150+ Artists Cover Bob (Bump)

(BRIAN EDIT - These files are about to expire, and since this is the grandaddy of all my cover projects, I wanted to slide it up here, so hopefully it gets some more hits. If you haven't supped from this particular cup of madness, dig in!)
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I was gonna do a big "greatest hits" covers post initially, maybe 50 to 75 songs....but this thing kept growing! I became obsessed...could I find every one? Well no, but I was hellbent on finding as many covers of BD songs as I could. Now you're curious to see the track list I bet. I'm taking a precaution with this post though - hence the "BD" used everywhere. Because...well... all these songs' titles belong to big S[]NY, I've put the tracklist on a text hosting page. Open it in a another page, and we'll come back and talk....

( http://pastebin.com/WKUvAS4j )

....Welcome back. Fuckin' nuts, right? That's why it's on a separate page...this steps on a whole bunch of music publishing rights! It's around 230 songs, about 16 1/2 hours of music, almost 2 GB! The idea boggles the mind, and it took me awhile, but I went for it! Damn near melted my iPhone doing it, though. Given the mammoth task, I gave myself a few guidelines...

1.) No song gets repeated. I know there's multiple great versions of many of the songs, but given the size of this I couldn't risk overlap. There are two accidental doubles, though. Richie's "Times/Changin", and PP&M's "Too Much" were forgotten in the shuffle, so delete those two if you wish.

2.) Artists get two or three songs... Except for a few who get 5. It's not to show preference to them, because I wanted absolute diversity, and not lean towards any particular artist, but they were useful in filling in songs that not many others had covered.

3.) I tried to stay away from famous versions (Byrds, PP&M, Jimi), but not the famous people. I just want to get away from the standard stuff everybody knows or owns. A lot of the people you expect to see are here, but not doing the songs you usually think of.

4.) I stayed away from the Chimes of Freedom Amnesty Intnl. box set. I honestly was underwhelmed by Chimes. There's a few names on there that should be nowhere near a BD song. (Go listen to Kesha's solo track from it....ugh). I guess that was part of the inspiration for this. And given the size of this monster, I think I outdid them. Musical richness and great performances were a key goal here, not marketing disguised as charity....

Try as I might, not every song of his is here. Because of the common words of some of the song titles (Tell Me or Poor Boy, for example), they were hard to search for. Every non-traditional album of BD's is represented up to the mid 2000s, even albums nobody listens to like Saved. And I didn't include versions of songs he'd done that were traditionals, cuz that would be a whole other post. Just BD-penned songs as far as I can tell. A few traditionals may have snuck in, but I consider them performances influenced by BD.

The keen-eyed among you may notice I also violated the rules in one spot - I put Bob doing a song. Simple: that version of Babe is an amazing reinvention, and one of my favorites, so nyah!

When it comes to the BD songs to look for, I referenced his main albums, the tracks that were unique to the Greatest Hits sets, the B00TLEG Series 1=3, some of the Witmark stuff, and the original Bsmnt Tapes album. There may be songs of his that aren't here, but I was hitting dead ends for the reasons I said earlier, and had to stop! Many of them are here though. Maybe they weren't all covered....

Everything was edited on my iTunes, so all are tagged, despite their disparate sources. The Artist name will just be "Various Artists", though each track will have the artist's name in the title. Though the titles of the files look clipped, when you upload them the whole file name will be there. And it's a point of pride of mine that only 2 of these are YouTube audio rips, and they sound stellar! Everything else is a 192-320 Kbps mp3 file. No .m4a or .aac tracks hiding in here, I promise.

And regarding the organization of songs: I had originally put them with the artist name first, but then realized that would make it harder to search for a song. So, it's alphabetical by song title. And the pile is divided up into ten volumes, each with its own art. It should be noted that the divisions were meant for the uploading limit (200 MB) - not a CD length - so the running time for each is at least 90 minutes, except for the last volume. And dividing them that way makes for some interesting listening. For example: J-M is largely quiet and contemplative, until RATM's track punches you in the face!

This isn't too compilation-heavy. Many of these come from an artist's proper albums, or BD-themed albums done by that person. Lesser-known tribute and themed albums out there were sampled, but I copied none of them over completely. As I said, no Chimes, and I only hit the 30th Anniversary Concert for Lou Reed's track. This is intentionally off the beaten path. And none of this intended to be funny in a Golden Throats kind of way. Even Sebastian Cabot's "Boots Of Spanish Leather" from his much-ridiculed spoken word BD album is actually really good! This is great music, not an attempt to gather a bunch of oddball versions together.

Guys...I thought I knew a lot about music, but I didn't know about 85% of these covers! And when it comes to BD's material, there's whole parts of the discography I was unfamiliar with - mainly the late 70's through the late 80's. And hearing versions of these lesser-heard songs done by others made me admire BD's words even more. There's plenty of known and unknown names here, but so many great versions! Some of the best covers are done by country or blues artists. That's fitting, since both those genres are where BD's musical soul comes from. But there's also different kinds of pop, R&B, jazz, and rock and roll represented here. And then there's whatever the hell that version of "Wiggle Wiggle" is. (Note: that's Gene Ween though!) These are intentionally diverse, so please don't be a snob or a purist with this stuff. It has its own flow... even just laid out alphabetically. Open yourself up to these songs, and BD shines through them, trust me!

