Covered: Neil Young, Volume 9: 2020-2022

Here's the ninth volume of the "Covered" series for Neil Young. We're getting near the end, with only one more volume after this. Once again, thanks to Fabio from Rio for doing most of the work putting this together. Here's Fabio's summary of this time period:

The early 2020s brought an unexpected new chapter in the long afterlife of Neil Young's songs. During the Covid pandemic years, musicians around the world turned to home recordings, livestream performances, and online collaborations. In that environment, Young's catalog proved once again remarkably adaptable: intimate acoustic songs worked perfectly in stripped-down home recordings, while his electric epics continued to inspire roots-rock and Americana bands. At the same time, Young himself remained a visible cultural figure, both through the expanding Neil Young Archives project and through public debates about streaming platforms and artists' rights. The covers in this volume reflect that moment: a mixture of independent artists, online collaborations, and established performers revisiting songs from every phase of Young's long career.

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Note that Fabio wrote individual paragraphs about all the songs in this volume. To see that, please look at the Word file added to the download zip file. Thanks again to Fabio for his help putting these albums together. 

This album is an hour and three minutes long.

01 Razor Love (Brandon Wolfe Scott with Stacey)
02 Unknown Legend (Mandolin Orange)
03 Eldorado (Sioux 13)
04 No Wonder (Blue Raincoat)
05 Lookout Joe (Marc Ford)
06 Be the Rain (Gil Michaels)
07 I'm the Ocean (Dark Wrangler)
08 It's a Dream (Cody Simpson & Ben Harper)
09 Surfer Joe and Moe the Sleaze (Rust for Glory)
10 Comes a Time (Jeff & Laura)
11 When God Made Me (Ronnie Drew & Eleanor Shanley)
12 Love in Mind (Cowboy Junkies)
13 Mother Earth (Zach)

https://pixeldrain.com/u/ZPTnfKq1

alternate:

https://bestfile.io/en/0UJlGzqGtEBdyJz/file

The cover photo is from 2015. 

Dionne Warwick - Dionne, Burt and Hal: The Definitive Songbook, Volume 7: 1987-2012 (A Mike Solof Guest Post)

I'm back from my two week vacation from Peru. It got off to a rough start due to the plane flight there, which I posted about. But everything else since then went great, with no more problems. :) I even had good weather the whole time, despite it being the rainy season there.

Here's the last album in a series that contains all the songs written by Hal David and/or Burt Bacharach and sung by Dionne Warwick. Though note that there's a bonus album of sorts still to come that will be explained later.

As I mentioned in Volume 6, the Bacharach-David songwriting partnership broke up around 1973, and they didn't collaborate for a long time after that. The second half of Volume 6 consisted entirely of songs written by Bacharach and another successful songwriter, Carole Bayer Sager. (In fact, Bacharach and Sager were married for a few years around this time). 

The Bacharach and Sager collaboration continued for a little while. The first songs are from a 1987, and are all co-written by those two. One song, "Love Power," was a hit. After that, there are a bunch of songs from 1989 to 2011, one song per year with many years skipped. "Sunny Weather Lover" from 1993 is a key song here, because it's the first song Bacharach and David wrote together since about 1972. However, that was a rare collaboration. Their songwriting partnership didn't reignite after that. (They also co-wrote two songs for the 2000 movie "Isn't She Great," but Warwick didn't sing them.) Furthermore, both of them were simply getting older and didn't write songs nearly as often as they used to. 

So the rest of the songs were written by Bacharach with others or David with others. For instance, "Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do)" was a Number One hit in the U.S. for Christopher Cross in 1981, and was written by Bacharach with Sager and two others. Track 101 is an unreleased live version by Warwick recorded in 2005.

The last four songs are from a 2012 album called "Now." It was billed as a celebration of Bacharach and David songs. However, it mostly consisted of rerecordings of old hits. The four new songs, presented here, were written by either Bacharach with others or David with others. For instance, "99 Miles from L.A." was written by David with Albert Hammond, and was a hit for Hammond in 1975. 

Hal David died in 2012, so that ended the chance for any more songs written by both of them. Bacharach died in 2023.

While I was on vacation, a commenter noted that a song, "(Theme From) The Valley of the Dolls" was included on Volume 4 of this series, despite neither Bacharach nor David being involved in writing it. Now that I'm back home, I was able to repost that album with that song removed. That also means that the numbering of all the songs after that has been fixed as well. So you might want to redownload Volumes 4, 5, and 6 if you're a stickler about such things. Also, since I had complaints about the cover art for Volume 1, I've posted an alternate version of the cover at the bottom of my write-up for that album that uses the original black and white photo, in case anyone wants that.

