The New York Dolls - PBS Soundstage, WTTW Studios, Chicago, IL, 8-16-2006

Here is another album from the "PBS Soundstage" T.V. show. This one stars the New York Dolls.

The New York Dolls are most famous for the music they did in the early 1970s. They only released two albums in that time period, “New York Dolls” in 1973 and “Too Much Too Soon” in 1974, and neither album sold that well. But they were extremely influential on punk rock, heavy metal, hard rock, glam rock, glam, metal, and other musical genres. 

They broke up in 1976. Lead singer David Johansen had a successful second career with the persona "Buster Poindexter," playing a very different style of music. The band had a surprise reunion in 2004, however, although by that time only three of the five original band members were alive and participating in the reunion. One would have thought that they were long past their prime by that point. But they surprised with a very well receive album in 2006, "One Day It Will Please Us to Remember Even This." Many critics put it on their best albums of the year list. This concert is a mix of songs from the new album and older classics.

The band would break up again in 2011. Since then, all of the bands original members have died.

Here's the band's Wikipedia page for more information:

New York Dolls - Wikipedia 

The music is unreleased, and the sound quality is excellent.

This album is 53 minutes long. 

01 talk (New York Dolls)
02 Looking for a Kiss (New York Dolls)
03 We're All in Love (New York Dolls)
04 talk (New York Dolls)
05 Puss 'N Boots (New York Dolls)
06 Gotta Get Away from Tommy (New York Dolls)
07 Take a Good Look at My Good Looks (New York Dolls)
08 Gimmie Love and Turn on the Lights (New York Dolls)
09 talk (New York Dolls)
10 Private World (New York Dolls)
11 talk (New York Dolls)
12 Dance like a Monkey (New York Dolls)
13 Punishing World (New York Dolls)
14 talk (New York Dolls)
15 Trash (New York Dolls)
16 Jet Boy (New York Dolls)
17 talk (New York Dolls)
18 Personality Crisis (New York Dolls)

https://pixeldrain.com/u/cCea1JGZ

alternate:

https://bestfile.io/en/I2yOtNFV4cA5odX/file

The cover of singer David Johansen is a screenshot I took from a video of this exact concert. 

Covered: Neil Young, Volume 5: 2005-2007

Here’s another “Covered “ Neil Young. Since I’m on vacation, I’ll keep this short. Once again, Fabio from Rio wrote some notes, so here they are:

By the mid-2000s, Neil Young had fully achieved something rare in popular music: he was simultaneously a living legend and an active creative force. His catalog had by then become a kind of common language shared across genres. Indie rock bands, folk revivalists, alternative country singers, and even pop performers were freely exploring different corners of his songwriting. Meanwhile, Young himself continued releasing ambitious work, from the politically charged "Living with War" to the reflective "Prairie Wind."

The covers gathered in this volume illustrate how widely his influence had spread. Younger artists approached the songs with fresh sensibilities, sometimes transforming well-known classics into intimate acoustic performances, while others revived deeper cuts that had long been favorites among the devoted "Rusties." In several cases, the reinterpretations reveal how remarkably adaptable Young's compositions are: sometimes, the same song can thrive equally well as a folk lament, a rock anthem, or a stripped-down indie confession.

--- 

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 one minute long.

01 Shots (Constantines)
02 The Needle and the Damage Done (Pretenders)
03 Deep Forbidden Lake (Bentonio)
04 For the Turnstiles (Be Good Tanyas)
05 Little Wing (Elizabeth Mitchell)
06 Rockin’ in the Free World (Ann Vriend)
07 Burned (Veruca Salt)
08 Cinnamon Girl (Melissa McClelland)
09 Hey Hey, My My [Into the Black] (Hard Lessons)
10 I Am a Child (Britta Phillips)
11 Ordinary People (Steve Dahl)
12 Come On Baby Let's Go Downtown (Trews)
13 Natural Beauty (Tara MacLean)
14 Bad Fog of Loneliness (Justin Nozuka)
15 A Man Needs a Maid (Dala)

https://pixeldrain.com/u/N34zZ6KK

alternate:

https://bestfile.io/en/9Ofxt1M2qePGlwY/file

The cover photo is from 1982. Boy, does he look different from the cover of Volume 4! He's almost unrecognizable in this one, in my opinion. This is an actual untouched photo, no AI help this time. You can find similar ones if you look for other photos from 1982, the only year he looked like this.

Elton John - Cover Versions, Volume 5: 2002-2007

In 2023 and 2024, I posted four volumes collecting all the cover versions performed by Elton John that I could find. However, I stopped this series before finishing it because I ran into copyright issues with the fourth volume. But I've had way less of those issues in recent months, so I'd going to try to post the fifth volume. If that works out, the sixth and final volume will follow. But you might want to grab this quickly, just in case.

Tracks 1, 2, 3, 6, 7, and 8 are all unreleased, and from concerts. Out of those, tracks 2 and 3 are from a CMT Crossroads episode with Ryan Adams. Track 9 was also performed live, but it's from a tribute album to Luther Vandross. For all these live songs, I used the MVSEP program to wipe the cheering, so those songs would fit with the studio tracks.

That leaves the studio tracks, all of which are released. Those are from a mix of movie soundtracks, tribute albums, and duets done on albums by other musical acts. If you want more details, please look at the mp3 tags for the individual songs. Like always, I include the source info for each song on every album I post. 

By the way, some of the links in the previous volumes in this series weren't working, but I just replaced them with new links. 

This album is 48 minutes long.

01 Oh My Sweet Carolina (Elton John)
02 Firecracker (Elton John & Ryan Adams)
03 La Cienega Just Smiled (Elton John & Ryan Adams)
04 Makin' Whoopee (Elton John)
05 Moon River (Elton John)
06 Nighttime Is the Right Time (Elton John & Mary J. Blige)
07 Born to Lose (Elton John)
08 Rock This House (B. B. King & Elton John)
09 Anyone Who Had a Heart (Elton John & Luther Vandross)
10 Dreamland (Bruce Hornsby & Elton John)
11 Where We Both Say Goodbye (Catherine Britt & Elton John)
12 Rags to Riches (Tony Bennett & Elton John)
13 Blueberry Hill (Elton John) 

https://pixeldrain.com/u/PWY7tZVF

alternate:

https://bestfile.io/en/Tk5ynn7dYAJmOmv/file

The cover photo is from a concert at Wembley Arena, in London, on December 5, 2003. 