Even a brief survey of highlights would be a hell of a list. Bonnie Raitt will crush your heart during "Standing In...". You'll want to smash a pint glass over some bloke's head during the Pogues' "When the Ship...". The applause will shock you at the end of Baez's angelic "With God..." Jack Downing's gorgeous "Queen Jane" makes me ache. Link Wray's "Baby Blue" will rock your ass. And then you'll have to surrender to the power of Laibach's "Ballad Of A Thin Man"! Jodi Jean & Aylon (a U.S. bossa nova/jazz vocal combo, of all things) deliver an unbelievably graceful "Simple Twist". Mick Taylor wrings every drop of blues out of "Blind Willie McTell". Neil Young's "Blowin" (from Weld) is a guitar apocalypse! Sheryl Crow's "Tombstone" has a well-honed but shambling electricity, like the original. Hanne Boel (a Scandinavian popstar) shows "Emotionally Yours" to be the great soul song it always was. D. Matthews' cover of "Watchtower" is astonishing! Bryan Ferry makes "Hard Rain" all his own. And I'm utterly smitten with Glen Campbell's "I Don't Believe You". Hell, even the much-maligned Great White do a full-bodied, rocking "Tangled...". And I'm glad I dug through all the versions of "I Shall Be Released" until I found Pearl Before Swine's take on it.

I could go on and on and on. I've been road-testing these for a week, and I love em! Hearing all these people - across many many styles - sing BD's music is just amazing. And nothing was arbitrary: all these songs got a listen, got checked against other versions, got a yay or a nay, and then put in the files.

I'm glad I've inspired some others to look for covers. You want some well-worn advice? Here's the sites I used...and don't edit or tag the MP3 file names until you put them on your computer. Trust me!

1. 

I could've almost done a complete other post with different versions, there were so many great

contenders. Jamie Saft's version of "Thin Man" with Mike Patton was almost here. I felt cheeky and almost put Emtombed's version of "Hollis Brown" here, but thought it obliterated the mood. And I think you'll agree with me that David Lynch's (!!!) version is plenty awesome on its own. Honorable mention goes to Thea Gilmore's amazing cover album of John Wesley Harding, JJ & Aylon's great BD-themed album, the wealth of Fairport Convention, Richie Havens, and Baez covers, as well as the Outlaw Blues BD tribute for that Thurston track.

I'm a Level 3 out of 5 when it comes to being a BD fan. Not an obsessive, but I've got quite a bit. I've always tried to turn people on to his stuff, and it hasn't always worked. I made these for people who may not like him, to show them the rich diversity of the man's music. I also made this to appeal to BD fans by chasing down every damn track I could. If you are in either of those camps - or if you just like really good music - dig into these! I guarantee you, people, no one has ever put all this material together!!!

COMMENTS MOST WELCOME. Just don't use BD's name, OK?

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Q-U-E-E-N Covers and a classic concert

Something tells me to be cautious with this one. They seem like one of those nice old English bands who will DMCA you out of existence if you post their stuff. So, they shall be referred to as Q. First up, we have a concert that I had to dig in the dustiest corner of the Internet to find.....

The Freddie Mercury Tribute concert was a big event of my adolescence. I was born after Woodstock and The Concert For Bangladesh, I was too young to give a shit about Live Aid, so this was it for me. And it was that time when Q's star rose again after Freddie's death due to that one song being in a comedy....you know the one...

I don't want to talk about the gig much, cuz I'll use names that attract too much attention. For a long time, all I had was my cassettes of this show that I'd recorded off the radio. That was until I came across this Italian bootleg. It seems to be an audio dupe of the TV feed, but it's good quality. I always wondered why this wasn't released, and after hearing the whole thing I know why. There's feedback spikes and audio dropouts throughout the show. This happens even at the show's ultimate moment: Bowie and Annie Lennox's "Under Pressure". I've always read that Wembley Stadium can be nightmarish for sound. It's not horrible by any means, but there's a few spikes.

This is the whole show, with only a few exceptions. I took out You Too's track cuz it was just one of those piped-in ZooTV tour performances they were always doing. Also includes several things cut from broadcast (Spinal Tap, Bob Geldof), as well as some things cut from videotape and DVD releases (RP's "Innuendo"). Go to the wiki page and give it a read -

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Freddie_Mercury_Tribute_Concert     

One more thing I wanna say about this concert: this should've been it. The finale. The group's later reformations with Paul Rodgers (ugh) and Adam Lambert (aaggh!) did nothing but besmirch the legend. Freddie was it, there's no replacing him. This would've been a good finale....Liza's "Champions" not withstanding. There's plenty of overblown moments, like GNR's reggae breakdown in the middle of "Knockin'", but is a great show. Now on to the cool covers comp I made to go along with this....

Regarding this covers comp, I want to address something. You'll notice that there are three specific Q songs that are not here. And it's because I'm utterly fucking sick of them!!! They have saturated classic rock radio for decades, to the point where they're no more emotionally moving to me than a rendition of "I'm A Little Teapot". Also, they seem to be the only songs that other people judge Q by, and that's not fair. I'm not meaning to shit on them if you like them, but I just didn't want to include them. 

No write up this time, guys. Just roll with it - you always seem to.

Brian's Bowie Tribute

(Scott)-This is one you guys will want to hear....Brian, of course, being the "king of cover projects", and this
one.... well, it's Bowie, what more needs to be said...... I got a sneak preview of this a week ago, and this one is killer again, Brian is perhaps the best on earth at creating these particular projects, and I am thrilled that we can post them here! Don't miss this one, although after he describes the project for you, I think you will be running, not walking, to grab this beast!
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This one has been in the works for awhile. I started it around the time of the Hot Rocks covers comp. After an initial burst, I left it alone for many weeks. I was finding it hard to listen to Bowie. At one point, I almost uploaded what I had, a half-assed collection of 17 covers, just to be done with it. But this little corner of the Internet likes my covers comps, and if anyone deserves doing right, it's Bowie. So.... now we have a kickass collection of 50+ covers! And given that Bowie is the inspiration, the musical variety on display is even a bit more than usual... though no Laibach, strangely enough....

