Stevie Nicks with Vanessa Carlton - PBS Soundstage, WTTW Studios, Chicago, IL, 10-2007

Im posting Neil Young and Dionne Warwick albums almost exclusively while I’m on vacation, but here’s an exception. I happen to have this episode of the “PBS Soundstage” episode ready to go. It stars Stevie Nicks of Fleetwood Mac, with Vanessa Carlton as a special guest for a couple of songs.

Here's part of the intro to the Wikipedia entry for guest star Vanessa Carlton: 

Vanessa Lee Carlton (born August 16, 1980) is an American singer-songwriter, pianist, and actress. Her 2002 debut single "A Thousand Miles" spent 41 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 and earned three Grammy nominations, becoming her signature song. It preceded her debut album, Be Not Nobody, released by A&M Records that same year and reaching number five on the Billboard 200. It further produced the singles "Ordinary Day" and "Pretty Baby". ... In 2025, Billboard ranked Carlton among the best female artists of the 21st century. 

Here's the link to the Wikipedia entry for Carlton:

Vanessa Carlton - Wikipedia 

The music here is unreleased in audio format. The sound quality is excellent. I believe it comes from a DVD. That’s why it’s a full concert length instead of being edited down to about an hour.

This album is an hour and 45 minutes long.

01 Stand Back (Stevie Nicks)
02 talk (Stevie Nicks)
03 Enchanted (Stevie Nicks)
04 talk (Stevie Nicks)
05 If Anyone Falls (Stevie Nicks)
06 Rhiannon (Stevie Nicks)
07 talk (Stevie Nicks)
08 Crash into Me (Stevie Nicks)
09 Sorcerer (Stevie Nicks)
10 talk (Stevie Nicks & Vanessa Carlton)
11 The One (Stevie Nicks & Vanessa Carlton)
12 Gold Dust Woman (Stevie Nicks)
13 talk (Stevie Nicks)
14 I Need to Know (Stevie Nicks)
15 talk (Stevie Nicks)
16 Circle Dance (Stevie Nicks & Vanessa Carlton)
17 talk (Stevie Nicks)
18 Landslide (Stevie Nicks)
19 talk (Stevie Nicks)
20 Sara (Stevie Nicks)
21 talk (Stevie Nicks)
22 Fall from Grace (Stevie Nicks)
23 talk (Stevie Nicks)
24 How Still My Love (Stevie Nicks)
25 Edge of Seventeen (Stevie Nicks)
26 Rock and Roll (Stevie Nicks)

https://pixeldrain.com/u/guZHk5jq

alternate:

https://bestfile.io/NPLWxwegFSrGUCg/file

The cover is a screenshot taken from a video of this exact concert.

Covered: Neil Young, Volume 6: 2007-2011

Modern technology is amazing: I’m writing this while sitting in an eco lodge deep in the Amazon jungle in Peru (with a huge rhino beetle on the floor about five feet from me). Anyway, not much time to write, but here’s another Neil Young “Covered” album, since I have more of those to post than Dionne Warwick albums while I’m on vacation.

As usual, here's the write up by Fabio from Rio:

By the late 2000s, Neil Young's catalog had entered yet another phase of rediscovery. While earlier generations of alternative rock musicians had embraced his influence during the grunge years, a new wave of indie-folk and Americana performers began revisiting his songs with quieter, more introspective arrangements. At the same time, the Internet was transforming how music circulated among fans: live recordings, tribute performances, and previously obscure interpretations were now easier to find and share among the global community of "Rusties." Young himself remained prolific, releasing ambitious projects such as "Chrome Dreams II" and "Le Noise." The covers in this volume reflect that diverse landscape - a mixture of indie artists, roots musicians and veteran performers exploring both well-known classics and deep cuts from across Young's long career.

--- 

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 four minutes long. 

01 Walk On (Heidi Gluck)
02 Sleeps with Angels (Astrid Young)
03 Too Far Gone (The Brooke)
04 Soldier (Tara Angell)
05 World on a String (Nils Lofgren)
06 War of Man (Ann Wilson & Alison Krauss)
07 Mellow My Mind (Simply Red)
08 Don't Cry No Tears (Nils Lofgren)
09 Human Highway (Crosby, Stills & Nash)
10 Ambulance Blues (Lisa Miller)
11 Journey through the Past (James Mercer)
12 You and Me (Trappers Cabin)
13 Cortez the Killer (Veda Hille)
14 Let's Roll (Irish Zeyez)
15 Transformer Man (Veda Hille)
16 From Hank to Hendrix (Joe Chaplain)
17 The Losing End [When You're On] (Elvis Costello) 

https://pixeldrain.com/u/fPC5Dxpi

alternate: 

https://bestfile.io/en/FLXFvzMRlreZG3c/file

The cover photo is from 2006. I used the Krea AI program to improve the detail.

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/1NAGbFYv

alternate:

https://bestfile.io/en/MNwLg7EujqM3NBd/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. 

Covered: Tom Waits, Volume 3: 2004-2012 (A Fabio from Rio Guest Post)

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).

John Fogerty - BBC Sessions, Volume 1: In Concert, Glastonbury Festival, Worthy Farm, Pilton, Britain, 6-23-2007

Here's John Fogerty, formerly of Creedence Clearwater Revival (CCR), performing at the massive annual Glastonbury Festival in 2007.

