Elliott Smith & Heatmiser - Mic City Sons (Elliott Smith Edition) (1996)

I've been on another Elliott Smith kick lately, so here's something else from him. This is an officially released album, the last album of a band he was in early in his music career called Heatmiser. But that band had two singer-songwriters, and split their output roughly evenly. Due to some recently released bonus tracks, I was able to make an all-Elliott-Smith version. That original version is still out there for those who want it this way. But for those especially keen on Smith's songs, here's an option for you. I would argue that if this was actually one of Smith's solo albums, it would be considered one of his best.

Heatmiser was founded in Portland, Oregon, in 1991. The two main singer-songwriters were Smith and Neil Gust. The two of them were friends, as well as being roommates for several years. 1991 was the year that grunge started to make it big up the coast in Seattle. Thus, at the time, there was a lot of incentive to ride the popularity of the grunge sound, and that's what Heatmiser did. The band's first two albums in particular, "Dead Air" in 1993 and "Cop and Speeder" in 1994, really rock in a way that can sound shocking for those only familiar with Smith's later acoustic-based style. They were heavily influenced by bands like Husker Du and Fugazi.

Heatmiser found a lot of popularity in Portland, and performed there practically constantly. But their albums came out on an indie label and didn't make much impact elsewhere. At one point, they played a laudromat in Cleveland, and their entire "audience" left when that person's laundry was finished.

Smith later dismissed the band's music as "loud," and complained that being in Heatmiser changed the songs he was writing at the time into "loud rock songs with no dynamic." Furthermore, in a later interview, he said of his time in the band:

"I was being a total actor, acting out a role I didn't even like. I couldn't come out and show where I was coming from. I was always disguised in this loud rock band. [In the beginning] we all got together, everyone wanted to play in a band and it was fun, then after a couple of years we realized that none of us really liked this kind of music, and that we didn't have to play this way. You didn't have to turn all these songs you wrote into these loud... things. [...] It was kinda weird – people that came to our shows, a majority of them were people I couldn't relate to at all. Why aren't there more people like me coming to our shows? Well, it's because I'm not even playing the kind of music that I really like." 

In 1994, Smith released his first album, "Roman Candle," in a drastically different, semi-acoustic style. His solo career soon began to find a growing audience. Then in 1995, he released a second solo album in that style, "Elliott Smith," and his following continued to grow even more.

However, while that was going on, Heatmiser was working on their third album. The band's other main singer-songwriter, Neil Gust, was going through a similar musical transformation, moving away from a punk and/or grunge influenced rocking style to a more melodic one. Their 1996 album, "Mic City Sons," was a big musical leap forward, in my opinion, and many other people agree. 

For instance, here's part of the album's AllMusic.com review, by Michael Frey: "The quartet's finest and final album, 'Mic City Sons' features a decidedly more pop feel than its predecessors and marks Smith's maturation into the role of the band's visionary. From the opening notes of the swaggering, bass-heavy 'Get Lucky' to conclusion of the album with a soothingly soft hidden track ['Half Right'], 'Mic City Sons' is an outstanding collection of diverse and invigorating tracks. Songs like 'Plain Clothes Man' and 'You Gotta Move' exhibit the interplay of soulful, smooth vocals over gentle guitar strumming that has been so evident in Smith's solo work. The Gust-penned tunes, like 'Cruel Reminder' and 'Eagle Eye' are more rugged and aggressive, but complement Smith's songs brilliantly. ... Despite the success Heatmiser's members have achieved since their disbanding, it's unfortunate that this collective decided to split up just when they had reached such a creative peak."

As that review points out, Gust's songs are very good. One should hear the original version of this album, with an even number of Smith and Gust songs. But, in my opinion, it's also nice to listen to this Smith-centric version. The first seven songs here are from the original album. The remainder are from a deluxe edition released in 2025. That edition also contained two demos, but I didn't include them because they were full-band demos that didn't sound that different, and they were of songs from the original album. 

It would have been really interesting if Heatmiser could have kept going, along with Smith's solo career. But Smith's growing popularity basically made that impossible, especially due to some record company intrigue. For their third album ("Mic City Sons"), the band signed with a major label, Virgin Records, for the first time. Smith later explained what happened next:

"It was kind of ridiculous to carry it up to a certain point and then drop the ball or the bomb, like quitting the band right after we had signed to Virgin. I was the guy who made that gravy-train crash so to speak, and it was a gravy-train at the time. The breakup happened almost immediately after the contract was signed. I watched myself put my paw in the bear trap on that one because there was this clause about leaving members. In the event of the band dissolving, any members could be kept to that contract with or without their consent under the same terms. They didn't pick up Neil's option, only mine. It turned out to be a fucked-up situation because they said the reason they had signed Heatmiser was that they'd been hoping this [the breakup] would happen - or something to that effect. They said that right in front of Neil and I couldn't believe it."

Basically, the record company didn't want Heatmiser to succeed because they were only interested in Smith's solo career material. A 2018 article about the band by the Oregonian newspaper commented that "at some point in [late] 1996, the band fell apart. 'Mic City Sons' was released on a smaller Virgin sister label, Caroline, and slipped into the world quietly." In my opinion, the album really is a lost classic, be it the original version or this Smith-centric version.

This album is 43 minutes long.

01 Get Lucky (Heatmiser)
02 Plainclothes Man (Heatmiser)
03 The Fix Is In (Heatmiser)
04 You Gotta Move (Heatmiser)
05 Pop in G (Heatmiser)
06 See You Later (Heatmiser)
07 Half Right (Heatmiser)
08 I'm Over That Now (Heatmiser)
09 Burned Out, Still Glowing (Heatmiser)
10 Everybody Has It (Heatmiser)
11 Christian Brothers [Rock Version] (Heatmiser)
12 Untitled Instrumental (Heatmiser) 

https://pixeldrain.com/u/gESih8e4

alternate:

https://bestfile.io/RdUa17d8B2tapaI/file

The cover image is almost identical as the original. However, I changed the text at the top from "Heatmiser" to "Elliott Smith & Heatmiser." 

Covered: Neil Young, Volume 3: 1995-1999

I had a rough start getting to Peru, but I’m finishing my second full day here and I’m having a good time. Since Fabio from Rio wrote the notes as well as doing most of the work putting these albums together, once again, here’s Fabio:

By the mid-to-late 1990s, Neil Young was enjoying one of the most respected phases of his long career. After the grunge generation had embraced him earlier in the decade, Young reinforced that connection with the raw "Mirror Ball" album collaboration with Pearl Jam in 1995 and continued releasing strong albums that balanced electric noise with acoustic reflection. At the same time, a new wave of alternative, indie and Americana artists began rediscovering older corners of his catalog — not only the famous songs, but also deep cuts from albums like "Zuma," "Tonight's the Night," and "On the Beach." The covers collected in this volume reflect that moment: a mixture of roots musicians, indie rock artists and cult performers exploring both the best-known and the more obscure sides of Young's songwriting.

--- 

Note that Fabio wrote individual paragraphs about all the songs in this volume. To see that, please look at the Word file added to the download zip file. Thanks again to Fabio for his help putting these albums together. 

This album is an hour and three minutes long.  