If I've never said it to you before, I've got something to say now about these covers projects. One of the reasons I like doing them so much is that each time, I learn something. I often don't know a good amount of the groups I'm assembling, or maybe not those specific songs by the artist being covered. A good example of this is the Dylan covers pile back in September - I was a completely different Dylan fan after I made that one! Often, there's a cover or two that provides the first impetus, and then it goes on from there. And please, never think I just grab the first okay cover of a song I find. I'm always deleting and finding new ones til everything sounds just right.

This Bowie comp is a good example of that. But the bitch of it was, I couldn't nail down the tracklist. I knew what I wanted to begin and end the parts with, but that was all. Finally, I just went all "raffle ticket" with it, putting song titles on bits of paper and shaking em up in a box. Somehow, I think David would appreciate that idea. And for once, each one of these clocks in under 80 mins, should any of you have the desire to burn them onto CD.

Guys, given the size of this, I don't want to write about every track. I'll talk about some of the unique ones and favorites on here, but just roll with the rest of it, OK? By this point, you know whether or not you like what I do, and trust me when I say this one is good. My writing batteries are just a little low right now.

Many people have covered Bowie. There were a lot of versions of "Life On Mars?" and "Space Oddity" - from artists as disparate as Natalie Merchant and Barbra Streisand. There's two versions of "Heroes" here because I couldn't decide between the faithful cover (Junkyard Liberty) or the awesome shoegaze (Luna Ghost). So, I've bracketed each volume with two covers of each of these three Bowie standards. But don't worry - no Streisand.

The reimagining of "Let's Dance" by German metal band Atrocity is brilliant, making one of my least favorite DB songs highly listenable again. The a cappella version of "Changes" by the Calvillo Sisters was ripped from a YouTube vid. I like it for it's uniqueness. I love Rickie Lee Jones's acoustic "Rebel Rebel". Seu Jorge's version of "Lady Stardust" is from the Portuguese-language Bowie covers he did for the movie The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou. Bauhaus's "Ziggy Stardust" just kills...I don't think I've ever heard Peter Murphy howl like that! And the version of "Scary Monsters" is by Frank Black and David Bowie, because if anyone is gonna defy the rules - not to mention death - on one of my comps, it's Bowie! (Plus, the only other easily findable version by Laether Strip is pseudo-KMFDM crap).

The Melvins are the perfect group to cover "Breaking Glass". The same can be said of Tears For Fears' and Franz Ferdinand's covers, too. Phillip Glass's "V-2 Schneider" is from his Low Symphony - definitely worth checking out. Of course, Nirvana is here. Michelle Branch is an early 2000's pop crush of mine, and she also turns in a great "Life On Mars?". Scott Weiland (RIP) was always a glam boy at heart, and his version of "Fame" with Paul Oakenfold retains Bowie's sense of funk. And I've never heard of Steve Salas, but that is an awesome cover of "Always Crashing..."!

And many, many, many more....

Disc 1

1.) Natalie Merchant - Space Oddity

2.) Morrissey - Drive In Saturday

3.) Calvillo Sisters - Changes

4.) The Get Up Kids - Suffragette City

5.) Dave Gahan - Cracked Actor

6.) Bauhaus - Ziggy Stardust

7.) Enuff Z'Enuff - The Jean Genie

8.) Momus - The Bewlay Brothers 

9.) Steve Saylas - Always Crashing In The Same Car

10.) Kim Wilde - Kooks

11.) Green River - Queen Bitch

12.) Gilby Clarke - Diamond Dogs

13.) Contraband- Hang On To Yourself

14.) Dana Gillespie - Andy Warhol

15.) Rickie Lee Jones - Rebel Rebel

16.) Seu Jorge - Lady Stardust

17.) Ghosts Of Breslau - Warszawa

18.) Hell O Ween - Space Oddity

Disc 2

1.) Michelle Branch - Life On Mars?

2.) Christian Death- Panic In Detroit

3.) Eluder - I'm Afraid Of Americans

4.) David Bowie & Frank Black - Scary Monsters

5.) Gl•nn D•nzig - Cat People

6.) Lulu - Watch That Man

7.) Camilla Fascina - I'm Deranged

8.) Culture Club - Starman

9.) Franz Ferdinand - Sound & Vision

10.) Tedeschi Trucks Band - Oh! You Pretty Things

11.) Black Box Recorder - Rock N Roll Suicide

12.) Phillip Glass - V-2 Schneider

13.) Blaine L. Reining - Sons Of The Silent Age

14.) Camille O'Sullivan - Lady Grinning Soul

15.) The Polecats - John, I'm Only Dancing

16.) Genuflec - Soul Love

17.) The Cure - Young Americans

18.) Scala & Kolacny Brothers - Life On Mars?

