Steve Wynn, R.E.M. & Natalie Merchant - McCabe's Guitar Shop, Santa Monica, CA, 5-24-1987

Here's a very an interesting bootleg concert recording, all of it acoustic. It was billed as a "Texas Records Lawsuit Benefit." I don't know what that was about. If anyone does, I'll put in the explanation here. 

Probably the biggest name at the time was R.E.M. But also, Natalie Merchant, then still with 10,000 Maniacs, had a prominent role. Another key figure was Steven Wynn. Some others were involved. I will get to them a minute.

Perhaps it's a bit of a stretch to call it "R.E.M.," since most of the time it was just lead singer Michael Stipe and lead guitarist Peter Buck. But they were joined for the last three songs by bassist Mike Mills. So the only one missing was drummer Bill Berry. But that makes sense, since this was a drum-free acoustic performance (for the most part). Note that, at the time, it was pretty much unheard of for any members of R.E.M. to perform in acoustic mode. Later, R.E.M. did do some acoustic sessions, but they were rarely as stripped down as this.

If you haven't heard of Steve Wynn, he lead the band the Dream Syndicate from 1981 to 1989, then had a long solo career (and band reunions) after that. Here's his Wikipedia page:

Steve Wynn (musician) - Wikipedia 

Also, this was a concert where everyone involved was clearly having fun and letting it all hang out, performing songs they otherwise would never or rarely have performed in concert. The venue, McCabe's Guitar Shop, has a lot to do with that. I've come across other concerts here that had various guest stars drop in and play some pretty random things, even decades after this. (Robyn Hitchcock, for instance, has played many interesting concerts here, with lots of guests.) It seems the people at the venue must have encouraged this format. The fact that the place is in Los Angeles, where many other musical people live or pass through, and the fact that it's so small, with room for only a hundred or two people, also must factor in. Many concerts here are less like normal concerts and more like a bunch of friends hanging out and playing music.

One downside to us listeners is that because the venue is so small, it's very rare to get bootleg recordings. After all, what are the odds of there being a bootlegger in a concert of two hundred people compared to one in a concert of 20,000 people? And when there are bootlegs, they typically are audience boots, that sometimes don't sound that good. That's why I haven't posted many concerts from this venue, even though they often are really special musically. But this one is a lucky exception, because it generally sounds very good as well. I say "generally" because I took this from three different sources, and some sources sound better than others. But a lot of it is at a soundboard level.

Getting back to who took part, as you can see in the artist name for this album, most of the songs involved Steve Wynn, R.E.M., and Natalie Merchant, solo and in various combinations. But there were others too. For instance, Peter Case played a few songs with Peter Buck of R.E.M. Case had been the main singer songwriter for the Plimsouls for much of the 1980s, but that band had broken up by the time of this concert. He soon settled into a long career in more of a folkie mode instead. 

Jenny Homer is not well known, but she was a member of the band Downy Mildew. In 1987, the year of this concert, they put out their debut album. Here's the Wikipedia entry for that band:

Downy Mildew (band) - Wikipedia

Kendra Smith was a founding member of the Dream Syndicate, the band I mentioned above that was led by Steve Wynn. But she left after just a couple of years to join a new band, Opal. She must have stayed on good terms with Wynn though, considering they sang a duet here. She later became a solo artist. Here's here Wikipedia page:

Kendra Smith - Wikipedia

This is not all of the concert. I've included a text file that lists all the songs known to have been performed. I included most of what I was able to find. If anyone has more, please let me know. But there also was some that I didn't include because the sound quality wasn't as good as the rest. Plus, there actually was an early show and a late show, with similar set lists. I combined them into one show, since I only had pieces here and there. The band Downy Mildew and Opal performed short sets in both shows, but none of that is here.

I can't emphasize how unique and interesting this is, especially if you're an R.E.M. fan or Natalie Merchant fan. Just getting to hear their songs in acoustic mode is special. But also both of those acts did a lot of strange cover songs. Take track 39, prominently featuring Stipe and Merchant. It's a cover of "Leaving on a Jet Plane" while "Sunday Morning" by Margo Guryan was sung at the same time!

