Brandi Carlile - Cover Songs, Volume 6: 2019-2020

This is the sixth and final album in my series of Brandi Carlile's cover songs. If you've missed out on the earlier albums, it's not too late to join the party. ;) As I said with the earlier albums, you don't have to be a fan of her original material to enjoy her fantastic voice and excellent taste in cover versions.

This album follows the same patterns as the previous ones in this series. She mostly does a wide variety of classic songs, but there are a few obscurities included as well. This finishes with her version of "Hello in There" that he did on Stephen Colbert's late night talk show last month. As I explained in the first album in this series, seeing her do that on TV was how I got interested in doing this series.

In terms of sound quality, this is also similar to others in the series. Every single song is officially unreleased. The vast majority of them are from concert bootlegs. The sound on the first song, "She's Got You," is a bit iffy, but it gets better from there. I've included "I Will Always Love You" merely as a bonus track due to sound quality issues. But since it features a duet between Carlile and the song's author, Dolly Parton, who is also one of Carlile's musical heroes, I figured it merited at least bonus track status.

I used the MVSEP audio editing program to remove most of the crowd noise on the songs that had crowd noise.

It's kind of cheating to include "Bring My Flowers Now," because Carlile had a hand in writing it. Apparently, it started as a song Tanya Tucker had been trying to finish for 30 years. Carlile produced Tucker's 2019 album "While I'm Livin'" and helped her finish it. But I'm including it here as a Tanya Tucker song, since Carlile hasn't officially recorded a version herself.

This album is 52 minutes long, not including the bonus track.

Here's a list of the original artists who wrote the songs and/or made them famous:

01 She’s Got You - Patsy Cline
02 Angel - Sarah McLachlan
03 Calling All Angels - Jane Siberry
04 We Will Rock You - Queen
05 Over the Rainbow - Judy Garland
06 Wish You Were Here - Pink Floyd
07 Beware of Darkness - George Harrison
08 Little Green - Joni Mitchell
09 Finish What We Started - Zac Brown Band
10 Everything Is Free - Gillian Welch
11 Total Eclipse of the Heart - Bonnie Tyler
12 Bring My Flowers Now - Tanya Tucker
13 Hello in There - John Prine

I Will Always Love You - Dolly Parton / Whitney Houston

Here's the usual song list:

01 Angel (Brandi Carlile & Emmylou Harris)
02 Calling All Angels (Brandi Carlile with Tiffany Hanseroth)
03 We Will Rock You (Brandi Carlile)
04 Over the Rainbow (Brandi Carlile)
05 Wish You Were Here (Brandi Carlile with Mike McCready)
06 Wheels of Laredo (Brandi Carlile)
07 Beware of Darkness (Sheryl Crow & Brandi Carlile)
08 Little Green (Brandi Carlile)
09 Finish What We Started (Zac Brown Band & Brandi Carlile)
10 Everything Is Free (Courtney Barnett & Brandi Carlile)
11 Total Eclipse of the Heart (Brandi Carlile)
12 Bring My Flowers Now (Brandi Carlile)
13 Hello in There (Brandi Carlile)

I Will Always Love You (Dolly Parton & Brandi Carlile)

https://pixeldrain.com/u/bL1zTEVB

alternate:

https://bestfile.io/6J5hll3VXM7QubS/file

The cover art is a screenshot from a YouTube video of Carlile performing "Hello in There" on Stephen Colbert's TV show.

Oingo Boingo - Freak Show - Non-Album Tracks (1982-1983)

I just posted an Oingo Boingo stray tracks album that deals with the years 1980 and 1981. This one takes care of the years 1982 and 1983. The band was busy at that time, releasing the albums "Nothing to Fear" and "Good for Your Soul." But it turns out they had lots of other original songs, and could have released another album at the time. All the songs here are originals and this even includes one of their best songs, "Goodbye Goodbye." So if you're a fan of the band, please give this a listen.

The first song and the last two are the only ones that have been officially released. All three come from movie soundtracks. Although the rest are unreleased, they sound pretty good in my opinion. It helps they're all demos and outtakes instead of coming from concert recordings.

Once again, I'm really impressed at the sheer number of unreleased or obscure originals from this band. They're still very underrated, in my opinion.

This album is 38 minutes long, not including the bonus track.

One song, "Lap of Luxury," is included only a bonus track for two reasons. One is that its sound quality isn't that great. The second is that I included a different version of this song on the stray tracks album that precedes this one, "I Was a Teenage Monster." But this live version has a significantly different arrangement, so I figure it at least deserves bonus track status.

01 Better Luck Next Time (Oingo Boingo)
02 Elementary Physics (Oingo Boingo)
03 Freak Show (Oingo Boingo)
04 All the Pieces (Oingo Boingo)
05 I Can't Pretend (Oingo Boingo)
06 Lightning (Oingo Boingo)
07 Waiting for You (Oingo Boingo)
08 Head in the Clouds (Oingo Boingo)
09 Kiss My Ass (Oingo Boingo)
10 Hold Me Back (Oingo Boingo)
11 Goodbye, Goodbye (Oingo Boingo)

Lap of Luxury [Alternate Live Version] (Oingo Boingo)

https://www.upload.ee/files/15264652/OingBo_1982-1983_FreakShw_atse.zip.html

The cover art uses a publicity photo of the band from around this time period. However, there was a problem: one of the band members was way off to the side, which upset the overall composition of the photo. If I had included him, lead singer Danny Elfman wouldn't have been right in the center. So I took just the head of that band member and added it behind some of the others. Now at least his head is included.

Oingo Boingo - I Was a Teenage Monster - Non-Album Tracks (1980-1981)

In 1981, Oingo Boingo released their first album, "Only a Lad." But I think they easily could have released a second album around that time. Just consider all the unreleased or obscurely released songs here. Plus, they had even more unreleased songs from their many years before fame, such as the ones on the "Ain't This the Life" compilation. I hope someday many of these will be officially released in pristine sound quality.

Only three of the songs here have been officially released: "Violent Love," "Squeezit the Moocher (Minnie the Moocher)," and "Cruisin'." They're from an EP, a movie soundtrack, and a B-side, respectively. As you can guess from the title, "Squeezit the Moocher" is a cover of the classic 1930s song "Minnie the Moocher" but with some changed lyrics.

Speaking of covers, "Rawhide" and "Violent Love" are also covers. And "Open Eyes" is based on "Auld Lang Syne."

This album is 43 minutes long, not including the bonus tracks.

UPDATE: On January 2, 2022, I updated the mp3 download file. Previously, the song "Gimme a Break" was a bonus track due to poor sound quality. I used the audio editing program X-Minus to boost the lead vocals, which was the main problem. So I deemed it good enough to be included with the regular album. I also used that same X-Minus trick to improve the sound quality of an existing bonus track, "I Always Talk to Pictures," and a new bonus track, "Animals." Although that helped they still sound worse than the rest, thus the bonus track status.

Also, I previously called an instrumental here "Woke Up Clipped" because this was the name on virtually all bootlegs. But it recently emerged from a source close to the band that it was actually called "Nature Zone." So I've renamed it, but I've kept the old name as a subtitle, since it has been referred to by that name so much.

01 Violent Love (Oingo Boingo)
02 Squeezit the Moocher [Minnie the Moocher] (Oingo Boingo)
03 Lap of Luxury (Oingo Boingo)
04 Nature Zone [Woke Up Clipped] [Instrumental] (Oingo Boingo)
05 Rawhide (Oingo Boingo)
06 Gimme a Break [Edit] (Oingo Boingo)
07 Cruisin' (Oingo Boingo)
08 I Was a Teenage Monster (Oingo Boingo)
09 Louise (Oingo Boingo)
10 I've Got to Be Entertained (Oingo Boingo)
11 Two Twisted Trees (Oingo Boingo)
12 Always There (Oingo Boingo)
13 Cinderella Undercover (Oingo Boingo)
14 Open Eyes [Auld Lang Syne] (Oingo Boingo)

Animals [Edit] (Oingo Boingo)
I Always Talk to Pictures [Edit] (Oingo Boingo)

https://www.upload.ee/files/16067755/OingBo_1980-1981_IWsTeenageMnster_atse.zip.html

Given that early Oingo Boingo especially cultivated a sinister image, the song "I Was a Teenage Monster" stuck out to me as an album title. For the cover art, I searched for and found the most sinister photo of lead singer Danny Elfman I could find. I'm not sure where it's from exactly, but it looks to be roughly the right era. I designed the album cover while imagining it as the poster for a 1960s low budget horror film.

KT Tunstall - Royal Albert Hall Benefit, Home Concert, Los Angeles, CA, 4-30-2020

I've owned and enjoyed KT Tunstall's 2004 debut album "Eye to the Telescope" for a long time, but I never took the time to check out her other stuff. However, I knew she's a talented songwriter with an impressive voice, so when I saw the other day that she recently did an acoustic home concert recently, I decided to give it a listen. I was so impressed that not only am I posting that concert here, but it's given me the impetus to check out her other albums.