01 After the Gold Rush (Dolly Parton, Linda Ronstadt & Emmylou Harris)
02 Words [Between the Lines of Age] (Lifter & Campfire Girls)
03 Wrecking Ball (Emmylou Harris)
04 Don't Cry (Kristen Barry)
05 Grey Riders (Sand Rubies)
06 Campaigner (Snares & Kites)
07 This Note's for You (Colourful Dreams)
08 Down to the Wire (Grip Weeds)
09 When You Dance I Can Really Love (Continental Drifters)
10 Expecting to Fly (Sonya Hunter)
11 Danger Bird (27)
12 Tonight's the Night (Chris Cacavas)
13 Harvest Moon (Elliott Smith)
14 Midnight on the Bay (Red House Painters)

https://pixeldrain.com/u/qLPCQWr1

alternate: 

https://bestfile.io/en/594QHjU6ivBQQa4/file

The cover photo is from 1969. The original was in black and white. I colorized it with the Kolorize program. I also used the Krea AI program to improve the image quality. 

I got a complaint that I ruined the cover with AI. Here's the unchanged original, after it was colorized. (I didn't keep the black and white version.) In my opinion, the changes are minimal but improve the image quality. But you may feel differently.

Covered: Billy Steinberg & Tom Kelly: 1980-2019

I don't keep a close eye on music news, but yesterday I happened to hear that songwriter Billy Steinberg died. Specifically, he died on February 16, 2026, at the age of 75. That probably doesn't mean anything to most people, because I don't think he's very well known as far as songwriters go. But it meant something to me, because I had already made a "Covered" album of the songs he and songwriting partner Tom Kelly made. (It's one of several dozen "Covered" albums I've made but haven't gotten around to posting yet.) Due to his death, I decided to post this sooner rather than later.

Steinberg and Kelly wrote a lot of hits from the 1980s to the 2000s that you probably know without ever knowing who wrote them. Even though they were male, somehow they had the most success with females covering their songs. They had five Number One hits in the U.S., all sung by women: "Like a Virgin" by Madonna (1984), "True Colors" by Cyndi Lauper (1986), "Eternal Flame" (co-written with Susanna Hoffs and recorded by the Bangles in 1989), "So Emotional" by Whitney Houston (1987), and "Alone" by Heart (1987).

Billy Steinberg was born in Fresno, California, though his family moved to Palm Springs when he was a teenager. After graduating from college, he formed a band called Billy Thermal. However, they didn't have any success, and one album they recorded around 1980 wasn't released until decades later, after he made a name for himself as a songwriter. He had his first songwriting success with "How Do I Make You," which was a hit for Linda Ronstadt in 1980.  

Tom Kelly was born in a small town in Illinois in 1952. He went to a college in that state, but dropped out to pursue a music career. He was a backing musician for Dan Fogelberg in 1976 and 1977. He also did a lot of session work, for instance singing backing vocals on Toto albums. He had his first songwriting success with "Fire and Ice," a minor hit for Pat Benatar in 1981.

Both Steinberg and Kelly independently had songs on Benatar's 1981 album, "Precious Time." They met at a party that year, and soon began writing together. Previously, both of them had written lyrics and music. But they soon fell into a pattern where Steinberg generally wrote the lyrics while Kelly wrote the music. Their really big break as a songwriting team was "Like a Virgin" by Madonna. After that, they were in high demand. What's on this album is just the cream of the crop of the many dozens of songs they wrote for well-known musical acts.

Their partnership continued very fruitfully until the mid-1990s. At that point, Kelly tired of songwriting and dropped out of the music business. He'd already had enough success to live on the royalties he'd made. However, Steinberg kept going with new songwriting partners. From the mid-1990s until the mid-2000s, he mostly wrote with Rick Newels, who already was a successful professional songwriter. From the mid-2000s to about the mid-2010s, he mostly wrote with Josh Alexander.

Steinberg had a lot of songwriting success after he stopped working with Kelly. But I listened to his big hits and, to be honest, didn't like them very much after about 2000. They suffer the same problems as most popular pop music since about 2000: formulaic and forgettable. So I generally didn't include most of those. To be honest, even a lot of their earlier stuff was formulaic and forgettable, but sometimes, in fact many times, they had some real winners.

But in case you're curious, Steinberg's biggest later hits include "I Turn to You" by Melanie C (2000), "Love Doesn't Have to Hurt" by Atomic Kitten (2003), "Too Little Too Late" by JoJo (2006), "Don't Hold Your Breath" by Nicole Scherzinger (2011), and "Give Your Heart a Break" by Demi Lovato (2012). After that, the hits petered out, although some older songs keep getting rerecorded and making the charts again, especially "Alone" and "I Drove All Night." For instance, Alyssa Reid went all the way to Number Two in the British charts with "Alone" in 2012, although it was titled "Alone Again" and had the now practically obligatory rap section.

I'm not a fan of Whitney Houston's version of "So Emotional." But since it was a massive Number One hit, I wanted to include it in some form. I found a radically different cover version by Jon McLaughlin from 2019 that I like much better, so I used that instead. Had it not been for that song, this album would end in 2000.

Here are their Wikipedia pages: 

Billy Steinberg - Wikipedia

Tom Kelly (musician) - Wikipedia  

That album is an hour and ten minutes long. 

01 How Do I Make You (Linda Ronstadt)
02 Fire and Ice (Pat Benatar)
03 Like a Virgin (Madonna)
04 Sex as a Weapon (Pat Benatar)
05 True Colors (Cyndi Lauper)
06 Eternal Flame (Bangles)
07 Alone (Heart)
08 In Your Room (Bangles)
09 I Touch Myself (Divinyls)
10 My Side of the Bed (Susanna Hoffs)
11 I Drove All Night (Roy Orbison)
12 Night in My Veins (Pretenders)
13 Lucky Love [Acoustic Version] (Ace of Base)
14 I'll Stand by You (Pretenders)
15 Falling into You (Celine Dion)
16 California (Belinda Carlisle)
17 One and One (Edyta Gorniak)
18 Everytime It Rains (Ace of Base)
19 The Consequences of Falling (k.d. lang)
20 So Emotional (Jon McLaughlin)

https://pixeldrain.com/u/4xNLLW9p 

alternate: 

https://bestfile.io/uxa5jlpb5sQPr8t/file

I don't know the details of the cover photo. But that's Tom Kelly on the left and Billy Steinberg on the right. There are patches of white in Steinberg's hair, which went completely white in later photos of him. 

Kevin Gilbert - Covers (1986-1996) (A Mike Solof Guest Post)

Here's the third and last album that make up guest poster Mike Solof's collections of his favorite songs from the music career of Kevin Gilbert. The first two albums focused on original songs, but this one consists entirely of cover versions.

As I mentioned in my write-up for the first album in this series, Gilbert often mixed a catchy pop sensibility in his songs with the musical complexity of prog rock. As a result, he especially liked prog rock type bands that also had some pop appeal. Probably his favorite band of all was Genesis. In fact, he was such a Genesis fan that he once performed the entirety of the Genesis double album "The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway" in concert! This album contains three Genesis covers, as well as some other prog rock songs that are almost never covered by anyone, such as "Siberian Khatru" by Yes and "Karn Evil 9" by Emerson, Lake, and Palmer. And yet we can see Gilbert's pop side as well, with covers of songs like "The Joker" by the Steve Miller Band and "If I Fell" by the Beatles. Definitely interesting stuff here.

As usual, Mike has included a PDF in the download zip that has more information and photos and such. But note that it's the same PDF as in the other two Kevin Gilbert albums he put together. 

This album is 60 minutes long.

