Morgan James - Home Concert, New York City, 7-1-2020

This is starting to get embarrassing, but it looks like I still have some home concert recordings from the height of the Covid pandemic back in 2020 and 2021. I don't know why I didn't post them all then, but I suppose "better late than never." 

I've posted a bunch of albums by Morgan James. Virtually all of them are acoustic, with her husband Doug Wamble playing guitar, and virtually all of them consist of cover versions. This one is acoustic, as usual, but James and Wamble are a songwriting team, and this is mostly made up of originals. I think the only two covers are the last two, with "On the Road Again" by Willie Nelson and "Everybody Hurts" by R.E.M.

It seems James had done many of these kinds of shorts in recent years, but they're all behind paywalls, using services like StageIt. (If anyone has copies of them, I'd be interested in hearing them.) I'm posting this one because it was done without a paywall and posted on YouTube.

This album is 40 minutes long.

01 Vision of Love (Morgan James)
02 talk (Morgan James)
03 Making Up for Lost Love (Morgan James)
04 talk (Morgan James)
05 Give You Up (Morgan James)
06 All I Ever Gave You (Morgan James)
07 Better Me (Morgan James)
08 talk (Morgan James)
09 Love Ain't Worth Living (Morgan James)
10 talk (Morgan James)
11 I Don't Mind Waking Up [To a Love This Good] (Morgan James)
12 talk (Morgan James)
13 On the Road Again (Morgan James)
14 talk (Morgan James)
15 Everybody Hurts (Morgan James)

https://www.upload.ee/files/15411941/MorganJ_2020b_HomeConcrtNewYrkC__7-1-2020_atse.zip.html

The cover is a screenshot I took from the YouTube video for this concert.

Morgan James - Acoustic Cover Songs, Volume 7, 2020-2022

It's been a while since I've posted any albums by Morgan James, but I'm back with more. I'm glad to see from the download numbers that a lot of people appreciate her considerable vocal talents.

This is another album consisting entirely of cover versions done acoustically. It gets a bit confusing, because I first posted six albums of her acoustic covers from the years 1994 to 2020. Then, in 2020, due to being stuck at home thanks to the Covid pandemic, she did 100 covers in a row, which she called the Quanatunes series. I posted seven albums of that. This picks up where that left off, back to more acoustic covers that aren't specifically part of that Quarantunes series.

There's not much to say here that I didn't say with earlier volumes. Although I'll note that she was especially bold with her song selection this time, covering some of the most iconic songs of all time, including "Layla" and "Stairway to Heaven!" It's interesting to hear songs like that backed only by a single acoustic guitar.

I almost didn't include "Son of a Preacher Man," because it had some big problems. The song broke down in the middle, as she and her guitarist, her husband Doug Wamble, forgot how the bridge went. However, I did some heavy editing that snipped out the problem area. There still are some bits of Wamble talking that I don't like, but I couldn't remove them because it overlapped with her singing. The song also was cut off right at the end, but I found a way to patch in a final guitar strum to give it a decent finish. All of that is why the song has "[Edit]" in the title. 

By the way, I'm most of the way to having a Volume 8, but I'm still a few songs short.

This album is 47 minutes long.

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

01 Chain of Fools - Aretha Franklin
02 Stairway to Heaven - Led Zeppelin
03 The Dark End of the Street - James Carr
04 The Middle - Jimmy Eat World
05 With or Without You - U2
06 Son of a Preacher Man [Edit] - Dusty Springfield
07 Simple Man - Lynyrd Skynyrd
08 Gethsemane - Jesus Christ Superstar Soundtrack
09 Better Man - Pearl Jam
10 Layla - Derek & the Dominos
11 Wild Horses - Rolling Stones
12 Sweet Bitter Love - Aretha Franklin

And here's the usual song list:

01 Chain of Fools (Morgan James)
02 Stairway to Heaven (Morgan James)
03 The Dark End of the Street (Morgan James)
04 The Middle (Morgan James)
05 With or Without You (Morgan James)
06 Son of a Preacher Man [Edit] (Morgan James)
07 Simple Man (Morgan James & Nicole Zuraitis)
08 Gethsemane (Morgan James)
09 Better Man (Morgan James & Nicole Zuraitis)
10 Layla (Morgan James & Nicole Zuraitis)
11 Wild Horses (Morgan James & Nicole Zuraitis)
12 Sweet Bitter Love (Morgan James)

https://www.upload.ee/files/15282129/MorganJ_2020-2022_AcoustcCoverSongsVolume7_atse.zip.html

The cover photo is of her performing in concert outdoors in Michigan in August 2022. I found some of the background distracting, so I cleaned it up using Photoshop.

Morgan James - Quarantunes, Volume 7 (2020)

In 2020, I saved tons of home concert recordings made during the worst of the Covid pandemic. I've posted most of that, but there are still things here and there that I've missed. I just realized I have more to post from Morgan James. This is the seventh and last in her "Quarantunes" series, where she did 100 acoustic cover versions in 100 days. and posted them all on YouTube. But I have even more home concert recordings from her after that that I'll get to later.

In case you missed her earlier posted albums, Morgan James has an excellent voice, the kind that female stars of Broadway shows often have. But she has an unusual affinity for doing acoustic covers, probably helped by the fact that she has a husband, Doug Wamble, who is an excellent acoustic guitar player and accompanies her on all these songs. She also has an unusual range of a musical tastes for her covers, doing everything from songs from the 1920s to modern pop. 

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

01 Only the Lonely - Motels
02 Soon - George and Ira Gershwin
03 Lonesome Loser - Little River Band
04 Memories of You - Louis Armstrong
05 Someone Saved My Life Tonight - Elton John
06 Only the Lonely - Roy Orbison
07 Perfectly Lonely - John Mayer
08 I Am a Rock - Simon & Garfunkel
09 Officially Missing You - Tamia
10 Sign O' the Times - Prince
11 Miss You like Crazy - Natalie Cole
12 We'll Be Together Again - Carl Fischer and Frankie Lane
13 Everybody Hurts - R.E.M.