Chris Rea - BBC Sessions, Volume 10: Saturday Programme, Maida Vale Studios, London, Britain, 10-13-2006

Here's another album in a mini-flood of Chris Rea BBC albums. Like all the previous ones, this is a concert.

In 2005, Rea released his 25th studio album, "Blue Guitars." This was no ordinary studio album. In fact, I would bet it's the longest studio album by a major musical act. It consisted of ten albums containing 137 songs in total, all of them originals. That added up to over ten hours of music! This mega-album explored virtually all genres of blues music, with each of the ten albums having a different theme.

Since Rea didn't release a new album in 2006, half of the songs in this concert come from his "Blue Guitars" album - specifically, tracks 1, 2, 4, and 6. The rest are hits from earlier in his career.

This is the last BBC concert I could find by Rea. But I did find some BBC studio sessions after 2006, enough for an album. (Which is a bit strange, since I didn't find studio sessions from before 2006, but so it goes.) So that will be the final BBC album I plan to post from him.

This album is 44 minutes long.

The music here is unreleased. The sound quality is excellent. 

UPDATE: On February 13, 2026, I updated the mp3 download file. The music is exactly the same, but I changed the name after finding material for a "Volume 9" starting before the year of this one. 

01 Jazzy Blue (Chris Rea)
02 Where the Blues Come From (Chris Rea)
03 Josephine (Chris Rea)
04 Work Gang (Chris Rea)
05 Easy Rider (Chris Rea)
06 'Til the Morning Sun Shines on My Love and Me (Chris Rea)
07 Stainsby Girls (Chris Rea)
08 The Road to Hell I and II (Chris Rea)

https://pixeldrain.com/u/9cMQCpMB

alternate: 

https://bestfile.io/en/sDrhEsGtchCZy3j/file

The cover photo was taken at the Heineken Music Hall, in Amsterdam, Netherlands, on March 22, 2006. I thought it was interesting to show him playing the harmonica instead of the guitar, for once. Note the glass slide on one of his fingers.

Covered: Tom Waits, Volume 3: 2004-2012

Here's "Volume 3" out of four volumes made for the "Covered" series, showcasing the songs of Tom Waits.

Like the other volumes in this series, this was mostly put together by Fabio from Rio. He did all the heavy lifting in finding the source material, and I only helped to winnow down the songs to a reasonable number. Fabio also wrote the notes for each volume, so here's his notes for this one:

In the nineties and early 2000s, Waits fused experimental sounds with stark American roots music—blues, gospel, field hollers, and folk. Themes of death, sin, redemption, and rural myth dominate. This allows for covers that, while highlighting their folk or country origins (sometimes deeply buried at the original recordings, but more perceptible when reinterpreted by performers from diverse backgrounds), still keep their darker spirits through melancholic or nihilistic lyrics.

In this volume, the country side of Waits' music is quite perceptible via covers by Elvis Costello, Norah Jones, and Claudia Bettinaglio. One may also feel the sexiness and smoky-room cabaret ambiance at Diana Krall's "Temptation", Monique Maion's "Walking Spanish," and Clara Bellino's "Swordfishtrombone." 

Traces of rockabilly and R&B can be found with Mark Lemhouse's "No One Can Forgive Me" and English seventies folk with Plant and Krauss' "Trampled Rose", along with blues and rock tracks like Hart and Bonamassa's "Chocolate Jesus" and Goldheart Assembly's "Clap Hands." Overall, this makes for an eclectic selection, much like the average Tom Waits album. An acoustic, home-demo-like version of "In the Neighborhood" by Peter Gabriel, recorded in 2012 for a benefit album for war-torn regions, closes the volume on a poignant note.

--- 

This album is 57 minutes long. 

01 Innocent When You Dream (Elvis Costello)
02 Temptation (Diana Krall)
03 Long Way Home (Norah Jones)
04 Big in Japan (Shane Nicholson)
05 Swordfishtrombone (Clara Bellino)
06 Eyeball Kid (Michael Stanley)
07 Cold Cold Ground (Claudia Bettinaglio)
08 Trampled Rose (Robert Plant & Alison Krauss)
09 All the Time in the World (Southside Johnny)
10 No One Can Forgive Me (Mark Lemhouse)
11 Walking Spanish (Monique Maion)
12 Chocolate Jesus (Beth Hart & Joe Bonamassa)
13 Clap Hands (Goldheart Assembly)
14 In the Neighborhood (Peter Gabriel)

https://pixeldrain.com/u/yUHGi7qy 

alternate: 

https://bestfile.io/en/i96wIB252GpXMcV/file

The cover photo shows Waits at a movie premiere in Leicester Square, in London, on October 6, 2009. (As usual with this series of course, I replaced the background with blank light blue).

KT Tunstall - PBS Soundstage, WTTW Studios, Chicago, IL, 5-6-2006

Here's another episode of the excellent "PBS Soundstage" TV show. This one stars singer-songwriter KT Tunstall.

Tunstall had a massive debut album in 2004. "Eye to the Telescope" sold nearly five million copies worldwide. So her popularity was still soaring at the time of this concert in 2006. Her next album wouldn't be released until 2007, so this mostly consists of songs from that debut album. 

Unfortunately, the popularity of her debut wasn't sustained. But I think she's put out quality music all along.

The music here is unreleased. The sound quality is excellent. 

This album is 54 minutes long. 

01 talk (KT Tunstall)
02 Other Side of the World (KT Tunstall)
03 talk (KT Tunstall)
04 Miniature Disasters (KT Tunstall)
05 Under the Weather (KT Tunstall)
06 Another Place to Fall (KT Tunstall)
07 Universe and U (KT Tunstall)
08 talk (KT Tunstall)
09 Black Horse and the Cherry Tree (KT Tunstall)
10 talk (KT Tunstall)
11 Hollywood Hills (KT Tunstall)
12 Heal Over (KT Tunstall)
13 talk (KT Tunstall)
14 Suddenly I See (KT Tunstall)

https://pixeldrain.com/u/eV9ZqTNt

alternate:

https://bestfile.io/en/JeBGNkeZ9qqw5ST/file

The cover photo is from this exact concert. 