Here's a list of the original musical acts for each of the songs here: 

01 Suite- Judy Blue Eyes - Crosby, Stills and Nash
02 Firth of Fifth - Genesis
03 The Joker - Steve Miller Band
04 Rendezvous 602 - U.K.
05 Back in NYC - Genesis
06 Kashmir - Led Zeppelin
07 Rocket Man - Elton John (with Pink Floyd intro)
08 Siberian Khatru - Yes
09 If I Fell - Beatles
10 Karn Evil 9 - Emerson, Lake & Palmer
11 The Musical Box - Genesis 

And here's the usual song list: 

01 Suite- Judy Blue Eyes (Toy Matinee)
02 Firth of Fifth (Kevin Gilbert & Mickey Sorey)
03 The Joker (Kevin Gilbert)
04 UK Suite [Rendezvous 6-02 - Danger Money - Caesar's Palace Blues] (Kevin Gilbert & Mickey Sorey)
05 Back in N.Y.C. (Kevin Gilbert)
06 Kashmir (Kevin Gilbert)
07 Rocket Man (Toy Matinee)
08 Siberian Khatru (Kevin Gilbert)
09 If I Fell (Toy Matinee)
10 Karn Evil 9 (Kevin Gilbert)
11 The Musical Box (Giraffe)

https://pixeldrain.com/u/mvhs6yEL

alternate:

https://bestfile.io/en/o1G0R8xtPXiJqQL/file

I believe I found the cover image in an Instagram post. It had some distracting things on it, like some text added on top. But I wiped that out using Photoshop. I don't know exactly when or where it's from. 

Kevin Gilbert - Rarities (1985-1996) (A Mike Solof Guest Post)

Here's the second out of three "best of" albums guest posted Mike Solof has made for singer-songwriter Kevin Gilbert. The first album, "Originals," focuses on Mike's favorite songs that were on Gilbert's studio albums (including albums for bands he led, such as Toy Matinee). This one digs deeper. 

Considering that Gilbert's music career only lasted about ten years, he created a remarkable amount of music. He only put out a few albums in his lifetime. But since his death in 1996, a couple dozen more albums have come out! Gilbert was one of those musicians, like Prince, who played practically every instrument he could get his hands on, and was always writing and creating. So there was a ton of rare material for Mike to draw on when making this album. (As usual, look to the mp3 tags for all the details on the sources of the songs.)

One interesting highlight of this album is "Leaving Las Vegas." That was a big hit for Sheryl Crow. But Gilbert co-wrote it, as well as co-writing most of the songs on Crow's debut album, "Tuesday Night Music Club." The two of them were romantically linked for a while, and Crow was a member of Gilbert's band for a time.  

Like Mike always does with his guest posts, he's created a PDF file with additional comments and photos and so forth. In this case, the PDF is the same for all three Gilbert "best of" albums he made.  

This album is 59 minutes long. 

01 National Public Radio (Kevin Gilbert)
02 Things She Said [Jazz Version] (Kevin Gilbert)
03 Circling Winds (Kevin Gilbert)
04 Goodbye L.A. (Kevin Gilbert)
05 Suit Fugue [Dance of the A & R Men] [Early Mix] (Kevin Gilbert)
06 God's Been Tapping My Phone (Kevin Gilbert)
07 Queen of Misery (Toy Matinee)
08 KMTT Jingle (Kevin Gilbert)
09 Leaving Las Vegas (Kevin Gilbert)
10 Tea for One [Sax Mix] (Kevin Gilbert)
11 Something Nice for My Dog (Kevin Gilbert)
12 Late for Dinner [Dark Mix] (Kevin Gilbert)
13 Souvenir (Kevin Gilbert)
14 Finally Over You (Kevin Gilbert)
15 All Fall Down [Toto Version] (Kevin Gilbert)

https://pixeldrain.com/u/N98cVBGz

alternate: 

https://bestfile.io/en/pzxlRnsVOmw60ea/file

I don't know the details of where or when the cover image is from. It was selected by Mike. 

Kevin Gilbert - Originals (1984-1996) (A Mike Solof Guest Post)

Here's a really interesting album put together by guest poster Mike Solof. Have you ever heard of Kevin Gilbert? If you have, congrats, because he's not as well known as he sound be. Mike is a huge fan of Gilbert's music, so much so that he put together three albums to showcase Gilbert's musical talent. The first album, this one, consists of the original songs Mike considers the best. Then he's made another one of the best rarities, and a third one of the best cover versions. If you want to get started, this is the obvious first album to listen to. Then, if you're interested, check out the other two. (Then, hopefully, more than that.)

For a quick overview, I'll quote the intro paragraph to his Wikipedia entry, which states me "was an American singer, songwriter, musician, composer, and producer. He was best known for his solo progressive rock projects, Toy Matinee, and his contributions to 'Tuesday Night Music Club' (1993), the debut studio album of Sheryl Crow. Kevin Gilbert died from autoerotic asphyxiation. He was found dead at his Los Angeles-area home on May 18, 1996, at the age of 29."

Here's the link to the rest of the Wikipedia page:

Kevin Gilbert (musician) - Wikipedia

I have to admit I wasn't familiar with Gilbert's music before Mike made these albums, although I'd previously heard good things about his career here and there. After hearing the albums Mike made, I have to agree that Gilbert was a very talented musician who deserves to be much better known than he is. He often combined a catchy pop sensibility with the complexity of prog rock. That is a very difficult combination to pull off. It's a real shame he died so young, and the strange manner of his death probably didn't help his musical legacy.

Note that this albums combines songs from Gilbert's solo albums, as well as songs he did with bands he was in: Giraffe, Toy Matinee, and Kaviar. All the lead vocals are by Gilbert. 

Anyway, Mike has written extensive notes about Gilbert, his life, and why he likes his music so much. You can find that in the PDF included with the download zip, as usual for Mike's guest posts. 

This album is an hour and 23 minutes long. 

01 When Strangers Part (Kevin Gilbert)
02 This Warm Night (Giraffe)
03 Air Dance (Giraffe)
04 Tired Old Man Suite (Kevin Gilbert)
05 Last Plane Out (Toy Matinee)
06 Things She Said (Toy Matinee)
07 The Ballad of Jenny Ledge (Toy Matinee)
08 Goodness Gracious (Kevin Gilbert)
09 Shadow Self [Alternate Version] (Kevin Gilbert)
10 Miss Broadway (Kevin Gilbert)
11 Single (Kaviar)
12 The Sultan of Brunei (Kaviar)
13 The Best Laid Plans (Kevin Gilbert)
14 Certifiable No. 1 Smash (Kevin Gilbert)
15 All Fall Down [Alternate Horn Mix] (Kevin Gilbert)

https://pixeldrain.com/u/GvEgk98D

alternate:

https://bestfile.io/en/BNCnBxCFRjJRq5o/file

I don't know the details of the cover image. It was found by Mike.

Covered: Tom Waits, Volume 2: 1994-2004 (A Fabio from Rio Guest Post)

Here's the second Covered volume for Tom Waits. Like the Covered albums made for other musical acts, the talent of a songwriter is shown through cover versions, rather than that person performing their own songs.

And like the rest of this series for Waits, most of the heavy lifting in making this album is thanks to Fabio from Rio. He basically found a zillion Waits covers, then whittled them down to his favorites. That was still a very large number, so I then listened to them and whittled them down a lot more.

Fabio also answered my request to do the write-ups for each album in this series. So here's what he had to say about this one. And thanks, Fabio, for all your work on these albums. Take it away:

--- 

Around the mid-1980s, Waits began to break away from conventional arrangements. The music became more percussive and raw, foreshadowing a major stylistic shift. This period marks the end of his "classic singer-songwriter" phase and the start of a more radical artistic reinvention. Waits embraced experimental instrumentation, junkyard percussion, polyrhythms, and global folk influences. His work became deeply theatrical, influenced by Brecht, Weill, and his collaborations with his wife Kathleen Brennan. Songs feel like surreal street operas populated by grotesques and dreamers. This second volume includes mostly songs from that period.

