretty as a soft, drunken love song can be as it takes the original narrative and turns it inside out ,and still comes up with something truly amorous, truly beautiful, and truly fragile. The album closes with Nelson's "Bandera," a haunting, wide-open country song that allows in its modality all sorts of room for improvisation, and the beginning of it is just that, before it becomes anchored in West Texas melodies as interpreted through Laurel Canyon's syntax. Bozulich has really accomplished something here, taking a classic work of true Americana and making it her own, no less mythological, no less transcendent, and yet ultimately something wholly new and embracing. Bozulich understands implicitly: legend is for extrapolation, and ultimately for re-visioning in a new place and time. As downtrodden and spiritually haunting as its predecessor, this new Red Headed Stranger is vital and necessary, a work of new Americana — not the radio format, but the mythos itself.

(by Thom Jurek, All Music Guide)

If you can find a copy of this cassette-only release, by all means hold on to it for dear life, because the likelihood if it being re-released officially is slimmer than the chance of a band like Pussy Galore ever coming along again (that not necessarily being a bad thing depending on who you poll). While the group had covered the Jagger/Richards tune "Turd on the Run," the Rolling Stones got the ultimate send-up on Exile on Main Street, a track-for-track retelling of their classic 1972 double album. The cassette-only release was almost drowning in hiss and noise, and several tunes were so deconstructed you couldn't tell what they were, as if the group was making fun of the myth surrounding the Stones' Exile as celebrating the music itself, but truly an adventure in listening.

(by John Duffy, All Music Guide)

So many times the title of an album is peripheral to what the contents actually hold. In the case of Petra Haden Sings: The Who Sell Out it is perfectly descriptive because, yes, Petra Haden does sing the Who's Who Sell Out album right down to the make-believe ads that link the songs. Not just the vocals but all the instruments too. Working from a suggestion from Mike Watt (who may or may not have remembered the Who's own foray into singing instrumental parts on "A Quick One, While He's Away" when they had to sing "cello, cello, cello" because they couldn't afford to hire the real thing), Haden spent time during the span of three years (2000-2003) re-creating the sound of the Who's pop-art masterpiece using her voice and an old eight-track recorder. The results are pretty amazing. Apart from an occasional rhythmic stumble and the tendency for the drum sounds to sound like synsonic drums, she really nails the layered, flowing and psychedelic in the true sense of the word feel of the original album. She pulls off the feat of being reverent to the original material while also sounding completely out on a limb artistically. Never trying to imitate instruments exactly, she instead goes for the feel and texture of them. It would have been impossible to sound like Keith Moon anyway and she wisely limits the drums to an occasional piece here and there. The astounding moments are many but some of the best are the guitar plinks and twangs from "Our Love Was," the drum hits and wailing guitar solos on "Relax," the chant-like bass on "Silas Stingy" and the choral effects of "Rael." Maybe the most impressive feat was managing to account for all the parts and pieces of "I Can See for Miles," a task which would have driven a lesser artist insane but one that she makes sound effortless. The song that actually competes with the original is " Sunrise" as she imbues the song with a feeling of joy and light equal to the original and her lead vocal is perfect. The aspect of the album that will probably be overlooked is the actual vocals — the vocals that sing the lyrics, that is. She has a crystal-clear, beautiful voice that really soars and her harmonies are consistently breathtaking. It would have been lovely enough just to hear her sing the Who's melodies and lyrics without all the backing "instruments." The likelihood that you will reach for Petra Haden's version of Sell Out before you will reach for the Who's will vary with each listener's tolerance for novelty. Even the strictest Who purist should hear Haden's version at least once though and anyone who likes to hear artists taking wild chances and succeeding wildly should hold up Petra Haden Sings: The Who Sell Out as a shining example.

(by Mark Deming, All Music Guide)

Weit mehr als ein Reissue

Vor 25 Jahren veröffentlichte Lucinda Williams mit »Sweet Old World« ihr viertes Soloalbum. Passend zu diesem Jubiläum präsentiert die US-amerikanische Singer-Songwriterin, Rock- und Countryikone 2017 eine besondere Neuauflage des Longplayers: »This Sweet Old World«.

Besonders ist das Album deshalb, weil Williams alle zwölf Stücke der Platte neu arrangiert und teilweise sogar neu geschrieben hat.

Als besonderes Highlight warten auf »This Sweet Old World« außerdem vier neu aufgenommene Bonustracks, die ebenfalls einen Bogen zu ihren Anfängen spannen.

Unterstützt wurde Lucinda Willliams bei den Aufnahmen im Studio von ihrer Live- und Studioband: Gitarrist Stuart Mathis, Bassist David Sutton und Schlagzeuger Butch Norton. Zudem steuerte ihr langjähriger musikalischer Partner Greg Leisz ein paar unglaubliche Gitarrenparts bei. Leisz war bereits Teil der Albumsessions 1992 und hat außerdem ihr letztes Studioalbum »The Ghost Of Highway 20« aus dem Jahr 2016 coproduziert.

Lucinda Williams’ »This Sweet Old World« ist weit mehr als ein Reissue zum Geburtstag: Ein völlig neuer und moderner Blick auf ihren Klassiker.