Thanks again to Mike Solof for putting this together.   

This album is one hour long. 

092 Take Good Care of You and Me (Dionne Warwick & Jeffrey Osborne)
093 Love Power (Dionne Warwick & Jeffrey Osborne)
094 In a World Such as This (Dionne Warwick)
095 Heartbreak of Love (Dionne Warwick & June Pointer)
096 On My Own (Dionne Warwick)
097 Sunny Weather Lover (Dionne Warwick)
098 Captives of the Heart (Dionne Warwick)
099 If I Want To (Dionne Warwick)
100 On My Way (Dionne Warwick)
101 Arthur's Theme [Best That You Can Do] (Dionne Warwick)
102 Keep Me in Mind (Dionne Warwick)
103 99 Miles from L.A. (Dionne Warwick)
104 Is There Anybody Out There (Dionne Warwick)
105 It Was Almost like a Song (Dionne Warwick)
106 Love Is Still the Answer (Dionne Warwick)

https://pixeldrain.com/u/ieF2gBUW

alternate: 

https://bestfile.io/en/DKTsSUgj9dgKC43/file

The cover photo shows her in concert in an unknown location, in February 1989.

Covered: Neil Young, Volume 8: 2016-2020

As I write this, I’m sitting in an airplane, about to fly back to the U.S. I’m glad to see my plan to keep posting albums while on vacation has worked out. 

Here’s the next album in the Neil Young “Covered” series. There are two albums to go after this one. Once more, thanks to Fabio from Rio from doing most of the heavy lifting for these albums. Here is the intro to his notes:

By the late 2010s, Neil Young's songwriting had fully entered the digital age of reinterpretation. Covers were no longer limited to traditional tribute albums or major-label releases. Many now emerged through independent recordings, Bandcamp releases, streaming platforms, and fan communities online. At the same time, a younger generation of indie-folk, Americana, and roots musicians continued to rediscover Young's catalog, often gravitating toward the emotional honesty and melodic simplicity that have always defined his best work. Meanwhile, Young himself remained active both musically and politically, releasing albums that addressed environmental and social issues while also opening vast portions of his archival material through the Neil Young Archives project. The performances collected here reflect that ecosystem: established artists, roots musicians, and independent performers revisiting both classics and deep cuts from across his remarkable career.

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Note that Fabio wrote individual paragraphs about all the songs in this volume. To see that, please look at the Word file added to the download zip file. Thanks again to Fabio for his help putting these albums together. 

This album is an hour and three minutes long. 

01 Country Girl (Sanford Markley & Paul Cronin)
02 Hangin' on a Limb (Lars Hall & Saga Eserstam)
03 Don't Be Denied (Norah Jones)
04 Long May You Run (Sarah Jane Scouten & the Paperboys)
05 My My, Hey Hey [Out of the Blue] (Keller Williams)
06 Alabama (Tedeschi Trucks Band)
07 Nothing Is Perfect (Change Partners)
08 Time Fades Away (Harrison Clock)
09 Heart of Gold (Charles Bradley)
10 Flying on the Ground Is Wrong (Kelley Suttenfield)
11 Vampire Blues (Rayland Baxter)
12 Sample and Hold (Joi Noir)
13 Buffalo Springfield Again (Danielle Brilo)
14 Everybody's Alone (Cajsalisa Ejemyr)
15 Through My Sails (Jeff Rosenstock & Laura Stevenson)
16 Light a Candle (Scott the Hoople)

https://pixeldrain.com/u/ecwseiSw

alternate:

https://bestfile.io/en/Xksq9yF5XQbz0kc/file

The cover photo is from 2008.

Dionne Warwick - Dionne, Burt and Hal: The Definitive Songbook, Volume 6: 1972-1985 (A Mike Solof Guest Post)

Things changed drastically for this volume of all the songs written by Hal David and Burt Bacharach and sung by Dionne Warwick. Since the start of Warwick’s hit-making years in 1963, she was signed to Scepter Records. She was their biggest star by far. But in 1971, her contract ended and she signed a new deal with Warner Brothers Records. (Scepter Records went bankrupt a couple of years later.)