The best known cover here is probably "Way Down in the Hole," due to its use in the HBO series "The Wire." (The Blind Boys from Alabama's version was used as the first season opening music, and other versions were selected for the remaining four seasons, including Waits' own original version.) Norah Jones' delicate outtake "Picture in a Frame" also got some recognition, especially after its inclusion in special editions of her breakthrough album "Come Away With Me."

"I Don't Wanna Grow Up" sounds so natural in the Ramones' catalog that many listeners assume it is an original. It was used as the opening track and first single of their last studio album. Waits' version (from the excellent 1992 album "Bone Machine") is way darker. 

"Little Boy Blue" was only performed by Waits in the movie "One from the Heart." Here we have a bluesy version by jazz singer and pianist Holly Cole. Other highlights of the volume include Screamin' Jay Hawkins' "Whistling Past the Graveyard" and John Hammond's "Big Black Mariah" (which is taken from an album he did fully dedicated to Waits songs). 

On the mellower side, there are soft-sounding melodic folk versions by Shawn Colvin and Valerie Carter that prove Waits can write poignant ballads. Overall, another very nice flowing album with well performed covers that honor Waits' music.

--- 

This album is 58 minutes long. 

01 The Heart of Saturday Night (Shawn Colvin)
02 Whistling Past the Graveyard (Screamin' Jay Hawkins)
03 16 Shells from a Thirty-Ought Six (Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band)
04 I Don't Want to Grow Up (Ramones)
05 Better Off without a Wife (Pete Shelley)
06 Little Boy Blue (Holly Cole)
07 Whistle Down the Wind (Valerie Carter)
08 The Briar and the Rose (Niamh Parsons)
09 Dirt in the Ground (Christine Collister)
10 Heartattack and Vine (Popa Chubby)
11 Invitation to the Blues (Jennifer Warnes)
12 Big Black Mariah (John Hammond)
13 Picture in a Frame (Norah Jones)
14 Way Down in the Hole (Blind Boys from Alabama)
15 Jockey Full of Bourbon (Los Lobos)

https://pixeldrain.com/u/zUDkHa5i

alternate: 

https://bestfile.io/en/2nAIGV2f2Rq1n6p/file

The cover photo was taken in San Francisco in 2002.

Richard Thompson - BBC Sessions, Volume 9: 1996-1997

Here's another BBC album by singer-songwriter Richard Thompson. This one is a collection of studio sessions.

In 1996, Thompson released the double album "You? Me? Us?" In my opinion, it wasn't as strong as most of his previous solo albums, and probably would have been better as a single album. Then in 1997, he released the album "Industry," with Danny Thompson (no relation). Half of the songs were his, and half were instrumentals by Danny. The songs by Richard were great, but the instrumentals mostly seemed like filler. 

Considering both of those albums were flawed, it's nice to have this collection, because it mostly consists of the strongest songs from both of those albums. There are a couple of songs from other albums, such as "Beeswing" and "Keep Your Distance," but not many. I count five songs from "You? Me? Us?" and three songs from "Industry." One song, "Bathsheba Smiles," was unreleased at the time and would appear on his next studio album, "Mock Tudor."

Most of the songs, tracks two through seven and nine through eleven, come from two sessions on the Andy Kershaw radio show. The first track is from the Bob Harris radio show, and the last one is from the Cambridge Folk Festival. (Highlights or even full sets of that festival are often broadcast by the BBC.) All of those songs are unreleased. That leaves just one officially released song, "Lotteryland." It also comes from one of the Andy Kershaw sessions, but it came out on the "The Live and Music Of" box set.

This album is 47 minutes long.

01 Beeswing (Richard Thompson)
02 Cold Kisses (Richard Thompson)
03 Dark Hand Over My Heart (Richard Thompson)
04 Hide It Away (Richard Thompson)
05 The Ghost of You Walks (Richard Thompson)
06 Train Don't Leave (Richard Thompson)
07 She Cut Off Her Long Silken Hair (Richard Thompson)
08 Lotteryland (Richard Thompson)
09 Drifting through the Days (Richard Thompson)
10 Bathsheba Smiles (Richard Thompson)
11 Keep Your Distance (Richard Thompson)
12 Sweetheart on the Barricade (Richard Thompson)

https://pixeldrain.com/u/3fdocN5N

alternate:

https://bestfile.io/mcle0yKdfdbG1ps/file 

The cover photo is from a concert in the Royal Albert Hall, in London, on May 5, 1996.

Robyn Hitchcock - Dylan's Royal Albert Hall 1966 Concert, The Borderline, London, Britain, 5-25-1996

On May 26, 1966, Bob Dylan gave a concert at the Royal Albert Hall in London that became legendary. (Mostly that was due to a popular bootleg that actually turned out to be from a concert in Manchester a few days earlier, but the set list was the same.) Thirty years to the day (well, one day off), Robyn Hitchcock gave a concert in London with the exact same set list. So it was all Dylan covers. He later released much of this concert as the official album "Robyn Sings," but that had some problems I will explain shortly. This, in my opinion, is much better than the official album.

Before I go any further, I want to say this album posting wouldn't have happened without the editing work of musical associate Lil Panda. A couple of weeks ago, he emailed me and told me he'd made a bunch of improvements to this concert. Then I got his permission to post it here. I asked him to summarize what he did, and this was his response: "I separated the ambient audience from the music, left only the applause. Then did azimuth, phase correction, voice de-click, and a slight EQ boost." So kudos to him, because he's far better at that stuff than I am. Hell, I barely even know what azimuth is, much less how to fix it.

Now, let me explain how this compares to the official live album "Robyn Sings." In fact, only half of that album was taken from this concert at the Borderline, specifically, the second half. The first half was taken from a variety of concerts in 1999 and 2000, and consisted of all Dylan covers. In terms of exact overlap, the songs on both "Robyn Sings" and this album are tracks 12 to 24. That makes up about half of the total run time.

As I've said before, I much prefer full concerts to those taken from lots of different sources. I think that's a more honest live album. So just having the full concert here is a big improvement over the official album, in my opinion. But it also turns out the official album had numerous problems. Oddly for an official release, it clearly was taken from an audience bootleg type source. One can tell because of a constant background noise of the crowd all through the songs, as well as other problems. Lil Panda fixed most of those, as mentioned above. I also took the extra step of running all the songs through the UVR5 editing program, to get rid of the lingering ambient crowd noise that Lil Panda missed. So, in addition to this being more complete than the official album, it also sounds better. 

To quote Wikipedia, Dylan's 1966 Royal Albert Hall concert (which, as mentioned above, actually took place in Manchester) "is famous for Dylan's confrontational stance against a heckling audience who objected to his electric instrumentation." Hitchcock didn't talk much during this concert, as he usually does, to stick closer to the original comment. But some of his banter between songs actually repeat what Dylan said in the 1966 concert. For instance, at one point Dylan muttered incoherently until the unruly crowd quieted enough to try to make out what he was saying, and Hitchcock repeated that exactly.

Let's just say Hitchcock is an extremely big Dylan fan!

Oh, by the way, the last two songs, "Dignity" and "Queen Jane Approximately," are the only two songs not played in Dylan's 1966 concert, though they are Dylan covers as well. "Queen Jane Approximately" had been written at the time and could have been performed, but "Dignity" is a song Dylan wrote in the late 1980s.

Anyway, thanks again to Lil Panda for his work on this. Enjoy.  

This album is an hour and 30 minutes long. 