Note that he also performed at the 2025 Glastonbury Festival, and I've posted that album already. Both of his performances were broadcast by the BBC, since they broadcast most of that festival every year. So I've made this one "BBC Sessions, Volume 1" and renamed the 2025 one to be "BBC Sessions, Volume 2." If you want to get the renamed version of that other one, with updated cover art and mp3 tags, here's the link:

https://albumsthatshouldexist.blogspot.com/2025/08/john-fogerty-bbc-in-concert-glastonbury.html

This concert was in a very big pile I have of BBC concerts I want to post here eventually. But recently, a volunteer named Ed said he wanted to help get albums ready. He picked this one as one of the first ones he wanted to help with, so it moved up to the top of the pile. He worked on improving the sound balance and such.

Fogerty released the studio album "Revival" in 2007. I consider it one of his best solo albums, so I was surprised and disappointed to see that he didn't include a single song for it. But then I realized that this concert took place in June 2007, and "Revival" wasn't released until October. So he probably wasn't ready to play those in concert until after the album came out.

But it also was a bit strange that he practically played nothing but CCR songs, or cover songs associated with CCR, like "Cotton Fields" and "I Heard It through the Grapevine." The only song from his solo career was the last one, "Rockin' All Over the World." That's a bit unfortunate, because while he wrote many great CCR songs, he wrote many great solo career songs as well.

Weirdly, this concert is missing just one song, according to the setlist.fm song list. "Travelin' Band" was the first song performed. Two songs, "Green River" and "Ramble Tamble," came from a different source than the usual BBC broadcast, but essentially had the same sound quality. 

This album is an hour and 10 minutes long. 

01 talk (John Fogerty)
02 Green River (John Fogerty)
03 talk (John Fogerty)
04 Who'll Stop the Rain (John Fogerty)
05 Sweet Hitch-Hiker (John Fogerty)
06 Lookin' Out My Backdoor (John Fogerty)
07 Born on the Bayou (John Fogerty)
08 Ramble Tamble (John Fogerty)
09 Midnight Special (John Fogerty)
10 I Heard It through the Grapevine (John Fogerty)
11 Lodi (John Fogerty)
12 Cotton Fields (John Fogerty)
13 Have You Ever Seen the Rain (John Fogerty)
14 Up Around the Bend (John Fogerty)
15 Keep On Chooglin' (John Fogerty)
16 Down on the Corner (John Fogerty)
17 Good Golly, Miss Molly (John Fogerty)
18 Bad Moon Rising (John Fogerty)
19 Fortunate Son (John Fogerty)
20 Rockin' All Over the World (John Fogerty)

https://pixeldrain.com/u/3kHEWe6F 

alternate: 

https://bestfile.io/en/O34rtLaq6qCZFSL/file

The cover photo is from this exact concert. 

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. 

Various Artists - Gershwin Prize for Popular Song Honoring Paul Simon, Warner Theatre, Washington, DC, 5-23-2007

Here's another "Gershwin Prize for Popular Song" concert. This one honors Paul Simon.

This was the very first Gershwin Prize to be awarded. In 1998, some entertainment producers and promoters came up with the idea of having an award for comedians, which resulted in the annual Mark Twain Prize for American Humor, connected to the Library of Congress and with an annual concert broadcast on PBS TV stations. That idea turned out to be a big success, so in 2003 the same group came up with the same idea, but for musicians. Then I guess it took a few more years before the first prize was awarded in 2007. You can read more about the prize and its history here:

Gershwin Prize - Wikipedia 

In this concert, there weren't that many guest stars performing Simon's songs. But that meant that most of the bigger names there (Lyle Lovett, James Taylor, Alison Krauss, Marc Anthony, and Stevie Wonder) got to perform two songs instead of the usual one.

As is usually the case with such concerts, it ended with a short set by the honoree, Paul Simon. Given the huge role Art Garfunkel had in Simon's music career as part of Simon and Garfunkel, I feel he got kind of dissed here, being only involved in one song, "Bridge Over Troubled Water." But the two of them had a turbulent relationship for decades. Their last tour together would take place in 2009, and their last performance together in 2010. After that, they had a more severe and prolonged falling out, though I was glad to see it reported that by 2024 they had reconciled as friends again.

This albums in unreleased in audio format. However, a DVD of it has been released. Strangely, it seems to be the only Gershwin Prize concert released on DVD. The sound quality is excellent. 

This album is an hour and 36 minutes long. 