I recommend you give this a listen as well. You probably know her from her two big hits off her debut album, "Black Horse and the Cherry Tree" and "Suddenly I See." Both are undeniable classics in my opinion, and there have been too few of those in the last 20 years. But her talent runs a lot deeper than just those two songs. I suspect she's been under-promoted and mismanaged by her record company, because otherwise I can't figure why she hasn't been more successful.

Like a Richard Thompson home concert I posted recently, this was done as part of a benefit for the Royal Albert Hall in London, due to that venue running into financial trouble caused by the economic fallout of the coronavirus epidemic. But Tunstall recorded her concert from her home in Los Angeles. All the songs are originals, including one song, "Anything at All," that she hasn't released yet and had never played in public before.

Although all the songs are originals, in order to sweeten the pot for those of you who aren't that familiar with her music, I've added cover versions at the very beginning and the end. She did "I Want You Back" by the Jackson 5 and "I Won't Back Down" by Tom Petty as one-off performances in the days around this concert, so I think they fit in pretty well. I moved her final few seconds of comments after the last song of the concert to after the song added at the end, to give the impression that it was all one show.

The concert is an hour and four minutes long, if you include the two added songs. She has a lot of lively banter between songs. I've kept nearly all of it, though I did edit it a bit here and there to tighten things up, removing guitar tuning and dead air and the like.

01 talk (KT Tunstall)
02 I Want You Back (KT Tunstall)
03 talk (KT Tunstall)
04 Heal Over (KT Tunstall)
05 talk (KT Tunstall)
06 Backlash and Vinegar (KT Tunstall)
07 talk (KT Tunstall)
08 Other Side of the World (KT Tunstall)
09 talk (KT Tunstall)
10 Another Place to Fall (KT Tunstall)
11 talk (KT Tunstall)
12 Feel It All (KT Tunstall)
13 talk (KT Tunstall)
14 Black Horse and the Cherry Tree (KT Tunstall)
15 talk (KT Tunstall)
16 Anything at All (KT Tunstall)
17 talk (KT Tunstall)
18 If Only (KT Tunstall)
19 talk (KT Tunstall)
20 On My Star (KT Tunstall)
21 talk (KT Tunstall)
22 The River (KT Tunstall)
23 talk (KT Tunstall)
24 Invisible Empire (KT Tunstall)
25 talk (KT Tunstall)
26 Stoppin' the Love (KT Tunstall)
27 talk (KT Tunstall)
28 Suddenly I See (KT Tunstall)
29 talk (KT Tunstall)
30 I Won't Back Down (KT Tunstall)
31 talk (KT Tunstall)

https://www.upload.ee/files/15603143/KTTnstl_2020a_RoyalAlbrtHllBenefitHomConcrt_LsAnglesCA__4-30-2020_atse.zip.html

The cover art is a screenshot from the concert in question. For most of the concert, her face was covered in shadow due to the brim of her hat. I chose one of the few moments her head was tilted back so her face was well lighted.

Loudon Wainwright III - Songs I Wish I'd Written, Home Concert, New York City, 4-25-2020

Loudon Wainwright III is a talented singer-songwriter who has been steadily putting out albums since 1970. This is the first time I've featured him on this blog. He's also another new artist added to the growing collection of musicians with home concerts performed during the coronavirus lockdown.

Wainwright has lots of excellent original songs. But for this particular concert, he chose the theme "Song I Wish I'd Written." That means it's all covers. And that's fine with me, since all-covers albums has become a common theme for this blog. Perhaps not surprisingly, most of the songs done are similar to Wainwright's originals, with literate and often wry lyrics. But there are some surprises, such as the Motown classic "My Girl" and the Drifters classic "On Broadway."

I'm especially happy to see he covers a Tom Lehrer song "Oedipus Rex." Lehrer has probably written the funniest songs of all time, with this song being a good example. I would post some Lehrer music to help share it, except he doesn't have any "Albums That Should Exist." A box set called "The Remains of Tom Lehrer" ably gathered up all of his stuff. So I recommend you get that, or a "best of" if you want to start small.

The sound quality is very good, but not excellent, pretty much on par with most of the other home concerts. I broke up all his banter between songs into their own tracks. Then I boosted the volume for those, as I usually find I need to do. I also cut out a bit of his talking (though not much). In addition, there was so much guitar tuning that at one point he made a joke about it. I left the joke in, but cut out the vast majority of the tuning that led to the joke.

For the song "Don't Think Twice, It's Alright," he forgot the words to one of the verses. There was a long pause as he tried to remember them. Finally he did, but he only spoke them instead of singing them, before resuming the song. I edited that down so it seems as he intended to have a little spoken section. I think it actually works pretty well that way.

The last song is a bonus track of sorts. It doesn't come from the concert, and it's an original, so it doesn't fit the covers theme. However it was recorded in his home just four days later. It's a funny song about the toilet paper shortage during the lockdown, with the fitting title "Toilet Roll Blues."

Including that last song, the album is an hour and eight minutes long.

Here's a list of the original artists. I've removed the tracks that are just talking, so the song numbers have some missing:

02 On Broadway - Drifters
04 Ever Since the World Ended - Mose Allison
06 Yankee Lady - Jesse Winchester
08 No Wonder She's a Blushing Bride - Art Fowler
10 Today I Started Loving You Again - Merle Haggard
12 Withered and Died - Richard & Linda Thompson
14 Don't Think Twice, It's Alright - Bob Dylan
16 Paradise - John Prine
17 Harmless - Michael Marra
19 My Girl - Temptations / Smokey Robinson
21 You Can't Fail Me Now - Joe Henry & Loudon Wainwright III
23 Love Hurts - Everly Brothers
25 Oedipus Rex - Tom Lehrer
27 The Angel of Death - Hank Williams
29 Feel So Good - Mose Allison
31 Daughter - Peter Blevgad
32 Toilet Roll Blues - Loudon Wainwright III

Here's the full, usual song list:

01 talk (Loudon Wainwright III)
02 On Broadway (Loudon Wainwright III)
03 talk (Loudon Wainwright III)
04 Ever Since the World Ended (Loudon Wainwright III)
05 talk (Loudon Wainwright III)
06 Yankee Lady (Loudon Wainwright III)
07 talk (Loudon Wainwright III)
08 No Wonder She's a Blushing Bride (Loudon Wainwright III)
09 talk (Loudon Wainwright III)
10 Today I Started Loving You Again (Loudon Wainwright III)
11 talk (Loudon Wainwright III)
12 Withered and Died (Loudon Wainwright III)
13 talk (Loudon Wainwright III)
14 Don't Think Twice, It's Alright [Edit] (Loudon Wainwright III)
15 talk (Loudon Wainwright III)
16 Paradise (Loudon Wainwright III)
17 Harmless (Loudon Wainwright III)
18 talk (Loudon Wainwright III)
19 My Girl (Loudon Wainwright III)
20 talk (Loudon Wainwright III)
21 You Can't Fail Me Now (Loudon Wainwright III)
22 talk (Loudon Wainwright III)
23 Love Hurts (Loudon Wainwright III)
24 talk (Loudon Wainwright III)
25 Oedipus Rex (Loudon Wainwright III)
26 talk (Loudon Wainwright III)
27 The Angel of Death (Loudon Wainwright III)
28 Intro to Feel So Good (Loudon Wainwright III)
29 Feel So Good (Loudon Wainwright III)
30 talk (Loudon Wainwright III)
31 Daughter (Loudon Wainwright III)
32 Toilet Roll Blues (Loudon Wainwright III)

https://www.upload.ee/files/15274859/LoudonWainW_2020_SngsIWshIdWrittenHmeConcrtNYC__4-25-2020_atse.zip.html

The cover art is a screenshot from the concert in question.

Brandi Carlile - Cover Songs, Volume 5: 2017-2019

So far, I still haven't gotten much feedback on these Brandi Carlile covers albums. If you're enjoying this (and/or these sorts of covers collections in general), please give a shout out.

Anyway, I'm digging Brandi's covers. I think she has a great voice, and knows how to use it. So here's Volume 5. This one isn't very different from the others in this series. Mostly, she covers disputably classic songs, but she also throws in a couple of surprises.

One example of a lesser known choice is "Rich." Technically, it shouldn't be here, since Carlile co-wrote it with two of her band members. But I'm including it because it's a nice song, and she's never performed it except this version, which has only been available through an Internet website. She wrote it for Tanya Tucker and Tucker did it on her 2019 album "While I'm Livin'," which Carlile produced. So in that sense, one can see it as a cover of a Tanya Tucker song.

I also have to mention that not only do I appreciate Carlile's choice in cover songs, I also am impressed with her breadth of styles. How many people would cover both the "uncool" John Denver and the grunge band "Soundgarden?"

I used the MVSEP audio editing program to remove most of the crowd noise on the songs that had crowd noise.

This album is 54 minutes long, not including the bonus track.