Covered: Antonio Carlos Jobim, Volume 2: 1998-2011

Here's the second out of three albums celebrating the music of songwriter Antonio Carlos Jobim. Like the others in this series, Fabio from Rio was more responsible for putting this together than I was. So a very big thanks to him. Due to the fact that he's a Brazilian with deep knowledge of Brazilian music, he knew Jobim covers way better than I did.

Jobim wrote most of his classic songs from the 1950s to the 1970s. He actually died in 1994, of heart and cancer problems at the age of 67. So all the covers here are from after his death, of songs that often were written decades earlier. That's a sign that his songs keep getting covered, long after their first appearances on records. 

Fabio and I selected these choices together. We rarely went for the big hit versions, because his songs rarely turned into big hits. But he's had dozens of songs with literally hundreds of cover versions. Typically, Fabio selected a bunch of versions of a given song, then I would listen to them and pick my favorite. If you want to hear more versions, go to the write-up for Volume 1, because Fabio has made six more albums of Jobim covers that you can find there.

Also note that I kept this to versions in English, despite the fact that Jobim wrote nearly all of the original versions of his songs in Portuguese. And I kept my selections to versions with vocals, since there are countless hundreds of instrumental versions of his songs as well. I figured English versions would have more popular appeal for people who aren't that familiar with his music. 

This album is 46 minutes long. 

01 For All of My Life [Por Toda a Minha Vida] (Eliane Elias)
02 Modinha [Broken Heart] (Paquito D'Rivera & New York Voices)
03 Ela e Carioca [She's a Carioca] (Celso Fonseca)
04 Someone to Light Up My Life [Se Todos Fossem Iguais a Voce] (Ann Hampton Callaway)
05 No More Blues [Chega de Saudade] (Idea of North)
06 Porpoise [Boto] (Beijbom Kroner Big Band)
07 Song of the Jet [Samba do Aviao] (BR6)
08 Quiet Nights of Quiet Stars [Corcovado] (Diana Krall)
09 I Was Just One More for You [Esperanca Perdida] (Dawn Clement)
10 That Look You Wear [Este Seu Olhar] (Elly Hoyt)
11 Zingaro [Retrato em Branco e Preto] [Portrait in Black and White] (Nina Ripe)

https://pixeldrain.com/u/NHjBNpsC

alternate: 

https://bestfile.io/en/N32g9Tfg2rPVxZM/file 

I don't know the details about the cover photo. But based on his appearance and the other photos I saw of him putting this together, I'd guess the picture was taken in the 1980s. 

Various Artists - MusiCares Tribute to James Taylor, Los Angeles Convention Center, Los Angeles, CA, 2-6-2006

Here's another MusiCares tribute concert. I only have a couple more of these after this one, and I want to post them in the next days. This one honors James Taylor.

This concert followed the usual format for these kinds of things: a bonus of famous musical acts sang covers of his songs, then he accepted an award and gave a speech, and finally he played a couple of his songs. If you look at the song lists, a lot of big names showed up to perform his songs, including Bruce Springsteen. 

Another big name also played one of his songs at the concert: Paul Simon sung "Sweet Baby James." But unfortunately, this is sourced from a DVD, but that song wasn't included, and I couldn't find any version of it anywhere. If anyone has it, please let me know so I can add it in.

I know Simon played that song in this concert, because it's mentioned in this article, which is a good summary of the concert in general:

MusiCares Honors Singer James Taylor - CBS News 

Also, while trying to find a good photo for the cover art, I went through a stash of hundreds of photos from the concert, and noticed that other big names like Neil Young and Brian Wilson attended. But I doubt they performed, or they probably would have been mentioned in that news article I just linked to. 

As mentioned above, this is sourced from an official DVD, so the sound quality is excellent. No version is any audio format has been released. As I sometimes do, I converted the video to audio, then broke it into mp3s.

This album is an hour and 18 minutes long. 

01 talk (Bill Clinton)
02 talk (emcee)
03 talk (Dixie Chicks)
04 Shower the People (Dixie Chicks)
05 talk (emcee)
06 talk (Bonnie Raitt)
07 Rainy Day Man (Bonnie Raitt)
08 talk (emcee)
09 talk (India.Arie)
10 Secret o' Life (India.Arie)
11 talk (emcee)
12 talk (Jackson Browne, David Crosby & Sheryl Crow)
13 Mexico (Jackson Browne, David Crosby & Sheryl Crow)
14 talk (emcee)
15 talk (Sting)
16 You Can Close Your Eyes (Sting)
17 talk (Dr. John & Taj Mahal)
18 Everybody Has the Blues (Dr. John & Taj Mahal)
19 talk (Alison Krauss & Jerry Douglas)
20 Carolina in My Mind (Alison Krauss & Jerry Douglas)
21 talk (emcee)
22 talk (Keith Urban)
23 Country Road (Keith Urban)
24 talk (emcee)
25 talk (Bruce Springsteen)
26 Millworker (Bruce Springsteen)
27 talk (Carole King)
28 You've Got a Friend (Carole King with James Taylor)
29 talk (Neil Portnow)
30 talk (James Taylor)
31 Shed a Little Light (James Taylor)
32 talk (James Taylor)
33 How Sweet It Is [To Be Loved by You] (James Taylor)
34 Fire and Rain (James Taylor)

https://pixeldrain.com/u/T6dgDM1s

alternate:

https://bestfile.io/en/5ezYaz8DOi7Zc9L/file

The cover photo is from this exact concert. It shows Taylor receiving the award from Neil Portnow, the head of MusiCares at the time. 

Tom P*tty & the Heartbreakers with Stevie Nicks - PBS Soundstage, Stephan C. O'Connell Center, Gainesville, FL, 9-21-2006

Here's an episode of the great TV show "PBS Soundstage" staring Tom P. and the Heartbreakers, from 2006.

(Note that I'm not using the full name of this artist due to concerns about copyright issues.)  