Here's the usual song list:

01 Only the Lonely (Morgan James)
02 Soon (Morgan James)
03 Lonesome Loser (Morgan James)
04 Memories of You (Morgan James)
05 Someone Saved My Life Tonight (Morgan James)
06 Only the Lonely (Morgan James)
07 Perfectly Lonely (Morgan James)
08 I Am a Rock (Morgan James)
09 Officially Missing You (Morgan James)
10 Sign O' the Times (Morgan James)
11 Miss You like Crazy (Morgan James)
12 We'll Be Together Again (Morgan James)
13 Everybody Hurts (Morgan James) 

This album is 46 minutes long.

https://www.upload.ee/files/15267133/MorganJ_2020_QuarantnesVolume7_atse.zip.html

The cover picture is a screenshot taken from one of the YouTube videos of one of these songs.

Morgan James - Quarantunes, Volume 6 (2020)

This is the next is my series of Morgan James's acoustic covers albums. If you've been following this, I posted a bunch of acoustic albums of songs she did prior to 2020. Then, during the coronavirus quarantine, she played 100 different cover songs in 100 days. This is the sixth of seven albums for that series, which she called "Quarantunes."

I don't have much to say that I haven't said for previous albums in this series. As usual, she plays an interesting and wide variety of songs, going from the pre-rock and roll era up to modern pop. These are not the typical hit songs one sees played acoustically.

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

01 Nowhere Man - Beatles
02 Alone - Heart
03 Where or When - Rodgers & Hart
04 I'll Remember - Madonna
05 I Wanna Be Where You Are - Michael Jackson
06 Some Other Time - Leonard Bernstein
07 I Will Remember You - Sarah McLachlan
08 Every Time We Say Goodbye - Cole Porter
09 Here I Go Again - Whitesnake
10 Lonely Teardrops - Jackie Wilson
11 Miss Otis Regrets - Cole Porter
12 Do Nothin' Til You Hear from Me - Duke Ellington
13 Roam - B-52s
14 A Change Is Gonna Come - Sam Cooke
15 How Long Has This Been Going On - George & Ira Gershwin

Here's the usual song list:

01 Nowhere Man (Morgan James)
02 Alone (Morgan James)
03 Where or When (Morgan James)
04 I'll Remember (Morgan James)
05 I Wanna Be Where You Are (Morgan James)
06 Some Other Time (Morgan James)
07 I Will Remember You (Morgan James)
08 Every Time We Say Goodbye (Morgan James)
09 Here I Go Again (Morgan James)
10 Lonely Teardrops (Morgan James)
11 Miss Otis Regrets (Morgan James)
12 Do Nothin' Til You Hear from Me (Morgan James)
13 Roam (Morgan James)
14 A Change Is Gonna Come (Morgan James)
15 How Long Has This Been Going On (Morgan James)

https://www.upload.ee/files/15267142/MorganJ_2020_QuarantnesVolume6_atse.zip.html

As usual with this series, I made the cover art using a screenshot from one of the videos of these songs found on YouTube, but I forget which one.

Morgan James - Quarantunes, Volume 5 (2020)

I'm still on vacation, but I should be back home in less than a week. I haven't had as much time to post things to this blog as I'd expected. Right now, I'm going to post a Morgan James album, even though I did one a few posts back, because it's a rare case of something where I already have an album cover made. 

Also, I've posted a bunch of her albums, so I don't think I need to explain things. This is just like virtually all of her other albums I've posted, with her doing all cover songs in a strictly acoustic format. 

As usual with her, she does songs from a wide range of time periods and styles. (All the songs are here in the order she originally recorded them. Note on this album, there's e a Kay Perry song followed by one from Irving Berlin!) 

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

01 I Won't Back Down - Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers
02 Missing You - John Waite
03 When You're Gone - Cranberries
04 I'll Stand by You - Pretenders
05 Don't Let Me Be Lonely Tonight - James Taylor
06 Spring Will Be a Little Late This Year - Frank Loesser
07 Eleanor Rigby - Beatles
08 Every Time You Go Away - Paul Young
09 Your Song - Elton John
10 Wide Awake - Katy Perry
11 What'll I Do - Irving Berlin
12 I Remember You - Johnny Mercer
13 Nowhere to Run - Martha & the Vandellas
14 Don't Get Around Much Anymore - Duke Ellington
15 Out of Touch - Hall and Oates

And here's the usual song list:

01 I Won't Back Down (Morgan James)
02 Missing You (Morgan James)
03 When You're Gone (Morgan James)
04 I'll Stand by You (Morgan James)
05 Don't Let Me Be Lonely Tonight (Morgan James)
06 Spring Will Be a Little Late This Year (Morgan James)
07 Eleanor Rigby (Morgan James)
08 Every Time You Go Away (Morgan James)
09 Your Song (Morgan James)
10 Wide Awake (Morgan James)
11 What'll I Do (Morgan James)
12 I Remember You (Morgan James)
13 Nowhere to Run (Morgan James)
14 Don't Get Around Much Anymore (Morgan James)
15 Out of Touch (Morgan James)

https://www.upload.ee/files/15267132/MorganJ_2020_QuarantnesVolume5_atse.zip.html

As with the other albums in this series, the cover art is a screenshot taken from one of the YouTube videos of the songs included. I forget which one, though..

Morgan James - Quarantunes, Volume 4 (2020)

A couple of weeks ago, I posted that I was going on a vacation lasting longer than a month. I'm about two weeks into that vacation, and I'm happy to say that I'm having a very good time. In fact, it's been such a busy time that I've barely had any time to get on the Internet, much less work on this blog. But finally I managed to find an hour to post another album. This particular album was chosen because I knew I had already made the album cover art and I could do it quickly. Although I'll still be traveling for the next three weeks or so, I think things will slow down some as I move into more of a relaxing mode instead of sightseeing mode, so I hope I'll have time to make some other posts. 