For her first album on her new label, released in 1972, all seemed well, because all the songs were written by Bacharach and David. But in 1973, the two songwriters wrote the songs for the movie “Lost Horizon,” without Warwick’s involvement. This turned out to be a disaster. The movie was a flop and so was the soundtrack. But worst of all, Bacharach and David had a falling out during the making of the soundtrack. They wouldn’t write songs together for many years, and both of them had much less success without the other one. To make matters worse, Warwick’s new record company expected her to have most of her songs written by Bacharach and David. When that couldn’t happen anymore, that resulted in more lawsuits, including Warwick suing the songwriting duo.

Decades later, Bacharach wrote about this dispute in his autobiography: "It was all my fault, and I can't imagine how many great songs I could have written with Hal in the years we were apart. So I now know that on every level, it was a very bad mistake." But at other times, he suggested that both he and David were somewhat creatively exhausted, so they probably wouldn't have been able to keep their streak of hit songs going much longer anyway. That can be seen by the fact that the two of them had wrote very few hits for most of the rest of the 1970s. 

The first seven songs are from 1972. The eighth song, "One Less Bell to Answer," is from 1977, but was written in the 1960s. The Fifth Dimension had a hit with it in 1970. Warwick didn’t have much success without Bacharach and David for most of the 1970s, but she resumed having hits in 1979. 

In 1985, she resumed performing some songs written by Bacharach, but not David, since Bacharach and David wouldn’t reconcile until later. Instead, Bacharach was cowriting songs with Carole Bayer Sager at the time. The rest of the songs here are written by those two, from 1985. One of those songs,”That’s What Friends Are For,” was a massive hit, helped by Warwick being joined by some other big stars. Not only did it reach Number One in the U.S., it was the biggest selling song in 1986. 

Warwick had this to say about working with Bacharach again in 1985: "We realized we were more than just friends. We were family. Time has a way of giving people the opportunity to grow and understand... Working with Burt is not a bit different from how it used to be. He expects me to deliver and I can. He knows what I'm going to do before I do it, and the same with me. That's how intertwined we've been."

This album is 55 minutes long.

078 Be Aware (Dionne Warwick)
079 [They Long to Be] Close to You (Dionne Warwick)
080 Hasbrook Heights (Dionne Warwick)
081 I Just Have to Breathe (Dionne Warwick)
082 If You Never Say Goodbye (Dionne Warwick)
083 The Balance of Nature (Dionne Warwick)
084 One Less Bell to Answer (Dionne Warwick)
085 Early Morning Strangers (Dionne Warwick)
086 That's What Friends Are For (Dionne Warwick, Elton John, Gladys Knight & Stevie Wonder)
087 Extravagant Gestures (Dionne Warwick)
088 Finder of Lost Loves (Dionne Warwick)
089 How Long (Dionne Warwick)
090 Stay Devoted (Dionne Warwick)
091 Stronger than Before (Dionne Warwick)

https://pixeldrain.com/u/ku4tY3Qr

alternate: 

https://bestfile.io/en/msqzMLVw1J3DQje/file

The cover photo shows her at the Grammy Awards in Los Angeles, on February 9, 1972.

Covered: Neil Young, Volume 7: 2012-2016

Here we go with another Neil Young “Covered” album. Since I’m still on vacation, I’ll keep this short. Once again, thanks to Fabio from Rio for putting this together. And here’s his comments:

By the early 2010s, Neil Young's influence had spread even further across musical generations. Indie folk, alt-country, and singer-songwriter circles were openly embracing the emotional directness and melodic simplicity that had always defined Young's songwriting. At the same time, the digital era had changed how tribute recordings appeared: covers increasingly emerged from online projects, independent releases, and small tribute compilations rather than traditional label-driven albums. Young himself remained highly visible during this period, releasing politically engaged records and increasingly speaking out on environmental issues, while continuing to inspire younger artists discovering his catalog for the first time. The recordings in this volume reflect that diverse ecosystem: indie reinterpretations, roots-oriented performances, and the occasional stylistic surprise.

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Note that Fabio wrote individual paragraphs about all the songs in this volume. To see that, please look at the Word file added to the download zip file. Thanks again to Fabio for his help putting these albums together. 

This album is an hour and five minutes long.

