Texas is a big place. Big enough for musical stars to develop careers that barely touch the distant lands on the state’s borders. Pat Green was born in San Antonio, raised in Waco, attended Texas Tech, played the clubs of Lubbock, self-released four albums, found a mentor in fellow-Texan Willie Nelson, toured all over the Lone Star state and developed mainstream sponsors, all before signing with Universal in 2001.His albums have cracked the Top 20, and his singles the Top 40, but he’s never become a mainstream country star. And that’s generally been to his artistic advantage. Nashville doesn’t need someone whose maturity would resist molding, and given the size of his home state audience, Green doesn’t really need Nashville.
His latest album repeats the title and theme of 2001’s Songs We Wish We’d Written, though this time he leads his crack road band without the co-piloting of Cory Morrow. Green’s given a lot of thought to the songs that inspired him, and his choice of covers says as much about him as about the songwriters he reveres. Running down selections from Joe Ely, Jon Randall, Lyle Lovett, Shelby Lynne and Tom Petty, gives listeners a sense of what you’d hear on Green’s tour bus, and songs by lesser-known writers Aaron Tasjan and Waylon Payne, include suggestions from his friends, family and band members.
The album’s best known numbers – Lovett’s “If I Had a Boat†and Petty’s “Even the Losers†– quickly remind listeners this is an album of interpretations rather than rote covers. The former’s reverential arrangement echoes the song’s impact on Green’s formation as an artist, while the latter blends Green’s love of Tom Petty with an arrangement that grows from Springsteen-styled piano-and-voice to full-blown rock ‘n’ roll howl. The Springsteen influence is heard again in the lyrical tone of Shelby Lynne’s “Jesus on a Greyhound†and likewise on Ely’s “All Just to Get to You.†Green adds some country twists to his vocal, and his guitarist’s Allman-esque slide mates well to the E-Street vibe coming off the drums, bass and organ.
The New Christy Minstrels were a relentlessly upbeat folk revival group. The Minstrels generally hewed to the lighter side of the folk revival, often appearing in coordinated ensembles, and more likely to be seen on a mainstream television variety program, such as the Andy Williams show, than at a social demonstration or political rally. Aside from their musical roots in traditional material, their entertainment style had more in common with 1950s vocal choruses than with 1960s protest singers. Their hits were celebratory rather than confrontational, starting with a cover of Woody Guthrie’s “This Land is Your Land†that (to be fair, like several other covers of the time) didn’t touch any of the socially-charged verses.
Over the group’s core folk years of 1961-65, a number of folk, pop and rock luminaries passed through its ranks, including Barry McGuire (whose co-write withSparks, “Green, Green,†was a hit for the group), the Modern Folk Quartet’s Jerry Yester, and future Byrd Gene Clark. Randy Sparks had formed the group inLos Angelesin 1961, and led them artistically and commercially into 1964. Upon his departure, the group’s stage direction was turned over to Barry McGuire, and with McGuire’s subsequent departure, they expanded into pop and comedy, truing the variety of their show to the 19th century group after which they were named. The comedy team of Skiles and Henderson added skits to the show, and Kenny Rogers and Kim Carnes cycled through the group on their way to greater fame.
The Minstrels’ folk-era albums included many traditional songs, but Real Gone’s collection focuses more heavily onSparks’ original material. On the one hand, this leaves the group seeming unconnected to folk tradition, on the other,Sparks’ material is musically apiece with the traditional tunes they revived on their albums and in concert. The darker themes heard in other groups’ recordings are omitted here, as the track list sticks primarily to upbeat celebrations, historical tales and comedic romps. The Christys were built for entertainment, rather than social commentary, and though their contrast with the folk movement grew in the era of Dylan and Ochs, their entertainment value never diminished.
These twenty-five tracks trace the group’s transformation from an earnest folk chorus to a crossover pop act in search of direction. Their three biggest chart hits, “Green, Green,†“Saturday Night†and “Today,†are here, along with a previously unreleased studio outtake of their concert opener, “Walk the Road.†A wonderful Art Podell live performance of “(The Story of) Waltzing Matilda.†shows off the group’s impressive charisma, deftly mixing folk history, story-telling, harmonies, comedy and audience sing-along. The group’s post-RandySparksdrift into pop, gospel and film themes produced covers of “Chim Chim Cher-ee†and “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang,†backings from HugoMontenegro’s orchestra, and eventually the soft rock “You Need Someone to Love.†By the time the latter was recorded in 1970, the original membership and their folk roots had both been obliterated.
A gourmet’s selection of blues, country, soul and rock covers
Paul Thorn is a Mississippi bluesman whose earlier career as a boxer still echoes in his gruff growl. Though well-known for his original, biographical songs, Thorn’s sixth album is an all-covers affair. Singing the songs of other writers is a complex task, one that reflects on Thorn’s understanding of songwriting craft as well as his visceral experience as a listener. He poses this set as an opportunity to “take a break from myself,†but his selections from others’ pens say a great deal about his musical roots, influences and tastes. Most of his picks are sufficiently obscure to avoid even registering as covers for many listeners; but these are interpretations rather than explanations, and Thorn’s fans will marvel at how easily he draws these songs into his personal orbit. This is a mix tape, but one in which the mixer sings the songs rather than having lined up other people’s performances on a C90.