Here are the artists who did the originals:

01 I Think It's Going to Rain Today -  Randy Newman
02 Rich - Tanya Tucker (kind of!)
03 Jolene - Dolly Parton
04 Rocky Mountain High - Sunshine On My Shoulders - John Denver
05 Amazing Grace - traditional
06 Madman Across the Water - Elton John
07 Respect - Aretha Franklin
08 A Case of You - Joni Mitchell
09 Babe, I'm Gonna Leave You - traditional / Led Zeppelin
10 Down to You - Joni Mitchell
11 Travelin' Light - Dierks Bentley
12 Do Right Woman, Do Right Man - Aretha Franklin
13 Black Hole Sun - Soundgarden

Personal Jesus - Depeche Mode

"Personal Jesus" is separated from the rest because it's only a bonus track. I downgraded it to that because I felt it was borderline in terms of sound quality. But, in contrast to some other songs that didn't make the cut, I figured it was an interesting choice in covers that some people might want to hear.

Here is the usual song list:

01 I Think It's Going to Rain Today (Brandi Carlile)
02 Rich (Brandi Carlile)
03 Jolene (Brandi Carlile)
04 Rocky Mountain High - Sunshine on My Shoulders (Brandi Carlile)
05 Amazing Grace (Brandi Carlile with the Secret Sisters)
06 Madman Across the Water (Brandi Carlile)
07 Respect (Brandi Carlile & Jim James)
08 A Case of You (Brandi Carlile)
09 Babe, I'm Gonna Leave You (Brandi Carlile)
10 Down to You (Brandi Carlile)
11 Travelin' Light (Dierks Bentley & Brandi Carlile)
12 Do Right Woman, Do Right Man (Brandi Carlile)
13 Black Hole Sun (Brandi Carlile, Soundgarden & Peter Frampton)

Personal Jesus (Brandi Carlile)

https://pixeldrain.com/u/s2XWqk71

alternate:

https://bestfile.io/en/U7yJ1NUHWbFESpG/file

The cover photo comes from a concert in Austin, Texas, in 2018.

Lucinda Williams - Big Road Blues - Non-Album Tracks (1998-2000)

I recently discovered a different way to search for songs, and realized I'd missed a bunch of songs for my Lucinda Williams stray tracks collections. I'll write more about that below, but one result is that I found so many songs that I've created this new album, in addition to updating some other albums.

The songs here are a mix of songs that I've moved from other stray tracks albums as well as some new ones I found. The new ones are: "Down the Big Road Blues," "Wings of a Dove," "Wedding Bells - Let's Turn Back the Years," "Down to the Well," and "The Ship."

By the way, "Down the Big Road Blues" is a blues cover that Bonnie Raitt also did on one of her early albums, expect Raitt simply called it "Big Road." So I've added that in as an alternate title. To further confound matters, I decided to name this album "Big Road Blues" instead of the other two names. I just thought it sounded better.

Looking at this album as a whole, every song has been officially released and all of them are studio versions, so the sound quality is great. It's the usual stray tracks mix of bonus tracks, various artists compilations songs, and songs (usually duets) from other people's albums. The vast majority of the songs are cover versions.

By the way, I'm aware that the song "Lines Around Your Eyes" appeared on her 1992 album "Sweet Old World." But this version with the band Leftover Salmon has a significantly different, and more lively, arrangement, so I figured it was worth including.

01 Here in California (Lucinda Williams)
02 Down the Big Road Blues [Big Road] (Lucinda Williams)
03 Wings of a Dove (Nanci Griffith & Lucinda Williams)
04 Out of Touch (Lucinda Williams)
05 Come to Me Baby (Lucinda Williams)
06 If I Don't Know Love (Chip Taylor & Lucinda Williams)
07 Lines Around Your Eyes (Leftover Salmon & Lucinda Williams)
08 Return of the Grievous Angel (Lucinda Williams with David Crosby)
09 Love Hurts (Little Milton & Lucinda Williams)
10 Cool Blues Story (Evie Sands & Lucinda Williams)
11 Wedding Bells - Let's Turn Back the Years (John Prine & Lucinda Williams)
12 Down to the Well (Kevin Gordon & Lucinda Williams)

https://www.upload.ee/files/16376578/LUCNDWLLMS1998-2000BgRadBlus_atse.zip.html

The cover art photo comes from the New Orleans Jazz Festival in 2001.

Richard Thompson with Zara Phillips - Royal Albert Hall Benefit - Home Concert, Montclair, NJ, 5-10-2020

Due to the worldwide coronavirus lockdown, Richard Thompson has been playing home concerts every few weeks. The first one was on March 30, 2020. It was a fine performance, but it was marred by middling sound quality due to the way it was broadcast onto the Internet. You can find that performance here:

https://albumsthatshouldexist.blogspot.com/2020/03/richard-thompson-with-zara-phillips.html

On April 19, 2020, Thompson did a second home concert. Unfortunately, the sound problem was even worse. There were small gaps of lost sound all the way through it, around 20 to 30 a song. It rendered the recording unlistenable, in my opinion, so I haven't posted that one here.

Happily, the third time is the charm. He did his third home concert just two days ago as I write this. This one was a benefit for the Royal Albert Hall, asking people to give donations to help that concert venue stay open through plummeting revenue due to the virus situation. Just to be clear, though this concert was for the Royal Albert Hall, it took place at Thompson's house. This time, for the first time, Thompson appears to have done the recording from a different room in his house where he has professional studio equipment. So the sound quality is significantly better than the first concert, and there were no transmission glitches as in the second concert.

It terms of content, he played songs from throughout his career, with two new songs he hasn't recorded yet "("If I Could Live My Life" and "Survivor"). He did the first one at the first home concert, but the second one was played publicly for the first time here. For the second half of the concert he was joined by his romantic partner and fellow musician Zara Phillips, who added some nice vocal harmonies.

The only disappointment about this concert in my opinion is that it's rather short, at only 35 minutes.

01 talk (Richard Thompson)
02 Gethsemane (Richard Thompson)
03 talk (Richard Thompson)
04 Withered and Died (Richard Thompson)
05 talk (Richard Thompson)
06 If I Could Live My Life Again (Richard Thompson)
07 talk (Richard Thompson)
08 The Rattle Within (Richard Thompson with Zara Phillips)
09 talk (Richard Thompson with Zara Phillips)
10 Survivor (Richard Thompson with Zara Phillips)
11 talk (Richard Thompson with Zara Phillips)
12 The Storm Won't Come (Richard Thompson with Zara Phillips)
13 talk (Richard Thompson with Zara Phillips)
14 Wall of Death (Richard Thompson with Zara Phillips)
15 talk (Richard Thompson with Zara Phillips)
16 When the Saints Rise Out of Their Graves (Richard Thompson with Zara Phillips)
17 talk (Richard Thompson with Zara Phillips)

https://www.upload.ee/files/15271025/RichrdT_2020b_RoyalAlbrtHallBnefitHomeConcrtMontclairNJ__5-10-2020_atse.zip.html

The cover art is a screenshot from the concert in question.

Brandi Carlile - Cover Songs, Volume 4: 2015-2017

This is Volume 4 of my six albums of Brandi Carlile doing cover songs. I don't want to repeat myself too much, so I'll just say that she has a fantastic voice and excellent taste in cover songs, so this is a good listen.

In terms of sound quality, nine out of the 14 songs are officially unreleased. Sometimes that can mean dodgy sound, but as I said with earlier albums, I've maintained high standards. I have musical associate Lil Panda veto the inclusion of a few that were borderline.  I used the MVSEP audio editing program to remove most of the crowd noise on the songs that had crowd noise.

When it comes to song selection, the vast majority are undisputed classics. But she does do a few songs that are more recent and lesser known, including an Adele song. Perhaps some of them will be considered classics someday.

This album is 53 minutes long.

Here are the original artists for each song:

01 Mary - Patty Griffin
02 Hallelujah - Leonard Cohen
03 River - Joni Mitchell
04 Angel from Montgomery - John Prine / Bonnie Raitt
05 God Only Knows - Beach Boys
06 Lovesick Blues - Emmett Miller / Hank Williams
07 Red Dirt Girl - Emmylou Harris
08 I've Just Seen a Face - Beatles
09 Going to California - Led Zeppelin
10 Born to Run - Bruce Springsteen
11 Tie Your Mother Down - Queen
12 Cleanup Hitter - Shovels & Rope
13 When We Were Young - Adele
14 Mad World - Tears for Fears

Here's the song list:

01 Mary (Brandi Carlile)
02 Hallelujah (Brandi Carlile)
03 River (Brandi Carlile)
04 Angel from Montgomery (Buddy Miller & Brandi Carlile)
05 God Only Knows (Brandi Carlile)
06 Lovesick Blues (Brandi Carlile)
07 Red Dirt Girl (Brandi Carlile)
08 I've Just Seen a Face (Brandi Carlile)
09 Going to California (Brandi Carlile)
10 Born to Run (Brandi Carlile)
11 Tie Your Mother Down (Brandi Carlile)
12 Cleanup Hitter (Brandi Carlile with Shovels & Rope)
13 When We Were Young (Brandi Carlile)
14 Mad World (John Paul White & Brandi Carlile)

https://pixeldrain.com/u/SGWdHuxL

alternate:

https://bestfile.io/en/vWKS5yLR4HNDsbC/file

The cover art photo comes from a concert in Del Mar, California, in 2015.

