Natalie Merchant - Cover Songs, Volume 1: 1993-1997

I have previously posted two albums of cover versions by the band 10,000 Maniacs. That band's lead vocalist and main songwriter Natalie Merchant left in 1993 to pursue a solo career. Here's a series that picks up right where the 10,000 Maniacs one left off. I have three albums of cover songs by Merchant. Here's the first one.

This album roughly deals with the time period of her first solo album, "Tigerlily." Released in 1995, it sold five million copies in the U.S. alone. There are no songs here from that album proper, but "Take a Look" and "The Work Song" are bonus tracks from it. Furthermore, "Baby I Love You," "All I Want," and "Sympathy for the Devil" are B-sides from songs taken from the album.

Four other songs have been officially released: "I Know How to Do It," "One Fine Day," "Come Take a Trip in My Air Ship," and "Children Go Where I Send Thee." They're from movie soundtracks and various artists compilations. Note that a version of "Children Go Where I Send Thee" also appeared on one of the 10,000 Maniacs covers albums I made, but that was done in a different style.

The remaining seven songs are from concert bootlegs. I stuck with soundboard recordings, so they all sound excellent. I also used the MVSEP program to remove the crowd noise on all the live recordings, which included a couple of the released songs too.

Some of the songs are classics from well known artists such as Joni Mitchell and the Rolling Stones. But other songs are often obscure and go waaaay back. For instance, "Come Take a Trip in My Air Ship" was first recorded in 1904, a couple of years after airplanes first flew. "Will the Circle Be Unbroken" is actually not a traditional, as often assumed, and was composed in 1907. "When They Ring the Golden Bells" was first recorded in 1915.

This album is an hour and two minutes long.

Here's a list of the original artists for each song:

01 Baby I Love You - Ronettes
02 All I Want - Joni Mitchell
03 Santa Fe Thief - Jimmy Dale Gilmore
04 I Know How to Do It - Dinah Washington
05 Take a Look - Irma Thomas
06 The Work Song - Nat Adderley
07 One Fine Day - Chiffons
08 Sympathy for the Devil - Rolling Stones
09 Come Take a Trip in My Air Ship - Billy Murray
10 Ode to Billy Joe - Bobbie Gentry
11 Fever - Little Willie John / Peggy lee
12 Long Black Veil - Lefty Frizzell
13 Will the Circle Be Unbroken - Ada R. Habershon & Charles H. Gabriel / Carter Family
14 [What's So Funny 'Bout] Peace, Love and Understanding - Brinsley Schwarz
15 When They Ring the Golden Bells - Imperial Quartet
16 Children Go Where I Send Thee - traditional

Here's the usual song list:

01 Baby I Love You (Natalie Merchant)
02 All I Want (Natalie Merchant)
03 Santa Fe Thief (Jimmie Dale Gilmore & Natalie Merchant)
04 I Know How to Do It (Natalie Merchant with Dr. John & Booker T. Jones)
05 Take a Look (Natalie Merchant)
06 The Work Song (Natalie Merchant)
07 One Fine Day (Natalie Merchant)
08 Sympathy for the Devil (Natalie Merchant)
09 Come Take a Trip in My Air Ship (Natalie Merchant)
10 Ode to Billy Joe (Natalie Merchant)
11 Fever (Natalie Merchant)
12 Long Black Veil (Natalie Merchant)
13 Will the Circle Be Unbroken (Natalie Merchant)
14 [What's So Funny 'Bout] Peace, Love and Understanding (Natalie Merchant)
15 When They Ring the Golden Bells (Natalie Merchant with Susan McKeown)
16 Children Go Where I Send Thee (Natalie Merchant)

https://www.upload.ee/files/16344369/NATLIMERCHNT1993-1997CvrSngsVlum1_atse.zip.html

The cover photo was taken in Paris in 1993.