Since I have limited spare time during this vacation, I'll try to keep my comments brief. Luckily, this is an album where I don't think I have to say much. If you know the previous albums I've posted by Morgan James, you should know the drill by now. These are more acoustic cover versions by a great female singer.

Here are the original artists that made the songs famous:

01 Lights - Journey
02 All by Myself - Eric Carmen
03 Message in a Bottle - Police
04 The Way It Is - Bruce Hornsby
05 Owner of a Lonely Heart - Yes
06 Don't Stop - Fleetwood Mac
07 When Can I See You - Babyface
08 Missing - Everything but the Girl
09 Ain't Misbehavin' - Fats Waller
10 Across the Universe - Beatles
11 Goodbye for Now - Stephen Sondheim
12 Miss You Much - Janet Jackson
13 I Can't Get Next to You - Temptations
14 Bridge Over Troubled Water - Simon & Garfunkel

And here's the usual song list:

01 Lights (Morgan James)
02 All by Myself (Morgan James)
03 Message in a Bottle (Morgan James)
04 The Way It Is (Morgan James)
05 Owner of a Lonely Heart (Morgan James)
06 Don't Stop (Morgan James)
07 When Can I See You (Morgan James)
08 Missing (Morgan James)
09 Ain't Misbehavin' (Morgan James)
10 Across the Universe (Morgan James)
11 Goodbye for Now (Morgan James)
12 Miss You Much (Morgan James)
13 I Can't Get Next to You (Morgan James)
14 Bridge Over Troubled Water (Morgan James) 

https://www.upload.ee/files/15267092/MorganJ_2020_QuarantnesVolume4_atse.zip.html

As with the other albums in this Quarantunes series, the album cover uses a screenshot I took from one of the videos of one of the songs here (but I forget which song exactly).

Morgan James - Quarantunes, Volume 3 (2020)

Here's the next in a long series of "Quarantunes" by Morgan James. A one sentence summary for those who missed the previous ones: James sings a wide variety of cover versions backed only by her husband Doug Wamble on acoustic guitar.

As with previous volumes in the series, all of the performances are unreleased and come from her YouTube channel. The sound quality is uniformly very good.

Here's the original artists for each song:

01 Stand Back - Stevie Nicks
02 Are You Lonesome Tonight - Elvis Presley
03 Closer to Fine - Indigo Girls
04 In My Room - Beach Boys
05 Separate Ways [Worlds Apart] - Journey
06 I Think We're Alone Now - Tommy James & the Shondells
07 Time after Time - Cyndi Lauper
08 I'll Be Seeing You - Bing Crosby
09 What a Wonderful World - Louis Armstrong
10 Rocket Man - Elton John
11 Lonesome Town - Ricky Nelson
12 When I Come Around - Green Day
13 So Far Away - Carole King

And here's the usual song list:

01 Stand Back (Morgan James)
02 Are You Lonesome Tonight (Morgan James)
03 Closer to Fine (Morgan James)
04 In My Room (Morgan James)
05 Separate Ways [Worlds Apart] (Morgan James)
06 I Think We're Alone Now (Morgan James)
07 Time after Time (Morgan James)
08 I'll Be Seeing You (Morgan James)
09 What a Wonderful World (Morgan James)
10 Rocket Man (Morgan James)
11 Lonesome Town (Morgan James)
12 When I Come Around (Morgan James)
13 So Far Away (Morgan James)

https://www.upload.ee/files/15267091/MorganJ_2020_QuarantnesVolume3_atse.zip.html

As with the other albums in this series, the cover photo is a screenshot taken from one of the videos of the songs here.

Morgan James - Quarantunes, Volume 2 (2020)

In early 2020, shortly after the start of the coronavirus pandemic, Morgan James posted 100 cover songs in 100 days, which she called "Quarantunes." All of them were performed with just her husband Doug Wamble on acoustic guitar. I've already posted Volume 1, and I have a bunch more to go. Here's Volume 2.

Hopefully I don't have to write much here because by now you should be familiar with Morgan James' musical style and voice, as well as the kind of songs she typically covers. 

This is the usual eclectic mix from her, with lots of songs one wouldn't typically expect to be done in the solo acoustic format.

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

01 I Touch Myself - Divinyls
02 Crazy - Seal
03 One - U2
04 The Waiting - Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers
05 For All We Know - Hal Kemp / Isham Jones
06 The Nearness of You - Hoagy Carmichael & Ned Washington
07 American Tune - Paul Simon
08 Big Yellow Taxi - Joni Mitchell
09 Seven Days - Sting
10 Don't Dream It's Over - Crowded House
11 Someday We'll All Be Free - Donny Hathaway
12 Ordinary World - Duran Duran
13 17 Days - Prince 

Here's the usual song list.

01 I Touch Myself (Morgan James)
02 Crazy (Morgan James)
03 One (Morgan James)
04 The Waiting (Morgan James)
05 For All We Know (Morgan James)
06 The Nearness of You (Morgan James)
07 American Tune (Morgan James)
08 Big Yellow Taxi (Morgan James)
09 Seven Days (Morgan James)
10 Don't Dream It's Over (Morgan James)
11 Someday We'll All Be Free (Morgan James)
12 Ordinary World (Morgan James)
13 17 Days (Morgan James)

https://www.upload.ee/files/15267088/MorganJ_2020_QuarantnesVolume2_atse.zip.html

I made the cover art photo by taking a screenshot from one of the videos of the songs here.

Morgan James - Quarantunes, Volume 1 (2020)

If you've been following this blog, you may have noticed that I've posted a lot of music by Morgan James, even though she's relatively unknown and isn't usually included in websites such as this one. If you think I've posted too much of her stuff then brace yourself, because I'm going to post a whole lot more! ;) In 2020, during the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic, she posted no less than a 100 cover songs she did in a 100 day time period. She called this series "Quarantunes," so that's what I'm calling it too. 