Still More about Vitamin D

I'm a politically progressive person, but I try to keep the focus of this blog on music. That said, if there's one thing I'm sure everyone can agree on, it's that nobody wants to get sick with the coronavirus. So, going all the way back to the beginning of March, I've had two posts touting the effectiveness of vitamin D in fighting respiratory illnesses like Covid-19.

That time was too soon to know for sure if vitamin D is effective against Covid-19 specifically. But time has passed and research is coming out suggesting that not only is it effective with the virus, but it's very effective. Why the media and the government isn't being more vocal in encouraging people to take vitamin D is beyond me. Here's the results of a recent study:

https://www.ibtimes.co.in/vitamin-d-deficiency-increases-covid-19-mortality-research-shows-819533

Vitamin D may not be the only thing you can take to help prevent the virus. Again, it's still too early for many scientific studies of this type to be completed. But a few days ago, a consortium of hospitals in Virginia published a list of things you can take that may help. Again, this is provisional, but it's something to keep in mind while we wait for better data.

Vitamind C (500 mg)
Quercetin (250-500 mg)
Zinc (75-100 mg, acetate, gluconate or picolnate)
Melatonin (slow release version, begin with .3 mg and increase as tolerated to 2 mg at night)
Vitamin D3 (1000-14000 u/day)

Another one discussed but not put on the list is selenium.

Here's the source of the above list. It includes even more information, such as suggestions on what to take if you actually get sick with it:

https://www.evms.edu/media/evms_public/departments/internal_medicine/Marik-Covid-Protocol-Summary.pdf

Anyway, if anybody knows more, pro or con, about this or other things one can do or take to prevent getting the virus, please pass it on. Please keep practicing social distancing, and stay healthy!

Neil Finn - Home Concerts 5, Los Angeles, CA, 4-12-2020 to 4-15-2020

This is the fifth album of Neil Finn's home concerts I've posted here.

Compared to his other home concert albums I've posted, there are relatively few cover versions this time. This one has "Everybody's Talkin'" by Fred Neil / Harry Nilsson, "Man of the World" by Fleetwood Mac, and "Lola" by the Kinks. "Lola" is performed by both Neil Finn and Jimmy Barnes. (Barnes is a huge musical star in Australia, but has only had one hit in the US, the song "Good Times" done with INXS.) Barnes sent his contribution remotely, since he was doing his lockdown somewhere else. There also are versions of Split Enz and Crowded House songs like "Sweet Dreams" and "Four Seasons in One Day."

In terms of sound quality and length, it's basically the same as all the previous albums in this series. If you like those, you'll like this one too. By the way, note that some of the songs chosen are especially fitting for the coronavirus crisis, such as "Recluse" and "Isolation."

01 Sweet Dreams (Neil Finn with Elroy Finn)
02 English Trees (Neil Finn with Elroy Finn)
03 Wherever You Are (Neil Finn with Elroy Finn)
04 Four Seasons in One Day (Neil Finn with Elroy Finn)
05 Recluse (Neil Finn)
06 Everybody's Talkin' (Neil Finn)
07 Divebomber (Neil Finn)
08 There Goes God (Neil Finn)
09 Man of the World (Neil Finn)
10 The Devil You Know (Neil Finn)
11 Isolation (Neil Finn)
12 Never Be the Same (Neil Finn)
13 Last Day of June (Neil Finn)
14 Only Talking Sense (Neil Finn)
15 Lola (Neil Finn & Jimmy Barnes)

https://www.upload.ee/files/17363161/NEILFNN2020HmeConcrts05LsAnglesCA__4-12-2020_to_4-15-2020_atse.zip.html

alternate:

https://pixeldrain.com/u/Ff8bEWzs

 The cover art is a photo of Finn at home during the lockdown, playing a piano. It's not the greatest picture, but I figure it's something different instead of having him holding a guitar in the other photos in this album series.

Brandi Carlile - Cover Songs, Volume 3: 2011-2013

Here's Volume 3 out of my six albums series of Brandi Carlile doing cover songs. I haven't gotten much feedback on the first two albums yet, but I hope you're enjoying them. As I said previously, she's got a fantastic voice, and a great taste in covers.

The songs on this album are more varied than on the previous one. That one was pretty much all classics. This one has some more unusual choices. But they're all good songs as well as good performances, or I wouldn't have included them.

In terms of sound quality, only three of the songs have been officially released. But I've tried hard to maintain high standards for this whole series, although that meant cutting some songs. That's the case here also.  I used the MVSEP audio editing program to remove most of the crowd noise on the songs that had crowd noise.

This album is 50 minutes long.

These are the artists that did the original and/or most famous versions:

01 Me and Bobby McGee - Kris Kristofferson - Janis Joplin
02 He Stopped Loving Her Today - George Jones
03 O Holy Night - Adolphe Adam
04 The Chain - Fleetwood Mac
05 I've Got to Use My Imagination - Gladys Knight & the Pips
06 The Neverending Story - Limahl
07 Simple Man - Graham Nash
08 Girls Just Want to Have Fun - Cyndi Lauper
09 Murder in the City - Avett Brothers
10 Keep on the Sunny Side - Carter Family
11 I Can't Make You Love Me - Bonnie Raitt
12 Work Song - Hozier
13 Bring It On Home to Me - Sam Cooke

Here's the usual song list:

01 Me and Bobby McGee (Brandi Carlile)
02 He Stopped Loving Her Today (Brandi Carlile)
03 O Holy Night (Brandi Carlile)
04 The Chain (Brandi Carlile)
05 I've Got to Use My Imagination (Brandi Carlile with Stephen Stills & John Mayer)
06 The Neverending Story (Shooter Jennings & Brandi Carlile)
07 Simple Man (Brandi Carlile)
08 Girls Just Want to Have Fun (Brandi Carlile)
09 Murder in the City (Brandi Carlile)
10 Keep on the Sunny Side (Brandi Carlile with the Avett Brothers)
11 I Can't Make You Love Me (Brandi Carlile)
12 Work Song (Brandi Carlile)
13 Bring It On Home to Me (Brandi Carlile & Anderson East)

https://pixeldrain.com/u/YUDHdEDP

alternate:

https://bestfile.io/en/SFobweDMHFWTG17/file

The cover art photo comes from an appearance on the Jimmy Fallon Show in 2013.

The Eagles - Shoreline Amphitheatre, Mountain View, CA, 6-8-1994

Sometimes when I'm putting these albums together, things work out so nicely that it's almost uncanny. This is one of those times. :) I just posted a bootleg of the Eagles performing a full concert for MTV Unplugged in 1994. After doing two shows for MTV, the Eagles went on a lengthy tour. When I was getting ready to post that concert yesterday, I wondered if they'd played some songs on that tour that they didn't play for MTV Unplugged. I'd expected maybe a couple, because the Unplugged show was two hours long and included lots of big hits. To my surprise, I found a concert from two months later in 1994 that had almost another hour and a half of different songs!

So I've made this album. It contains absolutely zero songs in the MTV Unplugged concert I just posted, making it the ideal complimentary album to that one. And while the song quality for the Unplugged show is fantastic, this is nearly as good. It too comes from a soundboard, with the audience noise fairly low compared to the music from the band.

The Eagles are one of the most successful musical acts of all time, and Don Henley, Glenn Frey, and Joe Walsh had lots of solo success on top of that. The Unplugged show was dominated by Eagles hits and only had a smattering of their solo hits. This recording, by contrast, has a much higher percentage of solo material, including some all-time classics, like "The Boys of Summer," "Life's Been Good," and "Rocky Mountain Way." Including the quasi-bonus tracks (which I will explain below), only five of the songs here were originally done by the Eagles, while 12 were not. In a way, I think this is the more interesting concert in that it allows you to hear Eagles versions of solo songs.

As for those three quasi-bonus tracks, after all the hits the Eagles played at the MTV Unplugged concert, and then at this concert, there are still more big hits that they didn't include! Three of them - "Walk Away," "Sunset Grill," and "The Long Run" - were done for a concert 10 years later that was released on video. So I've included them. You might or might not want to keep them, depending on what you think of adding in performances from a full decade later.

Note though that even with those three songs included, there are still more big hits not included, such as "Witchy Woman," "Turn to Stone," "All Night Long," "A Life of Illusion," "The End of the Innocence," "The Last Worthless Evening," "The Heat Is On," and more.