Nearly all of this is unreleased. However, "Maps and Legends" and "The One I Love" were released by R.E.M. on the B-side to their single of "It's the End of the World as I Know It (And I Feel Fine)." 

This album is an hour and 52 minutes long.

01 talk (emcee)
02 talk (Steve Wynn)
03 Merritville (Steve Wynn)
04 talk (Steve Wynn)
05 Drinking Problem (Steve Wynn)
06 One More Cup of Coffee [Valley Below] (Steve Wynn with Bob Forres)
07 talk (Steve Wynn)
08 Days of Wine and Roses (Steve Wynn)
09 talk (Steve Wynn)
10 Solitary Man (Steve Wynn & Russ Tolman)
11 Walk, Don't Run - Baby, Please Don't Go (Peter Case & Peter Buck)
12 A Million Miles Away (Peter Case & Peter Buck)
13 talk (Peter Case & Peter Buck)
14 Sad Eyes (Peter Case & Peter Buck)
15 talk (emcee)
16 talk (Natalie Merchant)
17 The Fat Lady of Limbourg (Natalie Merchant)
18 talk (Natalie Merchant)
19 Don't Talk (Natalie Merchant)
20 talk (Natalie Merchant)
21 Hello Stranger (Natalie Merchant, Jenny Homer & Michael Stipe)
22 The Wind, the Wind (Natalie Merchant)
23 talk (Natalie Merchant)
24 Verdi Cries (Natalie Merchant)
25 talk (emcee)
26 The One I Love (Michael Stipe & Peter Buck)
27 talk (Michael Stipe)
28 Welcome to the Occupation (Michael Stipe & Peter Buck)
29 talk (Michael Stipe)
30 Disturbance at the Heron House (Michael Stipe & Peter Buck)
31 talk (Michael Stipe)
32 Finest Worksong (Michael Stipe & Peter Buck)
33 talk (Michael Stipe)
34 Maps and Legends (Michael Stipe & Peter Buck)
35 talk (Michael Stipe)
36 Harpers (Michael Stipe)
37 talk (Michael Stipe)
38 Damaged Goods (Michael Stipe, Peter Buck & Natalie Merchant)
39 Leaving on a Jet Plane - Sunday Morning (Everyone)
40 talk (Steve Wynn)
41 50 in a 25 Zone (Steve Wynn)
42 How Can You Mend a Broken Heart - Killing Time (Steve Wynn)
43 talk (Steve Wynn)
44 See that My Grave Is Kept Clean (Steve Wynn & Peter Buck)
45 Stagefright (Steve Wynn)
46 talk (Steve Wynn)
47 Too Little, Too Late (Steve Wynn & Kendra Smith)
48 More than a Pay Cheque (Natalie Merchant, Jenny Homer & Kendra Smith)
49 Hear the Wind Blow (Kendra Smith & Natalie Merchant)
50 A Campfire Song (Natalie Merchant)
51 The Counting Song [Wheel of Fortune] (Michael Stipe & Natalie Merchant)
52 Stretch My Hand (Michael Stipe & Peter Buck)
53 Spooky (Michael Stipe, Peter Buck & Mike Mills)
54 Fever (Michael Stipe, Peter Buck & Mike Mills)
55 So. Central Rain (Michael Stipe, Peter Buck & Mike Mills)

https://pixeldrain.com/u/oK2JXY1J

alternate:

https://bestfile.io/en/l9qtjCKS16se9Ft/file

The cover photo appears to be promotional material for this exact concert. I changed the white text at the bottom.

Tracy Chapman & Natalie Merchant - Donmar Warehouse, London, Britain, 3-25-1988

I'm extra psyched to be presenting this album. It's actually two acoustic sets making up one concert. The first half features Natalie Merchant when she was still the lead singer for the band 10,000 Maniacs, and the second features Tracy Chapman. They're linked by a duet, but also by more, as I will explain. 

I had been aware of this concert for a long time. I put the duet of Merchant and Chapman singing " Where the Soul Never Dies" on a stray tracks album a few years ago, in fact. But I never considered posting it because I thought the sound quality was a little lacking. However, with the improvements in audio editing technology in recent years, I thought I'd give it a try. I think it sounds very good.

Before I say more about the recording, let me share the interesting story behind how this concert came to be. 