01 Goin' Back (Beth Orton)
02 Southern Pacific (Jeff Monkman)
03 Thrasher (Andy Hill & Renee Safier)
04 Prime of Life (Gov't Mule)
05 On the Beach [CFCF Remix] (Joakim)
06 Stringman (Stevie Pling)
07 On the Way Home (Ocean Colour Scene)
08 Out on the Weekend (Lee Ann Womack)
09 Revolution Blues (Gov't Mule)
10 Sea of Madness (Ida Sand)
11 Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere (Bluebeaters)
12 Motion Pictures (Robyn Hitchcock & Emma Swift)
13 Silver and Gold (Frank Fischer & Lavina Williams)
14 Bandit (Melanie Age)
15 Who's Gonna Stand Up (Anne Rynne)

https://pixeldrain.com/u/ZoVDZ7hx

alternate:

https://bestfile.io/en/M0xS0KCNUbFXyzb/file

The cover photo is from 1993. Peter Buck of R.E.M. was leaning up against his shoulder, but I removed him using Photoshop. 

Dionne Warwick - Dionne, Burt and Hal: The Definitive Songbook, Volume 5: 1969-1970 (A Mike Solof Guest Post)

Here’s another album of Dionne Warwick singing all the songs written by Hal David and Burt Bacharach. Once again, thanks to Mike Solof for putting these albums together.

Warwick, David, and Bacharach had a great thing going from about 1963 until 1970. They had hit after hit after hit. The end of this album marks the end of that golden era. The three of them would still collaborate together, but much more intermittently. There are two more volumes dealing with those later years.

This album is 53 minutes long.

061 I'll Never Fall in Love Again (Dionne Warwick)
062 Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head (Dionne Warwick)
063 Dream Sweet Dreamer (Dionne Warwick)
064 Knowing When to Leave (Dionne Warwick)
065 Let Me Go to Him (Dionne Warwick)
066 Loneliness Remembers What Happiness Forgets (Dionne Warwick)
067 Paper Mache (Dionne Warwick)
068 The Wine Is Young (Dionne Warwick)
069 Check Out Time (Dionne Warwick)
070 Make It Easy on Yourself (Dionne Warwick)
071 The Green Grass Starts to Grow (Dionne Warwick)
072 The Very First Person I Met [In California] (Dionne Warwick)
073 They Don't Give Medals to Yesterday's Heroes (Dionne Warwick)
074 Walk the Way You Talk (Dionne Warwick)
075 The Look of Love (Dionne Warwick)
076 Who Gets the Guy (Dionne Warwick)
077 Only Love Can Break a Heart (Dionne Warwick)

https://pixeldrain.com/u/nMDebKmr

alternate:

https://bestfile.io/en/4j7hPKMNNw5COdY/file

The cover photo shows her on the Engelbert Humperdinck TV Show some time in 1969. 

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

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

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

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

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

Vanessa Carlton - Wikipedia 

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

This album is an hour and 45 minutes long.

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

https://pixeldrain.com/u/guZHk5jq

alternate:

https://bestfile.io/NPLWxwegFSrGUCg/file

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

Covered: Neil Young, Volume 6: 2007-2011

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

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

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

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Note that Fabio wrote individual paragraphs about all the songs in this volume. To see that, please look at the Word file added to the download zip file. Thanks again to Fabio for his help putting these albums together.  

This album is an hour and four minutes long. 

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

https://pixeldrain.com/u/QpTvfJej

alternate: 

https://bestfile.io/en/do1ntAZnPtweGgz/file

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

Covered: Neil Young, Volume 5: 2005-2007

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

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

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

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Note that Fabio wrote individual paragraphs about all the songs in this volume. To see that, please look at the Word file added to the download zip file. Thanks again to Fabio for his help putting these albums together. 

This album is an hour and one minute long.

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

https://pixeldrain.com/u/N34zZ6KK

alternate:

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

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

Dionne Warwick - Dionne, Burt and Hal: The Definitive Songbook, Volume 4: 1968 (A Mike Solof Guest Post)

I am posting this while waiting in an airport for a flight inside Peru. So far, my vacation is going great after a rough start getting here. This is another volume of Dionne Warwick singing songs written by Hal David and/ or Burt Bacharach. At this point, their songwriting partnership was going strong and they were still writing all their songs together.

Thanks again to guest poster Mike Solof for putting these albums together.

This album is 45 minutes long.