01 Victim of Love (Eagles)
02 talk (Eagles)
03 New Kid in Town (Eagles)
04 talk (Eagles)
05 Ordinary Average Guy (Eagles)
06 talk (Eagles)
07 Lyin' Eyes (Eagles)
08 talk (Eagles)
09 You Belong to the City (Eagles)
10 The Boys of Summer (Eagles)
11 Funk No. 49 (Eagles)
12 Dirty Laundry (Eagles)
13 Smuggler's Blues (Eagles)
14 Life's Been Good (Eagles)
15 All She Wants to Do Is Dance (Eagles)
16 Amazing Grace [Instrumental] (Eagles)
17 Rocky Mountain Way (Eagles)
18 Already Gone (Eagles)
19 Walk Away (Eagles)
20 Sunset Grill (Eagles)
21 The Long Run (Eagles)

https://pixeldrain.com/u/EhX66BUv

alternate:

https://bestfile.io/en/7QAZzlJF2xd4N7X/file

For the album cover, I used another photo of the band at their MTV Unplugged concert. I suspect it's from the concert video of that. I found surprisingly few good photos from their 1994 tour, other than that. In February 2025, I upgraded the image slightly with the help of the Krea AI program.

The Eagles - MTV Unplugged, Warner Brothers Studios, Burbank, CA, 4-25-1994

Here's a remarkable bootleg recording. I never knew it existed until I luckily stumbled upon it yesterday. I've immediately fixed it up so I can share it. In short, in 1994, the Eagles got back together after 14 years and recorded a concert for MTV Unplugged. They later released it as the album "Hell Freezes Over" with four additional studio tracks. It went on to sell millions and millions of copies. This is not that. But the very next night they did a second MTV Unplugged show, and this is that. This is actually better than the "Hell Freezes Over" in several ways I will explain. If you're an Eagles fan, you definitely will want to hear this.

First off, I have to point out the incredible sound quality. Even though it's a bootleg, the sound is so good that sometimes you can hear the squeaking of fingers sliding on the guitar strings. Clearly, this was professionally recorded as part of a plan to make the "Hell Freezes Over" album, but the other night was chosen instead.

What's even better though is that this is a full concert, lasting three minutes shy of two hours, whereas "Hell Freezes Over" only includes about 60 minutes of live music. There are 22 songs here, compared to 11 live songs on that album. As mentioned above, that album had the four studio tracks as well. This concert has those same four new songs ("Get Over It," "Love Will Keep Us Alive," "The Girl from Yesterday," and "Learn to Be Still"), but in live versions. Even the live tracks on "Hell Freezes Over" apparently had a lot of tweaking and overdubbing done to them. There's none of that here. Nor is any necessary. The performance is pretty much flawless. (But the band is known for being perfectionist, so I suppose the tinkering isn't that surprising.)

Ironically, given what I just said about tinkering, I did some editing myself - but not of the music. One thing I did was cut out a lot of dead air between songs. Because this was being recorded to potentially be shown on TV, the band wanted to get everything just right, so there were longer delays than usual between songs. There also were false starts to two of the songs. I got rid of those as well. Additionally, I separated all the talking between songs onto their own tracks and usually upped the volume on those some.

In my opinion, if you want just one live Eagles recording, this is the one to get. It was recorded right at the tail end of their main hit making era, with the five most important band members (from the "Long Run" era) still in the band and relatively young and vital. And it's not just a carbon copy of their studio recordings. The first portion of it is in acoustic format, mostly. They go back to rocking with electric instruments for the second half, but even that is different due to the inclusion of a full orchestra.

01 Peaceful Easy Feeling (Eagles)
02 talk (Eagles)
03 Best of My Love (Eagles)
04 talk (Eagles)
05 Tequila Sunrise (Eagles)
06 Help Me through the Night (Eagles)
07 talk (Eagles)
08 The Heart of the Matter (Eagles)
09 talk (Eagles)
10 Love Will Keep Us Alive (Eagles)
11 talk (Eagles)
12 Learn to Be Still (Eagles)
13 talk (Eagles)
14 Hotel California (Eagles)
15 Wasted Time (Eagles)
16 Lover's Moon (Eagles)
17 talk (Eagles)
18 Pretty Maids All in a Row (Eagles)
19 I Can't Tell You Why (Eagles)
20 talk (Eagles)
21 The Girl from Yesterday (Eagles)
22 talk (Eagles)
23 New York Minute (Eagles)
24 talk (Eagles)
25 The Last Resort (Eagles)
26 talk (Eagles)
27 Take It Easy (Eagles)
28 One of These Nights (Eagles)
29 In the City (Eagles)
30 Heartache Tonight (Eagles)
31 talk (Eagles)
32 Life in the Fast Lane (Eagles)
33 talk (Eagles)
34 Get Over It (Eagles)
35 talk (Eagles)
36 Desperado (Eagles)

https://pixeldrain.com/u/W5n6zW8d

alternate:

https://bestfile.io/en/l5rYCU1yuC0IF3k/file

The cover art photo comes from the two nights the band played their MTV Unplugged concerts. Chances are it's from the first night, and is a screenshot from the video of that show. In February 2025, I improved the image slightly with the help of the Krea AI program.

Manfred Mann - BBC Sessions, Volume 2: 1966-1969

Here's my other album of Manfred Mann's 1960s performances at the BBC. This one starts in mid-1966, when the band's lead singer Paul Jones was replaced by Mike d'Abo. It ends when the band broke up in early 1969. (The band would morph into Manfred Mann Chapter III with significantly different personnel, and then later into Manfred Mann's Earth Band after still more changes.)

I did this in the exact same way I did the first album that deals with the band's 1964 to 1966 BBC performances. Using material from the "Radio Days" official albums, I only used one version of each song. Then I also eliminated any songs that the band never did on record. As I explained in my previous post about the band, I'll be using those recordings elsewhere. So that mostly just leaves the band playing versions of their best known songs.

Also like the previous BBC album by this band, I systematically removed any instance when the BBC DJs talked over the music. Using the sound editing software X-Minus, I was able to wipe the talking completely while keeping the underlying music. Some people commented that they're fond of those DJs. If you like their talking, you still have the option of listening to them on the official "Radio Days" album. This provides an option for those who just want to hear the music. The ones I did change have "[Edit]" in the title.

Personally, I think Manfred Mann came into their own in their second phase, when Mike d'Abo was the lead singer. About half the songs here were hits, and many of the songs were written by band members. So if you like 1960s music but you've never paid much attention to the band, this is a good place to start.

This album is 46 minutes long.

01 Just like a Woman (Manfred Mann)
02 Mohair Sam (Manfred Mann)
03 Semi-Detached Suburban Mr. James (Manfred Mann)
04 Morning after the Party [Edit] (Manfred Mann)
05 Ha Ha Said the Clown (Manfred Mann)
06 Sweet Pea (Manfred Mann)
07 So Long Dad (Manfred Mann)
08 Hoochie Coochie Man [Edit] (Manfred Mann)
09 The Mighty Quinn [Quinn the Eskimo] (Manfred Mann)
10 Cubist Town [Edit] (Manfred Mann)
11 Sleepy Hollow [Edit] (Manfred Mann)
12 My Name Is Jack (Manfred Mann)
13 The Vicar's Daughter [Edit] (Manfred Mann)
14 Each and Every Day [Day Time, Night Time] [Edit] (Manfred Mann)
15 Fox on the Run (Manfred Mann)
16 Ragamuffin Man (Manfred Mann)

https://www.upload.ee/files/15157771/ManfredM_1966-1969_BBSessionsVolume2_atse.zip.html

The publicity photo I used for the cover art dates to 1967.

Brandi Carlile - Cover Songs, Volume 2: 2011-2013

Yesterday, I posted Volume 1 in my series of albums of Brandi Carlile performing cover songs. Today is Volume 2, and I hope to post each succeeding album on following days. There are six in all.

As I explained in my previous post about her, up until very recently, I had no opinion about Carlile. She's been successful both in terms of sales and criticism with her original material. But this is all covers, so that's a moot point. What matters here is her choice in songs, and how well she performs them. I think she has great taste, choosing great songs in a variety of genres.  Unlike the last album in this series, which had a few obscure songs, every song here is an undeniable classic. And her voice is top notch, one of the best of her generation. So what's not to like? If you've never heard her before, please give this a listen.

When it comes to sound quality, 11 out of 15 of the songs here are officially unreleased. But, as I said in my notes for the last album in this series, I've maintained a high standard over which songs to include. These all sound good.  I used the MVSEP audio editing program to remove most of the crowd noise on the songs that had crowd noise.

This album is 52 minutes long.