01 talk (Robyn Hitchcock)
02 She Belongs to Me (Robyn Hitchcock)
03 talk (Robyn Hitchcock)
04 Visions of Johanna (Robyn Hitchcock)
05 talk (Robyn Hitchcock)
06 4th Time Around (Robyn Hitchcock)
07 talk (Robyn Hitchcock)
08 It's All Over Now, Baby Blue (Robyn Hitchcock)
09 talk (Robyn Hitchcock)
10 Desolation Row (Robyn Hitchcock)
11 talk (Robyn Hitchcock)
12 Tell Me, Momma (Robyn Hitchcock)
13 I Don't Believe You [She Acts like We Never Have Met] (Robyn Hitchcock)
14 talk (Robyn Hitchcock)
15 Baby, Let Me Follow You Down (Robyn Hitchcock)
16 Just like Tom Thumb's Blues (Robyn Hitchcock)
17 Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat (Robyn Hitchcock)
18 talk (Robyn Hitchcock)
19 One Too Many Mornings (Robyn Hitchcock)
20 Ballad of a Thin Man (Robyn Hitchcock)
21 talk (Robyn Hitchcock)
22 Like a Rolling Stone (Robyn Hitchcock)
23 talk (Robyn Hitchcock)
24 Dignity (Robyn Hitchcock)
25 Queen Jane Approximately (Robyn Hitchcock)

https://pixeldrain.com/u/57SVUW36

alternate:

https://bestfile.io/en/6NXYau3lI9pt6uV/file

The cover photo is a still taken from the movie "Storefront Hitchcock," which was recorded in 1996. 

Covered: Hank Williams, Volume 2: 1995-2017

Here's the second part to the "Covered" series about country music legend Hank Williams.

As I said in my write-up for Volume 1, I wanted to make these albums accessible to more than just country music fans. So that's why I mostly chose covers from recent decades, and by the likes of Beck, Bob Dylan, Tom Petty, Norah Jones, and so on. 

The vast majority of these were hits when Williams did them before his death in 1953. While there were a lot of hit cover versions of his songs, these generally were not hits. As I just mentioned, I was striving to get away from country versions, and those were most of the hit versions.

As always with these "Covered" albums, the songs are in loose chronological order, based on the year of release. And, as always, check the mp3 tags for the details. 

This album is 45 minutes long. 

01 I'm a Long Gone Daddy (The The)
02 I Can't Help It [If I'm Still in Love with You] (Cat Power)
03 [I Heard That] Lonesome Whistle (Beck)
04 I Can't Get You Off of My Mind (Bob Dylan)
05 Alone and Forsaken (Emmylou Harris & Mark Knopfler)
06 You're Gonna Change [Or I'm Gonna Leave] (Tom Petty)
07 Cold, Cold Heart (Norah Jones)
08 Lost Highway (Lee Rocker)
09 Ramblin' Woman (Cat Power)
10 Take These Chains from My Heart (Rosanne Cash)
11 A House of Gold (Patty Griffin)
12 How Many Times Have You Broken My Heart (Norah Jones)
13 Mansion on the Hill (Willie Nelson)

https://pixeldrain.com/u/pJcuyMJv

alternate:

https://bestfile.io/en/RhHR0FUCJasCzLZ/file

I don't know the details of where or when the cover photo was from. However, it was in color, so I didn't need to change anything. 

Covered: Bob Crewe & Bob Gaudio, Volume 2: 1974-2024

Here's the second of two "Covered" volumes highlighting the songwriting of Bob Crewe and Bob Gaudio.

In Volume 1, the vast majority of the songs were written by Crewe and Gaudio together. In this volume, all or nearly all of the new songs (meaning new at the time) were written by either Crewe with others or Gaudio with others. However, as far as I can tell, it doesn't seem that they had a falling out, or even stopped writing songs together. For instance, as late as 1983 they co-wrote a couple of minor hit songs for the duo of Roberta Flack and Peabo Bryson. It's just that it seemed both of them had better success with other songwriters when it came to big hits in this era.

As I mentioned in my write-up for Volume 1, by the start of 1974, it seemed as if the songwriting success of both Crewe and Gaudio had petered out. Also around 1971, Gaudio phased himself out of being a member of Franki Valli and the Four Seasons, apparently due to stage fright and introversion. However, he retained a key financial stake, and continued to write songs for the group. So their musical futures were looking bleak. But both of them had a series of stunning songwriting successes, especially in 1974 and 1975.

For instance, I consider the first song here, "Lady Marmalade" by Labelle, one of the greatest dance songs of all time. It was a Number One hit in the U.S. in 1974, and then a cover of it was an even bigger Number One hit by Christina Aguiliera, Pink, and others in 2001. It was co-written by Bob Crewe and Kenny Nolan, another professional songwriter Crewe started working with around this time. Crewe also wrote "My Eyes Adored You" and "Get Dancin'" with Nolan, as well as "Swearin' to God" with another songwriter.

Crewe's "My Eyes Adored You" totally turned out the fortunes of Franki Valli and the Four Seasons, as it was a Number One hit in the U.S. in early 1975. (As with Volume 1, I've tried to avoid having lots of songs by that act, so I chose a duet version by Isaac Hayes and Dionne Warwick instead.) But then Gaudio also rose to the occasion in 1975, writing "Who Loves You" and "December, 1963 (Oh, What a Night)" with Judy Parker, who would later become his wife. "December, 1963 (Oh, What a Night)" in particular was a massive hit, not only reaching Number One in both the U.S. and Britain, but was the fourth best selling song of the year. (Again not wanting to include too many Franki Valli and the Four Seasons performances, I chose an interesting mostly acappella version from 2024.)

Unfortunately, the revived successes of Crewe and Gaudio didn't last that long. Gaudio co-wrote "Silver Star," which was a big hit in 1976. But after that, the new hits for both of them became smaller and fewer, and petered out altogether in the early 1980s. However, they still had more big successes with earlier songs that eventually became hits with cover versions. For instance, "Bye Bye Baby," a minor Franki Valli and the Four Seasons hit in the 1960s, was a Number One hit in Britain for the Bay City Rollers in 1975. 

Some songs kept coming around again and again. For instance, "Let's Hang On," a Four Seasons hit in 1965, was a big hit by the Darts in Britain in 1980, then again by Barry Manilow in 1981. And "Can't Take My Eyes Off You," a hit first for Franki Valli in 1967, has been hits by other musical acts so many times that it's hard to keep track, including making Number Four in Britain in 1982 by the Boys Town Gang.

Crewe, who was 13 years older than Gaudio, died in 2014 at the age of 84. Gaudio is still alive at the age of 82 years old as I write this in 2025.

As I said in Volume 1, I think these two are very underrated songwriters. I could have included many more hits, enough for another volume or two, but I wanted to give this a stronger appeal by including only their biggest hits. It seems some of their songs are going to be hits forever, periodically revived with new cover versions. For instance, "Beggin'," a minor hit when first released by Franki Valli and the Four Seasons in 1967, is another one that keeps getting covered to big success, with Madcon having a Number Five hit in Britain with it in 2008, and then Maneskin having a Number Six hit with it there in 2020.

This album is 54 minutes long.

01 Lady Marmalade (Labelle)
02 Get Dancin' (Disco Tex & the Sex-O-Lettes)
03 Swearin' to God (Frankie Valli)
04 Sherry (Adrian Baker)
05 Bye Bye Baby [Baby Goodbye] (Bay City Rollers)
06 My Eyes Adored You (Isaac Hayes & Dionne Warwick)
07 Silver Star (Frankie Valli & the Four Seasons)
08 Rag Doll (Steeleye Span)
09 Buzz Buzz a Diddle It (Matchbox)
10 The Night (Lene Lovich)
11 Let's Hang On (Barry Manilow)
12 Walk like a Man (Mary Jane Girls)
13 Barbarella (Wondermints)
14 Who Loves You (Murray Head)
15 December, 1963 [Oh, What a Night] (Jared Halle)

https://pixeldrain.com/u/8irSCEPX

alternate:

https://bestfile.io/en/Ia2z6pVWw86bXGm/file

As with Volume 1, I couldn't find good photos of the two of them together. So I found individual photos and put them on the cover. The Bob Crewe one (with red hair) is from 1976. I don't know the date of the Bob Gaudio one, but I'd guess it's from the 1970s. Both were in black and white, but I colorized them using the Kolorize program. Then I improved the quality with the Krea AI program.

