Ten Rare Covers from Lucinda Williams

Lucinda Williams has included some great covers on her albums (most recently with the AC/DC cover on Little Honey), but she has also sprinkled many covers here and there on various benefit and soundtrack compilations. Here are ten of the best hard to find covers by Lucinda Williams that I've found out there in the ether. Enjoy.

Lucinda Williams - Postively 4th Street (Bob Dylan cover) - 1993

Lucinda Williams - You Don't Have Very Far To Go (Merle Haggard cover) - 1993

Lucinda Williams - Main Roads (Victoria Williams cover) - 1993

Lucinda Williams - Here in California (Kate Wolf cover) - 1998

Lucinda Williams - Cold Cold Heart (Hank Williams cover) - 2001

Lucinda Williams - Nothin' (Townes Van Zandt cover) - 2001

Lucinda Williams - Lately (Greg Brown cover) - 2002

Lucinda Williams - Hang Down Your Head (Tom Waits cover) - 2003

Lucinda Williams - Mamas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be Cowboys (Willie Nelson & Waylon Jennings cover) - 2008

Lucinda Williams - Marching the Hate Machines (The Flaming Lips & Thievery Corporation cover) - 2008

This last cover is excellent and part of a digital only EP that Lucinda released in October of 2008 called Lu in '08. It also features covers of Dylan's "Masters of War," Buffalo Springfield's "For What It's Worth," and a new song, "Bone of Contention." There is a link to download it below.

Thanks for checking this out. Look for a post on five of Lucinda's best duets in the next few weeks.

Download Lucinda Williams' digital EP Lu in '08 at amazon.com

Neil Young - 5/29/99 - Austin, TX - Audio from the Silver & Gold DVD

Neil Young released the concert dvd Silver & Gold as a companion piece to the 2000 solo album of the same name. While the album itself is very good, this live performance far exceeds it. On May 29, 1999, Neil took the stage at Bass Concert Hall in Austin, TX. From the full show, Neil included 13 songs on the DVD. The highlights on this record include three excellent songs from a mediocre 1999 CSN&Y album, "Looking Forward," "Slowpoke," and an absolutely stunning rendition of "Out of Control," a song that is astronomically better here than the original on record.

Other high points include a rare live version of "Philadelphia" and an interesting take on "Long May You Run" with Neil on pump organ.

I would highly recommend getting the dvd, but I decided to post the audio here because this is particularly great driving music, as well as some good stuff to go to sleep to at night. Enjoy the show.

Neil Young - Silver & Gold Live (Audio from the DVD)

01 - Intro
02 - Looking Forward
03 - Out of Control
04 - Buffalo Springfield Again
05 - Philadelphia
06 - Daddy Went Walkin'
07 - Distant Camera
08 - Red Sun
09 - Long May You Run
10 - Harvest Moon
11 - The Great Divide
12 - Slowpoke
13 - Good To See You
14 - Silver & Gold

Buy Neil Young's DVD Silver & Gold at amazon.com

The Beastie Boys - Live on BBC Radio from Manchester - 12/06/04

The Beastie Boys' new album Hot Sauce Committee Pt. 1 drops on September 15th. In the meantime, to tide you over, here is what I think is their best bootleg. It is a performance from Manchester on December 6, 2004 that was recorded for BBC Radio.

The Boys are in top form here but the real highlight of this bootleg is the amazing work from their DJ Mix Master Mike, who splices in so much cool music from countless classic records for the guys to rap over. If they attempted to put this many samples into an actual Beastie Boys studio record, it would probably cost a billion dollars. But on a live show, they can go nuts, and that's exactly what they do here.

This show also makes for some great workout music, although I speak from experience that you may get a few funny looks from people at the gym if you spontaneously declare that you are intercontinental when you eat french toast.

The Beastie Boys - 12/06/04 - Manchester, UK (Live on BBC Radio)

01 - Triple Trouble
02 - Sure Shot
03 - Body Rock
04 - Time to Get Ill
05 - Super Disco Breakin'
06 - Skills to Pay the Bills
07 - Shake Your Rump
08 - An Open Letter to NYC
09 - Right Right Now Now
10 - Paul Revere
11 - Body Movin'
12 - Three MCs and One DJ
13 - Check It Out
14 - Intergalactic
15 - Sabaotage

If you want more, here's video 45 minute set of the Beastie Boys performing in Amsterdam on the same 2004 tour. Thisfeatures an incredible six minute intro from Mix Master Mike Check it out here.