Here are the original artists for each song:

01 Can't Help Falling in Love - Elvis Presley
02 Crazy - Patsy Cline / Willie Nelson
03 Nothing Compares 2 U - Prince / Sinead O'Connor
04 It's Over - Roy Orbison
05 Down on the Corner - Creedence Clearwater Revival
06 Landslide - Fleetwood Mac
07 Folsom Prison Blues - Johnny Cash
08 Oh, Darling - Beatles
09 Sunday Morning Coming Down - Johnny Cash
10 Wild Horses - Rolling Stones
11 In Spite of Ourselves - John Prine
12 Helplessly Hoping - Crosby, Stills & Nash
13 Making Believe - Kitty Wells
14 Take Me Home, Country Roads - John Denver
15 '39 - Queen

Here's the song list:

01 Can't Help Falling in Love (Brandi Carlile)
02 Crazy (Brandi Carlile)
03 Nothing Compares 2 U (Brandi Carlile)
04 It's Over (Brandi Carlile)
05 Down on the Corner (Brandi Carlile & the Lumineers)
06 Landslide (Brandi Carlile)
07 Folsom Prison Blues (Brandi Carlile)
08 Oh, Darling (Brandi Carlile & Ingrid Michaelson)
09 Sunday Morning Coming Down (Brandi Carlile)
10 Wild Horses (Brandi Carlile with Mike McCready)
11 In Spite of Ourselves (Brandi Carlile & Eric Earley)
12 Helplessly Hoping (Brandi Carlile)
13 Making Believe (Willie Nelson & Brandi Carlile)
14 Take Me Home, Country Roads (Brandi Carlile & Emmylou Harris)
15 '39 (Brandi Carlile)

https://pixeldrain.com/u/UPHpVmBV

alternate:

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

The cover art photo comes from a Johnny Cash tribute concert in 2012. "Folsom Prison Blues" here comes from that.

The Clash - Jaap Edenhal, Amsterdam, Netherlands, 5-10-1981

The Clash could be great playing live at times. But they've only released two live albums: "From Here to Eternity" and "Live at Shea Stadium." I find both of them strangely disappointing. The first one samples live performances from when they started out in clubs until when they ended in stadiums, and I don't think it holds together. For the latter one, I don't think they were at their best when they were playing a greatest hits type set list in front of 50,000 people.

I've searched for better live recordings, but it's been tough. One reason I post a lot of live solo acoustic material at this blog is that bootlegs of music in that format usually sound pretty good. It's hard to mess up a recording when all you have is a voice and a guitar. But when you have a full band, a recording can sound murky and bad if it isn't mixed right. That's the case for the vast majority of Clash bootlegs, from what I've heard. Luckily, there are a few exceptions. This is one of the very best.

This is a complete 57-minute long show from after the band's "Sandanista!" album. Only six of the songs come from that album though. There are songs from all parts of their career up until that point. In my opinion, the band plays with a lot of energy and often sounds even better than they did on record.

01 London Calling (Clash)
02 The Leader (Clash)
03 Somebody Got Murdered (Clash)
04 talk (Clash)
05 White Man in Hammersmith Palais (Clash)
06 talk (Clash)
07 The Guns of Brixton (Clash)
08 Lightning Strikes [Not Once but Twice] (Clash)
09 Ivan Meets G. I. Joe (Clash)
10 This Is Radio Clash (Clash)
11 Charlie Don't Surf (Clash)
12 The Magnificent Seven (Clash)
13 talk (Clash)
14 Bankrobber (Clash)
15 Train in Vain [Stand by Me] (Clash)
16 talk (Clash)
17 Career Opportunities (Clash)
18 Clampdown (Clash)
19 One More Time (Clash)
20 I Fought the Law (Clash)

https://www.upload.ee/files/15288235/TClas_1981a_JaapEdnhalAmsterdmNetherlnds__5-10-1981_atse.zip.html

For the cover art, I wanted to use a photo of the band in concert in 1981. I was surprised that I couldn't find any good ones. But I did find some from 1980, so I used that instead. I don't know where this photo is from other than the year.

Manfred Mann - BBC Sessions, Volume 1: 1964-1966

If you follow this blog, you've probably noticed that I've been putting a particular emphasis on posting BBC performances from the 1960s and 70s. Not only are they usually great in terms of sound quality and often have unique songs not done anywhere else, but I find satisfaction in editing the songs to remove the annoying BBC DJs talking over the music. It's a particular joy for me to wipe all traces of DJ Brian Matthew, who sounds like the epitome of a smarmy, insincere promo guy.

So as I work my way through the big musicians from that era, Manfred Mann came to my attention. It turns out two official double albums of their BBC performances were released in 2019, one called "Radio Days, Part 1," and the other "Radio Days, Part 2." I got them and gave them a good listen. I must say I was impressed. Manfred Mann sold a lot of records back in the 1960s, but they don't have a very good critical reputation. They're seen much like the Hollies - a poppy singles band, except without Graham Nash and with fewer hits.

Listening to Manfred Mann's BBC recordings made me reassess them. I now think they're much better than they're given credit for. It turns out they actually were really talented jazz musicians who saw the huge success of rock music in the early 1960s and gave that a try. As a result, they were way more talented than other groups they're lumped in with, such as the Herman's Hermits. They had two excellent lead vocalists, and many of their songs, including some of their hits, were written by them.  They had a habit of sneaking in jazzy instrumentals to their repertoire as much as they thought they could for a pop band, and there are a few of those here.

So I've decided to do a total overhaul of their 1960s output, much as I did with the Zombies, in hopes of turning more people onto them. It turns out they did a lot of songs for the BBC that they never recorded anywhere else. So I'm not including any of those here. Instead, those will be added to the various studio recording compilations I've made. I also haven't included any of the occasional times when they played the same song twice for the BBC.

What that leaves is essentially a greatest hits of their 1960s material, since they tended to play their most popular songs for the BBC. Just as the official BBC albums have done, I've split their 1960s work into two parts. This album deals with the years when Paul Jones was the band's lead singer. He was replaced in mid-1966 by Mike d'Abo. That era will be the subject of my second and final BBC album from them.

You can see from the song titles which songs I had to edit to get rid of the BBC DJs talking (usually Brian Matthew), because I've included "[Edit]." In all the cases I think, the talking was over the start of the song. Using the sound editing software X-Minus, I was able to wipe the talking completely while keeping the underlying music.

I found a list of all the times Manfred Mann played at the BBC, and it included the names of most of the songs they played. Sadly, I'd estimate only about half of their performances with good recordings. Many unique songs they played are probably lost forever. (It doesn't help that there are virtually no live bootlegs of the band from the 1960s.)

I would guess that "Do Wah Diddy Diddy" is the band's best known song, at least from the 1960s. (The band morphed into Manfred Mann's Earth Band in the 1970s and had a massive hit with "Blinded by the Light.") By chance, none of the band's BBC performances of "Do Wah Diddy Diddy" survived. But I was able to find a version performed live for a TV show that sounds nearly as good. I did the same for "5 4 3 2 1," another big hit that also otherwise wouldn't have been included here. So, with those two songs included, this does include all the big hits from their Paul Jones era.

This album is 58 minutes long.

01 Groovin' [We're Gonna Groove] (Manfred Mann)
02 Watermelon Man (Manfred Mann)
03 Do Wah Diddy Diddy (Manfred Mann)
04 Sha La La [Edit] (Manfred Mann)
05 Come Tomorrow (Manfred Mann)
06 Look Away (Manfred Mann)
07 L. S. D. [Edit] (Manfred Mann)
08 Oh No, Not My Baby (Manfred Mann)
09 The Abominable Snowmann [Instrumental] (Manfred Mann)
10 The One in the Middle (Manfred Mann)
11 When Will I Be Loved [Edit] (Manfred Mann)
12 What Am I to Do [Edit] (Manfred Mann)
13 I Put a Spell on You [Edit] (Manfred Mann)
14 If You Gotta Go, Go Now (Manfred Mann)
15 Watch Your Step (Manfred Mann)
16 There's No Living without Your Loving (Manfred Mann)
17 Spirit Feel [Instrumental] (Manfred Mann)
18 Tired of Trying, Bored with Lying, Scared of Dying (Manfred Mann)
19 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 (Manfred Mann)
20 Still I'm Sad [Instrumental] (Manfred Mann)
21 Pretty Flamingo (Manfred Mann)
22 Machines [Edit] (Manfred Mann)

https://www.upload.ee/files/16695555/MANFRDMNN1964-1966_BBSssonsVlum1_atse.zip.html

I'm not sure where the cover art comes from exactly. It looks like they're in a recording studio. But I do know it's from 1965.

Melissa Etheridge - From My Home to Yours - Home Concert, Los Angeles, CA, 4-29-2020

I think Melissa Etheridge has to be the hardest working musician during the coronavirus lockdown. She's been performing a home concert of about half an hour to an hour in length every single day since the lockdown began! As I write this, she's done over 50 concerts, and shows no sign of stopping.

I already posted one of her home concerts, a special one that consisted entirely of Bruce Springsteen covers. This is another special one from her. On April 29, 2020, in addition to her usual afternoon home concert, she did a second home concert that evening for a different social media platform, which she called "From My Home to Yours." That show focused on her best known hits. So this is ideal for people, like me, who don't own most of her albums but still enjoy her greatest hits.