048 As Long as There's an Apple Tree [Extended Version] (Dionne Warwick)
049 Do You Know the Way to San Jose (Dionne Warwick)
050 Let Me Be Lonely (Dionne Warwick)
051 Odds and Ends (Dionne Warwick)
052 Promises, Promises (Dionne Warwick)
053 The April Fools (Dionne Warwick)
054 Reach Out and Touch - All Kinds of People (Dionne Warwick)
055 This Girl's in Love with You (Dionne Warwick)
056 Wanting Things (Dionne Warwick)
057 Where Would I Go (Dionne Warwick)
058 Who Is Gonna Love Me (Dionne Warwick)
059 Whoever You Are, I Love You (Dionne Warwick)
060 Walkin' Backwards Down the Road (Dionne Warwick)

https://pixeldrain.com/u/PQUwnfKQ

alternate: 

https://bestfile.io/en/VBcAZtk0uWxyYgh/file

The cover photo shows her on an unknown TV show in London, in 1968.

Covered: Neil Young, Volume 4: 1999-2005

Here’s the fourth album in the Neil Young covered series. Once again, thanks to Fabio from Rio for doing most of the work. I also want to mention that I have a long list of songwriters that I want to make Covered albums for. Many of the biggest ones, like Dylan, Lennon-McCartney, Jagger-Richard’s, Ray Davies, etc… are still to come. I’m sure I wouldn’t have gotten around to Young for a couple more years. But Fabio’s involvement and energy brought this one to the front of the line.

Here are Fabio’s comments about the time period of this volume:

By the turn of the millennium, Neil Young's songwriting had become a shared reference point for several generations of musicians. Musical artists from the folk revival, alt-country movement, and indie rock scene were all revisiting different eras of his catalog - from the fragile acoustic songs of the late sixties to the electric epics recorded with Crazy Horse. During this period, Young himself remained remarkably active, releasing albums such as "Silver and Gold" and "Greendale" while continuing to tour extensively. The covers gathered here reflect that generational dialogue: younger singer-songwriters, Americana performers, and alternative rock musicians rediscovering both famous classics and some of the most obscure corners of Young's songwriting. 

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Note that Fabio wrote individual paragraphs about all the songs in this volume. To see that, please look at the Word file added to the download zip file. Thanks again to Fabio for his help putting these albums together. 

This album is an hour and one minute long. 

01 Piece of Crap (Slobberbone)
02 Pushed It Over the End (South Ontario)
03 Long Walk Home (MrChuck)
04 I've Been Waiting for You (David Bowie)
05 Running Dry [Requiem for the Rockets] (Steve Von Till)
06 Albuquerque (Walkabouts)
07 Pocahontas (Gillian Welch)
08 The Old Laughing Lady (Thea Gilmore)
09 Old Man (Wilson Phillips)
10 I Believe in You (Patricia O'Callaghan)
11 Helpless (k.d. lang)
12 Barstool Blues (Maria McKee)
13 Broken Arrow (Kate Rogers)
14 Last Trip to Tulsa (Leo Koster)
15 Roll Another Number [For the Road] (Mike McClure)

https://pixeldrain.com/u/Xf8w1vjE

alternate: 

https://bestfile.io/en/gOxKn9CnBpD1cQF/file

The cover photo is from 1975. The original was in black and white. I colorized it with the use of the Kolorize program. I also used the Krea AI program to improve details. 

I got a complaint that the cover image was ruined by AI. I don't think so. Here's the unaltered black and white original. As I've said elsewhere, I typically only use Krea AI to make minor changes, mostly with color and contrast. If you don't like the colorization and other changes, feel free to use this version. 

Dionne Warwick - Dionne, Burt and Hal: The Definitive Songbook, Volume 3: 1966-1967 (A Mike Solof Guest Post)

Here’s another Dionne Warwick album in Mike Solof’s series of all the songs she sang written by Hal David and/or Burt Bacharach. I’ll keep my comments short. But I’ll note I think the three of them were peaking around this time until the end of the 1960s, with songwriting, production, and singing.

This album is 39 minutes long.

035 I Just Don’t Know What to Do with Myself (Dionne Warwick)
036 Go with Love (Dionne Warwick)
037 Message to Michael (Dionne Warwick)
038 Trains and Boats and Planes (Dionne Warwick)
039 Here, Where There Is Love [Alternate Version] (Dionne Warwick)
040 What the World Needs Now Is Love (Dionne Warwick)
041 Alfie (Dionne Warwick)
042 The Windows of the World (Dionne Warwick)
043 Another Night (Dionne Warwick)
044 The Beginning of Loneliness (Dionne Warwick)
045 Walk Little Dolly (Dionne Warwick)
046 I Say a Little Prayer [Alternate Version] (Dionne Warwick)
047 [There's] Always Something There to Remind Me (Dionne Warwick)

https://pixeldrain.com/u/oLsc5LBu

alternate:

https://bestfile.io/en/NEh31dMotYhnVFJ/file

The cover photo was taken backstage during an engagement at the Copacabana nightclub in New York City, on May 2, 1967.