Disc 3

1.) Luna Ghost - Heroes

2.) The Remote Viewers - Jump They Say

3.) Scott Weiland & Paul Oakenfold - Fame

4.) Nirvana - The Man Who Sold The World

5.) Der Rudy ft. the Van Jets - Fashion

6.) Marilyn Manson - Golden Years

7.) Atrocity - Let's Dance

8.) Momus - Joe the Lion

9.) Murder By Death - Five Years

10.) Duran Duran - Boys Keep Swinging

11.) The Melvins - Breaking Glass

12.) Tears For Fears - Ashes to Ashes

13.) The F-Ups - All The Young Dudes

14.) Human Drama - Letter To Hermione

15.) The Pain Teens - She Shook Me Cold

16.) Brazzaville- Moonage Daydream

17.) The Merry Thoughts - Station To Station 

18.) The Junkyard Liberty - Heroes

You guys should like this one. I'm glad I took my time with it. The bonus link for this post is an album by my

favorite impression/voices comic. If you've ever heard or seen his "Movie Previews Guy" bit, this is the album it came from. Funny stuff

And a big thanks again to Jonder for helping me with this one. He did the cover art and some track editing for me. Someday I'll get a working computer again, but in the meantime, he's a great cohort to have. Go back a few weeks and give his posts some love, too.

I Look Inside Myself and See My Heart is Black.....

In the spirit of the past posts of "Louie Louie" (which Brian masterminded and I assisted) and the ancient "Gloria" post which I thin I created or stole one or the other, I present you with a "Paint it Black" extravaganza..... .what do I say? Well let's loos at the lyrics of this great song, a classic by any standards....

I see a red door and I want it painted black
No colors anymore I want them to turn black
I see the girls walk by dressed in their summer clothes
I have to turn my head until my darkness goes

I see a line of cars and they're all painted black
With flowers and my love both never to come back
I see people turn their heads and quickly look away
Like a new born baby it just happens ev'ry day

I look inside myself and see my heart is black
I see my red door I must have it painted black
Maybe then I'll fade away and not have to face the facts

It's not easy facin' up, when your whole world is black

No more will my green sea go turn a deeper blue
I could not foresee this thing happening to you

If I look hard enough into the settin' sun
My love will laugh with me before the mornin' comes

I see a red door and I want it painted black
No colors anymore I want them to turn black
I see the girls walk by dressed in their summer clothes
I have to turn my head until my darkness goes

Hmm, hmm, hmm
Hmm, hmm, hmm
Hmm, hmm, hmm
Hmm, hmm, hmm

I want to see it painted, painted black
Black as night, black as coal
I want to see the sun, blotted out from the sky
I want to see it painted, painted, painted, painted black
Yeah! Hmm, hmm, hmm

OK, this is a great fucking song that often summarizes how we all feel at times ("not easy facin' up when your whole world is black").... But i never really dreamed there were so many versions (we recently heard the Animals fine version here)....... 

Well, here is the "track list" as it were...... I'm not going
to idiotically name the song each time, just the artist will suffice, but there are some expected as well as surprise performers here..... first of all the Stones original is here, as a "benchmark", so to speak, and the Animals version appears for the second time this week on this blog. But Deep Purple? Floating Bridge? Metal wankers Helloween? The great Jody Grind? How about Jonny Lang's surprisingly good effort? The Standells? Jesus, how about Rammstein of all people? or VANESSA CHARLTON (better than i'd have expected),  just goes to show that often, a song transcends normal circles and can be interpereted a variety of ways.... this is the one........ enjoy, and don't be afraid, it REALLY IS a good listen!

01 After Hours/02 Anvil/03 Bluebeard/04 Chris Farlowe/05 Deep Purple/06 Earth Crisis/07 Epsilon/08 Eric Burdon & the Animals/09 Eternal Afflict/10 Flamin Groovies/11 Floating Bridge/12 Folkswingers/13 Glen Tipton/14 Gob/15 Helloween/16 Incubus/17 Jody Grind/18 Johnny Lang/19 Marduk/20 Medley: Black On Black In Black/21 Rage/22 Rammstein/23 Rufus Zuphall/24 Sister Sin/25 Taetre/26 The Agony Scene/27 The Animal/28 The Black Dahlia Murder/29 The Rolling Stones/30 The Standells/31 Vanessa Charlton/32 Vicious Rumors/33 The Vines/34 W.A.S.P.

More a scholarly exercise than something to listen to on a road trip, but I really liked it (hey that's ME)..... check this if you are interested in how very many ways a song can be interpreted.......if you are familiar with me you know I HATE cover versions that are "note for note" copies of the original, I find them pointless.... not too much of that here, and it is really interesting as hell in my opinion..... which is your favorite/least favorite? Love to hear from you on this topic!

Jonder's cool "Tribute to The Fall"

(Scott)-That Jonder is one creative individual, I give him that.... following up Brian's recent Fall mega-
post, here comes another great friend of the blog with a PERFECT follow up.... he describes it in good detail here, but I had a long drive yesterday/today and listened to a lot of this, WAY cool, and I know from Brian's post there are a LOT of Fall fans out there, so check this one out.....
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The Fall formed in 1976, and is now in its 40th year.  There are more than 30 official studio albums (plus countless bootlegs, compilations, and live albums).  The group has been the subject of eight books (one of which tracks down some of the 60 former Fall members).  The only constant in The Fall throughout the past four decades is singer and songwriter Mark E. Smith.

So where does one begin?  Brian shared ten excellent Fall albums here.  The 2004 compilation 50,000 Fall Fans Can't Be Wrong is another great place to start (although it could be expanded with a third disc to cover the decade since its release).   Here's my own compilation of essential Fall songs, presented in reverse chronological order.  Some (like "Auto Chip") have been edited for length.  "Bury" is a non-LP single version. "Blindness" is a non-CD vinyl version.  "I Want You" is a personal favorite that is actually performed by the Inspiral Carpets with Mark E. Smith on vocals (one of his many guest appearances with other artists).

