Past years, cover albums, tributes, hands I’ve shaken, concerts, Rock Snobs, top 90s acts, guilty pleasures, misc…

The ’90s

The first half of the decade was far richer aesthetically than the second, even without Nirvana. And yes, that was probably an oversite. But then again, everybody missed Ride. If you get to clicking around in there, you’ll find almost all the work I did, except for radio, which I’m working on compiling backwards. A lot of the MONITOR RADIO stuff is lost to history, though.

COVER ALBUMS

A single act covering a variety of songwriters. Must reveal new things about the originals, with points awarded for obscure revelations, arrangements, genre insights, and fresh angles on original recording/performer(s) AND interpreter. That is, a cover becomes poetry when it casts light in all directions. Omitted from this category are GENRE EXERCISES, like Rondstadt’s Nelson Riddle affair, WHAT’S NEW, where an artist attempts a complete stylistic crossover. Exceptions prove the rule:

The Band, Moondog Matinee (1973)
The Beatles, Beatles at the Beeb (1962-66) (the great apprenticeship)
Yo La Tengo, Fakebook (1989)
Patti Smith, Twelve (2007)
Dwight Yoakam, Under the Covers (1997)
Todd Rundgren, Faithful (1976) (half covers, so good they count double)
John Lennon, Rock’n’Roll (1973)
Paul McCartney, Run Devil Run (1999) (nearly all covers, with originals blending right in)
Willie Nelson, To Lefty from Willie (1977)
John Fogerty, Blue Ridge Rangers (1973)
 

BUBBLING UNDER

Warren Zevon & REM, Hindu Love Gods (1990)
Joan Jett, The Hit List (1990)
Willie Nelson, Stardust (1978) [produced by Booker T. Jones]
Harry Nilsson, A Touch of Schmilsson in the Night (1973) (included here precisely because it’s more than a GENRE EXERCIZE: he sings these standards, and reveals original lyrics to “Makin’ Whoopee,” as rock’n’roll.)
Everything But the Girl, Acoustic (1992, fleshed out with originals)
David Bowie, Pinups (1973)
Guns ‘N’ Roses, The Spaghetti Incident? (1994)
Joan Osborne, Righteous Love (2000)
Michael McDonald, Motown (2003)
Leon Russell, Hank Wilson’s Back (1973)
Beach Boys, Party! (1965)

ACTS WITH COVER ALBUMS STILL IN THEM

Neil Young
Bruce Springsteen
Bonnie Raitt (C&W please oh please)
Bob Dylan
Chrissie Hynde
NRBQ

TRIBUTE ALBUMS

Single act dedicated to single composer/act, far fewer success stories. Must convey a sense of how the material shape(s)(d) the interpreter(s).

The Byrds, Byrds Play Dylan (NA)

Coulson Dean McGuinness and Flint, Lo and Behold! (Sire) (all Dylan)

Bottle Rockets, Song of Sahm (all Doug Sahm)

Pine Valley Cosmonauts, The Majesty of Bob Wills (Bloodshot)

SONGWRITERS DESERVING OF MORE COVERS

Rosanne Cash
Elvis Costello

Leonard Cohen

Joni Mitchell

Lucinda Williams 

HANDS I’VE SHAKEN (no particular order)

Oscar Peterson, Eddie Albert, Andras Schiff, Stephen Bishop Kovacevich, Phyllis Diller, Marian McPartland, David Lindley, Rosanne Cash, Richard Thompson, John Leventhal, Zubin Mehta, Leonard Bernstein, Robert Gottlieb, Peter Guralnick, Greil Marcus, Vince Aletti, Robert Gottlieb, Dan Rather, Zubin Mehta, Joan Osborne, Joel Krosnick, Malcolm Bilson, Alicia de Larrocha, Jan DeGaetani, Paul Katz, Claude Frank, Jonathan Lethem…

TOP TEN ROCK CONCERTS (fab dinner party game)

1. Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, Red Rocks Amphitheatre, Denver, June 20, 1978 [fresh out of high school, entranced by DARKNESS, in advance of Dave Marsh’s RS cover story… by the third number, ” Spirits in the Night,” when he lept into the front rows with us and started dancing, you felt certain you were in the presence of greatness… I kept thinking “this is what it must have felt like to see Elvis…” A life-changing event.]