All of these covers featured just her on lead vocals, plus her husband Doug Wamble on acoustic guitar and occasional vocals. In other words, it's exactly like most of her acoustic covers albums I've posted here already. So if you liked those, you'll be sure the like this new series too.

As with the previous covers albums from Morgan James that I've posted, one thing I really like about her is that she does songs by a wide variety of artists. In fact, I'd guess this album has a wider range of source material than any other all-covers albums by anyone that I've posted at this blog so far. Consider she does songs by Duke Ellington and Hank Williams from the pre-rock and roll era all way to the Backstreet Boys and Robyn from the last couple of decades! Who else does that? Nobody I know.  And thanks to her excellent voice and the acoustic guitar arrangements, none of the songs sound out of place.

This album is 47 minutes long.

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

01 Alone Together - Arthur Schwartz & Howard Dietz
02 Lonely Avenue - Ray Charles
03 Solitude - Duke Ellington
04 Tired of Being Alone - Al Green
05 Meditation - Antonio Carlos Jobim
06 Azure - Duke Ellington
07 Islands in the Stream - Dolly Parton & Kenny Rogers
08 Dancing on My Own - Robyn
09 I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry - Hank Williams
10 Show Me the Meaning of Being Lonely - Backstreet Boys
11 Love Will Keep Us Alive - Eagles
12 The End of the Innocence - Don Henley
13 Mad World - Tears for Fears
14 So Lonely - Police
15 New York State of Mind - Billy Joel

Here's the usual song list:

01 Alone Together (Morgan James)
02 Lonely Avenue (Morgan James & Doug Wamble)
03 Solitude (Morgan James)
04 Tired of Being Alone (Morgan James)
05 Meditation (Morgan James & Doug Wamble)
06 Azure (Morgan James)
07 Islands in the Stream (Morgan James & Doug Wamble)
08 Dancing on My Own (Morgan James)
09 I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry (Morgan James)
10 Show Me the Meaning of Being Lonely (Morgan James)
11 Love Will Keep Us Alive (Morgan James)
12 The End of the Innocence (Morgan James)
13 Mad World (Morgan James)
14 So Lonely (Morgan James)
15 New York State of Mind (Morgan James)

https://www.upload.ee/files/15266969/MorganJ_2020_QuarantnesVolume1_atse.zip.html

The cover art photo is a screenshot I took from one of the YouTube videos of one of the songs featured here.

Morgan James - Full Band Cover Songs (2014-2020)

Morgan James has a curious habit when it comes to musical arrangements: her studio albums usually have full band arrangements, but she's also posted lots of stuff on YouTube, and nearly all of that is solo acoustic. I've posted six acoustic cover version albums from her already, and I have even more than that to post. But I've only been able to find the occasional cover version that she's posted with full band arrangements. I've gathered them all together into this album.

Personally, I prefer her solo acoustic style, but I like these songs too. As usual, she has a mix between the classic rock stuff that I typically favor and more modern stuff, but performed and produced intelligently in a way that allows me to appreciate the songs. A couple of the songs are done in a very unusual way. For instance, the only musical backing to "Shut Up and Dance" is a rhythm created by somebody tap dancing! It works well. And "Burn" is only backed by some simple drumming.

This album is 43 minutes long.

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

01 Burn - Ellie Goulding
02 She's Gone - Hall & Oates
03 Lay Down Sally - Eric Clapton
04 Shut Up and Dance - Walk the Moon
05 Help Me - Joni Mitchell
06 Oh Me, Oh My [I'm a Fool for You Baby] - Lulu / Aretha Franklin
07 Crazy in Love - Beyonce
08 Call My Name - Prince
09 Human - Rag'n'Bone Man
10 This Christmas - Donny Hathaway
11 Hold On, I'm Coming - Sam & Dave

And here's the usual song list:

01 Burn (Morgan James)
02 She's Gone (Morgan James)
03 Lay Down Sally (Morgan James)
04 Shut Up and Dance (Morgan James)
05 Help Me (Morgan James)
06 Oh Me, Oh My [I'm a Fool for You Baby] (Morgan James)
07 Crazy in Love (Morgan James)
08 Call My Name (Morgan James)
09 Human (Morgan James)
10 This Christmas (Morgan James)
11 Hold On, I'm Coming (Morgan James)

https://www.upload.ee/files/15266887/MorganJ_2014-2020_FullBandCverSongs_atse.zip.html

For the album cover, I found a photo of James doing some recording at a radio station in 2014.

Morgan James - Valentine's Day Love Songs, Home Concert, New York City, 2-14-2021

As I write this, the coronavirus pandemic situation is improving, but it's far from over. In terms of music, some artists have resumed performing concerts, presumably with social distancing precautions in place,  but many have not. So the home concert trend continues. There aren't nearly as many as there were in the middle of 2020, but much of that is because the musicians who got serious about doing them decided to monetize them, offering pay to listen/view performances in lieu of having traditional concerts in front of audiences.

Morgan James is a case in point. She posted a lot of free material on YouTube in the first months of the pandemic (which I haven't gotten around to posting here yet, but I will). Then she switched to posting one concert a week that one has to pay for through StageIt, with each one having a different musical theme. I don't want to hinder an artist's effort to make a living through such things, so I won't be posting any of those (except perhaps way afterwards, when they've long stopped being offered for money). However, two days ago she posted one of her weekly shows for free on YouTube, so I consider that fair game.

This show took place on Valentine's Day, so it has a love songs theme. There's not much else to say, except that the sound quality is excellent, and all the songs are performed with just the voices of Morgan James and sometimes her husband Doug Wamble, plus a single acoustic guitar played by Wamble. I included all the music, but I cut out a few minutes of the banter between songs. I removed bits that I didn't think would have replay value, such as a complaint about a spammer or some thanks to specific people who donated some money while listening.