Thorn’s voice has a clenched, raspy edge that variously brings to mind Dr. John, Jon Dee Graham, Willy DeVille, John Hyatt, Lyle Lovett, Randy Newman, Joe Cocker, Tom Waits and even a bit of Louis Armstrong. He doesn’t sound like any one of them, but your ears will catch passing associations as he work through a wide-ranging catalog drawn from Ray Wylie Hubbard, Buddy Miller, Elvin Bishop, Allen Toussaint and others. Each recitation balances flavors from the original recordings with Thorn’s own sound, retaining the signature rolling rhythm of Lindsey Buckingham’s early “Don’t let Me Down Again†while lowering its youthful freneticism, magnifying the blue side of Free’s “Walk in My Shadow,†and giving Muscle Shoals’ legend Donnie Fritts’ “She’s Got a Crush on Me†the soul vocal it really deserves.
New songs, western swing classics and contemporary pop covers
Willie Nelson spent nearly two decades with Columbia, starting with his 1975 breakthrough (and first chart topper), Red Headed Stranger. He bounced around a number of majors and indies through the ‘90s and ‘00s, and now returns to the Sony fold via the company’s Legacy division, an imprint known more for its vast array of catalog reissues than for new music. But as a heritage artist, it’s a good fit, as Nelson revisits material from his catalog, chestnuts from the ‘30s and ‘40s, covers of recent pop songs, and new titles from his pen and that of his son, Lukas. The results are vital, and surprisingly coherent, if perhaps not always tightly focused. Covers of Pearl Jam (“Just Breatheâ€) and Coldplay (“The Scientistâ€) intermingle with Western Swing (“My Home in San Antone†and a terrifically jazzy “My Window Faces Southâ€), ‘40s weepers (“Cold War with Youâ€), and newly written originals.
Idiosyncratic collection of ‘70s and ‘80s obscurities
A better title might have been “I Swear I Heard it on the Radio,†given that the obscurities gathered here are the province of local scenes, in-the-know college radio DJ’s, late-night MTV viewers (or those clued in to HBO’s Video Jukebox) and crate diggers. They constitute the maddeningly ephemeral song fragments in a million memories of low-charting singles, turntable hits that failed to crack the charts, and locally distributed singles that hadn’t the promotional muscle to gain national consensus. Most of the charting hits here only made the middle of the Top 100, and others, like the brilliant “Prettiest Girl†from the Boston-based power-pop/punk Neighborhoods, are rarely anthologized collectors’ items whose musical brilliance far outstripped their labels’ reach.
The selections mix synth-pop, prog-pop and power-rock. The set includes two Hollies covers (“On a Carousel†from Raleigh, NC’s Glass Moon, and “Pay You Back with Interest†from Canada’s Gary O), a take on the Spinners “I’ll Be Around†from the Los Angeles-based What Is This, and a pop-rock cover of the Supremes’ “Stop! In the Name of Love†by former Stories front man, Ian Lloyd. Several of the collection’s hit makers, including Walter Egan, Jim Capaldi (of Traffic) and Greg Lake (of Emerson, Lake & Palmer) are represented by minor singles that only brushed the bottom half of the Top 20, and Lloyd delivers a pre-Bryan-Adams-hit version of Adams’ “Lonely Nights,†with Adams and his songwriting partner Jim Vallance providing the backing.
Joan Osborne’s 1995 smash, “One of Us,†may be the best thing that ever happened to her commercial fortunes, but her inability to follow-up its chart-topping success is more likely the best thing that ever happened to her artistry. In the wake of the triple-platinum Relish, Osborne receded into touring, social activism, musical study and guest appearances, taking five years to issue a follow-up that couldn’t possibly repeat the success of her major label debut. But in failing to sell millions of copies, Righteous Love freed Osborne from the expectations of another lightning strike, and set her on a path led by musical muses. She explored classic and original soul, recorded country and Americana, and even reunited with the team that had produced Relish.
Her first set of soul covers, 2002’s How Sweet It Is, featured modern production that was at odds with the material’s grit. Her second set, 2007’s Breakfast in Bed, is the more direct antecedent to this new album, with funkier arrangements that seem to have been inspired by her terrific appearance in Standing in the Shadows of Motown. For her latest set of covers, Osborne’s picked songs in which she hears the blues, going beyond the standard I-IV-V to find songs that connect to the emotion. It’s a diverse set, ranging from blues standards popularized by Sonny Boy Williamson, John Mayall, Muddy Waters and Slim Harpo to soul sides from Ray Charles, Ike & Tina, Betty Wright, Bill Withers, Otis Redding and Al Green.
The album breaks from the gate in full stride with a propulsive version of Ashford and Simpson’s “I Don’t Need No Doctor†that heats up Ray Charles’ 1966 original. Drummer Aaron Comess and bassist Richard Hammond lay down a wickedly funky bottom end punctuated by Chris Karlic’s baritone sax, and the Holmes Brothers’ backing vocals push Osborne to great heights of protest. Osborne’s equally effective singing low and seductive, taking the band with her on Muddy Waters’ “I Want to Be Loved.†The song list features some deep singles, including Olive Brown’s R&B “Roll Like a Big Wheel,†and album tracks such as John Mayall’s solo “Broken Wings.â€
Some of the better known tunes accrue layers from multiple earlier covers, such as how Willie Dixon’s “Bring it on Home†picks up notes from both Sonny Boy Williamson’s original and Led Zeppelin’s more lascivious cover, and James Moore’s “Shake Your Hips†picks up from Slim Harpo’s original and the Rolling Stones’ well-known remake. Others are sung in straightforward tribute to the originals, such as Betty Wright’s “Shoorah! Shoorah!†(with songwriter Allen Toussaint pitching in on piano), and at least one, “I’m Qualified,†keys entirely off a soul cover (by Clarence Carter) rather than the R&B original (by Jimmy Hughes).
Jackie Gleason’s moody mood music