01 talk (emcee)
02 talk (Bob Costas)
03 50 Ways to Leave Your Lover (Lyle Lovett)
04 The Boxer (Alison Krauss, Shawn Colvin & Jerry Douglas)
05 Mother and Child Reunion (Stephen Marley)
06 Homeless (Ladysmith Black Mambazo)
07 Slip Slidin' Away (James Taylor & the Dixie Hummingbirds)
08 Sunday Morning with the Sensational Nightingales (Billy Collins & the Dixie Hummingbirds)
09 That Was Your Mother (Lyle Lovett with Buckwheat Zydeco)
10 Still Crazy After All These Years (James Taylor)
11 El Condor Pasa (Marc Anthony)
12 Late in the Evening (Marc Anthony)
13 Gone at Last (Yolanda Adams & Jessy Dixon)
14 Something So Right (Dianne Reeves)
15 The 59th Street Bridge Song [Feelin' Groovy] (Grover & Elmo of the Muppets)
16 Graceland (Alison Krauss & Jerry Douglas)
17 talk (emcee)
18 talk (James H. Billingston)
19 talk (Paul Simon)
20 Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes (Paul Simon & Ladysmith Black Mambazo)
21 talk (Paul Simon)
22 Bridge Over Troubled Water (Simon & Garfunkel)
23 talk (Paul Simon)
24 Father and Daughter (Paul Simon)
25 Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard (Paul Simon with Stevie Wonder)
26 talk (Paul Simon)
27 Loves Me like a Rock (Paul Simon, Stevie Wonder & the Dixie Hummingbirds)
28 The Sound of Silence [Instrumental Version] (Philip Glass)

https://pixeldrain.com/u/C2ct9sek

alternate:

https://bestfile.io/en/3k0vX3n5GD90SUE/file

The cover photo is from this exact concert. It shows Simon with Stevie Wonder and some members of the Dixie Hummingbirds when they performed "Loves Me like a Rock" together.

The Beatles - The Beatles Uncovered, Volume 14: Mike's Mixes (1964-2007) (A Mike Solof Guest Post)

I didn't know if I would have time to post this before leaving for my vacation, but I managed to get the packing done in time. So here's another guest post by Mike Solof, another one of his great Beatles remix albums.

The last volume in this series was a bit weird, kind of Mike's B-team choices to go with unlucky Volume 13. But for this volume, he's back to his usual. 

And speaking of usual, Mike has included a PDF with detailed notes on all the songs and their edits, as he usually does. So please give that a read for more information on this album. 

This album is 59 minutes long. 

01 I'm Losing You [Mike's Mix 2025] (John Lennon with Cheap Trick)
02 And I Love Her [Mike's Mix 2025] (Beatles)
03 Sour Milk Sea [Mashup Version] [Mike's Mix 2025] (George Harrison, the Beatles & Eric Clapton)
04 Here Comes the Sun [Mike's Mix 2025, Version 2] (Beatles)
05 You've Really Got a Hold on Me [Mike's Mix 2025] (Beatles)
06 What You're Doing [Mike's Mix 2025] (Beatles)
07 Got to Get You into My Life [Mike's Mix 2025] (Beatles)
08 Rain [Take 5, Actual Speed] [Mike's Mix 2025] (Beatles)
09 This Song Is about You [Mike's Mix 2025] (Ringo Starr & the Roundheads)
10 I Should Have Known Better [Mike's Mix 2025] (Beatles)
11 Any Time at All [Mike's Mix 2025] (Beatles)
12 It s All Too Much [Mike's Mix 2025] (Beatles)
13 Yellow Submarine [Mostly Song Writing Demo] [Mike's Mix 2025] (Beatles)
14 I'm Only Sleeping [Edit of Takes 1 & 2] [Mike's Mix 2025] (Beatles)
15 I Want You [She's So Heavy] [Mike's Mix 2025] (Beatles)
16 Love You To [Take 7, Rehearsal and Commercial Version] [Mike's Mix 2025] (Beatles)
17 Band on the Run [One Hand Clapping Version] [Mike's Mix 2025] (Paul McCartney & Wings) 

https://pixeldrain.com/u/fKuWH4uz

alternate:

https://bestfile.io/5KP7ajM4CZ69ThF/file

The cover photo is something Mike found on the Internet, another AI-generated "what if" picture of John and Paul. 

Peter Frampton - PBS Soundstage, WTTW Studios, Chicago, IL, 1-18-2007

Here's another from a long series of episodes of the TV show "PBS Soundstage." This time, it's an extra long episode, featuring Peter Frampton. I believe this actually was two hour-long episodes that made up a single concert.

Peter Frampton will always be associated with one album, and a double live album at that: "Frampton Comes Alive." Released in 1976, it was the best selling album of the year, and went on to have sales of more than eight million albums in the U.S. alone. But weirdly, he didn't have much commercial success before or after that. His second best selling album was "I'm in You," released in 1977, which sold a million in the U.S.

I think Frampton got kind of a raw deal out of this, with most people reducing his career to that one album. He actually put out a lot of good music in a career that's lasted over 50 years and is still going as I write this in 2025. This concert recording includes the big songs from "Frampton Comes Alive," sure, but it has lots of other good songs that weren't on that album. Frampton sings and writes songs, sure, but I think he's especially underappreciated as a lead guitarist. 

Everything here is unreleased. The sound quality is excellent. I found video files, converted them to audio, then broke them into mp3s. So this is probably the first time this concert has been shared as an album. 

This album is an hour and 47 minutes long.  