Since all of these songs are performed by Etheridge alone, this is much like a solo acoustic version of her greatest hits album. Except it's not entirely that way, due to her mastery of the looping technique. As she did for a couple of the songs for her Bruce Springsteen show, she added drums and occasionally some other instruments to a "looped" backing track that she created all by herself on the spot. In the few cases she did this, I edited out the minute or two it took for her to build up the loop, because I don't think those parts stand up well to repeated listening. But still, kudos to her for being able to flesh some songs out all on her own so quickly.

Also note that for a couple of the looped songs, she plays an electric guitar instead of an acoustic, and adds her own licks and even entire solos. She also plays piano instead of guitar on a couple of songs. I knew she has a great voice, but I didn't realize she's so talented on so many instruments (especially if you include the drumming she did for the looping).

I believe all the songs are written or co-written by Etheridge, except for "Weakness in Me" by Joan Armatrading. Etheridge tends to talk a lot between songs. I kept nearly all of it, except for bits I thought wouldn't stand up to repeated listening, such as when she was plugging her next home concerts.

By the way, I've been keeping track of her daily home concerts. In the future, I plan on posting some highlights from that, such as when she does more special covers shows.

01 I Want to Come Over (Melissa Etheridge)
02 talk (Melissa Etheridge)
03 You Can Sleep While I Drive (Melissa Etheridge)
04 talk (Melissa Etheridge)
05 If I Wanted To (Melissa Etheridge)
06 talk (Melissa Etheridge)
07 Don't You Need (Melissa Etheridge)
08 talk (Melissa Etheridge)
09 Bring Me Some Water (Melissa Etheridge)
10 talk (Melissa Etheridge)
11 Weakness in Me (Melissa Etheridge)
12 talk (Melissa Etheridge)
13 Meet Me in the Dark (Melissa Etheridge)
14 talk (Melissa Etheridge)
15 Chrome Plated Heart (Melissa Etheridge)
16 talk (Melissa Etheridge)
17 I'm the Only One (Melissa Etheridge)
18 talk (Melissa Etheridge)
19 Come to My Window (Melissa Etheridge)

https://pixeldrain.com/u/tGmd2iWu

alternate:

https://bestfile.io/en/lMWUGyTk3kArcLI/file

The cover art is a screenshot taken from the concert in question. I used the Krea AI program to improve the image quality.

Brandi Carlile - Cover Songs, Volume 1: 2005-2010

I have to admit that I don't pay enough attention to artists who came onto the scene in the last decade or two. (If you know of some really great ones, please point them out to me.) A case in point is Brandi Carlile. I was only vaguely aware of her music career, but I hadn't really heard her. Then, a few weeks ago, I was watching Stephen Colbert's late night show and she did a version of John Prine's "Hello in There" in tribute to his recent passing. I was very impressed with her voice and started looking for more of her material. The more I found, the more impressed I was.

In terms of her original material, she is a talented songwriter, but I find her songs a mixed bag. As is so often the case with "modern" recordings, I have issues with the production in particular. But her fantastic voice just can't be denied. So what I've done is collected her cover versions (with a big assist from Lil Panda, who helped me out again).  A majority of these come from concert recordings, which tend to solve the "MOR" (Middle of the Road) production issues I otherwise have.

Happily, Carlile has very good, wide ranging taste in music. She excels in country, folk, rock, and pop. And it seems she's willing to play any song she feels inspired by, sacred cows be damned. As an example, she's even sung "Bohemian Rhapsody" by Queen a bunch of times! (Though, unfortunately, I couldn't find a good enough version to include in this series. If anyone can find one, please let me know.) So, if you're like me and not that familiar with her music, I highly recommend you give this a try anyway. She really does have a great physical gift with her voice and she knows how to use it.

I've found so many excellent cover versions she did that I've made six albums out of them. This is the first one, and the others will be posted here soon. Each one is roughly 50 minutes long. It's a mix of acoustic and full band performances.

In terms of sound quality, I've been fairly strict. (Actually, Lil Panda was my filter - any song got nixed if he said the sound wasn't up to snuff.) For this album, a vast majority of the songs are officially released. But the five unreleased ones sound nearly as good. I used the MVSEP audio editing program to remove most of the crowd noise on the songs that had crowd noise.

This album is 50 minutes long.

Here's a list of who did the original versions. As you can see, she usually sticks to the classics.

01 Sixty Years On - Elton John
02 Pirate on the Run - Pat Monahan
03 Creep - Radiohead
04 All I Have to Do Is Dream - Everly Brothers
05 The Times They Are A-Changin' - Bob Dylan
06 Don't Think Twice, It's All Right - Bob Dylan
07 Love Me Tender - Elvis Presley
08 Fortunate Son - Creedence Clearwater Revival
09 My Repair - Jason Scavone
10 You Belong to Me - Patti Page / Jo Stafford
11 Let It Be - Beatles
12 Heaven - Bryan Adams
13 Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain - Roy Acuff / Willie Nelson
14 Forever Young - Alphaville
15 A Place Called Home - Kim Richey

Here's the song list:

01 Sixty Years On (Brandi Carlile)
02 Pirate on the Run (Pat Monahan ‎& Brandi Carlile)
03 Creep (Brandi Carlile)
04 All I Have to Do Is Dream (Brandi Carlile & Ben Taylor)
05 The Times They Are A-Changin' (Brandi Carlile)
06 Don't Think Twice, It's All Right (Indigo Girls & Brandi Carlile)
07 Love Me Tender (Chris Isaak & Brandi Carlile)
08 Fortunate Son (Brandi Carlile)
09 My Repair (Jason Scavone & Brandi Carlile)
10 You Belong to Me (Brandi Carlile with Gregory Alan Isakov)
11 Let It Be (Brandi Carlile)
12 Heaven (Brandi Carlile)
13 Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain (Brandi Carlile)
14 Forever Young (Brandi Carlile)
15 A Place Called Home (Brandi Carlile & Tiffany Carlile)

https://pixeldrain.com/u/CMLcqquq

alternate:

https://bestfile.io/en/ZsTqNaKRPlvPT20/file

The cover art photo comes from a 2007 concert.

Crosby, Stills and Nash - Solo Demos, Volume 2: 1969

A few weeks ago, I posted an album that collected all the solo demos by Crosby, Stills and/or Nash in 1968, so long as I didn't use them somewhere else. This is a continuation of that series. This time, it deals with 1969. I have one more album coming, for 1970 and 1971.

As you can see from the song list, these are the demo versions of some of the biggest songs by CSN. They're a mix of songs from their first and second albums, plus a few others. Note that I included a version of "Marrakesh Express" on the "Sol Demos, Volume 1" album. But that version just had Graham Nash on it, and this version was a bit later and featured David Crosby as well. It's a similar situation with "Guinnevere." He made two demos, one in 1968 and one in 1969. So I've included the latter version here.

All but one song ("Black Queen") has been officially released, so the sound quality is great. The album is a bit on the short side at 39 minutes.

01 Teach Your Children (Graham Nash)
02 So Begins the Task (Stephen Stills)
03 Almost Cut My Hair (David Crosby)
04 Pre-Road Downs (Graham Nash)
05 Black Queen (Stephen Stills)
06 Guinnevere [Alternate Demo] (David Crosby)
07 Marrakesh Express (Crosby & Nash)
08 Triad (David Crosby)
09 Our House (Graham Nash)
10 The Lee Shore (Stephen Stills)

https://www.upload.ee/files/16383337/CROSBSTLLSNSH1969SloDmosVlum2_atse.zip.html

The cover art photo comes from a series of publicity photos relating to the 1969 "Crosby, Stills and Nash" album. I made some adjustments in Photoshop to add some background above their heads, since it cut off right at the very tops of their heads.

Neil Finn - Home Concerts 4, Los Angeles, CA, 4-8-2020 to 4-10-2020

Here's the fourth album in my series of Neil Finn's home concerts. He's been on hiatus from doing his daily concerts for the last week or so, which gives me a chance to catch up a bit. (I hope he hasn't stopped his home concerts for good!)

I think this is one of the strongest albums in the series. It has a great selection of songs, both in terms of originals and covers. The YouTube video of his cover of David Bowie's "Heroes" has gone viral to a certain degree. And he does some of the best and biggest Crowded House hits, such as "Fall at Your Feet" and "Something So Strong."

It also is unusual in that most of the songs have lovely vocal harmonies added to them. This is comprised of three home concerts in roughly equal measure. For the first one, Neil Finn went back over the recording before publicly releasing it and added harmonies to his own vocals. So those songs are sung by Neil Finn and Neil Finn. ;) The second concert is just him by himself. But for the third concert, his son Elroy joined in nicely on backing vocals.

Here are the original artists for each of the cover songs:

In My Room - Beach Boys
Coming into Los Angeles - Arlo Guthrie
Heroes - David Bowie
You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away - Beatles
Not Fade Away - Buddy Holly
I'll Follow the Sun - Beatles

I edited "Not Fade Away" because Finn started the song in one key, sang a little bit, decided it was too high for his voice, and switched keys without stopping the song. So I edited out the beginning bit in the different key. I also edited out his comment "That's better" shortly after changing keys.