In 1987, Tracy Chapman was a struggling musician living in Boston, performing in small clubs and sometimes on street corners. But that year, she finally got her big break and got signed to a major record label, Elektra Records. Meanwhile, Natalie Merchant was becoming a star as the main singer and songwriter for the band 10,000 Maniacs. In the summer of 1987, they released their third album, "In My Tribe." It made the Top Forty in the U.S. album charts, putting them on the map as a nationwide popular act.

It so happened that 10,000 Maniacs was also signed to Elektra Records. One day, in late 1987, she discovered a demo tape of some of Chapman's songs while visiting the record company's New York City office. She was very impressed, so much so that she actually cried from being emotionally moved by the songs. In late 1987 and early 1988, Chapman recorded her debut album. It would be released in April 1988 under the title "Tracy Chapman." 

Then, in late February 1988, Elektra Records had Chapman perform a special concert in Boston to help build anticipation for her upcoming album. Even though only 150 people could fit in the club, lots of journalists and music industry insiders were invited. Merchant heard about the concert. She was so interested in that demo tape she'd heard that she flew to the concert and met Chapman after the show. Merchant later said, "I felt a kinship because her record was made from the soul rather than to make money. There was similarity between us in the lyrical sentiment and musical quality." A few days later, Merchant sent Chapman a copy of her "In My Tribe," album, and the two began communicating.

This soon led to Merchant inviting Chapman to a concert in London the following month. Actually, it was two concerts, on March 24th and 25th, both at the Donmar Warehouse, which only held about 200 people. This was designed to introduce Chapman to a European audience, as she'd never performed outside the U.S. before. At this point, Merchant had never really done any solo concerts, only concerts with 10,000 Maniacs. But she pushed herself to perform solo in order to help Chapman promote her upcoming album in this way. And even though Merchant was a star and Chapman was an unknown, Merchant opened the concert to help give Chapman a bigger spotlight. The effort worked, because some British journalists attended one or both of the concerts and started to spread word about her music in Britain. Chapman then played a few more solo concerts in Britain, opening for John Martyn, before returning to the U.S.

When Chapman's debut album was released in April 1988, it was out of step with the musical trends of the time. So at first, it did reasonably well, but not great. The album sold 250,000 copies by June. That month, she got to take part in a concert honoring Nelson Mandela that was broadcast worldwide. That caused her sales to skyrocket. A couple of months later, her album reached Number One in the U.S. album chart. Eventually, it went on to sell over 20 million copies. It also helped open the door for many other acoustic-based singer-songwriter types.

So it turns out this concert (and the one at the same venue the day before) was important for both Merchant and Chapman. For Merchant, it was the start of her doing solo work, though it would still be a few years before she left 10,000 Maniacs. And for Chapman, it helped build her reputation at a key time, when her debut album was still a few weeks away from being released.

Merchant further helped Chapman by having her be the opening act for 10,000 Maniacs for a few months, back before the Nelson Mandela concert. Merchant later commented, "She certainly doesn't need any help from me in retrospect. I played with her in England and had her tour with us to get my crowd to see her rather than have her relegated to women's bins or folk bins in the stores. When she toured with us not many people had heard the album, but people sat completely enthralled and she got standing ovations most nights." 

Thanks to this essay, where I found much of the information here:

https://tracychapmanonline.substack.com/p/tracy-chapman-natalie-merchant-10000-maniacs 

Now, let's get to this recording. I found recordings of the two sets separately, and put them together. But I'm sure they're from the same source. It's an audience bootleg, but a pretty good one. Because the crowd was small, there was almost no crowd noise during the songs. However, the big problem that stopped me from posting this in the past was hiss. So I tried something new. MVSEP has a conversion setting called "Denoise." I tried it, and it did a really great job of getting rid of the hiss, even during the songs, while keeping everything else. This works better than "noise reduction," which often harms the music. 

So that fixed most of the problem. However, the sound of Merchant's set was a bit rougher. The songs sounded pretty good, but the banter was often hard to understand. So I ran the talking tracks through Adobe's "Enhance Speech" program, which specifically helps with the clarity of speech. That helped a lot. The one remaining problem after that was that the first minute or so of Chapman's "For My Lover" was missing. Luckily, that song has some repetition in it, and the verses that were lost were repeated later in the song. So I just copied parts of the song to fill in the missing portion. That's why that one song has "[Edit]" in its title.