01 Off the Hook (Peter Frampton)
02 Lying (Peter Frampton)
03 talk (Peter Frampton)
04 Lines on My Face (Peter Frampton)
05 talk (Peter Frampton)
06 Show Me the Way (Peter Frampton)
07 Black Hole Sun [Instrumental Version] (Peter Frampton)
08 Nasssau - Baby, I Love Your Way (Peter Frampton)
09 talk (Peter Frampton)
10 Do You Feel like We Do (Peter Frampton)
11 All I Want to Be [Is by Your Side] (Peter Frampton)
12 talk (Peter Frampton)
13 Wind of Change (Peter Frampton)
14 I Need Ground (Peter Frampton)
15 Money [I'll Give You That] (Peter Frampton)
16 talk (Peter Frampton)
17 Can't Take That Away (Peter Frampton)
18 I Don't Need No Doctor (Peter Frampton)
19 While My Guitar Gently Weeps (Peter Frampton)

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

alternate:

https://bestfile.io/en/ctRVLzfwx30eop3/file

The cover image is from this exact concert. 

Various Artists - Songs in the Key of Brian - Remembering Brian Wilson (1975-2021) (A Fabio from Rio Guest Post)

One of the all-time great musical geniuses, Brian Wilson, died a few days ago, on June 11, 2025. He was 82 years old. I wanted to post something to mark his passing. Luckily, I've recently been collaborating with a new musical friend, who goes by the name Fabio from Rio. He's a big fan of Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys, and came up with the idea of creating an album consisting entirely of songs about Brian Wilson. So that's what this is. I gave him free reign, and only helped him some with suggestions on song selection.

I would have never come up with the idea for this album, because I had no idea that there would be enough songs about Brian Wilson to make up an entire album. I knew of the song "Brian Wilson" by Barenaked Ladies, since that was a hit back in the 1990s, but that was about it. But Fabio must be a really big fan, because he found so many songs that we had to cut some out to keep the album from getting too long.

The album starts with a rare demo written and sung by Wilson himself. It also ends with two more written and sung by him, including a rare live version of "Love and Mercy." Fabio explained the reasoning for this in an email, which I liked. I'll just paste in his explanation here:

"The Wilson tunes are bookends, as they serve to introduce and close the 'main event' (all the tracks written to him or about him) while bringing a personal Brian touch to the collection. The first song, a 1975, demo works as a prelude (acknowledging Brian's fragility and strength both simultaneously contained in his voice), 'The Last Song' is the epilogue, and 'Love and Mercy' is a coda." 

Regarding the rest of the songs, what Fabio calls the "main event," tracks 2 through 13, are basically divided into two parts. Tracks 2 through 8 are direct tributes to Brian. That's obvious by their titles, but it's not just that: the lyrics and musical style ooze reference and admiration for the man. That's followed by tracks 9 through 13, which are indirect tributes to Brian, or direct tributes to things related to him (the Beach Boys, his health shop, girls, his genius, family), all mentioning him either in the title or lyrics.

So, a big thanks to Fabio from Rio for coming up with the idea for this album and then finding and selecting the songs. As you could guess from the name, he's Brazilian, and hopefully in the future he'll be able to assist in sharing more music from Brazil. I like a lot of music from Brazil, despite not speaking Portuguese at all. I haven't really shared any music from Brazil until now, because I don't have worthy rarities. But he does, so look forward to that in the future. He also has some other plans, including creating one or more albums as a further tribute to Wilson that will consist of songs in a Beach Boys style composed by other musical acts. 

Fabio has also taped a great number of concerts in Brazil. You can find some of them on his YouTube page, here: 

https://www.youtube.com/@musicadequalidade2020/videos

This album is 58 minutes long.

01 In the Back of My Mind [Demo] (Brian Wilson)
02 The Love Songs of B. Douglas Wilson (Splitsville)
03 Mr. Wilson (Hormones)
04 Dear Brian (Chris Rainbow)
05 Brian Wilson Said (Tears for Fears)
06 Brian Wilson (Barenaked Ladies)
07 Mr. Wilson (John Cale)
08 Brian Wilson (Queers)
09 Crazy = Genius (Panic at the Disco)
10 Radiant Radish (Pearl & the Oysters)
11 Brian Wilson Is My Dad (Breakup Shoes)
12 Minnesota Girls (Shackletons)
13 Since God Invented Girls (Elton John)
14 The Last Song (Brian Wilson)
15 Love and Mercy (Brian Wilson)

https://pixeldrain.com/u/Kn42WH9u

alternate: 

https://bestfile.io/en/EMCkcQ343EW7g0m/file

The cover photo shows Wilson in 2007. I added the font colors and type to match those used on the cover of the Beach Boys' "Pet Sounds" album.

Covered: Stevie Wonder, Volume 7: 2005-2018

Here is the seventh and last volume of Stevie Wonder's "Covered" series. Just as a reminder, like all the "Covered" albums I post, the emphasis is on the songwriting. So these are all songs written or co-written by Wonder, but performed by others.

By the time period of this album, 2005 to 2018, Wonder's songwriting had slowed way down. In fact, writing this in 2025, Wonder still hasn't released a new studio album since 2005. So all the songs here are covers from earlier years, especially from his golden era of the 1970s. "You Met Your Match" is the oldest song here, from 1968.

Finally, with this volume, the full scope of Wonder's songwriting genius can be seen. Some of his best songs don't show up until this volume. So all seven volumes should be seen as a whole. 

Just by chance, I didn't find any covers that I liked best from after 2018. But I'm sure more great covers will emerge in the years to come.

This album is 59 minutes long.