I couldn't resist sharing some Fall covers and songs about The Fall.  There is a 2 CD compilation called "Perverted By Mark E." that features versions of Fall songs as well as original songs about The Fall and its leader.  Jeffery Lewis' history of the band is the only song here from that comp.  Sonic Youth recorded a session for John Peel (who was a massive Fall fan), which was released as an EP called 4 Tunna Brix.  Pavement paid tribute during another Peel Session, and Deerhunter performed a Fall song during a session for BBC DJ Marc Riley.  Riley was one of the first of many to be kicked out of The Fall by the mercurial Mark E. Smith.  

If you're curious about the wonderful and frightening world of Fall history, here's a timeline of the group's membership:  http://bit.ly/1RqQjor  If you're even curiouser, visit thefall.org, an exhaustive fansite with discography, lyrics, and news.  It was once the official Fall website, but I think Smith fired them too.

FALLBACK:                                                                                    

01  Auto Chip 2014 (edit)

02  Bury 2 + 4

03  Higgle-dy Piggle-dy

04  Blindness

05  Theme From Sparta FC

06  Cyber Insekt

07  Touch Sensitive

08  I Want You

09  Behind The Counter

10  Free Range

11  Black Monk Theme

12  Bombast

13  2 x 4

14  I Feel Voxish

15  The Classical

16  Kicker Conspiracy

17  Lie Dream Of A Casino Soul

18  Totally Wired

19  Container Drivers (Peel Session)

20  Totale's Turns (excerpt)

FALL COVERS AND TRIBUTES:                                                                                      

01  Me And Yer Granny On Bongos - The Armitage Shanks

02  Hit The North - Frank Sidebottom

03  Totally Wired - Terry Edwards

04  Southern Mark Smith - The Jazz Butcher

05  Mark E. Smith and Brix - Barbara Manning

06  Mark E. Smith - Shrag

07  How He Wrote Elastica Man - Elastica (with Mark E. Smith)

08  Stalking Mark E. Smith Around NYC - Necropolis

09  I Am Mark E. Smith - Fat White Family

10  The Story Of The Fall - Jeffrey Lewis

11  Winter - The Fiery Furnaces

12  Various Times - Wreck

13  Psycho Mafia - Sonic Youth

14  The Classical - Pavement

15  Fiery Jack - The Yummy Fur

16  Totally Wired - Yo La Tengo

17  Who Makes The Nazis - Deerhunter

18  Hip Priest - DUSTdevils

FALLBACK:  mega.nz/#!nIhnzDbC!BaZ9ECP-QeKn-LsIK846cZFnHN7I5Y73KI8KgIPRwHo

FALL COVERS AND TRIBUTES:  mega.nz/#!7dRRTZTR!MmRaapf23BjKyVaIeXUSVg2nGCTrN7r8iMxuyLPllGk

Welcome aboard to William K

William K sent me a very nice email thanking us for the work we do (ALL of us of course), and he says he "wants to give back" for the music that he has discovered here.......and he backs it up by providing a couple of items (one in particular for me) for our perusal......

First up we have the music for the original soundtrack to "The Man Who Fell To Earth"....unsure as to whether I've heard this one before or not, some top-talent appears on the album to be sure......let me run down the track list for you, because it's William K's OTHER project here that I really am excited about and wish to rave about a little bit.......

STARDUST-MUSIC FOR THE MAN WHO FELL TO EARTH-01 STOMU YAMASHTA-33 1/3/02 BOURNEMOUTH SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA-Mars, Bringer of War/03 LOUIS ARMSTRONG-Blueberry Hill/04 BOUERMAN SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA-Neptune The Mystic/06 FRANK GLAZER-Enfantillages Pittoresques (Picturesque Childishness)/07 BOUERMAN SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA-Venus Bringer of Peace/08 STORMU YAMASHATA'S RED BUDDA THEATER-Mandala/09 ROY ORBISON-Blue Bayou/10 STORMU YAMASHATA & COME TO THE EDGE-One Way/11 STORMU YAMASHATA-Wind Words/12 JIM REEVES-A Fool Such As I/13 STORMU YAMASHATA'S RED BUDDA THEATER-Memory of Hiroshima/14 JIM REEVES-Make the World Go Away/15 JOHN PHILLIPS-Hello Mary Lou/16 ROBERT FARNON-Silent Night/17 TRUE LOVE-Bing Crosby & Grace Kelly/18 GENEVIEVE WAITE-Love is Coming Back/19 ARTIE SHAW & HIS ORCHESTRA-Stardust........

Well, once again, you can't say I don't strive for some variety......really never would have forseen Artie Shaw, Jim Reeves, Bing Crosby and whomever on my blog, but they are welcome as anyone else, provided someone supplies thier stuff so someone else can enjoy it.......see comments section for link.

Now, his other submission is the one that fascinates me.......Television was/is one of my all time favorite bands, LOVED thier stuff....."Marquee Moon" was one of my favorite albums, "Adventure" was underrated, and OOOOOOHHHHH those live shows.......anyway, one thing I have always thought about Television is HOW HARD IT WOULD BE TO DO A COVERS PROJECT ON THEM.......the oddball guitar-interplay, Tom Verlaine's one of a kind vocals, the twisted, artistic lyrics.........I honestly don't remember even a single GOOD version of a Television song......they were that unique and amazing.....however, whomever created this (unsure if William K created it, it is listed as "Keith's Downloads").......OK, not necessarily FANTASTIC covers, but covers nonetheless.....hey I NEVER would have taken THIS on, and this is a (mega) FAN speaking!