Covered: Neil Young, Volume 3: 1995-1999

I had a rough start getting to Peru, but I’m finishing my second full day here and I’m having a good time. Since Fabio from Rio wrote the notes as well as doing most of the work putting these albums together, once again, here’s Fabio:

By the mid-to-late 1990s, Neil Young was enjoying one of the most respected phases of his long career. After the grunge generation had embraced him earlier in the decade, Young reinforced that connection with the raw "Mirror Ball" album collaboration with Pearl Jam in 1995 and continued releasing strong albums that balanced electric noise with acoustic reflection. At the same time, a new wave of alternative, indie and Americana artists began rediscovering older corners of his catalog — not only the famous songs, but also deep cuts from albums like "Zuma," "Tonight's the Night," and "On the Beach." The covers collected in this volume reflect that moment: a mixture of roots musicians, indie rock artists and cult performers exploring both the best-known and the more obscure sides of Young's songwriting.

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Note that Fabio wrote individual paragraphs about all the songs in this volume. To see that, please look at the Word file added to the download zip file. Thanks again to Fabio for his help putting these albums together. 

This album is an hour and three minutes long.  

01 After the Gold Rush (Dolly Parton, Linda Ronstadt & Emmylou Harris)
02 Words [Between the Lines of Age] (Lifter & Campfire Girls)
03 Wrecking Ball (Emmylou Harris)
04 Don't Cry (Kristen Barry)
05 Grey Riders (Sand Rubies)
06 Campaigner (Snares & Kites)
07 This Note's for You (Colourful Dreams)
08 Down to the Wire (Grip Weeds)
09 When You Dance I Can Really Love (Continental Drifters)
10 Expecting to Fly (Sonya Hunter)
11 Danger Bird (27)
12 Tonight's the Night (Chris Cacavas)
13 Harvest Moon (Elliott Smith)
14 Midnight on the Bay (Red House Painters)

https://pixeldrain.com/u/4VQu9ug7

alternate: 

https://bestfile.io/xEvr9MdBSfsa20g/file

The cover photo is from 1969. The original was in black and white. I colorized it with the Kolorize program. I also used the Krea AI program to improve the image quality. 

Phew!

 I just want to vent a bit about the crazy day I had yesterday. I was supposed to fly from San Diego to Lima, Peru, with one layover, on United Airlines. But in the morning, right when I was about to leave for the airport, I got an email from United saying the flight was canceled due to a mechanical problem. Not delayed, canceled! I was supposed to meet a friend in Peru coming from a different U.S. city who was arriving about the same time as me. Our plans for the next couple of days would be ruined because I wouldn’t arrive in time to join him on another flight to an Amazonian part of Peru. (There was just one flight a day, and none the next day.)

So I called United and talked a long time, trying to come up with a solution, even in any other airline. But nothing worked. The I ha an epiphany: there was a flight leaving from Los Angeles in less than four hours that would get me there just in time to catch up with my friend and make that internal Peruvian flight. So I rushed to my car and drove like a bat out of hell, going about 90 mph most of the way, which I never do. My only hope was that the traffic would be light. That almost never happens, but luck was on my side. I made it to the L.A. airport in exactly two hours and put my car into long term parking. Then I had to do running , so much running! Luckily, I only had a carry on and backpack. But the L.A. airport is huge and my flight gate was very far away. I ran and ran and made it just in time, as they were finishing last call. I was elated that plan had worked.

I thought my troubles were over. But no. My new plan was to fly from L.A. to El Salvador then El Salvador to Lima, Peru. I had a three and a half our layover in El Salvador, so I assumed everything would be fine. But first we just flew in circles over El Salvador, waiting for permission to land. Then, the plane landed in Guatemala City, Guatemala, instead! Suddenly, I was very worried I wouldn’t make my next flight. To make matters worse, the plane took time refueling. As we waited, I looked at options if I missed my next flight. I would be even more screwed, stuck in El Salvador.

The plane finally took off, heading to El Salvador again. I was sweating bullets, hoping we’d make it in time. It was a very close call. I did another mad run through an airport and made it just in time, at last call. From there, it was smooth sailing to Lima, Peru. I was able to get on that flight to an Amazonian part of Peru with just a couple of hours to spare.