It will be interesting to see how they promote Hot Sauce Committe Pt. 1. They have hinted Pt. 2 being an mp3 only release, perhaps a free one. We shall see. I doubt though, that they could ever top this classic infomercial that aired on cable and public access television in the weeks leading up to the release of Hello Nasty.



Update: Adam Yauch recently announced in the video below that he has been diagnosed with cancer. He described it as very treatable and hopefully, that will be the case. The album release has been postponed for now and the upcoming shows have been cancelled. Hoping that all goes well and that they will be back soon.

Allison Crowe Covering the Counting Crows

I listened to the Counting Crows' debut album August and Everything After far too much growing up. I got tired of hearing it everywhere, but it still survived all this time on my Ipod because it is a pretty good album. As for the rest of their cds after that, well, let's just say they make some pretty good coasters.

Sometimes though, an artist can cover a song and bring a whole new life to it, arguably improving on the original version. Perhaps the best example of that that I have heard in some time is Canadian singer Allison Crowe's slowed down take on the Crows' song "A Murder of One" with just a piano backing up her powerful, moving vocals. Check out the sound clip from YouTube below before downloading the track.



Allison Crowe - A Murder of One

Allison also recorded a nice version of "Raining in Baltimore," another song from August and Everything After

Allison Crowe - Raining in Baltimore

There are free downloads of many of Allison Crowe's albums, which are filled with many other great covers, on her website here.

Thanks for checking this out.

Susan Tedeschi, Kenny Wayne Shephard, and Double Trouble covering Led Zeppelin's "Rock and Roll"

Bassist Tommy Shannon and Drummer Chris "Whipper" Layton were the two men, who as Double Trouble, backed up legendary guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughn during a successful run in the 1980's that ended with his tragic death in 1990. They went on to be part of the group Arc Angels, one of the better bands you will ever hear to only have one album, their self titled debut in 1992. During the rest of the decade, they were in demand session men, always working on projects together as a package deal.

In 2001, they recorded their first and only album as Double Trouble, Been a Long Time. The album featured many stellar guests including Willie Nelson, Johnny Lang, and Jimmy Vaughn. The best track on the record is when they are joined by Susan Tedeschi on vocals and Kenny Wayne Shephard on guitar for a cover of Led Zeppelin's "Rock and Roll."

Double Trouble (w/ Susan Tedeschi and Kenny Wayne Shephard) - Rock and Roll

Another great track that features Susan Tedeschi's vocals is "In the Garden," a song that she cowrote with Tommy Shannon.

Double Trouble (w/ Susan Tedeschi) - In the Garden

Look for a post on Susan Tedeschi's debut album Better Days sometime next week.

Buy Double Trouble's 2001 album Been a Long Time at amazon.com

The White Stripes - John Peel Sessions in 2001

Happy Birthday Jack White! These two sessions from 7/25/01 and 11/08/01 for the late great English broadcaster John Peel's radio show are phenomenal. Jack and Meg White bring the material from De Stijl and White Blood Cells to another level, with plenty of great covers thrown into the mix as well. This is rock and roll at its very best.

Download Here

Four of the best videos from the great Jack White, in all his various forms.

Tift Merritt's new live album "Buckingham Solo"

Tift Merritt is a critically acclaimed and some would say under appreciated singer/songwriter who has released three excellent studio albums so far. You can check out some highlights from those records as well as download an acoustic radio performance in a previous post on this blog right here.

Tift's latest recording is the live album Buckingham Solo. For this record, Tift chose to release a solo performance from the Radcliffe Center, a converted church in Buckingham, England on November 29, 2008. Alternating between piano and guitar, Tift performed many songs from her last album Another Country as well as tracks from her first two records, in every instance improving on the original full band recordings of these great songs.

This was especially evident in the subtle, sparse treament she gave to her very first single "Trouble Over Me."

Tift Merritt - Trouble Over Me

The best moment of the record came when Tift took the piano to perform a beautiful rendition of George Harrison's classic "I Live For You." Cover songs don't get any better than this.

Tift Merritt - I Live For You

Tift Merritt is playing a dozen or so dates in the US this summer including the Newport Folk Festival. Check here for details.

Download Tift Merritt's Buckingham Solo from amazon.com