So, what do we have here? Well, several tracks are solo efforts by either Tom Verlaine or Richard
Lloyd, so with those we know what to expect.......a little bit more surprising would be something like "Marquee Moon" by Army of Halfwits, Eggplant taking on the great "Breakin In My Heart".....or how strange would a Matthew Sweet/Suzanna Hoffs duet on "Marquee Moon" sound? The mind reels......Rain Parade's take on "Ain't That Nothin'" (one of my faves) is quite enjoyable, Siouxsie & the Banshees are perfect for "Little Johnny Jewel", Echo & the Bunnymen turn in a good live version of "Friction".......QUITE a worthwhile effort, in particular if you are a fan of Television on the scale that I happen to be.......COMMENT BACK on these and please let William K know you enjoyed his posts.......if he's got more projects as twisted as the "Television Covers" on the back burner, he'll always have a home here!

TELEVISION COVERS PROJECT-01 RICHARD LLOYD-Fire Engine/02 ARMY OF HALFWITS-Marquee Moon/03 BIRDLAND-See No Evil/04 CHRIS CONNELLY-Souvenier From a Dream/05 CHRIS STAMEY WITH YO LA TENGO-Venus/06 ECHO & THE BUNNYMEN-Friction/07 EGGPLANT-Breakin In My Heart/08 FOETUS & CHROME CRANKS-Little Johnny Jewel/09 JULIE'S HAIRCUT, DOWNTOWN LOVE TRAGEDIES, WHO IS HE & WHAT IS HE-J Song Structure (? copied it as written)/10 KRONOS QUARTET-Marquee Moon/11 LLOYD COLE & THE COMMOTIONS-Glory/12 MARIE ET LES GARCONS-Little Johnny Jewel/13 MATTHEW SWEET & SUSANNA HOFFS-Marquee Moon/14 NUMBER ONE CUP-Little Johnny Jewel/15 ORCHESTRE ROUGE-Friction/16 REM-See No Evil/17 RAIN PARADE-Ain't That Nothing/18 RICHARD LLOYD-Heart of Gold/19 SIMON RAYMONDE-Days/20 SIOUXSIE & THE BANSHEES-Little Johnny Jewel/21 SONIC YOUTH-That's All I Know (Right Now)/22 TENNIS-Guiding Light/23 TERRY HALL-See No Evil/24 THE BLUE AEROPLANES-Breaking In My Heart/25 THE CHURCH-Friction/26 THE WATERBOYS-That Was the River/27 THE WINDBREAKERS-Glory/28 TOM VERLAINE-Cold Irons Bound/29 TOM VERLAINE-Fever/30 TOM VERLAINE-The Hawk/31 TROTSKY ICEPICK-Venus De Milo

That is just wonderful..........William K, we LOVE cover projects round here, never thought I'd see someone get a Television covers tribute together, it's great, imaginative, and took my totally by surprise..... PLEASE DO NOT be a stranger, as they say: The more great guest posters/contributors we have, the less work I have to do (the most important thing!)

ENOUGH "Louie Louie" for ya?

(Scott): Something like the "Gloria" comp I put together a few years back,  Brian and I tag-teamed this one, at least hunting down the material, the writing and composistion are all his.......his description is right on, there is amazing variety and diversity here, and I think it's great, one of those exercises in "bulk music" that is just cool to have around.....THREE hours of "Louie Louie", as Iggy said "I never thought it would come to this!" (Brian offers the same quote later in the post, but I found it appropriate in this context as well.....

(*Did you know:
Right before the second verse, drummer Lynn Easton
audibly curses as he accidentally misses a cue)

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Oh, the madness! A month or so ago, I had the idea to put together a bunch of versions of "Louie Louie". I won't pretend I'm the only one that's thought of it (more on that shortly), but Scott really liked the idea! So, now we had some work cut out for us! He grabbed some, I grabbed some, and I commenced to editing and sequencing...

The story of the song is fascinating, but I don't wanna write it here. I suggest you read the Wiki page. According to that, there have been somewhere around 1400 versions of the song! Well, I wasn't going that high, but I wanted a good cross section. A lot of people don't even know that the "classic" take by The Kingsmen wasn't the original. As you'll see here, it wasn't the first cover of the song, either.

These 3 hours of music (heh heh heh) spans from the first version of the song by Richard Berry in 1957 up to about 10 years ago. It's laid down as chronological as I could get it. Plenty of the "The" titled bands of the 60's are here: The Standells, The Kinks, The Beach Boys, The Ventures, The Beau Brummels, The Wailers, etc. It's interesting to hear who takes inspiration from Berry's version, or from The Kingsmen's, or even from the deadly version that's on The Stooges' Metallic K.O.

I ain't gonna walk you through the whole monster, but I'll talk about some of my highlights. Plenty of people have improvised lyrics over the tune, but my favorite is still Black Flag's version from '81, with the Stooges' onstage meltdown running a close second....

"Who needs love when you've got a gun?                                                                                     Who needs love to have any fun?"
-Dez Cadena

"I never thought it would come to this, baby!!!!" - Iggy Pop

Some of the best versions also have an awesome crunchy guitar sound: The Sonics, The Swamp Rats, Motörhead, Flag, The Flamin' Groovies, and The Troggs, whose take on the song is almost Sabbath-like in it's ugliness. One of my fave 60's versions is Jackey Yoshikawa's, with its misemphasis of words on the chorus, which somehow makes the hook even more insidious and catchy!

Interesting things are done with the song: Mongo Santamaria uses it as the basis for a great Afro-Cuban version. Barry White makes an extended 7 minute Love Orchestra groove out of it. The Sandpipers do a bucolic, Spanish language take that's very pretty. And of course, the punkers do great versions - Eddie & the Subtitles, Patti Smith, The Clash, The Boys Next Door, the aforementioned Black Flag, and a demonic live version from The Gun Club! There's a goth take, a funk take, some soul, a zydeco tune, there's even a few marching band versions in here! Even The Fat Boys make an appearance, actually telling you the history of the song. And Iggy shows up 3 times, too. Can you spot the first appearance?

