Well, Just Like This Train I'm running behind the times, but better late than never, right?
Anyway, Covers Volume 25 is done and on the streets. Another amalgamation of the weird, wacky and always wonderful cover versions of songs by the best songwriter I know. Besides my own sleuthing skills, my thanks to Mike Garin for his contribution to this volume. Here's the rundown... 1. Dick Hyman - Big Yellow Taxi: Light & fun, pretty nice actually. And as always, I'm glad it's HIM with that name and not me. 2. Txarango - Both Sides Now: A nice Spanish Language version of the ever-popular classic. Nice! 3. Frente - You Turn Me On, I'm A Radio: Live from a small club. Always nice to hear the singer tell the crowd to shut up. Not available on an official release, only as a download. 4. Bill Laswell - Blue: The record says this is Blue. It says it's Joni's Blue. I listened and listened, but I can't hear Blue in there. But here it is just the same. 5. Leni Stern - Court & Spark: Really nice jazz guitar take on the jazzy title track from C&S. Lovely. 6. Monty Alexander's Ivory & Steel - Big Yellow Taxi: Cool Steel drum version of BYT. Yah mon! 7. Mama's Boys - This Flight Tonight: These Irish rockers are dressed in leather, but this version isn't merely a Nazareth ripoff. It's a nice acoustic but still fairly metal version. Released as a bonus track on their live CD. 8. Dianne Davidson - Carey: Previously available only on vinyl, Dianne's a good old-fashioned r&b singer ala Bonnie Raitt. Does a good job with Carey. 9. Tom Clay - Both Sides Now: Tom put together a concept record back in the late 60's using songs of the day to discuss love in one of those heavy "rap sessions". 10. Christine Tobin Band - A Chair In The Sky 11. Christine Tobin Band - The Priest: These two knock me out. Christine's an Irish Jazz singer, and she and her band do super versions of these two compositions. I love the fact that she picks The Priest. For me, these are the highlights of the disc. 12. Dave Douglas - Roses Blue: Dave's jazz trumpet was last heard on Volume #20, dedicated to Joni's jazz covers. This one wouldn't fit there, so it's here. Again, a nice one because it's so original. 13. The Travellers - The Circle Game: A fairly perfunctory reading of the Ian & Sylvia "speeded up" version of TCG. The Travellers were a sixties Canadian folk group. 14. Kenny Vehkavarra & Silvio Simone - Big Yellow Taxi: This is a GREAT guitar/keyboard instrumental, very unexpected as the CD looked to be pretty dull. Don't judge a cover by it's cover, I guess! 15. Denny Brooks - Both Sides Now: A laid back country take on the song, which squirms its way into every genre known to man! 16. Complexblue - All I Want: Very pretty jazz version by this 7-piece band. A recent recording. 17. Danny Cox - Urge For Going: Danny was a black folksinger, this recording was from the late sixties. Very worthwhile. So there you have 'em...another FULL CD's worth of fine music from folks inspired by Joni just like you and me and moved to preserve their take on her songs for all eternity. If you're interested in getting a copy for your very own, lemme know and I'll give you the skinny. And stay tuned to win a FREE copy! Bob NP: Crash Test Dummies, "Comin' Back Soon"