01 I'm Going Left (Eric Clapton)
02 You Haven't Done Nothin' (Joe Cocker)
03 Village Ghetto Land (Jen Chapin)
04 You Met Your Match (Tower of Power)
05 Sir Duke (Devon Allman)
06 Do I Do (Cuban Jazz Combo)
07 True to Your Heart (Wailing Souls)
08 Never Dreamed You'd Leave in Summer (Phil Collins)
09 Part-Time Lover (Hyannis Sound)
10 Jesus Children of America (Michele Thomas)
11 Master Blaster [Jammin'] (Minnie Driver)
12 Happier than the Morning Sun (Venice)
13 Another Star (Denise King & Massimo Farao Trio)
14 He's Misstra Know It All (Beverley Knight)
15 I Just Called to Say I Love You (John Prine)

https://pixeldrain.com/u/hHACZWCK

alternate:

https://bestfile.io/h1RStCF8XSMhnvi/file

The cover photo is from 2003.

Nick Lowe - BBC Sessions, Volume 2: BBC Four Sessions, LSO St. Luke's, London, Britain, 6-7-2007

Here's another BBC concert by Nick Lowe. This one is from 2007. It was shown on BBC TV, so you can find a video of it on YouTube (at least when I checked recently).

As I've mentioned in my write-up for "Volume 1," Lowe changed his style in the early 1990s, going from a lively rocking style to more of a mellow one, based more on rootsy soul and country sounds. This volume comes six years after "Volume 1," and shows Lowe two albums deeper into his new sound. His most recent album at the time was "At My Age," released not long prior to this concert.

This concert is unreleased. The sound quality is excellent. I didn't have to do any editing or remixing.

This album is 59 minutes long.

01 Heart (Nick Lowe)
02 talk (Nick Lowe)
03 What's Shakin' on the Hill (Nick Lowe)
04 Without Love (Nick Lowe)
05 Lately I've Let Things Slide (Nick Lowe)
06 Has She Got a Friend (Nick Lowe)
07 I Trained Her to Love Me (Nick Lowe)
08 talk (Nick Lowe)
09 Indian Queens (Nick Lowe)
10 Cruel to Be Kind (Nick Lowe)
11 You Inspire Me (Nick Lowe)
12 talk (Nick Lowe)
13 Long Limbed Girl (Nick Lowe)
14 Hope for Us All (Nick Lowe)
15 The Other Side of the Coin (Nick Lowe)
16 Shting Shtang (Nick Lowe)
17 A Man in Love (Nick Lowe)
18 [What's So Funny 'Bout] Peace, Love and Understanding (Nick Lowe)
19 I Knew the Bride [When She Used to Rock and Roll] (Nick Lowe)
20 The Beast in Me (Nick Lowe)

https://pixeldrain.com/u/Yzphc8qi

alternate:

https://bestfile.io/uzTPjmEhZXSC8vf/file

The cover photo is a screenshot I took of a YouTube video of this exact concert.

Ray Davies - BBC Sessions, Volume 2: Electric Proms, The Roundhouse, London, Britain, 10-28-2007

Here's a great full-length Ray Davies BBC concert from 2007. I hope I don't need to remind anyone that Davies is the main singer and songwriter for the Kinks. (And, by the way, his last name is pronounced like "Davis.")

I'm reorganizing what I have for Davies' solo career and the BBC. I had previously posted two BBC concerts he did, but I didn't mention that in the album titles. So those are getting renamed at the same time I'm posting this. Here are the links to those, with new cover art, mp3 tags, and such:

https://albumsthatshouldexist.blogspot.com/2019/09/ray-davies-sold-on-song-bbc-studios.html

https://albumsthatshouldexist.blogspot.com/2020/12/ray-davies-glastonbury-festival-worthy.html

I also just found a fourth one, from 2017, and I plan on posting that soon.

Getting to this concert, Davies put out a solo studio album earlier in the month, "Working Man's Cafe." He'd just put out another one the year before ("Other People's Lives"), so he was on a creative hot streak after not releasing any solo albums for ages. However, only five of the songs here were from those new albums. 

Faced with this high-profile concert, and its BBC broadcast, he mostly stuck to performing Kinks classics. However, he mixed things up a bit by having Johnny Borrell share the singing of "Sunny Afternoon." Borrell is the lead singer of Razorlight, and they had a really big hit album in Britain in 2006, including a Number One song, "America." He also had the Crouch End Festival Chorus help out for four songs late in the set, giving those songs a different flavor than usual. He seemed to like that a lot, because he went on to do more with chorus groups over the next couple of years, including putting out a studio album in that style ("The Kinks Choral Collection").

This concert is an hour and 45 minutes long.