I was almost discouraged from doing this by a similar project I found out awhile ago. The great Garage Tapes blog (garagetapes.blogspot.com) has made a 7 or 8 part post of garage rock "Louie Louie" versions! I found out about it because some of the mp3s I was finding had cover art from that blog's series. So, I deliberately tried not to oversample tracks he had used, or else this would've stayed in the 60's forever! There is some overlap between this compilation and those, but not too much. As a separate comment below, I've included links for all the posts of the Garage Tapes comps. If you've got a hankering for even more versions (you're nuts, BTW), definitely go check them out. HINT - you gotta click where it says the Kb rate or it says "free text". And there's always a password too. And lastly, on my comp here I've labeled the songs with just the artist's name, since you all know what song it is. Hell, you may never get it out of your head....

Disc 1

1.Richard Berry & The Pharoahs |2.Rockin' Robin Roberts |3.The Kingsmen |4.Paul Revere & The Raiders |5.Otis Redding |6.The Beach Boys |7.The Iguanas |8.The Standells |9.The Wailers |10.The Ventures |11.The Sonics |12.The Roosters |13.The Kinks |14.The Beau Brummels |15.The Sandpipers |16.The Troggs |17.The Swamp Rats |18.Friar Tuck |19.Jackey Yoshikawa & His Blue Comets |20.Mongo Santamarìa |21.Zappa & M.O.I. |22.Grateful Dead |23.Joske Harry |24.The Flamin' Groovies |25.Richard Berry (70's) |26.Toots & The Maytals |27.The Stooges |28.Michael Sweeny |29.Too Loose Ta Truck

Disc 2

30.Patti Smith |31.The Clash |32.Eddie & The Subtitles |33.Motorhead |34.John Belushi |35.The Boys Next Door (early Nick Cave) |36. 39 Clocks |37.Barry White |38.Stanley Clarke |39.Black Flag ('81) |40.Joan Jett |41.Maureen Tucker |42.Tom Petty & Heartbreakers |43.Matthew Fedak |44.The Gun Club |45.Black Flag ('85) |46.Gidget & Ghandhi |47.The Fat Boys |48.Steve Plunkett |49.Robert Plant |50.Iggy Pop |51.Thee Headcoats |52.Arnie Fruit Quartet |53.VVM |54.Ophir Prison Marching Band |55.Rick Barr

ALL IN ONE GO. I dare ya....

I forgot to put a pass on the bonus link for this post. It's one of the best funny albums of the 70's. Definitely check it out.

Brian talks Bowie, Weird Al, Stones Covers, and something for the comedy fans!

....What the FUCK?!?!? This keeps happening... I'm trying to put things together for a post, and suddenly I get confronted with another musical hero dying! I'm hurt like I haven't been in a long time. Really, this sucks. I got a bad feeling about what's ahead, y'all...

Bowie's passed away. The Thin White Duke has left His Court. Ziggy has gone home. David Robert Jones has died. All Monday was Bowie day for me. I listened to Ziggy Stardust and Christiane F., shed some real tears, then drove while listening to an NPR rebroadcast of an interview with him, bought Blackstar, went home and shed a few more. And no, I'm not posting his new album. It's the man's final deliberate document! A great record, too - fans of Low will definitely like it. It's a beautiful, fucking spooky experience... just listen to "Blackstar" or "Lazarus", knowing now that he knew he was dying, and not feel a shiver go down your spine! And then there's the silence after the last track "I Can't Give Everything Away" ends. That's all she wrote, folks. Damn it. Now go buy it, guys. YOU OWE HIS MEMORY.

                                                          "Look up here, I'm in heaven

                                                            I've got scars that can't be seen

                                                            I've got drama, can't be stolen

                                                            Everybody knows me now.

                                                        Look up here, man, I'm in danger

                                                             I 've got nothing left to lose

                                                      I 'm so high it makes my brain whirl

                                                      I dropped my cell phone down below

                                                                     Ain't that just like me?"

                                                                             ---from Lazarus---

But, to commemorate this sad time, I did want to give you something. This file contains two albums. Christiane F. is a soundtrack he released in 1982. It's basically a small collection of his Berlin era stuff. This one is perfect for you if you're unfamiliar with albums like Low, Heroes, Station to Station, etc. A great listen for fans of the period, too. It also contains the German language version of "Heroes", which was largely unavailable til those post-2000 reissues. This was the one that made me feel his death the day I heard, especially with it ending with the ethereally beautiful "Warszawa".

The second thing in the file is Live Rarest. It's live stuff from his first decade. I don't know the facts of this release; I don't even know if this is complete, but it rocks. Check out Mick Ronson's squealing guitar solo on "Moonage Daydream"! "The Supermen" and "Width Of A Circle" both have that great glam crunch, too. "Life On Mars?" is really good. "Five Years" - the Bowie song that got the hooks in me years ago - is great 'cept for those background vocals. I've read some of this is from the Santa Monica '72 album. Either way, it's a good live sampler of his 70's period. The Spiders From Mars were a kickass band!

I'll miss him. My condolences go out to his wife of 24 years, Iman, as well as his son Duncan Jones and his very young daughter. You're daddy was a legend, honey. And we're losing legends too fast, guys. And if you ask me, we're not getting new ones near fast enough. (Sigh). Now, on to the original beginnings of this post.. 