2. The Who (Who By Numbers tour), Denver Coliseum, December 1975
3. Bob Dylan and the Band, Denver Coliseum, January 1974
4. Paul McCartney and Wings, Denver Coliseum, May 1976
5. Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band, War Memorial, Buffalo, NY, December 1984
6. Nick Lowe and his Cowboy Outfit, Paradise, Boston, 1995
7. Marshall Crenshaw (trio) [opened with “I’m Sorry But So Is Brenda Lee”], Paradise, Boston, 1989
8. Fats Domino, Jazz and Heritage Festival, New Orleans, 1989 [humped his piano all the way across the stage]
9. Richard Thomson, Rochester, NY, 1985
10. George Harrison, Denver Coliseum, 1974 [this tour was unjustly slammed: Willy Weeks on bass, Andy Newmark on drums, Robben Ford (!) on guitar, Billy Preston on keybs with solo spots… and “In My Life” was searing… Harrison had a blast]

REAL FAVS (changes daily, no particular order)

Three lists for Rock Snob’s Dictionary‘s “real” and “snob” formats, which makes more and more sense as you work on it:

1. Bob Dylan (w/Band etc), Blonde on Blonde + Basement Tapes + Before the Flood + Love and Theft
2. Rolling Stones, Let it Bleed
3. Jimmy Hendrix, Band of Gypsies
4. James Brown box, Star Time
5. The Band, Moondog Matinee
6. John Lennon, Plastic Ono Band
7. Bruce Springsteen, Nebraska
8. Miles Davis, Jack Johnson
9. The Beatles, The Complete Beatles at the BBC (Great Dane)
10. Prince, Sign o’the Times

SNOB SUBS (fixed for all eternity)

1. Bob Dylan, Time Out of Mind
2. Rolling Stones, Some Girls
3. Captain Beefheart, Trout Mask Replica
4. Brian Eno, Airport Background Hum
5. My Bloody Valentine, Loveless (aka Massive Anal Bleeding)
6. Presley, Cash, Perkins, and Lewis, The Million-Dollar Quartet
7. Miles Davis, Bitches Brew
8. Elvis Costello, Imperialized Bedroom Melodramas
9. Bruce Springsteen, Born in the USA
10. Prince, Sign o’the Times

FANTASY COVERS [“Title” (Original), fantasy version]

1. “A Man Needs A Maid” (Neil Young), PJ Harvey
2. “Our Lips Are Sealed” (Go-Gos), Sleater-Kinney
3. “Change Partners” (Steve Stills), Melissa Ethridge
4. “Love For Sale” (Cole Porter), Marie Osmond
5. “White Wedding” (Billy Idol), Martha Quinn (early MTV VJ)
6. “Your Pretty Face is Going to Hell” (Iggy Pop), Britney Spears
7. “The End” (Doors), John McCain (courtesy of Robert Smigel)
8. “Baby Got Back” (Sir Mix-A-Lot), Clay Aiken
9. “Stoney End (Laura Nyro), Chrissie Hynde
10. “These Boots Are Made For Walkin’” (Nancy Sinatra), Belinda Carlisle

TOP 90s ACTS (randomly)

1. Ride
2. Beck
3. Pavement
4. Portishead
5. Ivy
6. Cardigans
7. Gorillaz
8. DJ Shadow
9. Los Lobos/Latin Playboys
10. Mekons/Langford
11. Pretenders
12. Old 97s
13. Bottle Rockets
14. Dwight Yoakam
15. Bonnie Raitt
16. PJ Harvey
17. Luna
18. Yo La Tengo
19. Iris Dement
20. Nirvana

GUILTY PLEASURES

1. Paul McCartney, McCartney (1970)
2. Graham Nash, Songs for Beginners (1971)
3. Alice Cooper, School’s Out (1971)
4. James Gang, Live in Concert (1973)
5. Harry Nilsson, A Touch of Schmilsson in the Night (1973)
6. Elton John, Captain Fantastic (1975)
7. Amy Grant, Heart in Motion (1991)
8. Frank Sinatra, Francis A. & Edward K. (1967)
9. Badfinger, Greatest Hits (1996)
10. Todd Rundgren, Faithful (1976)