This album is 54 minutes long.

Here's a list of the original artists that made these songs well known:

01 L-O-V-E [L Is for the Way You Look at Me] - Nat King Cole
03 Let's Stay Together - Al Green
05 Feel like Makin' Love - Roberta Flack
07 Your Song - Elton John
09 Make You Feel My Love - Bob Dylan
11 Knocks Me Off My Feet - Stevie Wonder
13 I Will - Beatles
15 The Very Thought of You - Ray Noble with Al Bowlly
16 The Nearness of You - Glenn Miller with Ray Eberle
18 Love Is Here to Stay - George & Ira Gershwin / Gene Kelly
20 My Funny Valentine - Rodgers & Hart / Chet Baker
22 Oh Me, Oh My [I'm a Fool for You Baby] - Lulu / Aretha Franklin
24 Sara Smile - Hall & Oates
26 God Only Knows - Beach Boys
28 Love Will Keep Us Alive - Eagles

And here's the usual song list:

01 L-O-V-E [L Is for the Way You Look at Me] (Morgan James with Doug Wamble)
02 talk (Morgan James with Doug Wamble)
03 Let's Stay Together (Morgan James with Doug Wamble)
04 talk (Morgan James with Doug Wamble)
05 Feel like Makin' Love (Morgan James with Doug Wamble)
06 talk (Morgan James with Doug Wamble)
07 Your Song (Morgan James with Doug Wamble)
08 talk (Morgan James with Doug Wamble)
09 Make You Feel My Love (Morgan James with Doug Wamble)
10 talk (Morgan James with Doug Wamble)
11 Knocks Me Off My Feet (Morgan James with Doug Wamble)
12 talk (Morgan James with Doug Wamble)
13 I Will (Morgan James with Doug Wamble)
14 talk (Morgan James with Doug Wamble)
15 The Very Thought of You (Morgan James with Doug Wamble)
16 The Nearness of You (Morgan James with Doug Wamble)
17 talk (Morgan James with Doug Wamble)
18 Love Is Here to Stay (Morgan James with Doug Wamble)
19 talk (Morgan James with Doug Wamble)
20 My Funny Valentine (Morgan James with Doug Wamble)
21 talk (Morgan James with Doug Wamble)
22 Oh Me, Oh My [I'm a Fool for You Baby] (Morgan James with Doug Wamble)
23 talk (Morgan James with Doug Wamble)
24 Sara Smile (Morgan James with Doug Wamble)
25 talk (Morgan James with Doug Wamble)
26 God Only Knows (Morgan James with Doug Wamble)
27 talk (Morgan James with Doug Wamble)
28 Love Will Keep Us Alive (Morgan James with Doug Wamble)
29 talk (Morgan James with Doug Wamble)

https://www.upload.ee/files/15181984/MorganJ_2021_ValntinesDayLveSongsHomeConcrtNYC__2-14-2021_atse.zip.html

I made the cover from a screenshot of the YouTube video of this concert.

Morgan James - Scott Bradlee's Postmodern Jukebox with Morgan James (2014-2018)

Scott Bradlee's Postmodern Jukebox is a musical collective with an interesting conceit: they take popular songs from the last few decades and recast them in drastically different arrangements, turning slick pop hits into ragtime jazz, 1960s modern, 1940s swing, and the like. In my opinion, it's a very hit and miss approach. Sometimes it works great and makes you appreciate a song in a new way. Other times, it's more like a failed experiment. But their versions are definitely interesting, which is why all their songs combined have received more than a billion views on YouTube. You can read more about this collective at Wikipedia:

Postmodern Jukebox - Wikipedia

One aspect of this collective is that there's a rotating cast of lead vocalists, with no one singer dominating. But of all the vocalists they've used, Morgan James at least ties for being the most prominent. That makes perfect sense to me, since she's very vocally gifted and has an attractive appearance that helps get more YouTube views. I've posted a number of albums of her acoustic cover versions, and I plan on posting a lot more. I've also compiled all her lead vocal turns with Postmodern Jukebox. Luckily, there are just enough songs for an album.

The vast majority of the performances here come from Postmodern Jukebox studio albums, which basically just repackage their popular YouTube videos. But two of the performances are unreleased ("All About that Bass" and "Sweet Child o' Mine"). Don't worry though, the sound quality of those are just as excellent as the others. And note that unlilke most of the other Morgan James music I've been posting, which is acoustic, these are generally full band performances.

This includes James's version of "Dream On" by Aerosmith. The video of it has gotten over 20 million views on YouTube, and for good reason, because she blows the song out of the water. 

I was torn over whether to include "Barbie Girl" or not. I consider the original by Aqua to be a truly vile song that is best totally forgotten. But this version is different enough (done in a vintage Beach Boys style) to make it at least bearable. If you have issues with the song like I do, you can always just delete that one.

This album is 43 minutes long. James apparently hasn't performed as part of the Postmodern Jukebox collective since 2018. But if she ever does more with them, I'll consider adding that here.