01 I'm Not like Everybody Else (Ray Davies)
02 Where Have All the Good Times Gone (Ray Davies)
03 talk (Ray Davies)
04 Till the End of the Day (Ray Davies)
05 talk (Ray Davies)
06 A Well Respected Man (Ray Davies)
07 talk (Ray Davies)
08 The Tourist (Ray Davies)
09 talk (Ray Davies)
10 Sunny Afternoon (Ray Davies & Johnny Borrell)
11 talk (Ray Davies)
12 Working Man's Cafe (Ray Davies)
13 talk (Ray Davies)
14 Morphine Song (Ray Davies)
15 talk (Ray Davies)
16 One More Time (Ray Davies)
17 talk (Ray Davies)
18 Come Dancing (Ray Davies)
19 talk (Ray Davies)
20 20th Century Man (Ray Davies)
21 talk (Ray Davies)
22 Celluloid Heroes (Ray Davies)
23 talk (Ray Davies)
24 Tired of Waiting for You (Ray Davies)
25 talk (Ray Davies)
26 All Day and All of the Night (Ray Davies)
27 talk (Ray Davies)
28 Dedicated Follower of Fashion (Ray Davies with the Crouch End Festival Chorus)
29 talk (Ray Davies)
30 Days (Ray Davies with the Crouch End Festival Chorus)
31 talk (Ray Davies)
32 Waterloo Sunset (Ray Davies with the Crouch End Festival Chorus)
33 talk (Ray Davies)
34 Shangri-La (Ray Davies with the Crouch End Festival Chorus)
35 talk (Ray Davies)
36 Lola (Ray Davies)
37 talk (Ray Davies)
38 Imaginary Man (Ray Davies)
39 You Really Got Me [Blues Version] (Ray Davies)
40 You Really Got Me (Ray Davies)

https://pixeldrain.com/u/ENmjEfSJ

alternate:

https://bestfile.io/Vbe7c1Wtf4EBgb9/file

The cover photo is from this exact concert.

Cat Stevens - BBC Sessions, Volume 5: Cafe Session, Porchester Hall, London, Britain, 3-1-2007

A couple of days ago, I posted a Cat Stevens BBC concert that I'd missed, from 1979. Here's another one that I'd missed, from 2007. Funnily enough, it seems that 1979 concert was his very last concert until this one.

After a very long time away from pop music, Stevens released a new studio album in late 2006, "An Other Cup." (He put out some albums with heavily Islamic themes from 1995 to 2006.) This concert was meant to support that album. So naturally, he played some songs from that album. But they fit in nicely with his older classics, plus a cover of the 1960s hit "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood."

Note that by this time, he changed his name to "Yusuf Islam," and sometimes just "Yusuf." But I'm still calling him "Cat Stevens" not out of disrespect for his changed name, but so people can easily find all his albums together here with the labels feature and keyword searches and so forth. 

This album has been officially released as "Yusuf's Cafe Session," the same month it happened. But it seems to have been a limited release, and remains fairly obscure.

This concert is an hour and one minute long.

01 The Reed [Instrumental] (Cat Stevens)
02 Wind East and West (Cat Stevens)
03 The Wind (Cat Stevens)
04 Midday [Avoid City After Dark] (Cat Stevens)
05 talk (Cat Stevens)
06 Don't Be Shy (Cat Stevens)
07 talk (Cat Stevens)
08 Maybe There's a World (Cat Stevens)
09 In the End (Cat Stevens)
10 Where Do All the Children Play (Cat Stevens)
11 talk (Cat Stevens)
12 The Little Ones (Cat Stevens)
13 I Think I See the Light (Cat Stevens)
14 Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood (Cat Stevens)
15 talk (Cat Stevens)
16 Heaven - Where True Love Goes (Cat Stevens)
17 How Long - Peace Train Blues (Cat Stevens)
18 The Beloved (Cat Stevens)
19 talk (Cat Stevens)
20 Father and Son (Cat Stevens)
21 talk (Cat Stevens)
22 Wild World [Zulu Version] (Cat Stevens)
23 Peace Train (Cat Stevens)

https://pixeldrain.com/u/SNCvddjZ

alternate:

https://bestfile.io/2tW2Y0amkiw3kSM/file

The cover photo is from this exact concert.

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.

Sara Bareilles - Non Sequiturs, Volume 1 (2007-2023) (A Mike Solof Guest Post)

Have you heard of Sara Bareilles? Up until recently, I had not. But frequent guest poster Mike Solof came to me recently with a proposal to post an album of original, unreleased songs by her. I listened to it and thought it was good, so I approved posting it. But I also wondered how many people will download it if they hadn't heard of it before, like me. So I suggested to Mike that he make an album of cover songs she's done, all from stray tracks, so people who just love good music can listen to her and discover she has a great voice. So that's what this is.

As usual with Mike's post, you can find a lot more information in his PDFs he writes and includes in the downloads. So check that out. And the other Sara Bareilles album I mentioned is in the works and should be posted here too.

This album is an hour and four minutes long.

01 I Want You Back (Straight No Chaser & Sara Bareilles)
02 Single Ladies [Put a Ring on It] (Sara Bareilles)
03 Oh Darling (Sara Bareilles)
04 I Can Let Go Now (Sara Bareilles)
05 In Your Eyes (Sara Bareilles)
06 I've Had the Time of My Life (Sara Bareilles)
07 Fuck You (Sara Bareilles)
08 Truly Brave [Mash-Up of Brave and True Colors]] (Sara Bareilles, Cyndi Lauper & Hoda Kotb)
09 I Don't Know How to Love Him (Sara Bareilles)
10 River (Sara Bareilles)
11 What's Going On (Sara Bareilles, Clarence Bekker & Titi Tsira)
12 What the World Needs Now Is Love (Sara Bareilles)
13 When You Wish upon a Star (Sara Bareilles)
14 Chandelier (Sara Bareilles)
15 Stoney End (Sara Bareilles)
16 You've Got a Friend (Sara Bareilles)
17 California (Sara Bareilles, Brandi Carlile & Lucius)
18 Come On Eileen (Sugarland & Sara Bareilles)

https://www.upload.ee/files/16631634/SARBARLLES2007-2023NnSqitrsVlum1_atse.zip.html

I have no idea when or where the cover photo is from, and I doubt Mike does either. But he presented a bunch of options to me for the cover photo, and I liked this one the best, so here we are. I'm guessing there are different colors on her because she was sitting near a stained glass window, which I think is a cool effect.