On a final note, some of the songs performed in this concert still haven't been officially released. "After Talking to Myself" by Natalie Merchant has been performed in concert a few times, but it's not even known what the song title is. And Chapman played some songs that would show up on her second album "Crossroads," like "Born to Fight" and "This Time," plus, "If I" and "Be My Baby," which remain unreleased. And their duet of the traditional song "Where the Soul Never Dies" also remains unreleased by both of them.

This album is an hour and 38 minutes long. The Natalie Merchant set is 43 minutes long, and the Tracy Chapman one is 56 minutes long. (Also, just as a nitpicky thing, some versions of this bootleg I've seen list March 20th as the date, but I believe the more accurate date is there were two shows, on March 24th and 25th, and this is from the 25th.)

By the way, note that on the same day I'm posting this, I've added three songs to the Chapman "Acoustic Demos" album I made. All three of them are still unreleased songs recorded way back in 1986, in great sound quality, so you really should give those a listen. Here's the link:

https://albumsthatshouldexist.blogspot.com/2018/10/tracy-chapman-acoustic-demos-1986-1988.html 

01 talk (Natalie Merchant)
02 A Campfire Song (Natalie Merchant)
03 talk (Natalie Merchant)
04 Gun Shy (Natalie Merchant)
05 talk (Natalie Merchant)
06 Everyone a Puzzle Lover (Natalie Merchant)
07 talk (Natalie Merchant)
08 Don't Talk (Natalie Merchant)
09 talk (Natalie Merchant)
10 The Painted Desert (Natalie Merchant)
11 talk (Natalie Merchant)
12 Lilydale (Natalie Merchant)
13 What's the Matter Here (Natalie Merchant)
14 Maddox Table (Natalie Merchant)
15 talk (Natalie Merchant)
16 Verdi Cries (Natalie Merchant)
17 talk (Natalie Merchant)
18 Like the Weather (Natalie Merchant)
19 After Talking to Myself (Natalie Merchant)
20 talk (Tracy Chapman)
21 Why (Tracy Chapman)
22 If I (Tracy Chapman)
23 Across the Lines (Tracy Chapman)
24 This Time (Tracy Chapman)
25 Behind the Wall (Tracy Chapman)
26 Baby Can I Hold You (Tracy Chapman)
27 talk (Tracy Chapman)
28 Fast Car (Tracy Chapman)
29 talk (Tracy Chapman)
30 If Not Now (Tracy Chapman)
31 For My Lover [Edit] (Tracy Chapman)
32 Born to Fight (Tracy Chapman)
33 talk (Tracy Chapman)
34 Mountains O' Things (Tracy Chapman)
35 talk (Tracy Chapman)
36 Talkin' 'bout a Revolution (Tracy Chapman)
37 talk (Tracy Chapman)
38 Be My Baby (Tracy Chapman)
39 Where the Soul Never Dies (Tracy Chapman & Natalie Merchant)

https://pixeldrain.com/u/X4dRftSL

alternate: 

https://bestfile.io/SojSNsOlHUBpier/file

The cover photo of Merchant and Chapman is from this time period, though I don't know the exact details. The background was white, but I used Photoshop to change it to black. I also used Krea AI to improve the image quality.

Various Artists - Come Together: A Night for John Lennon's Words and Music, Radio City Music Hall, New York City, 10-2-2001

I don't know much about why this particular John Lennon tribute concert happened when and where it did, with these musical artists taking part. I did find one mention that it was part of a series of tribute concerts shown on TV by the TNT channel. I do know that there are a lot of excellent performances here by talented and famous musicians. This was broadcast on TV at the time. I suspect it was edited down for television from a longer concert, because there's basically no moment wasted here, with tight edits from song to song.

Given this was a tribute to John Lennon, some key musicians were missing. Most importantly, the three other ex-Beatles Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr, as well as Lennon's musically successful son Julian Lennon. But his other (much less commercially successful) son Sean Lennon did take part. In turns out the timing was pretty terrible, because George Harrison was dying of cancer and only lived one more month. 