01 In My Room (Neil Finn)
02 Anyone Can Tell (Neil Finn)
03 Fall at Your Feet (Neil Finn)
04 Love Is All that Remains (Neil Finn)
05 Something So Strong (Neil Finn)
06 Fingers of Love (Neil Finn)
07 Coming into Los Angeles (Neil Finn)
08 Heroes (Neil Finn)
09 You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away (Neil Finn)
10 Not Fade Away [Edit] (Neil Finn)
11 Private Universe (Neil Finn with Elroy Finn)
12 Silent House (Neil Finn with Elroy Finn)
13 Love This Life (Neil Finn with Elroy Finn)
14 Independence Day (Neil Finn with Elroy Finn)
15 I'll Follow the Sun (Neil Finn with Elroy Finn)

https://www.upload.ee/files/17363160/NEILFNN2020HmeConcrts04LsAnglesCA__4-8-2020_to_4-10-2020_atse.zip.html

alternate:

https://pixeldrain.com/u/yn2ybiYq

The cover art is a screenshot from one of his recent home concerts, though I'm not sure which one.

Joe Jackson - Rainbow Music Hall, Denver, CO, 5-6-1979

I like most of Joe Jackson's music, and his latest album, 2019's "Fool," is excellent. That said, my favorite era of his music is 1979, with his "Look Sharp!" and "I'm the Man" albums. Jackson has released some live material here and there, but generally from 1980 onwards. (There are five songs from 1979 on his "At the BBC" collection.) So since there's no official 1979 live album, this is my attempt to create something that could stand in for that.

Luckily, it turns out that a handful of Jackson's 1979 were professionally recorded and played on radio stations at the time. So I listened to the best bootlegs of the "Look Sharp!" tour from the middle of 1979, most of which come from those radio shows, and I found the one I thought was the best, especially in terms of sound quality. That was a show at the Rainbow Music Hall in Denver, Colorado, in May 1979. It clearly is a soundboard, so much so that there isn't much audience noise at the ends of songs. I didn't attempt to boost the volume of the cheering. But I did break the talking between songs into their own tracks, and I often raised the volume of those comments.

The Denver show is 56 minutes long. That was fairly long for his concerts in that year, which all seem to have been an hour long or less. However, this album isn't just the Denver show. I've added six songs to the beginning of the album from other concerts around the same time that didn't get played at the Denver show. That makes it n hour and 18 minutes long.

Thanks to these added songs, every single song from the "Look Sharp!" album is included, as well as five songs from the "I'm the Man" album, which had yet to be released at the time. There also are four cover songs: "Life Is Just a Bowl of Cherries" by Ben Bernie and His Orchestra, "Pressure Drop" by Toots and the Maytals, "Come On" by Chuck Berry, and "Ain't That a Shame" by Fats Domino. I've included versions of all four of those on the "The Harder They Come" stray tracks album, but those are different versions.

01 [Do The] Instant Mash (Joe Jackson)
02 Friday (Joe Jackson)
03 talk (Joe Jackson)
04 Fools in Love (Joe Jackson)
05 talk (Joe Jackson)
06 Life Is Just a Bowl of Cherries (Joe Jackson)
07 talk (Joe Jackson)
08 Pressure Drop (Joe Jackson)
09 talk (Joe Jackson)
10 Geraldine and John (Joe Jackson)
11 One More Time (Joe Jackson)
12 Pretty Girls (Joe Jackson)
13 talk (Joe Jackson)
14 Look Sharp (Joe Jackson)
15 talk (Joe Jackson)
16 Sunday Papers (Joe Jackson)
17 Baby Stick Around (Joe Jackson)
18 talk (Joe Jackson)
19 Is She Really Going Out with Him (Joe Jackson)
20 talk (Joe Jackson)
21 It's Different for Girls (Joe Jackson)
22 Kinda Kute (Joe Jackson)
23 talk (Joe Jackson)
24 Happy Loving Couples (Joe Jackson)
25 I'm the Man (Joe Jackson)
26 Throw It Away (Joe Jackson)
27 talk (Joe Jackson)
28 Got the Time (Joe Jackson)
29 talk (Joe Jackson)
30 Come On (Joe Jackson)
31 Ain't That a Shame (Joe Jackson)

https://www.upload.ee/files/16693438/JOJCKSN1979b_RinbwMsicHallDenvrCO__5-6-1979_atse.zip.html

For the album cover, I could have chosen an ordinary photo of Joe Jackson from 1979. But I found one of him wearing novelty oversized sunglasses, and I thought it would be more interesting to use that one.

Shawn Colvin - Home Concerts 1, Austin, TX, 4-11-2020

Here's someone else to add to those doing nice home concerts. As I keep saying, if you know of others I've missed that you think are worthy, please let me know. It's hard to find all these, since they're happening on different social media platforms.

I'm not a huge Shawn Colvin fan like I am for, say, Rosanne Cash, but I like her well enough. This concert actually serves as good introduction for her, if you aren't that familiar with her stuff. She plays her one big hit - "Sunny Came Home" - as well as some of her other best originals. She also does a few covers, namely: "Summer's End" by John Prine, in honor of his recent passing, "For the Roses," by Joni Mitchell, and "This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody)" by the Talking Heads. The whole concert is 45 minutes long.

I'm optimistically calling this "Home Concerts 1" with the assumption that there will be a "2" and others to follow. Actually, I'm most of the way to a "2" already, because she's been posting individual songs every now and then since the coronavirus lockdown began. So I plan on posting those once I have enough for an album.

Note that Colvin has a reputation for being very talkative during her concerts. That was somewhat true in this case, though she seems to have edited herself for a more streamlined show. I've included her between song banter and raised the volume on it to make it easier to hear. But I think I might have edited a few parts down to make the whole thing more listenable. (I forget since I did that a week or two ago.)

01 talk (Shawn Colvin)
02 Even Here We Are (Shawn Colvin)
03 talk (Shawn Colvin)
04 Trouble (Shawn Colvin)
05 talk (Shawn Colvin)
06 Summer's End (Shawn Colvin)
07 talk (Shawn Colvin)
08 For the Roses (Shawn Colvin)
09 talk (Shawn Colvin)
10 Steady On (Shawn Colvin)
11 talk (Shawn Colvin)
12 That Don't Worry Me Now (Shawn Colvin)
13 talk (Shawn Colvin)
14 I Don't Know Why (Shawn Colvin)
15 talk (Shawn Colvin)
16 Sunny Came Home (Shawn Colvin)
17 talk (Shawn Colvin)
18 This Must Be the Place [Naive Melody] (Shawn Colvin)

https://pixeldrain.com/u/2jAXPcuM

alternate:

https://bestfile.io/en/4G7KN0Kp3riupgH/file

For the album cover, I used a screenshot from the YouTube video of this very concert.

Norah Jones - Home Concerts 3, New York City, 4-29-2020 (Willie Nelson Tribute)

As the coronavirus lockdown goes on, Norah Jones has really been killing it. She keeps putting on interesting mini-home concerts once or twice a week. Just yesterday, she did an extra special concert that was her most interesting one yet, in my opinion. On the date of country legend Willie Nelson's 87th birthday, she did a special Willie-Nelson-themed show. All the songs were written by Nelson, with the exception of one song, "Remember Me," which is a song Nelson covered on one of his albums.

This is a fairly short show at 27 minutes. I could have waited until she did another mini-concert and then bundled this one with that one. But I think it's good to present this on its own due to its consistent Willie Nelson theme. The vast majority of the songs are songs Jones hasn't officially released. (I do have her doing "Crazy" and "Funny How Time Slips Away" on earlier stray tracks albums I've put together, with the latter being a duet version with Nelson.)

The sound quality here is just fine. One exception is that she tends to talk very quietly between songs. But I was able to easily fix that by raising the volume on all those talking bits.

Finally, viva Willie Nelson, who as I write this in 2020, is still going strong musically at 87 years old!

01 Funny How Time Slips Away (Norah Jones)
02 talk (Norah Jones)
03 I Gotta Get Drunk (Norah Jones)
04 talk (Norah Jones)
05 Permanently Lonely (Norah Jones)
06 talk (Norah Jones)
07 Remember Me (Norah Jones)
08 talk (Norah Jones)
09 Crazy (Norah Jones)
10 talk (Norah Jones)
11 Night Life (Norah Jones)
12 talk (Norah Jones)
13 Hands on the Wheel (Norah Jones)

https://www.upload.ee/files/15603563/NorahJ_2020_HomeCncerts3__4-29-2020_atse.zip.html

For the cover art, I could have gone with a screenshot of Jones playing these songs. But she doesn't really look any different than she did for the covers in the last two home concert albums of hers I've put together. So instead, I thought it was fitting to use a photo of Jones and Nelson together. The photo is from a concert appearance they did together in 2003.