Natalie Merchant - Cover Songs, Volume 3: 2007-2019

This is the third and last album of cover versions by Natalie Merchant, former lead singer of 10,000 Maniacs. I really enjoyed the music here, she has a very interesting and enjoying voice.

This album takes us as close to the current day as I could get. Although it ends in 2019, I didn't find any worthy covers from the next few years. (She has done some in her latest concert tour, but sound quality is an issue.) 

As Merchant's solo career went on, she got increasingly interested in older, more traditional music forms. For instance, in 2003, she released the album "The House Carpenter's Daughter," with entirely consisted of cover songs, the vast majority of them traditional, with the composer or composers unknown. Her next album, "Leave Your Sleep" in 2010, consisted entirely of poetry from the 19th and 20th centuries put to music. I should mention I haven't included any cover songs from albums such as these, just her non-album stuff.

Given all that, it's not surprising that some of her non-album covers are traditional too. Indeed, that's the case with five of the songs here. But she mixes that with a good number of better known songs from the 1960s to more current times.

Only two of the songs here are unreleased. There would have been more, but again I wanted to keep the sound quality standard high. The two happen to both be Beatles covers: "Let It Be" and "I'm Only Sleeping." They're both from concert bootlegs.

As for the rest, most are from a mix of appearances on other artists' albums, various artists compilations, and two songs from an E.P. Additionally, four of the songs (tracks 11 to 14) are from her 2017 album "Rarities (1998-2017)." They were probably recorded at unknown earlier years, but that's when they were released. I've included them because this album is generally only available as part of a ten album box set called "The Natalie Merchant Collection."

This album is 53 minutes long.

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

01 To Love Is to Bury - Cowboy Junkies
02 If I Only Had a Brain - Judy Garland & Ray Bolger (from "The Wizard of Oz")
03 Political Science - Randy Newman
04 Order 1081 - David Byrne
05 Learning the Game - Buddy Holly
06 Child of a Blind Man - Hazmat Modine
07 Joseph and Mary [The Cherry Tree Carol] - traditional
08 Let It Be - Beatles
09 The Butcher's Boy - traditional
10 Johnny Has Gone for a Soldier - traditional
11 The Village Green Preservation Society - Kinks
12 My Little Sweet Baby - traditional
13 Too Long at the Fair - Joel Zoss / Bonnie Raitt
14 Sit Down, Sister - traditional
15 I'm Only Sleeping - Beatles

Here's the usual song list:

01 To Love Is to Bury (Cowboy Junkies with Natalie Merchant)
02 If I Only Had a Brain (Natalie Merchant)
03 Political Science (Natalie Merchant)
04 Order 1081 (David Byrne & Fatboy Slim with Natalie Merchant)
05 Learning the Game (Natalie Merchant)
06 Child of a Blind Man (Hazmat Modinet with Natalie Merchant)
07 Joseph and Mary [The Cherry Tree Carol] (Natalie Merchant)
08 Let It Be (Natalie Merchant)
09 The Butcher's Boy (Kronos Quartet with Natalie Merchant)
10 Johnny Has Gone for a Soldier (Kronos Quartet with Natalie Merchant)
11 The Village Green Preservation Society (Natalie Merchant)
12 My Little Sweet Baby (Natalie Merchant)
13 Too Long at the Fair (Natalie Merchant)
14 Sit Down, Sister (Natalie Merchant)
15 I'm Only Sleeping (Natalie Merchant)

https://www.upload.ee/files/16391905/NATLIMERCHNT2007-2019CvrSngsVlum3_atse.zip.html

The cover photo is from a concert at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., on May 12, 2015.

Ron Sexsmith - Reasons to Believe, Volume 4: 2006-2009

Here's another album of Ron Sexsmith's non-album tracks, with the vast majority of them covers. I hope you're enjoying this series, because there are a bunch more volumes to come.

All but one song here has been officially released. That one song is the last one, "Ring Them Bells," which comes from a concert bootleg.

Four songs are extras for his 2008 album "Exit Strategy of the Soul." Tracks 6 and 7 are bonus tracks available only on the Japanese release (and boy were they hard to get!), while tracks 8 and 9 are more conventional bonus tracks. The other songs are a typical mix of appearances on other artists' albums, various artists collections, and movie soundtracks.

I think the song "Fall at Your Feet" deserves special mention. This was done for a live album by a flamenco guitar virtuoso named Jesse Cook. With Sexsmith on vocals and Cook on guitar, I dare say they actually outdid the excellent Crowded House original. 

Note that I'd be stretching things to call this a covers album, because six of the songs were written by Sexsmith, more than on any of the previous volumes in this series.

Once again, thanks to Pete the Greek for his help putting these albums together.