Covered: Stevie Wonder, Volume 6: 1994-2005

It's been a couple of weeks since I've posted the last volume of Stevie Wonder's "Covered" series. There are two left to go. So I'm posting both of them today to finish them off. Here's Volume 6.

The time period of this album is 1994 to 2005. But note that's the time frame for when cover versions were released, not necessarily when the originals were released. By this time, Wonder's songwriting had slowed down, so most of the songs here are from earlier, usually from the 1970s. 

Wonder was still writing songs for others during this time period. However, in my opinion, they weren't up to snuff compared to the other songs on this album, so I didn't include any of them here.

One song I feel needs a little explaining is "Gangsta's Paradise" by Coolio with L.V. This is based on Wonder's 1976 song "Pastime Paradise." But Coolio significantly changed it with rap lyrics added. Normally, I'm not a big fan of rap, and I'm especially not a fan of songs where rap lyrics are added over classic songs. But in this case, I think Coolio did a really good job, keeping the heart of the original while adding something worthwhile and new. The general public thought so too, since it was the best selling single of 1995. So I've included this version here, but also I also included a more standard version of "Pastime Paradise" in Volume 4 in this series.

This album is 57 minutes long.

01 Maybe Your Baby (Prince)
02 Gangsta's Paradise (Coolio with L.V.)
03 You and I (Joe Cocker)
04 Knocks Me Off My Feet (Luther Vandross)
05 As (George Michael & Mary J.Blige)
06 I Wish (Lady Gaga)
07 Isn't She Lovely (Keb Mo)
08 I Ain't Gonna Stand for It (Eric Clapton)
09 Love's in Need of Love Today (Joan Osborne)
10 Too High (Michael McDonald)
11 Overjoyed (Mary J. Blige)
12 If It's Magic (Caetano Veloso)
13 Send One Your Love (Vanessa Williams)

https://pixeldrain.com/u/oNS96AJx

alternate:

https://bestfile.io/5qkLrQoBsrCXuF2/file

The cover photo is from 1993.

Status Quo - BBC Sessions, Volume 6: In Concert, Brighton Centre, Brighton, Britain, 12-12-1996

I've previously mentioned I'm not that keen on Status Quo. That's still the case, though I have been warming up to them a bit as I grow more familiar with their music. But they are really popular in Britain, so here's another BBC concert by them. This is the last BBC album I plan on posting for them.

Status Quo was a hit-making machine from the late 1960s until about 1990. After that, they continued to have hits in Britain, but none of them made the Top Ten. Earlier in 1996, the band released the album "Don't Stop," a covers album. There's not much sign of that album in this concert, except the last song, "All Around My Hat." This was a Top Ten hit for the folk rock band Steeleye Span in 1975, sung by the band's lead singer Maddy Prior. She helped sing the song for the version on the Status Quo album, and also joined them to sing it in this concert. Other than that, the band generally stuck to their biggest hits.

This album is 55 minutes long.

01 Paper Plane (Status Quo)
02 The Wanderer (Status Quo)
03 talk (Status Quo)
04 Proud Mary (Status Quo)
05 Wild Side of Life - Rollin' Home - Again and Again - Slow Train (Status Quo)
06 Get Back (Status Quo)
07 Whatever You Want (Status Quo)
08 In the Army Now (Status Quo)
09 Something 'bout You Baby I Like (Status Quo)
10 Don't Waste My Time (Status Quo)
11 Rockin' All Over the World (Status Quo)
12 Roadhouse Blues (Status Quo)
13 Caroline (Status Quo)
14 All Around My Hat (Status Quo with Maddy Prior)

https://pixeldrain.com/u/dyAu5ckJ

alternate:

https://bestfile.io/1Tb4bzfISs6gS7Z/file

The cover photo is from 1995. I don't know any details beyond that.

Neil Young - BBC Sessions, Volume 2: In Concert, Phoenix Festival, Long Marston Airfield, Stratford-upon-Avon, Britain, 7-19-199

For a long time, I thought the only BBC concert Neil Young ever performed was a well-known one he did for BBC TV back in 1971. But I recently found this one and a later one. This was performed with his backing band Crazy Horse, so it's very much in rocking mode, except for a couple of acoustic songs, "Heart of Gold" and "Music Arcade."

The concert took place just a couple of weeks after the release of his album "Broken Arrow," the eighth studio album he'd recorded with Crazy Horse. The songs "Big Time" and "Music Arcade" are from that.

Unfortunately, this album is edited down from a concert that was over two hours long. I found an audience bootleg of the full show. I considered adding some songs from it, but I decided the drop in sound quality wasn't worth it. However, I did use it for the little bit of banter before "Cinnamon Girl." According to what I heard on that bootleg, that was pretty much the only banter from the whole concert.

I had some trouble putting this together. While this played on the BBC, apparently different songs were played on different shows. So I had to piece it together from two sources, and then reorder the songs to match the full set list. For most of the songs, there was next to no audience cheering at the ends of songs, because the music was quickly cut off in favor of DJ talking. In fact, "Like a Hurricane" has "[Edit]" in the title because a BBC DJ spoke briefly about a minute or two into the song! (To my surprise, it was none other than famed DJ John Peel, who normally new better than to do that.) So, really all the songs were significantly edited in order for me to add in a decent amount of cheering at the ends. I took what little cheering I could find and repeatedly patched that in.

On the plus side, the sound quality is excellent, despite this remaining officially unreleased.

By the way, that 1971 BBC concert mentioned above has been renamed to "BBC Sessions, Volume 1." If you want the updated version with new cover art and mp3 tags, here's the link:

https://albumsthatshouldexist.blogspot.com/2022/06/neil-young-bbc-in-concert-london.html

This album is 57 minutes long.

01 Hey Hey, My My [Into the Black] (Neil Young)
02 Big Time (Neil Young)
03 Heart of Gold (Neil Young)
04 talk (Neil Young)
05 Cinnamon Girl (Neil Young)
06 Music Arcade (Neil Young)
07 Like a Hurricane [Edit] (Neil Young)
08 talk (Neil Young)
09 Sedan Delivery (Neil Young)
10 Rockin' in the Free World (Neil Young)

https://pixeldrain.com/u/D7U2wVrQ

alternate:

https://bestfile.io/en/iELuThWh7hO2KG4/file

The cover photo is from this exact concert.

Amanda Marshall - Acoustic and Full Band Rarities (1992-2024) (A Mike Solof Guest Post)

Before I finish off the last day of the 1982 US Festival, here's a guest post by Mike Solof.

Personally, I had never heard of Amanda Marshall until Mike came to me with this album idea. It turns out she has a great voice, but she never had a big hit song or album, at least in the U.S. (She's Canadian, and her albums were big sellers in Canada.) She's had a strange career in that she put out three albums in 1995, 1999, and 2001, and then waited 22 years before reviving her career with an album in 2023.

Anyway, if you want to know more about her, I suggest you read Mike's PDF included in the download. Also, here's her Wikipedia page:

Amanda Marshall - Wikipedia

One kind of curious thing I should also mention though is this is kind of two albums in one. There's basically an album of acoustic rarities, and another album of full band rarities presented here. But Mike wanted them bundled together. So there's an overall album cover, as well as covers for the acoustic and full band sections. 