Also, the timing was strange because this took place only three weeks after the 9/11 terror attack, with the nation still in shock. I'm sure that was hanging over this, though it wasn't directly mentioned.

As far as I know, everything here remains officially unreleased. I don't believe it's been shared as music files anywhere on the Internet either. I happened to randomly come across a video of it on YouTube. The sound quality was excellent, so I converted it to audio and chopped it up into individual mp3 files.

Normally, these kinds of concerts with lots of different acts are a mixed bag, with winners and losers. But in this case, nearly every performance here is a winner, in my opinion. The only rendition I don't like is "Imagine," a great song but way oversung by Yolanda Adams. Maybe it's because the songs are so great that artists rise to the occasion. For instance, I'm not a fan of Dave Matthews at all, but I was impressed with his version of "In My Life" here. 

The transitions between songs was done in a rather unusual way for this type of concert. Usually, one would expect an emcee introducing the artists performing each song. But there was virtually none of that here. In fact, basically the only between song "banter" here at all are recordings of John Lennon's voice from when he was alive in the 1960s and 1970s. (He was assassinated in 1980.) It worked surprisingly well for me. Weirdly, just about the only exception was Cyndi Lauper, who introduced her performance with some comments.

The sound quality was great overall. There was just one bummer: the last song faded out before it was over. I suspect the time limit for the TV came to an end, so the music went on as long as possible before the cut off moment. The fade out happened in the middle of a chorus. I extended that a bit by patching in an earlier chorus so now at least the fade out happens just after that chorus finishes.

By the way, right after I posted this, I found out a little more information about it. The TNT channel did some other tribute concerts in the years before this (Burt Bacharach's "One Amazing Night" in 1998, which has been officially released, 1998 for Johnny Cash, 1999 for Bob Marley, 2000 for Joni Mitchell, and 2001 for Brian Wilson. The 2001 I've posted here, and I'll try to get to the other unreleased ones. The series seems to have ended after that, though, as the TNT network changed its programming focus in mid-2001, according to Wikipedia. Beck and Marc Anthony were supposed to headline this concert, but didn't do so for some reason.

This album is an hour and four minutes long.

01 Imagine (Yolanda Adams & Billy Preston)
02 talk (John Lennon)
03 In My Life (Dave Matthews)
04 talk (John Lennon)
05 Revolution (Stone Temple Pilots)
06 talk (John Lennon)
07 Dear Prudence (Alanis Morissette)
08 Across the Universe (Moby, Sean Lennon & Rufus Wainwright)
09 talk (Cyndi Lauper)
10 Strawberry Fields Forever (Cyndi Lauper)
11 talk (John Lennon)
12 Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds (Marc Anthony)
13 Mother (Shelby Lynne)
14 Instant Karma (Nelly Furtado & Dave Stewart)
15 Jealous Guy (Lou Reed)
16 Nowhere Man (Natalie Merchant)
17 Come Together (Craig David)
18 talk (John Lennon & Sean Lennon)
19 This Boy (Sean Lennon, Rufus Wainwright & Robert Schwartzman)
20 Julia (Sean Lennon)
21 talk (John Lennon)
22 Give Peace a Chance - Power to the People (Everyone)

https://www.upload.ee/files/16651268/VA-2001CmeTgthrANghtfrJhnLnnnRdioCtyMsicHllNwYrkCty__10-2-2001_atse.zip.html

The cover photo comes from this exact concert. I had a choice of different photos. I went with this one, which shows the Stone Temple Pilots performing in front of a giant screen showing a psychedelic rendition of John Lennon.

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.

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

This album is an hour and two minutes long.

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

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

Here's the usual song list:

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

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

The cover photo was taken in Paris in 1993.

Natalie Merchant - VH-1 Storytellers, Manhattan Center, New York City, 9-14-1998

I just posted a couple of albums of the band 10,000 Maniacs. Natalie Merchant was that band's main singer and songwriter. She left for a solo career in 1993. I have plans to continue with more albums of Merchants doing cover songs in her solo career. But before I get to that, I figured I'd post an album of her original material. 

This is from her appearance on the TV show "VH-1 Storytellers." The main idea behind the show was for the musical act to tell stories behind the songs they played, and she did definitely that here. 