This album is 48 minutes long. 

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

01 Love Henry - traditional
02 Dumptruck - Ron Sexsmith
03 Philadelphia - Neil Young
04 Moonlight Becomes You - Bing Crosby
05 Fall at Your Feet - Crowded House
06 Here Comes My Baby - Cat Stevens
07 Rain on the Roof - Ron Sexsmith
08 Seems to Me - Ron Sexsmith
09 Too Good to Be True - Ron Sexsmith
10 Devoted to You - Everly Brothers
11 Something to Hold On To [At Christmas] - Ron Sexsmith
12 Simple Grace - Chris Warren
13 Whatever It Takes - Ron Sexsmith
14 Ring Them Bells - Bob Dylan

Here's the usual song list:

01 Love Henry (Ron Sexsmith with Don Kerr)
02 Dumptruck (Ron Sexsmith)
03 Philadelphia (Ron Sexsmith)
04 Moonlight Becomes You (Ron Sexsmith)
05 Fall at Your Feet (Jesse Cook & Ron Sexsmith)
06 Here Comes My Baby (Ron Sexsmith)
07 Rain on the Roof (Ron Sexsmith)
08 Seems to Me (Ron Sexsmith)
09 Too Good to Be True (Ron Sexsmith)
10 Devoted to You (Melanie Doane with Ron Sexsmith)
11 Something to Hold On To [At Christmas] (Ron Sexsmith)
12 Simple Grace (Chris Warren & Ron Sexsmith)
13 Whatever It Takes (Michael Buble with Ron Sexsmith)
14 Ring Them Bells (Ron Sexsmith) 

https://www.upload.ee/files/16375332/RONSXSMTH2006-2009ResnstoBliveVlum4_atse.zip.html

The cover photo comes from the Sundance Film Festival in 2007.

Natalie Merchant - Cover Songs, Volume 2: 1998-2007

Here's another volume of Natalie Merchant performing cover albums that didn't appear on her studio albums.

By this point in her solo career, pretty much all of the songs on her studio albums were entirely written by her. But she still performed lots of cover songs in concert and elsewhere. And she continued to have some very unusual choices.

This time, all but two of the songs are officially released. The two unreleased ones are "Last Goodbye" and "Nowhere Man." Both are from concert bootlegs.

The released songs are the usual mix of songs from other artists' albums, various artists compilations, and the like. Two songs, "Birds and Ships" and "I Was Born" are from the "Mermaid Avenue" albums, where newer artists added music to go with lyrics written way back when by Woody Guthrie. Three songs, "Space Oddity," "After the Gold Rush," and "The Gulf of Araby," are from Merchant's only official live album, simply titled "Live in Concert." For live tracks like these, I used the MVSEP audio editing program to get rid of the crowd noise.

Also, I think Merchant had a hand in writing the song "Because I Could Not Stop for Death." The lyrics were originally written by the famous 1800s poet Emily Dickinson. But I believe the music was composed by Merchant and Susan McKeown, and then put on an album by McKeown.

Merchant has done many, many interesting covers in concert that I couldn't find any good recordings of, because she didn't perform them many times. Examples include "All Right Now" by Free, "Everyday People" by Sly and the Family Stone, and "Dust in the Wind" by Kansas. I found one such surprise choice, "Wonderwall" by Oasis, but the recording was so poor that I could only include it as a bonus track.

This album is 50 minutes long, not including the bonus track.

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

01 Birds and Ships - Woody Guthrie / Billy Bragg & Wilco
02 But Not for Me - Ira Gershwin & George Gershwin
03 In the Ghetto - Elvis Presley
04 The Lowlands of Holland - traditional
05 Space Oddity - David Bowie
06 After the Gold Rush - Neil Young
07 The Gulf of Araby - Katell Keineg
08 Last Goodbye - Jeff Buckley
09 I Was Born - Woody Guthrie / Billy Bragg & Wilco
10 Nowhere Man - Beatles
11 Because I Could Not Stop for Death - Emily Dickinson, Susan McKeown & Natalie Merchant
12 Loch Lomond  - traditional
13 Misguided Angel  - Cowboy Junkies
Wonderwall - Oasis

And here's the usual song list:

01 Birds and Ships (Natalie Merchant)
02 But Not for Me (Natalie Merchant)
03 In the Ghetto (Natalie Merchant with Tracy Chapman)
04 The Lowlands of Holland (Chieftains with Natalie Merchant)
05 Space Oddity (Natalie Merchant)
06 After the Gold Rush (Natalie Merchant)
07 The Gulf of Araby (Natalie Merchant)
08 Last Goodbye (Natalie Merchant)
09 I Was Born (Billy Bragg & Natalie Merchant)
10 Nowhere Man (Natalie Merchant)
11 Because I Could Not Stop for Death (Susan McKeown & Natalie Merchant)
12 Loch Lomond (Dan Zanes with Natalie Merchant)
13 Misguided Angel (Cowboy Junkies with Natalie Merchant)

Wonderwall (Natalie Merchant)

https://www.upload.ee/files/16391902/NATLIMERCHNT1998-2007CvrSngsVlum2_atse.zip.html

The cover photo is from a concert at the Cynthia Mitchell Woodlands Pavilion in Woodlands, Texas, on July 5, 2002.