ACOUSTIC RARITIES:

01 Birmingham (Amanda Marshall)
02 Fall from Grace (Amanda Marshall)
03 Trust Me [This Is Love] [Acoustic Version] (Amanda Marshall)
04 Dark Horse (Amanda Marshall)
05 Shades of Grey (Amanda Marshall)
06 Calgary (Amanda Marshall)
07 I Hope She Cheats (Amanda Marshall)
08 Believe in You (Amanda Marshall)
09 Castles Made of Sand [Edit] (Amanda Marshall)
10 Love Lift Me (Amanda Marshall)
11 Why Don't You Love Me (Amanda Marshall)
12 Chill Out for Christmas (Amanda Marshall)

FULL BAND RARITIES:

01 Marry Me (Amanda Marshall)
02 I Can't Stand the Rain - Let It Rain (Amanda Marshall)
03 Cross My Heart (Amanda Marshall)
04 Don't Let It Bring You Down (Amanda Marshall)
05 Just Love Me (Amanda Marshall)
06 Until We Fall In (Amanda Marshall)
07 Hey Goodlooking (Amanda Marshall)
08 Closer to the Ground (Amanda Marshall)
09 Eleanor Rigby (Amanda Marshall)
10 Believe in You [Long Version] (Amanda Marshall)
11 This Could Take All Night (Amanda Marshall)
12 Chrome Plated Heart (Amanda Marshall)
13 Snake Charm (Amanda Marshall)

https://www.imagenetz.de/eb9qq

alternate:

https://pixeldrain.com/u/bFSqwS82

alternate:

https://bestfile.io/en/UaJcwUO056tCIpe/file

I'm not sure about any of the details of the cover photo. Mike picked it.

Covered: Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier & Eddie Holland, Volume 8: 1975-2012

Here, finally, is the last of eight albums in my Covered series highlighting the songwriting genius of Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier, and Eddie Holland, a.k.a. Holland-Dozier-Holland.

By 1975, the bulk of hits first written by Holland-Dozier-Holland were behind them. That was especially true since Lamont Dozier broke with the Holland brothers in 1973. Some lawsuits between them followed regarding splitting the profits from their record companies. However, despite these battles, the three of them remained friends and even occasionally wrote songs together after that.

But still, by 1975, generally speaking, the classic Holland-Dozier-Holland songwriting team was done. The Holland brothers generally still wrote songs together while Dozier went his own way. 

Weirdly, given that Holland-Dozier-Holland were caught in non-stop legal battles with Motown Records from about 1968 until the end of the 1970s, the Holland brothers wrote a lot of songs for Motown acts in the late 1970s. Apparently, the love of music overcame hard feelings. Dozier later commented, "The lawsuit was just our way of taking care of business that needed to be taken care of -just like [Motown owner] Berry Gordy had to take care of his business which resulted in the lawsuit. Business is business, and love is love." 

The first three songs here were written by the Holland brothers for the Motown acts Michael Jackson and the Supremes in 1975 and 1976. And "I Just Can't Walk Away" was a rare example of a new song written by the entire Holland-Dozier-Holland team after their 1973 falling out, and released by the Four Tops in 1983.

Most of the other songs here, however, were written by Dozier, either by himself or with other songwriters besides the Holland brothers. He had the most songwriting success by far after the 1970s. For instance, "Two Hearts," co-written by Dozier and Phil Collins, was a Number One hit for Collins in the U.S. in 1988. 

A couple of big hits here, though, weren't exactly willing collaborations. "Roll with It" was a Number One hit in the U.S. in 1988 for Steve Winwood. Originally, Winwood co-wrote it with a songwriter named Will Jennings. But it was so similar to the 1960s song "(I'm a) Roadrunner" written by Holland-Dozier-Holland that they were added to the songwriting credits. The exact same thing happened to the 1990 hit song "The Other Side" by Aerosmith. Holland-Dozier-Holland were added to the songwriting credits due to the similarity of that song to "Standing in the Shadows of Love," which they wrote for the Four Tops in 1966.

As far as business concerns went, the Holland-Dozier-Holland record company Invictus went out of business in 1977. That wasn't too surprising because that was around the time classic soul music went out of fashion, to be replaced by disco and then other musical trends. Note that Stax Records went out of business in 1975, and even Motown Records shrunk way down and then was sold off in the late 1980s.

However, after the decline of Invictus, Holland-Dozier-Holland carried on with a new record label, HDH Records and Productions. But while they did release some new music, that was more about managing the rights to their earlier successes. The three of them also reunited to write 22 new songs for a musical play called "The First Wives Club" in 2009. However, the play wasn't that well received, and it never made it to Broadway. 

The three of them remained friends until 2022, when Dozier passed away at the age of 81. As I write this in 2024, Brian Holland is still alive at the age of 83, and Eddie Holland is still alive at the age of 85. In 2021, Dozier released a memoir and the Holland brothers released one too. 

Shortly before his death, Dozier commented in an interview, "I feel like Eddie and Brian are my family. We have had great times and not so great times with each other, but all in all we have so much love for one another and nobody can ever change that. We wrote some incredible songs, and our catalog songs are like our children."

This album is 55 minutes long.

01 Just a Little Bit of You (Michael Jackson)
02 I’m Gonna Let My Heart Do the Walking (Supremes)
03 You’re My Driving Wheel (Supremes)
04 Going Back to My Roots (Richie Havens)
05 I Just Can't Walk Away (Four Tops)
06 Invisible (Alison Moyet)
07 Infidelity (Simply Red)
08 Two Hearts (Phil Collins)
09 Loco in Acapulco (Four Tops)
10 Roll with It (Steve Winwood)
11 The Other Side (Aerosmith)
12 Like I Do (For Real)
13 Spoiled (Joss Stone)
14 While You're Out Looking for Sugar (Joss Stone)

https://www.upload.ee/files/17429308/COVRDHOLLNDDZRHLLND1975-2012Vlum8_atse.zip.html

alternate:

https://pixeldrain.com/u/s9dsXwjG

The cover photo shows Holland-Dozier-Holland in 2003. From left to right, that's Eddie Holland, Lamont Dozier, and Brian Holland.

The Black Crowes - VH-1 Storytellers, The Bottom Line, New York City, 8-27-1996

We're getting very near to the end of the "VH-1 Storytellers" series. I only have two more I plan on posting after this. This one features the band the Black Crowes.

We happened to get lucky with this one, because there is a soundboard bootleg of the entire concert that the Storytellers TV show drew from. I cut out a couple of songs that were duplicates, due to the producer asking the band to do them again because of some minor reason or another. I also cut out a lot of dead air time. And there were some chunks of that, for instance while the band had to wait for the producers to get something ready. But I kept all the worthy banter.

The Black Crowes hit it big with their debut album, "Shake Your Money Maker," which sold five million copies in the U.S. Their second album also sold two million. But their fourth album, "Three Snakes and One Charm," didn't even go Gold in the U.S. (meaning sales of 500,000). That was the album they were promoting with this concert, as it had been released the month before.  

Surprisingly, they only played two songs from it: "Good Friday" and "Under a Mountain." Most of the songs were from their previous albums. However, they finished with a Rolling Stones cover, "Torn and Frayed."

Due to the sourcing, I didn't have some of the usual problems with this series, like the first song getting cut off. But I had some other problems I had to fix. For instance, the banter between songs sometimes got very quiet, so I boosted that. And there also was a lot of hiss at times during the banter, but I managed to get rid of a lot of that through using the UVR5 audio editing program.

This album is an hour and 41 minutes long.