The star of the show was born and raised in Gainesville, Florida, and in fact most of his band was from there as well. So this concert was a rare homecoming, giving it extra emotional appeal. For the band's entire 2006 summer tour, they were assisted by Stevie Nicks, despite the fact that she was a big star in her own right. She has publicly stated more than once that she wishes she could have been a member of the Heartbreakers, so this tour was probably the closest she came to fulfilling that wish. She didn't sing any of her own songs, but sang back up on some of songs by the main act (including duet in which she sang on the original). 

This album is a lot longer than the typical hour-long episode of this TV show. That's because this is the full concert, from the DVD. It hasn't been released in any audio format, however. 

Note that this musical act did another episode of "PBS Soundstage," back in 2003. I've posted that one as well.

This album is an hour and 54 minutes long.

I'm not including the track list due to copyright issues. But you can find it in the mp3 download file. 

https://pixeldrain.com/u/SrVC27H8

alternate:

https://bestfile.io/wtiqNcLva2nDKFG/file

The cover is from this exact concert.

Covered: Lee Hazlewood, Volume 2: 1968-2023

Here's Volume Two of my Covered Series albums highlighting the songs written by Lee Hazlewood.

A large percentage of the songs in Volume One were hits. That's much less the case here, since most of this deals with a far less portion of his career, basically from about 1970 onwards until his death (due to cancer) at the age of 78 in 2007.

The first song here, "Some Velvet Morning," was a hit, and is one of his best known songs. What a fascinating song it is. In 2003, the British newspaper The Daily Telegraph placed the single at the Number 1 spot on their 50 Best Duets Ever list. Here's a portion from the article about that list: "These two weirdly complementary sides of Hazlewood's persona unite on 'Some Velvet Morning,' a standout track from Nancy and Lee. On that track, Hazlewood and Sinatra sound like they don't inhabit the same universe, let alone the same song. ... 'Some Velvet Morning' sounds like two songs spliced together by a madman, or an avant-garde short film in song form." 

In the late 1960s, Hazlewood and Sinatra were keeping their successful hit formula going. "Lady Bird" was another big hit song as a duet sung by them, although just to vary things up a bit I've included a version by Virgil Warner & Suzi Jane Hokom instead. (Hokom was Hazlewood's girlfriend in the late 1960s and into the early 1970s.) However, his fortunes changed drastically around 1970, when he decided to move to the Sweden. He ended up living there for ten years. He later claimed that he went there for several reasons, including so his son could avoid getting drafted to fight in the Vietnam War, tax trouble, and bailing out on a failing record company he had tried to run for a few years. One song here, "No Train to Stockholm," details some of his feelings about making that move.

Unfortunately, back in that era, the world was less connected, and going to Sweden was almost suicide for his music career. For instance, his highly successful collaboration with Nancy Sinatra mostly had to come to an end. However, they did reunite occasionally, for instance with an album called "Nancy and Lee Again" in 1972. That contained a Number Two hit in Britain, "Did You Ever." But I didn't included that song here because Hazlewood wasn't involved in writing it.

For much of the 1970s and 80s, he was semi-retired from the music business, although he did release his own albums from time to time. But as more time passed, his music was discovered by younger generations, and his music increasingly achieved a kind of cult status. That led to tribute albums, collaborations, and so on. He also revived his own performing career, including another album with Sinatra in 2004, and a well-regarded final album "Cake or Death," released in 2006, just one year before he died. The song "Baghdad Knights" is from that album.

A lot of the choices here are highly idiosyncratic, meaning someone else putting this together almost certainly would have made many different selections. I tried including at least a little bit of some of his different styles, including three songs he released in his own name, since I couldn't find good cover versions for those. 

This album is 48 minutes long.

01 Some Velvet Morning (Nancy Sinatra & Lee Hazlewood)
02 You Turned My Head Around (Ann-Margret)
03 Sweet Ride (Dusty Springfield)
04 Lady Bird (Virgil Warner & Suzi Jane Hokom)
05 No Train to Stockholm (Lee Hazlewood)
06 For a Day like Today (Suzi Jane Hokom)
07 She Comes Running (Waylon Jennings)
08 Paris Summer (Nancy Sinatra & Lee Hazlewood)
09 Las Vegas (Lee Hazlewood)
10 Easy and Me (Kathryn Williams)
11 The Cheat (Jarvis Cocker & Richard Hawley)
12 It's Sunday Morning (Kid Loco with Tim Keegan)
13 Baghdad Knights (Lee Hazlewood)
14 The Night Before (Kristoffer & the Harbour Heads)
15 Your Sweet Love (Sungaze)

https://pixeldrain.com/u/15hZDJ7S

alternate:

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

I don't know what year the cover photo is from. But I think it's from a little later than the cover photo for Volume 1, due to a little more grey in his hair.

Jewel - PBS Soundstage, Meyerson Symphony Center, Dallas, TX, 8-31-2006

Here is a "PBS Soundstage" concert by Jewel, also known as Jewel Kilcher.

In 2003, Jewel released the studio album "0304." In it, her style shifted to dance pop. This was not well received by most fans and critics. In 2006, around this time of this concert, she released her next album, "Goodbye Alice in Wonderland." It brought her back to her previous folk and rock styles. It was much better received, although sales weren't great.

For this concert, we luckily get full concert instead of the usual edit down to an hour. Many of the songs are from her latest album, or from previous albums. Just one song, "Intuition," is from her "0304," so if you don't like that album it doesn't really have an impact on this concert. She didn't break to talk much in this recording, but when she does, she usually told long stories.

This album is an hour and 37 minutes long. The music here has been released on video form on DVD, but not as an audio album.