As some may have noticed, the comedy links in my last post got taken down within 3 days. Glad maybe 30 of you got them before they disappeared. Interestingly, Scott's post didn't get zapped, just my RB links. Some random dick decided I shouldn't post that stuff. Jeez, thank you for that. But I won't repost them, promise, boss....

I'm not gonna be mad at this. But here's what's gonna happen: there will be no mention of comedy anymore. When I post other stuff, there may be an additional link in the comments that's a comedy album. There will be no mention of it in the post, who it is, or any pics. I'll make a promise not to repeat an album, but comedy fans will have to keep their eyes peeled. And Minions, pay attention...there will be passwords on those specific files. The password will be comedy. Everybody got that? comedy. No capital letters. This is the only time I'm gonna mention that fact. Putting these up is way more of a pain than it's worth - it's the reason I don't have a blog anymore - but I know they're appreciated.

Happier stuff, now... I put together a few comps! I've been a fan of Weird Al since I was a kid. As some may or may not know, on most of his albums, he does a Polka Medley of current pop songs. This is a collection of those. As bookends, there are two specific medleys, of The Stones and Queen. This is funny stuff! My favorite is "The Alternative Polka". "Polkas on 45" is good too. I would of course invite people to buy Al's proper albums...consider this a sampler. If Al has ever made you laugh, you need this one!

And while assembling the Weird Al comp and listening to "The Hot Rocks Medley" a lot, I got a bit of inspiration.... The Stones! Should I do an album? Nope. My intro to The Stones - like a lot of people - was the '64-'71 Hot Rocks collection. It's a necessity, if you don't have it. I recommend it on vinyl, even an old copy. (The Stones always sound better on LP). Assembling this covers comp, there was a wealth of versions; usually 2 or 3 good ones for each track. And I tried to keep from well-known stuff, mostly. So, can I walk you through it?

Things start out with two versions from the time period. The Tremoloes' "Time Is On My Side" has some great pop vocal harmony work. The Nightcrawlers' "Heart Of Stone" is pretty straightforward. Then things get odd. Yat-Kha is a Mongolian group that incorporates throat singing with Western music styles. Their version of "Play With Fire" has some real menace to it with those deeeeep vocals! I love it. Otis Redding brings that Stax soul heat to his version of "Satisfaction". Isn't that the song that really blew away the audience at Monterey '67? I think I've heard that.

Hard to believe croaky and creaky ol' Marianne Faithfull could once deliver something as pretty as her version of "As Tears Go By", huh? I didn't know about The Eyes, but their version of "Get Off Of My Cloud" from '66 or so has a nice pop-ish garage snarl to it. Tesla's "Mother's Little Helper" is a great, faithful cover; sounds like it's from their Five Man Acoustical Jam period. The Standells - of "Dirty Water" Nuggets psych-rock fame - rip up "19th Nervous Breakdown" pretty good. The Flamin' Groovies - always reliable - give a great rendition of "Paint It Black", with a nice 70's studio sound to it.

I didn't ever know that The W-h-o covered "Under My Thumb"; they're perfect for it. Give it a good
listen - you can tell they had to really dampen Moonie's drums! Julian Lennon's great take of "Ruby Tuesday" stands out as my fave cover of the song. Was gonna put in somebody else's cover of "Let's Spend the Night Together", but in light of current events, Bowie's great version stands. 60's oddballs The Godz deliver a nice scuzzy take on "Jumpin' Jack Flash".

The Ramones and "Street Fighting Man"... do I need to say anything else? And Motörhead's version of "Sympathy For the Devil" is perfectly gnarly. Neither Scott nor I knew about this one! When they drop the hammer in the middle, it is a beast! Dammit Lemmy, now I miss you more. Albert King's "Honky Tonk Women" drips with bluesy soul - and check out those guitar licks! Patti Smith's great version of "Gimme Shelter" is yet another pick from her great covers album Twelve.

The Black Crowes live take of "Midnight Rambler" captures the spirit of the original perfectly. Def Leppard's version of "You Can't Always Get What You Want" might be the best surprise in here for some of you. It was recorded in '92, back when they could do beautifully sparkling acoustic songs. They really do it justice, guys... don't judge. Def Lep is awesome! Little Richard's take of "Brown Sugar" is also astonishingly good! I love the bellow in that man's voice. That's rock and roll! To close things out, we have The Flying Burrito Brothers' gorgeous version of "Wild Horses", which surpasses the original in my opinion. Hope you guys dig this. I tried to make a comp for More Hot Rocks as well, but that fell apart quickly.

NOTE: though this track list is laid out like the 2 disc set, it's one 21 track album file.

1. The Tremoloes - Time Is On My Side

2. The Nightcrawlers - Heart Of Stone

3. Yat-Kha - Play With Fire

4. Otis Redding - (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction

5. Marianne Faithfull - As Tears Go By

6. The Eyes - Get Off Of My Cloud

7. Tesla - Mother's Little Helper

8. The Standells - 19th Nervous Breakdown

9. The Flamin' Groovies - Paint It Black

10. The Who - Under My Thumb

11. Julian Lennon - Ruby Tuesday

1. David Bowie - Let's Spend The Night Together

2. The Godz - Jumpin' Jack Flash

3. The Ramones - Street Fighting Man

4. Motörhead - Sympathy For The Devil

5. Albert King - Honky Tonk Women

6. Patti Smith - Gimme Shelter

7. The Black Crowes - Midnight Rambler

8. Def Leppard - You Can't Always Get What You Want

9. Little Richard - Brown Sugar

10. The Flying Burrito Brothers - Wild Horses

Hope you guys like these comps, as well as David's stuff.