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

01 Maps - Maroon 5
02 Really Don't Care - Demi Lovato
03 Break Free - Ariana Grande
04 All About That Bass - Meghan Trainor
05 Barbie Girl - Aqua
06 Take Me to Church - Hozier
07 Jealous - Nick Jonas
08 Dream On - Aerosmith
09 Who Wants to Live Forever - Queen
10 It's a Man's Man's Man's World - James Brown
11 Sweet Child o' Mine - Guns N' Roses

And here's the usual song list:

01 Maps (Scott Bradlee's Postmodern Jukebox with Morgan James)
02 Really Don't Care (Scott Bradlee's Postmodern Jukebox with Morgan James)
03 Break Free (Scott Bradlee's Postmodern Jukebox with Morgan James)
04 All About That Bass (Scott Bradlee's Postmodern Jukebox with Haley Reinhart, Morgan James & Ariana Savalas)
05 Barbie Girl (Scott Bradlee's Postmodern Jukebox with Morgan James)
06 Take Me to Church (Scott Bradlee's Postmodern Jukebox with Morgan James)
07 Jealous (Scott Bradlee's Postmodern Jukebox with Morgan James)
08 Dream On (Scott Bradlee's Postmodern Jukebox with Morgan James)
09 Who Wants to Live Forever (Scott Bradlee's Postmodern Jukebox with Morgan James)
10 It's a Man's Man's Man's World (Scott Bradlee's Postmodern Jukebox with Morgan James)
11 Sweet Child o' Mine (Scott Bradlee's Postmodern Jukebox with Morgan James)

https://www.upload.ee/files/15266881/MorganJ_2014-2018_ScttBradleesPstmodernJukebox_atse.zip.html

Thanks again to PJ of his "Albums I Wish Existed" blog, who put the cover together while I was having computer trouble a couple of weeks ago. I selected the image, which is a screenshot from one of her YouTube videos.

Morgan James - Acoustic Cover Songs, Volume 6, 2019-2020

This is the sixth and last album in my series of Morgan James acoustic cover songs... kind of. What I mean by that is, she has performed an even greater number of acoustic cover songs in 2020, which she calls "Quarantunes," where she played 100 new (for her) cover songs in 100 days. This album contains all the acoustic covers she did in the last year or so that I could find and that are NOT included as part of her Quarantunes series. I'll be posting a separate series of albums for that. So, if you like this kind of thing from her, there's a lot more to come.

I've mentioned it before, but I'll mention it again: one thing I really enjoy about her acoustic covers is the breadth of her source material. That can be seen especially clearly for this particular album. She covers songs dating from the 1930s to the 2010s, doing everything from show tunes to country to soul, and more.

As usual, it's just Morgan James on lead vocals, with her husband Doug Wamble on acoustic guitar and sometimes backing vocals. Wamble has a bigger role singing on a few of these than usual, enough for me to credit the songs are duets. 

Also as usual, all the songs are officially unreleased, and come from YouTube. The only unusual thing to note this time, I think, is the performances of the last two songs. James is terrible at playing guitar, but on "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'," she attempted to play guitar for the first time for any of her videos. Her minor flubs, or near flubs, made her and Wamble laugh a lot. For the last song, "We Belong," she attempted that as a request despite being totally unprepared for it. She and her husband managed to get through most of it, until they finally broke down laughing.

Here's a list of the artists that originally made these songs famous:

01 Just the Two of Us - Bill Withers & Grover Washington Jr.
02 Over the Rainbow - Judy Garland
03 You'll Be Back - Lin-Manuel Miranda
04 I Can't Stand the Rain - Ann Peebles
05 Lush Life - Billy Strayhorn
06 All I Have to Do Is Dream - Every Brothers
07 Tutti Frutti - Little Richard
08 Maps - Maroon 5
09 Kokomo - Beach Boys
10 Walking on Sunshine - Katrina & the Waves
11 Smooth Operator - Sade
12 On the Road Again - Willie Nelson
13 Vision of Love - Mariah Carey
14 These Boots are Made for Walkin' - Nancy Sinatra
15 We Belong - Pat Benatar

Here's the usual song list:

01 Just the Two of Us (Morgan James)
02 Over the Rainbow (Morgan James)
03 You'll Be Back (Morgan James)
04 I Can't Stand the Rain (Morgan James)
05 Lush Life (Morgan James)
06 All I Have to Do Is Dream (Morgan James)
07 Tutti Frutti (Morgan James)
08 Maps (Morgan James)
09 Kokomo (Morgan James & Doug Wamble)
10 Walking on Sunshine (Morgan James & Doug Wamble)
11 Smooth Operator (Morgan James & Doug Wamble)
12 On the Road Again (Morgan James)
13 Vision of Love (Morgan James)
14 These Boots are Made for Walkin' (Morgan James)
15 We Belong (Morgan James)

https://www.upload.ee/files/15266972/MorganJ_2019-2020_AcoustcCoverSongsVolume6_atse.zip.html

As I mentioned above, Peter from the "Albums I Wish Existed" blog made this cover art. He wanted to keep the same look going for the rest of the albums in this series. Unfortunately, he didn't know the font type for that, and I don't know either since I don't have a working version of Photoshop at the moment to check my files of the other covers in the series. So he copied and pasted the artist name from one of the other albums. Then he wrote the rest of the text in the same font.

Morgan James - Acoustic Cover Songs, Volume 5, 2018-2019

I've got lots of Morgan James material to post, so here's the next one. In case you need a reminder, she puts her own songs on her own studio albums, but she's also fond of doing lots of cover versions for YouTube, with just a solo acoustic guitar accompanying her.

This is exactly the same approach as the previous four volumes in this series. All the songs are unreleased, but the sound quality is high.

Note that the third to fifth songs are all covers from the Beatles' "White Album." In 2018, she performed that entire double album, in order, with just an acoustic guitar backing her up. It's really good, but it's also an officially released album, so I'm not going to post it here. However, she did these three songs on a separate occasion, so I can include them. If you like what she does, I suggest getting that album, as well as her version of all of Joni Mitchell's "Blue" album.

By the way, the second to last song, "Love's in Need of Love Today," was done as a duet with another woman. But the video doesn't name that woman, so I can't credit her. If you recognize her (by watching the YouTube video) and know her name, please let me know.