01 1000 Miles Away (Jewel)
02 Near You Always (Jewel)
03 talk (Jewel)
04 Stephenville, TX (Jewel)
05 Morning Song (Jewel)
06 talk (Jewel)
07 Cowboy's Lament [Fly to Me Angel] (Jewel)
08 Foolish Games (Jewel)
09 You Were Meant for Me (Jewel)
10 Long Slow Slide (Jewel)
11 Hands (Jewel)
12 talk (Jewel)
13 Good Day (Jewel)
14 Satellite (Jewel)
15 Everybody Needs Someone Sometime (Jewel)
16 talk (Jewel)
17 Love Me, Just Leave Me Alone (Jewel)
18 Break Me (Jewel)
19 Where You Are (Jewel)
20 Standing Still (Jewel)
21 Intuition (Jewel)
22 Who Will Save Your Soul (Jewel)
23 talk (Jewel)
24 Goodbye Alice in Wonderland (Jewel)
25 Chime Bells (Jewel)

https://pixeldrain.com/u/fgB2jKxa

alternate:

https://bestfile.io/en/kXlsUIalh9ZSEGO/file

The cover image is a screenshot taken from this exact concert. I used the Krea AI program to sharpen it up a bit.

Paul Weller - BBC Sessions, Volume 12: 2005-2008

Here's yet another in a long line of albums of Paul Weller performing for the BBC. This time, it consists of studio sessions.

As I've mentioned previously, Weller released a box set of his BBC recordings from the start of his solo career in 1990 until 2008, but it certainly didn't include everything he performed for the BBC. This album is a case in point. In fact, two songs here, "All on a Misty Morning" and "111," are unreleased and come from the exact same BBC studio session as the four tracks before it (tracks 8 to 11), which did make the box set. "Love," "I Don't Need No Doctor," "Black River," and "Invisible" are other unreleased songs from BBC sessions. Everything else here is from the box set. Check the mp3 tags for all the exact details.

A definite highlight here are two songs where Weller dueted with Amy Winehouse, "Don't Go to Strangers" and "I Heard It through the Grapevine." These went unreleased for a long time, and were another thing that didn't make it onto the Weller BBC box set, but they finally got released on a Winehouse BBC album.

This album is 52 minutes long.

01 Come On-Let's Go (Paul Weller)
02 Love (Paul Weller)
03 Roll Along Summer (Paul Weller)
04 I Wanna Make It Alright [Edit] (Paul Weller)
05 I Don't Need No Doctor (Paul Weller)
06 Don't Go to Strangers (Amy Winehouse & Paul Weller)
07 I Heard It through the Grapevine (Amy Winehouse & Paul Weller)
08 All I Wanna Do [Is Be with You] (Paul Weller)
09 Cold Moments (Paul Weller)
10 Push It Along (Paul Weller)
11 Pretty Flamingo (Paul Weller)
12 All on a Misty Morning (Paul Weller)
13 111 [Instrumental] (Paul Weller)
14 Black River (Paul Weller & Graham Coxon)
15 Invisible [Orchestral Version] (Paul Weller)

https://pixeldrain.com/u/Dv87M7x3

alternate:

https://bestfile.io/en/FzteuxGnu7sWxtg/file

The cover photo was taken at the Mojo Honours List Awards Ceremony, in London, on June 16, 2005. I used Photoshop to remove some writing on the wall behind him.

Chris Isaak - Acoustic, Volume 3: 1998-2016

Recently, a commenter pointed out to me that I had posted two volumes of Chris Isaak performing a third, yet I hadn't posted the third one. That was a very good point. I sometimes have albums all ready to go but then get distracted and fail to post them for some reason or another. So here's Volume 3.

As I mentioned with Volume 2 in this series, I really like how Isaak isn't afraid to perform songs just with an acoustic guitar or two. Typically, he's done this during short appearances, like in-person radio station promotions, where it probably isn't worth it for him to bring his entire band along. So this is mostly a compilation of unreleased performances from TV shows and radio shows. As usual, check the mp3 tags for all the details.

The only exceptions to that are tracks 7, 8, and 9. Track 7, "Forever Blue," is an acoustic version released on the album "Best of Chris Isaak." Tracks 8 and 9, "Don't Leave Me On My Own" and "Waiting," are also acoustic versions from the "Best of Chris Isaak" album, but only as bonus tracks on the iTunes version of that album.

Isaak's music career has been slowing down as he gets older, so this probably is the last album in this series. But never say never, I suppose.

This album is 50 minutes long.

01 Don't Get So Down on Yourself (Chris Isaak)
02 Sweet Leilani (Chris Isaak)
03 Blue Darlin' (Chris Isaak)
04 Speak of the Devil (Chris Isaak)
05 One Day (Chris Isaak)
06 Let Me Down Easy (Chris Isaak)
07 Forever Blue [Acoustic Version] (Chris Isaak)
08 Don't Leave Me On My Own [Acoustic Version] (Chris Isaak)
09 Waiting [Acoustic Version] (Chris Isaak)
10 Only the Lonely (Chris Isaak)
11 Somebody's Crying (Chris Isaak)
12 Wicked Game (Chris Isaak)
13 I Want You to Want Me (Chris Isaak)
14 Baby Did a Bad Bad Thing (Chris Isaak)
15 It Hurt Me So (Chris Isaak)
16 Great Balls of Fire (Chris Isaak)
17 Ring of Fire (Chris Isaak)
18 Oh, Pretty Woman (Chris Isaak)
19 My Happiness (Chris Isaak)
20 Live It Up (Chris Isaak)
21 Blue Christmas (Chris Isaak)
22 Perfect Lover (Chris Isaak)
23 Please Don't Call (Chris Isaak) 

https://pixeldrain.com/u/gpUPv5Xj

alternate:

https://bestfile.io/en/BpKi5r1ZG4I4Sh2/file

The cover photo shows Chris Isaak performing on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno in November 2004.

The Rolling Stones - BBC Sessions, Volume 9: In Concert, Hampden Park, Glasgow, Britain, 8-25-2006

I don't want to overwhelm people with all the Motown music I've been posting lately, so here's something different. Since I was recently posting some corrections to my series of Rolling Stones albums for the BBC, I might as well finish the series off. There are two remaining albums I want to post. One is a 2006 concert, and the other is a 2013 concert. Here's the 2006 one.

By 2006, the Stones were getting fairly long in the tooth. But they keep defying their ages and putting on lively concerts. They were promoting their 2005 album "A Bigger Bang." However, only three songs here are from it: "Oh No, Not You Again," "Rain Fall Down," and "Rough Justice." So this is basically their greatest hits. By this time, they were down to just three original members: Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, and Charlie Watts. But Ronnie Wood had been with the band since 1976, so he'd become a key part of the band.