Anyway, that’s my story. I don’t know the point, except f—United Airlines. For all my troubles, they gave me a 100 voucher for another flight with them and another voucher for a free meal. Whoopdedoo.

Dionne Warwick - Dionne, Burt and Hal: The Definitive Songbook, Volume 2: 1965 (A Mike Solof Guest Post)

Here is the second volume collecting all the songs Dionne Warwick written by Hal David and/or Burt Bacharach. Like all the other albums in this series, this was mainly put together by guest poster Mike Solof.

Since I’m writing this on vacation, I’ll keep the comments short. Enjoy.

This album is 44 minutes long. 

019 Are You There [With Another Girl] (Dionne Warwick)
020 Don't Go Breaking My Heart (Dionne Warwick)
021 Don't Say I Didn't Tell You So (Dionne Warwick)
022 Forever My Love (Dionne Warwick)
023 If I Ever Make You Cry (Dionne Warwick)
024 Here I Am (Dionne Warwick)
025 Is There Another Way to Love Him (Dionne Warwick)
026 Wives and Lovers (Dionne Warwick)
027 Looking with My Eyes (Dionne Warwick)
028 In Between the Heartaches (Dionne Warwick)
029 Only the Strong, Only the Brave (Dionne Warwick)
030 Window Wishing (Dionne Warwick)
031 How Many Days of Sadness (Dionne Warwick)
032 That's Not the Answer (Dionne Warwick)
033 How Can I Hurt You (Dionne Warwick)
034 Long Day, Short Night (Dionne Warwick)

https://pixeldrain.com/u/dC4gq6mc

alternate: 

https://bestfile.io/en/eODweEN1JWe1Yrp/file 

The cover photo was taken in Hyde Park, in London, in 1965. 

Covered: Neil Young, Volume 2: 1990-1995

Phew! I had a hell of an adventure getting to Peru yesterday. Perhaps I’ll vent and explain what happened when I have some time. But I’m here and things are back on track, which is what matters. Anyway, here’s some more Neil Young. I’ll try to post another Dionne Warwick album next, when I have a chance.

The rest of the notes here are written by Fabio from Rio. Take it away Fabio:

By the early 1990s, Neil Young was experiencing a somewhat surprising cultural resurgence. After a creatively uneven decade in the eighties, he had his own creative revival starting at the end of that decade. Around the same time, a new generation of alternative rock musicians began openly citing him as a major influence. Bands associated with the emerging grunge and indie scenes embraced both the raw guitar power of albums like "Rust Never Sleeps" and the emotional directness of his acoustic work. Young himself responded by reconnecting with heavier sounds and younger audiences, eventually earning the affectionate nickname "the Godfather of Grunge." The covers collected in this volume reflect that moment of rediscovery, when artists from alternative rock, indie folk and roots music revisited Young's catalog and helped introduce it to a new generation of listeners.

--- 

Note that Fabio wrote individual paragraphs about all the songs in this volume. To see that, please look at the Word file added to the download zip file. Thanks again to Fabio for his help putting these albums together. 

This album is an hour and five minutes long.  

01 Powderfinger (Cowboy Junkies)
02 Cortez the Killer (Matthew Sweet & the Indigo Girls)
03 Interstate (Sand Rubies)
04 Heart of Gold (Lawrence Gowan)
05 Don’t Let It Bring You Down (Amanda Marshall)
06 Tell Me Why (Hemingway Corner)
07 Harvest (Jeff Healey Band)
08 Pardon My Heart (Malcolm Burn)
09 Barefoot Floors (Nicolette Larson)
10 Fuckin' Up (Pearl Jam)
11 Nowadays Clancy Can't Even Sing (Breits)
12 Tired Eyes (Cowboy Junkies)
13 Down by the River (Indigo Girls)

https://pixeldrain.com/u/sknhtNNF

alternate: 

https://bestfile.io/en/b4leE1ycGwAcXJb/file

The cover photo dates from 1967. I used the Krea AI program to improve some details.

Dionne Warwick - Dionne, Burt and Hal: The Definitive Songbook, Volume 1: 1962-1964 (A Mike Solof Guest Post)

In the last album I posted, I mentioned that I'm leaving for a two week vacation to Peru, starting tomorrow morning. But while I'm gone, I'm hoping to keep post albums from time to time. Most or all of the albums will be from two big musical projects, one by Fabio from Rio, and the other by Mike Solof. I've gotten them ready in a kind of assembly line fashion, and they take little extra work for me. That's the plan anyway.