01 talk (Black Crowes)
02 Nonfiction (Black Crowes)
03 talk (Black Crowes)
04 Good Friday (Black Crowes)
05 talk (Black Crowes)
06 Under a Mountain (Black Crowes)
07 talk (Black Crowes)
08 Thorn in My Pride (Black Crowes)
09 talk (Black Crowes)
10 Jealous Again (Black Crowes)
11 talk (Black Crowes)
12 Wiser Time (Black Crowes)
13 talk (Black Crowes)
14 She Talks to Angels (Black Crowes)
15 talk (Black Crowes)
16 Hard to Handle (Black Crowes)
17 talk (Black Crowes)
18 Ballad in Urgency (Black Crowes)
19 talk (Black Crowes)
20 Descending (Black Crowes)
21 talk (Black Crowes)
22 Remedy (Black Crowes)
23 talk (Black Crowes)
24 Torn and Frayed (Black Crowes)

https://www.imagenetz.de/kwrti

alternate:

https://pixeldrain.com/u/iZhC4sD6

The cover photo is from a concert at the Paradiso, in Amsterdam, Netherlands, on February 15, 1997. 

Melissa Etheridge - VH-1 Storytellers, New York City, 11-10-1996

Even more "VH-1 Storytellers" episodes coming to you today. This time, it's singer-songwriter Melissa Etheridge.

This performance was done in solo acoustic format. That seemed to be pretty common in the first year or two of the TV show, but happened rarely after that. It took place about a year after the release of Etheridge's 1995 album "Your Little Secret." It sold two million copies, which is very good, but that still was a come down compared to her previous album, "Yes I Am," which sold six million.

Only two songs from that album were included here: "Nowhere to Go" and "All the Way to Heaven." She probably played more, but this was edited down from a longer concert.

Speaking of editing, once again I was faced with the problem of the first song starting midway through. I found a different version of "Bring Me Some Water" also done acoustic style from the same time period, and patched the two versions together. That's what that song has "[Edit]" in its title. But, as usual with this series, I did a lot of additional editing, especially with the applause at the ends of songs. And I boosted the lead vocals relative to the instruments on all the songs using the UVR5 audio editing program.

This album is 48 minutes long.

01 Bring Me Some Water [Edit] (Melissa Etheridge)
02 talk (Melissa Etheridge)
03 Watching You (Melissa Etheridge)
04 Come to My Window (Melissa Etheridge)
05 No Souvenirs (Melissa Etheridge)
06 talk (Melissa Etheridge)
07 Testify (Melissa Etheridge)
08 talk (Melissa Etheridge)
09 Yes I Am (Melissa Etheridge)
10 talk (Melissa Etheridge)
11 I'm the Only One (Melissa Etheridge)
12 talk (Melissa Etheridge)
13 Nowhere to Go (Melissa Etheridge)
14 talk (Melissa Etheridge)
15 All the Way to Heaven (Melissa Etheridge)

https://www.upload.ee/files/17184503/MELISSAE1996StrytllrsNwYrkC__11-10-1996_atse.zip.html

alternate:

https://pixeldrain.com/u/ySEDagwk

The cover photo comes from the City of Hope benefit concert at Universal Studios Hollywood in Universal City, California, in 1996. I've posted an album of that concert at this blog, by the way.

The Bee Gees - VH-1 Storytellers, Biltmore Hotel, Coral Gables, FL, 11-25-1996

Next for the "VH-1 Storytellers" series is an episode featuring the Bee Gees.

The Bee Gees are musical legends, having sold over 120 million albums worldwide. However, they were so massively popular during the 1970s disco era that the U.S. public burned out on them. While they continued to be popular in Europe and elsewhere, none of their new studio albums from the end of the 1970s until the time of this concert even reached the Gold status of selling 500,000 copies.

In early 1997, they would release the new album "Still Waters." It would give them the most success they had in the U.S. in decades, selling over a million copies. This was largely due to the hit song "Alone." While that is not included here, two other singles from that album are: "Still Waters (Run Deep)" and "I Could Not Love You More." The rest are generally big hits they wrote for themselves and others in earlier decades.

Generally speaking, the assumption with these Storytellers albums is that all of the performances are unreleased. But in this case, "How Deep Is Your Love" was released on a various artists compilation of Storytellers highlights.

This album is 46 minutes long.

01 I Gotta Get a Message to You (Bee Gees)
02 talk (Bee Gees)
03 To Love Somebody (Bee Gees)
04 talk (Bee Gees)
05 I Started a Joke (Bee Gees)
06 talk (Bee Gees)
07 Lonely Days (Bee Gees)
08 talk (Bee Gees)
09 How Can You Mend a Broken Heart (Bee Gees)
10 talk (Bee Gees)
11 Jive Talkin' (Bee Gees)
12 talk (Bee Gees)
13 How Deep Is Your Love (Bee Gees)
14 talk (Bee Gees)
15 Islands in the Stream (Bee Gees)
16 talk (Bee Gees)
17 Heartbreaker (Bee Gees)
18 talk (Bee Gees)
19 Stayin' Alive (Bee Gees)
20 talk (Bee Gees)
21 Still Waters (Bee Gees)
22 talk (Bee Gees)
23 I Could Not Love You More (Bee Gees)
24 talk (Bee Gees)
25 Words (Bee Gees)

https://www.upload.ee/files/17176452/TBEEGS1996StrytllrsBltmorHtelCralGblesFL__11-25-1996_atse.zip.html

alternate link:

https://pixeldrain.com/u/UrbmEbQa

The cover photo is from a concert at Wembley Stadium, in London, in September 1998.

Sting - VH-1 Storytellers, Stephen Talkhouse, Amagansett, NY, 7-15-1996

Next for the "VH-1 Storytellers" series is an episode by Sting, former lead singer of the band the Police.

In early 1996, Sting released his fifth solo studio album, "Mercury Falling." It did reasonably well by his standards, selling over a million copies in the U.S., but it didn't have any big hits in the U.S., a first for one of his albums. Only three of the songs performed here come from that album, "Let Your Soul Be Your Pilot," "I'm So Happy I Can't Stop Crying," and "Lithium Sunset."

This episode is rather unusual for the series, because Sting often stopped in the middle of performing a song to talk about the song structure. Then he would finish it off. That happened for five songs. It's an interesting technique, though I wish he would have saved the talking for before or after those songs.

This album is 45 minutes long.

01 talk (Sting)
02 Message in a Bottle (Sting)
03 talk (Sting)
04 Message in a Bottle [Reprise] (Sting)
05 Every Breath You Take (Sting)
06 talk (Sting)
07 Every Breath You Take [Reprise] (Sting)
08 Fields of Gold (Sting)
09 talk (Sting)
10 Fields of Gold [Reprise] (Sting)
11 talk (Sting)
12 King of Pain (Sting)
13 talk (Sting)
14 King of Pain [Reprise] (Sting)
15 talk (Sting)
16 Let Your Soul Be Your Pilot (Sting)
17 talk (Sting)
18 Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic (Sting)
19 talk (Sting)
20 I'm So Happy I Can't Stop Crying (Sting)
21 talk (Sting)
22 I'm So Happy I Can't Stop Crying [Reprise] (Sting)
23 talk (Sting)
24 Roxanne (Sting)
25 talk (Sting)
26 Lithium Sunset (Sting)

https://www.upload.ee/files/17161582/STNG1996StrytllrsStphnTlkhuseAmgnsttNY__7-15-1996_atse.zip.html

alternate link:

https://pixeldrain.com/u/X4fu4R6x

I couldn't find any really good images from this exact concert. So instead I used a photo taken somewhere in France some time in 1996.