The sound quality of this bootleg is very good, but not excellent. There were no problems, and it seems to be complete.

This album is an hour and 28 minutes long.

01 Jumpin' Jack Flash (Rolling Stones)
02 It's Only Rock 'N Roll [But I Like It] (Rolling Stones)
03 talk (Rolling Stones)
04 Oh No, Not You Again (Rolling Stones)
05 talk (Rolling Stones)
06 She's So Cold (Rolling Stones)
07 talk (Rolling Stones)
08 Sway (Rolling Stones)
09 talk (Rolling Stones)
10 Ruby Tuesday (Rolling Stones)
11 Rain Fall Down (Rolling Stones)
12 Tumbling Dice (Rolling Stones)
13 talk (Rolling Stones)
14 Slipping Away (Rolling Stones)
15 talk (Rolling Stones)
16 Before They Make Me Run (Rolling Stones)
17 Miss You (Rolling Stones)
18 talk (Rolling Stones)
19 Rough Justice (Rolling Stones)
20 Start Me Up (Rolling Stones)
21 Honky Tonk Women (Rolling Stones)
22 Brown Sugar (Rolling Stones)
23 You Can't Always Get What You Want (Rolling Stones)
24 [I Can't Get No] Satisfaction (Rolling Stones)

NOTE: The download link had to be removed due to a copyright issue. Sorry. However, check towards the bottom of the comments.

The cover photo is from this exact concert. From right to left, it shows Keith Richards, Ronnie Wood, and Mick Jagger.

The Who - BBC Sessions, Volume 7: Electric Proms, Roundhouse, London, Britain, 10-29-2006

About a week ago, I posted a BBC album by the Who that I'd previously missed. It turns out I actually missed two. So there's been a lot of renumbering. There's one after this that I had originally called "BBC Sessions, Volume 6," but now it's "Volume 8," due to two added albums that come before it. 

That newly named "Volume 8" took place in 2007. This one took place in 2006. That's pretty close in time. However, I think both are worth listening to if you're a Who fan, because the set lists are quite different. In 2006, the Who released their first new studio album since 1982, called "Endlesswire." In my opinion, it's the weakest of all the Who's studio albums. (I even like their 2019 album much better.) 

That said, if you like that album, you're in luck with this concert, because it is heavily featured. Eight of the songs performed are from that album. By contrast, the 2007 album (now "Volume 8") is a concert from the massive annual Glastonbury Festival. The band focused on their biggest hits and only played two songs from Endlesswire. The new songs go by pretty quickly here, however. Five of them are less than two minutes long.

This is unreleased, but the sound quality is excellent.

By the way, here's the link to what is now "Volume 8," if you want to get the renumbered version:

https://albumsthatshouldexist.blogspot.com/2023/06/the-who-bbc-sessions-volume-6-in.html

This album is an hour and eight minutes long.

01 talk (Who)
02 I Can't Explain (Who)
03 The Seeker (Who)
04 Who Are You (Who)
05 talk (Who)
06 Fragments (Who)
07 Sound Round (Who)
08 Pick Up the Peace (Who)
09 Endless Wire (Who)
10 We've Got a Hit (Who)
11 They Made My Dream Come True (Who)
12 Mirror Door (Who)
13 Baba O'Riley (Who)
14 My Generation (Who)
15 talk (Who)
16 Mike Post Theme (Who)
17 Pinball Wizard (Who)
18 Amazing Journey (Who)
19 Sparks (Who)
20 See Me, Feel Me (Who)
21 Tea and Theatre (Who)

https://pixeldrain.com/u/rMs4An1R

alternate:

https://bestfile.io/en/gh6HIqtLBxG4TQd/file

The cover photo comes from this exact concert.

Various Artists - Covered: Kris Kristofferson, Volume 2: 1974-2009

I just posted Volume One for the "Covered" series selections for country singer-songwriter Kris Kristofferson. Here's Volume Two already. 

As I mentioned with Volume One, Kristofferson died two weeks ago as I write this in October 2024. He was 88 years old. 

He had a long and successful music career. He didn't have big commercial success - only two of his 18 studio albums even reached Gold sales (meaning 500,000 copies sold), and he never sold at the Platinum level (meaning a million). But he had a lot of critical acclaim, and he'll probably be best known for the thousands of cover versions of his songs.

His biggest impact undoubtedly was in the early 1970s, which was dealt with on Volume One. A few of the songs here also were first released in the early 1970s, but I preferred versions that came out later. But he continued to write and record quality songs until nearly the end of his life. (His last album of new material came out in 2016). For instance, Johnny Cash said "Here Comes That Rainbow Again" was his favorite song of all time. (The version of that song included here is by the Highwaymen, a country supergroup consisting of Kristofferson, Cash, Waylon Jennings, and Willie Nelson.)

Since I'm not deeply familiar with Kristofferson's entire musical output, if there are any covers of great songs that I missed, please let me know and I'll consider including them.

This album is 56 minutes long.

01 Why Me, Lord (George Jones)
02 The Junkie and the Juicehead [Minus Me] (Johnny Cash)
03 Prone to Lean (Donnie Fritts)
04 Stranger (Billy Swan)
05 Rock and Roll Time (Roger McGuinn)
06 Something They Can't Take Away from Me (Roy Orbison)
07 You Show Me Yours [And I'll Show You Mine] (Willie Nelson with Amy Irvine)
08 One Day at a Time (Christy Lane)
09 If You Don't Like Hank Williams (Hank Williams Jr.)
10 They Killed Him (Johnny Cash)
11 Lovin' Her Was Easier [Than Anything I'll Ever Do Again] (Tompall & the Glaser Brothers)
12 Here Comes That Rainbow Again (Highwaymen)
13 Jesus Was a Capricorn (Diana Darby)
14 The Pilgrim, Chapter 33 (Emmylou Harris)
15 Please Don't Tell Me How the Story Ends (Joan Osborne)
16 The Silver Tongued Devil and I (Dick Van Altena)
17 Closer to the Bone (Kris Kristofferson)

https://www.upload.ee/files/17230520/COVRDKRISKRISTFFRSN1974-2009Volum2_atse.zip.html

alternate:

https://pixeldrain.com/u/UTXAJDeQ

The cover photo dates to 1977. There were some issues with the original, so I used the Krea AI program to improve it a bit.