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

01 Lithium - Nirvana
02 Nothing Compares 2 U - Sinead O'Connor
03 Dear Prudence - Beatles
04 Why Don't We Do It in the Road - Beatles
05 Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da - Beatles
06 Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas - Judy Garland
07 Bring It On Home to Me -  Sam Cooke
08 If You Don't Know Me by Now - Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes
09 Feelin' Alright - Traffic / Joe Cocker
10 Find the Cost of Freedom - Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
11 Calling You - Jevetta Steele
12 Love's in Need of Love Today - Stevie Wonder
13 Say It Ain't So - Weezer

Here's the usual song list:

01 Lithium (Morgan James)
02 Nothing Compares 2 U (Morgan James)
03 Dear Prudence (Morgan James)
04 Why Don't We Do It in the Road (Morgan James)
05 Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da (Morgan James)
06 Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas (Morgan James)
07 Bring It On Home to Me (Morgan James)
08 If You Don't Know Me by Now (Morgan James)
09 Feelin' Alright (Morgan James)
10 Find the Cost of Freedom (Morgan James)
11 Calling You (Morgan James)
12 Love's in Need of Love Today (Morgan James)
13 Say It Ain't So (Morgan James)

https://www.upload.ee/files/15266970/MorganJ_2018-2019_AcoustcCoverSongsVolume5_atse.zip.html

The cover art photo was taken in 2018, though I don't know the details. The wall behind her head had some writing on it which I found distracting, so I removed that in Photoshop.

Morgan James - Acoustic Cover Songs, Volume 4, 2017-2018

Here's a quick summary if you've missed or overlooked my previous Morgan James posts. James has a great voice, the kind that sing Aretha Franklin songs or even opera. But she also has an affinity for performing songs where she's only backed by an acoustic guitar. She also has good taste in cover songs. So this is another out of many more albums of acoustic covers from her that I plan on posting.

As I've mentioned in the past, one thing I like about James's covers is that her taste in music isn't the same as mine, and she often "rescues" songs that I otherwise probably wouldn't hear or wouldn't like. In particular, she sometimes does modern pop songs that I avoid because of the usual bad modern production. It's often revelatory to hear those kinds of songs performed in the solo acoustic format. There are some examples of that here, for instance "Weak" by SWV and "Take Me to Church" by Hozier.

As usual with this series, all the songs are officially unreleased. Also as usual, the sound quality is consistently very good.

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

01 Blue Christmas - Elvis Presley
02 Do Right Woman, Do Right Man - Aretha Franklin
03 Waiting in Vain - Bob Marley
04 I Knew You Were Waiting [For Me] - Aretha Franklin & George Michael
05 Lovin’, Touchin’, Squeezin’ - Journey
06 Little Green - Joni Mitchell
07 Angel from Montgomery - John Prine
08 Weak - SWV
09 Take Me to Church - Hozier
10 Sweet Child o' Mine - Guns n' Roses
11 Who Wants to Live Forever - Queen

This is the usual song list:

01 Blue Christmas (Morgan James & Doug Wamble)
02 Do Right Woman, Do Right Man (Morgan James & Marc Broussard)
03 Waiting in Vain (Marc Broussard & Morgan James)
04 I Knew You Were Waiting [For Me] (Morgan James)
05 Lovin’, Touchin’, Squeezin’ (Morgan James)
06 Little Green (Morgan James)
07 Angel from Montgomery (Morgan James)
08 Weak (Morgan James)
09 Take Me to Church (Morgan James with Scott Bradlee)
10 Sweet Child o' Mine (Morgan James with Scott Bradlee)
11 Who Wants to Live Forever (Morgan James with Scott Bradlee)

https://www.upload.ee/files/15266924/MorganJ_2017-2018_AcoustcCoverSongsVolume4_atse.zip.html

The cover art photo was taken at a concert in Berlin in 2017. I chose it because I really like how the lighting makes it look like her hair is made out of fire. That's exactly how the original looks; I didn't change a thing.

Morgan James - Acoustic Cover Songs, Volume 3, 2016-2017

I've posted two Morgan James albums already, and not that many people have downloaded them so far. If you haven't given her a try, you're missing out. She has a truly impressive voice, the kind you'd expect of a Broadway star (and she has featured in Broadway plays). But the surprise twist is that all of the performances here are just her and an acoustic guitar. Like the other albums I'm posting for her, all the songs are cover versions, and she does a lot of songs that aren't typically done in the acoustic format. You can see that here, with covers of the likes of Prince, Tina Turner, and Soundgarden. So what's not to like? Give her a shot if you haven't already.

The vast majority of the songs were released by James through social media, and are unreleased on album. The sound quality is consistently high. Three of the songs are taken from a concert bootleg, but I've edited them to remove the audience applause at the end, so they fit in with the others.

Here are the original artists that made each song famous:

01 Gravity - John Mayer
02 Vultures - John Mayer
03 I'm Gonna Find Another You - John Mayer
04 If You Love Somebody Set Them Free - Sting
05 How Come U Don't Call Me Anymore - Prince
06 Funkier than a Mosquito's Tweeter - Ike & Tina Turner
07 I Love You More than You'll Ever Know - Blood, Sweat & Tears
08 Human Nature - Michael Jackson
09 What's Love Got to Do with It - Tina Turner
10 Black Hole Sun - Soundgarden
11 Hallelujah - Leonard Cohen

Here's the usual song list:

01 Gravity (Morgan James)
02 Vultures (Morgan James)
03 I'm Gonna Find Another You (Morgan James)
04 If You Love Somebody Set Them Free (Morgan James)
05 How Come U Don't Call Me Anymore (Morgan James)
06 Funkier than a Mosquito's Tweeter (Morgan James)
07 I Love You More than You'll Ever Know (Morgan James)
08 Human Nature (Morgan James)
09 What's Love Got to Do with It (Morgan James)
10 Black Hole Sun (Morgan James)
11 Hallelujah (Morgan James)

https://www.upload.ee/files/15266925/MorganJ_2016-2017_AcoustcCoverSongsVolume3_atse.zip.html

The cover art photo is a screenshot from one of the 2016 perofrmances here. But I didn't keep track of which one exactly.