This is unreleased on audio, but I believe it has been released as a video.

I believe the last four tracks weren't actually included in the original TV show, but were included in the video later. There also was a second take of the song "These Are Days," but I didn't include it since it was virtually the same as the version here.

The timing of this concert is excellent if you're just a casual fan. She had two really popular albums in 1995 and 1998 ("Tigerlily" and "Ophelia" respectively), then her sales went way down. So this captured her at the peak of her popularity, and includes most of her best known solo songs, as well as a few from her 10,000 Maniacs era.

This album is 51 minutes long.

01 These Are Days (Natalie Merchant)
02 talk (Natalie Merchant)
03 Carnival (Natalie Merchant)
04 talk (Natalie Merchant)
05 What's the Matter Here (Natalie Merchant)
06 talk (Natalie Merchant)
07 Kind and Generous (Natalie Merchant)
08 talk (Natalie Merchant)
09 Break Your Heart (Natalie Merchant)
10 talk (Natalie Merchant)
11 Wonder (Natalie Merchant)
12 talk (Natalie Merchant)
13 Verdi Cries (Natalie Merchant)
14 talk (Natalie Merchant)
15 Life Is Sweet (Natalie Merchant)

https://www.upload.ee/files/17172252/NATLIMERCHNT1998StrytellrsMnhattnCntrNwYrkC__9-14-1998_atse.zip.html

alternate link:

https://pixeldrain.com/u/rG9qRFC6

The cover photo is a screenshot I took from the video of this exact concert. I used the Krea AI program to upgrade the detail.

10,000 Maniacs - Cover Songs, Volume 2: 1993

This is the second and last volume of cover versions by the band 10,000 Maniacs. 

The undisputed star of 10,000 Maniacs was Natalie Merchant, who was the lead singer and wrote the lyrics of all their songs, and most of the music too. She left in 1993 to start a solo career, which was very successful. 10,000 Maniacs found a new female singer and continued without her, but other than one hit, they didn't have much success. My interest in the band ends when Merchant left.

All the songs here are from the last year Merchant was in the band. This album is about the same length as Volume 1, which deals with nine years of the band's career. Perhaps they wanted to go out with a bang, doing lots of covers of their favorite songs. Most of them are classic hits, although there are a few oddball selections. Perhaps the most surprising is "He's 1-A in the Army and He's A-1 in My Heart," which is from 1941, during World War II and have a military theme to the lyrics.

Four of the songs here have been officially released on record, with another three being released only on DVD. The first three are B-sides. "Because the Night" appeared on the band's album "MTV Unplugged." The three songs after that, tracks 6, 7, and 8, appeared on a DVD of the band's MTV show only, and feature David Byrne from the Talking Heads in a supporting role.

The other songs all come from concert bootlegs. Luckily, the band was popular enough by this time for me to be able to find soundboard recordings of all of them.

Although this is the end of covers by 10,000 Maniacs, I like Merchant's voice and her choice of cover songs. So I'll be carrying on with more cover albums dealing with her solo career. There actually are dozens more interesting covers done by 10,000 Maniacs, but I couldn't find recordings of them with soundboard-level quality, or even any recordings at all. But if anyone has more that sound as good as these do, let me know and I'll add them in.

This album is 41 minutes long. 

This is a list of the original artists for each song:

01 Everyday Is like Sunday - Morrissey
02 [Don’t Go Back To] Rockville - R.E.M.
03 To Sir with Love - Lulu
04 Son of a Preacher Man - Dusty Springfield
05 Because the Night - Patti Smith / Bruce Springsteen
06 Dallas - Jimmy Dale Gilmore
07 Let the Mystery Be - Iris DeMent
08 Jolene - Dolly Parton
09 He's 1-A in the Army and He's A-1 in My Heart - Harry James
10 I Know How to Do It - Dinah Washington
11 Drift Away - John Henry Kurtz / Dobie Grey
12 Band of Gold - Freda Payne
13 The Art of Love - Eartha Kitt
14 Long Black Veil - Lefty Frizzell

Here's the usual song list:

01 Everyday Is like Sunday (10,000 Maniacs)
02 [Don’t Go Back To] Rockville (10,000 Maniacs)
03 To Sir with Love (10,000 Maniacs)
04 Son of a Preacher Man (10,000 Maniacs)
05 Because the Night (10,000 Maniacs)
06 Dallas (10,000 Maniacs & David Byrne)
07 Let the Mystery Be (10,000 Maniacs & David Byrne)
08 Jolene (10,000 Maniacs & David Byrne)
09 He's 1-A in the Army and He's A-1 in My Heart (10,000 Maniacs)
10 I Know How to Do It (10,000 Maniacs)
11 Drift Away (10,000 Maniacs)
12 Band of Gold (10,000 Maniacs)
13 The Art of Love (10,000 Maniacs)
14 Long Black Veil (10,000 Maniacs)

https://www.upload.ee/files/16315886/10_000MNIACS1993CvrSngsVlum2_atse.zip.html

The cover photo is from a concert in Houston on June 6, 1993.

10,000 Maniacs - Cover Songs, Volume 1: 1984-1992

Natalie Merchant, the former lead singer of 10,000 Maniacs, has an interesting and unique voice. It turns out she sang lots of cover songs that generally make it to studio albums when she was with 10,000 Maniacs. There's enough for two volumes. Here's the first one.

Generally speaking, all the songs on the band's studio albums were originals. One key exception is "Peace Train" by Cat Stevens. It first appeared on the 1987 album "In My Tribe," but then it was removed after Stevens made controversial comments about the fatwa on writer Salmon Rushdie. However, the band later included it on their best of collection, "Campfire Songs." I've included a version of the song here, but it's an unreleased, from a concert bootleg.

Only five of the 14 songs here have been released. "These Days" comes from a various artists compilation. "Wildwood Flower," "Hello in There," "I Hope that I Don't Fall in Love with You," and "Starman - Moonage Daydream" are B-sides.

Everything else comes from concert bootlegs. I was very selective about the sound quality. All, or at least most all, of the live songs come from soundboard bootlegs. I also used the MVSEP audio editing program to remove the crowd noise, to make the live tracks fit in with the studio tracks. I additionally used the UVR5 program to boost the lead vocals in the cases where they were low. 

There are a lot of interesting song choices here. For instance, I didn't expect songs from before World War II by the likes of the Andrews Sisters, Vera Lynn, and the Carter Family.

This album is 42 minutes long. 

Here are the original artists for each song:

01 Rum and Coca Cola - Andrews Sisters
02 Burning Airlines Gives You So Much More - Brian Eno
03 Children, Go Where I Send Thee - traditional
04 Peace Train - Cat Stevens
05 Where the Soul Never Dies - traditional
06 From the Time You Say Goodbye - Vera Lynn
07 Wildwood Flower - Carter Family
08 Hello in There - John Prine
09 These Days - Jackson Browne
10 I Hope that I Don't Fall in Love with You - Tom Waits
11 Starman - Moonage Daydream - David Bowie
12 Needle in a Haystack - Velvelettes
13 Love Will Tear Us Apart - Joy Division
14 The Harder They Come - Jimmy Cliff

And here's the usual song list:

01 Rum and Coca Cola (10,000 Maniacs)
02 Burning Airlines Gives You So Much More (10,000 Maniacs)
03 Children, Go Where I Send Thee (10,000 Maniacs)
04 Peace Train (10,000 Maniacs)
05 Where the Soul Never Dies (Natalie Merchant & Tracy Chapman)
06 From the Time You Say Goodbye (10,000 Maniacs)
07 Wildwood Flower (10,000 Maniacs)
08 Hello in There (10,000 Maniacs)
09 These Days (10,000 Maniacs)
10 I Hope that I Don't Fall in Love with You (10,000 Maniacs)
11 Starman - Moonage Daydream (10,000 Maniacs)
12 Needle in a Haystack (10,000 Maniacs)
13 Love Will Tear Us Apart (10,000 Maniacs)
14 The Harder They Come (10,000 Maniacs)

https://www.upload.ee/files/16303015/10_000MNIACS1984-1992CvrSngsVlum1_atse.zip.html

The cover photo of lead singer Natalie Merchant is from 1990. I don't know any details.