Pearl Jam - VH-1 Storytellers, Club Avalon, New York City, 5-31-2006

Continuing the "VH-1 Storytellers" flood, here's an episode featuring the band Pearl Jam.

In the 1990s, Pearl Jam sold a massive number of albums. For instance, their debut album "Ten" sold over 13 million copies in the U.S. alone. By the time of their 2006 studio album, simply called "Pearl Jam," their sales were down but they had settled to getting dependable Gold sales (500,000) for this album and the previous two ones. The album did generally get very good reviews.

This performance heavily featured songs from the album: "World Wide Suicide," "Gone," "Severed Hand," "Unemployable," "Army Reserve," and "Life Wasted."

This episode was particularly tough to make presentable. Most of the songs came from a video of the TV show. That means only part of the first song was included, so I had to patch that in with a performance from a different concert that same year. But this is longer than a typical episode because I also found three songs from an audience bootleg of the full show, plus the banter before each of those songs. It turns out those were all of the songs performed. I also found a complete set list, so I added those extra songs in the correct order they were played.

Once I had all that material, I had to do a lot of "massaging" to make it more listenable. Probably the biggest problem was that this was one of the rare, extra annoying episodes where voiceovers were added to extended instrumental sections for most songs. So that's why "[Edit]" is added to some of the song titles after the first one, as I used the UVR5 audio editing program to wipe out the voiceovers while keeping the underlying music. Sometimes, what was left sounded rather rough. For "Gone," I took some music from earlier in the song (under some vocals) and patched that into the problem spot, since there was a prolonged repeated musical section that allowed me to do that. The songs sourced from the audience bootleg didn't have the voiceover problem, but the sound quality on them wasn't as good. So I did some more editing on them to make them sound better. And all the songs had the lead vocals low in the mix, so I had to run all the songs through UVR5 again just to boost the vocals.

Phew. A lot of hassle for me, but it should be a smooth listening for you.

Now, getting to the actual musical content, what's most notable to me is how politically outspoken the band's lead singer Eddie Vedder was in his banter. George W. Bush, Jr. was president at the time, and political progressives (such as myself) were very upset with him over the Iraq War being fought under false pretenses, the erosion of civil liberties, and many other issues. Vedder started right away with a rant against the Bush Administration before even playing the first song, and didn't let up much after that. (Good for him, I say!) 

Particularly notable was the sole cover played, "Here's to the State of Richard Nixon." This originally was written by folk singer Phil Ochs in the 1960s as "Here's to the State of Mississippi," about racism in the South. But Ochs rewrote it in the early 1970s as "Here's to the State of Richard Nixon," targeting the Nixon Adminstration at the time. But Vedder sang a version with entirely new lyrics. Instead of mentions of Mississippi or Nixon, it was filled with critiques of people associated with the Bush Administration. I don't think this cover has been included on any official Pearl Jam release.

This album is an hour and four minutes long. 

01 talk (Pearl Jam)
02 Better Man [Edit] (Pearl Jam)
03 talk (Pearl Jam)
04 Unemployable (Pearl Jam)
05 talk (Pearl Jam)
06 World Wide Suicide (Pearl Jam)
07 talk (Pearl Jam)
08 Gone [Edit] (Pearl Jam)
09 talk (Pearl Jam)
10 Severed Hand (Pearl Jam)
11 talk (Pearl Jam)
12 Army Reserve (Pearl Jam)
13 talk (Pearl Jam)
14 Insignificance (Pearl Jam)
15 talk (Pearl Jam)
16 Alive [Edit] (Pearl Jam)
17 talk (Pearl Jam)
18 Here's to the State of Richard Nixon [2006 Version] (Pearl Jam)
19 talk (Pearl Jam)
20 Life Wasted [Edit] (Pearl Jam)

https://www.upload.ee/files/17167413/PERLJM2006StrytllersClbAvlonNwYrkC__5-31-2006_atse.zip.html

alternate link:

https://pixeldrain.com/u/gAottyW5

The cover photo is from this exact concert.

The (Dixie) Chicks - VH-1 Storytellers, Los Angeles Theater, Los Angeles, CA, 9-2006

Next for the VH-1 Storytellers series is an album by the Dixie Chicks. Note that in 2020 this band changed their name to just "the Chicks." But I'll still call them "the Dixie Chicks" for the music they did prior to the name change.

In 2003, lead singer Natalie Maines told an audience that she didn't approve of the U.S. involvement in the Iraq War and she was ashamed President Bush Jr. was from her home state of Texas. Many country music fans tend to be politically conservative, so the band had a hard time getting played on country radio after that. Even so, in 2006, they put out the successful album "Take the Long Way." This concert was from the tour to support that album, and about seven of the songs performed here were from it. After the tour was over, the band would go on a very long hiatus. They would eventually tour some, but they wouldn't release another studio album until 2020. 

In 2011, the video of this concert was officially released. However, there never was an album release, which is why I'm posting this here. Thanks to the video, we get the full show, which is about twice as long as the TV episode.

By the way, I don't know the exact date of this concert. If anyone does know, please tell me and I'll update the album title.

This album is an hour and 19 minutes long.

01 talk (Dixie Chicks)
02 The Long Way Around (Dixie Chicks)
03 talk (Dixie Chicks)
04 Truth No. 2 (Dixie Chicks)
05 talk (Dixie Chicks)
06 Silent House (Dixie Chicks)
07 talk (Dixie Chicks)
08 Cowboy Take Me Away (Dixie Chicks)
09 talk (Dixie Chicks)
10 Lullaby (Dixie Chicks)
11 talk (Dixie Chicks)
12 Lubbock or Leave It (Dixie Chicks)
13 talk (Dixie Chicks)
14 Not Ready to Make Nice (Dixie Chicks)
15 talk (Dixie Chicks)
16 Easy Silence (Dixie Chicks)
17 talk (Dixie Chicks)
18 So Hard (Dixie Chicks)
19 talk (Dixie Chicks)
20 Wide Open Spaces (Dixie Chicks)
21 talk (Dixie Chicks)
22 Sin Wagon (Dixie Chicks)
23 talk (Dixie Chicks)

https://www.upload.ee/files/17115261/TDIXICHKS2006StrytllrsLsAnglsThetrLsAnglesCA__9-2006_atse.zip.html

alternate link:

https://pixeldrain.com/u/v4uErA1U

The cover is a screenshot I took from the video of this exact concert.