Morgan James - Acoustic Cover Songs, Volume 2, 2015-2016

A couple of weeks ago, I posted the first album of Morgan James performing acoustic cover songs. Here's the second, with lots more to come. Please check out the write-up for that first album for information about who she is and her background. But the bottom line is she's a fantastic singer with an unusual penchant for performing acoustic versions of songs.

As I mentioned in the write-up to that first album in this series, one thing I like about James's covers is that her taste in music is somewhat different from mine. That means she does covers of songs that I don't know or wouldn't pay much attention to. For instance, I haven't been following D'Angelo, Chris Stapleton, Sia, or Ariana Grande. If I did, I usually would have issues with the slick, modern pop or soul production. But thanks to Morgan James stripping those songs down to their simplest acoustic forms, I can appreciate them as good songs.

If you look at the below song list, she does some songs like that, but mixes them in with classic songs from previous decades too. I enjoy how she often puts her own spin on some of those songs. For instance, she plays "Roxanne" at a much slower pace than the Police original. And when she does "Melissa," she's backed only by a piano. That's different from even the acoustic versions the Allman Brothers Band have done on guitar.

So, bottom line, if you haven't given Morgan James a listen, you're missing out.

Here a list of the original artists for each song:

01 The Charade - D'Angelo
02 Roxanne - Police
03 Cecilia - Simon & Garfunkel
04 Jolene - Dolly Parton
05 Melissa - Allman Brothers Band
06 Dirty Diana - Michael Jackson
07 Alive - Sia
08 You're All I Need to Get By - Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell
09 Parachute - Chris Stapleton
10 If It's Magic - Stevie Wonder
11 Dangerous Woman - Ariana Grande
12 Shape of My Heart - Sting
13 Waiting on the World to Change - John Mayer

Here's the usual song list:

01 The Charade (Morgan James)
02 Roxanne (Morgan James)
03 Cecilia (Morgan James)
04 Jolene (Morgan James)
05 Melissa (Morgan James)
06 Dirty Diana (Morgan James)
07 Alive (Morgan James & Mykal Kilgore)
08 You're All I Need to Get By (Morgan James & Doug Wamble)
09 Parachute (Morgan James)
10 If It's Magic (Morgan James)
11 Dangerous Woman (Morgan James)
12 Shape of My Heart (Morgan James)
13 Waiting on the World to Change (Morgan James)

https://www.upload.ee/files/15266926/MorganJ_2015-2016_AcoustcCoverSongsVolume2_atse.zip.html

The cover art photo is from 2015.

Morgan James - Acoustic Cover Songs, Volume 1, 2014-2015

Here's a new artist for this blog, Morgan James. She's new in the sense that I've never posted any music from her before. But she's also new in that I only discovered her recently. I was searching for something on YouTube when I got a suggestion to listen to her performance of the Beatles' "White Album." She sang and played the entire thing straight through (including "Revolution 9") and did a great job of it. But I was even more impressed with her cover of "Dream On" by Aerosmith. You really should check out this YouTube video of it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yq4KA0mUnC8

It has 20 millions views and counting, and deservedly so. What a voice!

So I started checking out more of her stuff. Yes, she has the face of a fashion model, and she's used that to her advantage getting some work as an actress. But she's much more than just another pretty voice. She trained at Julliard, the top music school in the country, and has sung in many Broadway shows and even operas. She's a talented songwriter too, and has been releasing albums of original material since 2014. I'm surprised she isn't a lot more famous. She's probably best known for her occasional role in Postmodern Jukebox, where famous modern songs are performed in old-fashioned musical styles.

Anyway, what interests me most about James is that she does a LOT of cover versions performed in just an acoustic format. Her long-time husband Doug Wamble is an excellent guitar player. The two of them have been posting acoustic covers since 2014, and probably have done over 200 by now. I plan on posting all of them, one album of about 45 minutes of music at a time. Here's the first one.

One thing I like about James' covers is that she has somewhat different musical tastes than I do. In particular, I've noticed she's more into popular songs from the past couple of decades. That's great, because my main beef with most of those songs is the bad production. When they're stripped down and sung by James, they're often revealed to be very good songs. She's also more into vocal jazz than I am, so I've been able to discover some new songs of that type through her as well.

Some of the songs have some drums on them, but are minimalistic enough for me to still consider them acoustic. She has occasionally done some covers in full band format. I plan on posting them separately eventually. 

The songs are generally in the order they were posted on YouTube. I changed the order slightly though to start things off with a bang with her cover of Aretha Franklin's "Baby, I Love You."

Here are the original artists for each song:

01 Baby, I Love You - Aretha Franklin
02 I'm Not the Only One - Sam Smith
03 Fantasy - Genius of Love - Mariah Carey
04 Fooled Around and Fell in Love - Elvin Bishop
05 Ain't It Fun - Paramore
06 Dancing in the Dark - Bruce Springsteen
07 Come Together - Beatles
08 Sledgehammer - Peter Gabriel
09 Rather Be - Clean Bandit
10 What Christmas Means to Me - Stevie Wonder
11 Really Love - D'Angelo
12 Sugar Daddy - D'Angelo

And here's the usual song list:

01 Baby, I Love You (Morgan James)
02 I'm Not the Only One (Morgan James)
03 Fantasy - Genius of Love (Morgan James)
04 Fooled Around and Fell in Love (Morgan James)
05 Ain't It Fun (Morgan James)
06 Dancing in the Dark (Morgan James)
07 Come Together (Morgan James)
08 Sledgehammer (Morgan James)
09 Rather Be (Morgan James)
10 What Christmas Means to Me (Morgan James)
11 Really Love (Morgan James)
12 Sugar Daddy (Morgan James)

https://www.upload.ee/files/15266886/MorganJ_2014-2015_AcoustcCoverSongsVolume1_atse.zip.html

The cover photo is from a 2014 visit to a radio station.