Various Artists - Uncovered Ladies, Volumes 1 and 2 (1973-2021) (A Mike Solof Guest Post)

You may be familiar with a series of Beatles albums guest poster Mike Solof has made of special mixes he's made to Beatles songs. Now, he's turned that same mixing talent to editing some of his favorite songs sung by women. At my advice, he's split these edits into two albums. The first one, called "The Knowns," consist of famous songs that he has mixed to strip down some of the music to expose other parts that often go underappreciated. The second album, "The Lesser Knowns," does the exact same thing, but for songs that probably many listeners are unfamiliar with. 

As is his usual style, Mike explains much more in his PDF file, which is included in the download files.

Volume 1 is 59 minutes long, and Volume 2 is one hour long.

VOLUME 1: THE KNOWNS

01 Ray of Light [Mike's Mix] (Madonna)
02 In Your Room [Mike's Mix] (Bangles)
03 We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together [Taylor's Version] [Mike's Mix] (Taylor Swift)
04 Girl like Me [Mike's Mix] (Shakira & Black Eyed Peas)
05 Lotta Love [Mike's Mix] (Nicolette Larson)
06 Black Velvet [Mike's Mix] (Alannah Myles)
07 Midnight Train to Georgia [Mike's Mix] (Gladys Knight & the Pips)
08 Royals [Mike's Mix] (Lorde)
09 Complicated [Mike's Mix] (Avril Lavigne)
10 Bring Me to Life [Second Version] [Mike's Mix] (Evanescence)
11 Precious Things [Mike's Mix] (Tori Amos)
12 Chuck E.'s in Love [Mike's Mix] (Rickie Lee Jones)
13 Tumbling Dice [Mike's Mix] (Linda Ronstadt)
14 It's Too Late [Mike's Mix] (Gloria Estefan)
15 Valerie [68 version] [Mike's Mix] (Amy Winehouse)

https://www.upload.ee/files/16704293/VA-UNCOVERDLDIESTheKnwns_atse.zip.html

VOLUME 2: THE LESSER KNOWNS

01 Funhouse [Mike's Mix] (P!NK)
02 Azelea Flowers [Mike's Mix] (Karine Polwart)
03 Cut the Cord [Mike's Mix] (Charlotte Martin)
04 Sunday Morning After [Mike's Mix] (Amanda Marshall)
05 Chickenman [Mike's Mix] (Indigo Girls)
06 Eye in the Sky [Mike's Mix] (Jonatha Broooke)
07 So You Say [Mike's Mix] (Manhattan Transfer)
08 Take to the Sky [Mike's Mix] (Janis Ian)
09 Happy Home [Mike's Mix] (Paula Cole)
10 99.9F [Mike's Mix] (Suzanne Vega)
11 Need You Now [Mike's Mix] (Lady Antebellum)
12 Tattooed Heart [Mike's Mix] (Ariana Grande)
13 Baby Hold On [Mike's Mix] (Dixie Chicks)
14 Extraordinary [Mike's Mix] (Liz Phair)

https://www.upload.ee/files/16704295/VA-UNCOVERDLDIESTheLssrKnwns_atse.zip.html

Mike picked the cover art for both of the covers here. Since the title of this album is "Uncovered Ladies," he wanted photos to match that theme. Since the first album consists of famous songs, he has one of them, Shakira, on the cover. Since the second album is of mostly unknown songs, the cover is an unknown sexy woman.

World Party - Park West, Chicago, IL, 8-22-2006

For all intents and purposes, the British band World Party was Karl Wallinger. Not only did he write all the band's songs and sing lead on all of them, he often produced the albums and played most of the other instruments on some of them. Sadly, he died earlier this month, on March 11, 2024, at the age of 66, due to a stroke. 

I didn't hear the news at first, but then I noticed a surge in World Party bootlegs at bootleg sharing sites, and I figured it out. A couple of years ago, I had a hard time finding even a single World Party bootleg. But in the wake of his death, a bunch were posted. I wanted to post something new to mark Wallinger's passing, so I looked at all the concerts I hadn't posted yet, and decided this was the best one. It came after most of his albums were released, so it serves as a de facto best of. He was backed by an excellent band, and gave a solid importance. But probably the most important factor of all is sound quality, and this is a fantastic soundboard. If you were to get just one live World Party recording, this would probably be the best one to choose.

Because this is a excellent soundboard boot, I didn't have to do much tinkering at all. But I did boost the volume of the vocals for the banter between songs, and sometimes I boosted the cheering after the songs.

This album is an hour and 28 minutes long.

01 talk (World Party)
02 Put the Message in the Box (World Party)
03 talk (World Party)
04 Is It like Today (World Party)
05 What Does It Mean Now (World Party)
06 talk (World Party)
07 When the Rainbow Comes (World Party)
08 talk (World Party)
09 Best Place I've Ever Been (World Party)
10 I Thought You Were a Spy (World Party)
11 talk (World Party)
12 She's the One (World Party)
13 Love Street (World Party)
14 talk (World Party)
15 Who Are You (World Party)
16 Here Comes the Future (World Party)
17 talk (World Party)
18 Vanity Fair (World Party)
19 Thank You World (World Party)
20 talk (World Party)
21 Sweet Soul Dream (World Party)
22 Is It Too Late (World Party)
23 talk (World Party)
24 Way Down Now (World Party)
25 It Is Time (World Party)
26 talk (World Party)
27 Ship of Fools (World Party)
28 talk (World Party)

https://www.upload.ee/files/16435667/WORLDPRTY2006PrkWstChcgoIL__8-22-2006_atse.zip.html

The cover photo is of Wallinger at the Bonnaroo Festival in Memphis, Tennessee, in June 2006.