So you already know the Fabio project: Covered albums for Neil Young. This Mike Solof project attempts to collect all the songs Dionne Warwick sang that were written by Hal David and/or Burt Bacharach. The vast majority were written by both, until the last couple of albums.

A couple of weeks ago, Mike came to me with the idea for this collection. I was delighted, because I already made a bunch of "Covered" albums for the Burt Bacharach and Hal David songwriting team. But when I did that, I deliberately avoided including any Warwick versions, because otherwise those albums would have probably been more than half her versions. So this collection perfectly complements that one. So a big thanks from me to Mike for making these albums. I did the cover art and some other minor things, but he was the one who collected all the songs.

Mike managed to find enough music for seven albums, plus a bonus album we'll explain later. If you want to know more, check out Mike's PDF included in the download zip. In fact, it's the same PDF for all the albums in this series.  

By the way, note that the song numbering begins with 001, 002, 003, etc... That's because Mike wanted the numbering from the end of one album to continue with the beginning of the next one. That way, you can put all the songs in one mega-album if you want. Since there's over a 100 songs, we have the extra zero at the same of each number. 

This album is 54 minutes long. 

001 Don't Make Me Over (Dionne Warwick)
002 I Smiled Yesterday (Dionne Warwick)
003 Wishin' and Hopin' (Dionne Warwick)
004 I Cry Alone (Dionne Warwick)
005 Make the Music Play (Dionne Warwick)
006 It's Love that Really Counts (Dionne Warwick)
007 The Love of a Boy (Dionne Warwick)
008 This Empty Place (Dionne Warwick)
009 A House Is Not a Home (Dionne Warwick)
010 Land of Make Believe (Dionne Warwick)
011 The Last One to Be Loved (Dionne Warwick)
012 Reach Out for Me (Dionne Warwick)
013 Anyone Who Had a Heart (Dionne Warwick)
014 Any Old Time of Day [Alternate Version] (Dionne Warwick)
015 I Could Make You Mine (Dionne Warwick)
016 Please Make Him Love Me (Dionne Warwick)
017 Walk On By (Dionne Warwick)
018 You'll Never Get to Heaven [If You Break My Heart] (Dionne Warwick)

https://pixeldrain.com/u/75y7xMfQ

alternate: 

https://bestfile.io/en/5blQU4ahwkF5DEG/file

The cover image shows, from right to left: Hal David, Dionne Warwick, and Burt Bacharach. I don't know the details, but it's from some time in the 1960s. The original was in black and white, and very poor quality. I got it in somewhat decent shape colorizing it with the Kolorize program, then cleaning it up and adding detail with the Krea AI program.

Since some people didn't like the transformation I made of this image, here's the totally unchanged black and white version, in case you want to use that instead. As you can see, the AI program made some changes as I tried to improve the quality. I wasn't happy with those, but I preferred the end result over the rough original. If anyone can do better, please do, and post it here.

Covered: Neil Young, Volume 1: 1967-1989

I'm leaving for a vacation to the Amazonian region of Peru tomorrow. I'll be gone for nearly two weeks. But while I'm gone, I'm going to try to keep posting. I have two big music projects that I have all set up. So pretty much all I need to do is hit "publish" on my cell phone to post each album. We'll see how it works out. Given that I'm going to a pretty remote area, I might be out of Internet contact for days at a time. So cross your fingers. 

Anyway, this is one of the two projects: a "Covered" collection for one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Neil Young. This one was mostly done by musical friend Fabio from Rio. That includes writing really great liner notes. 

--- 

This is certainly one of the most daunting projects I've worked with Paul yet, and certainly the biggest and most demanding "Covered" collections at the "Albums That Should Exist" blog ever, at least at the time of writing these liner notes. 

I assume Neil Young needs no introduction. Everybody (or at least everybody who has not lived in an offline bunker for the last half century) knows that Neil is one of the most important rock artists of the last sixty years. He has been influencing generations of musicians since the 1960s, resulting in literally thousands of covers and tributes, officially and unofficially available on studio albums, tribute records, live performances, and YouTube uploads.

Our aim here was not to include every Neil Young composition (that would easily result in more than 25 volumes), but to present a good representation of his output, including not only the all-time hits but also deep cuts, some officially unreleased songs cherished by long-time fans (the so-called "Rusties"), and at least a few lesser-known but equally strong compositions from more recent years, since Neil has never stopped composing, performing and recording.

We would like this project to become "The Best Neil Young Cover Collection Ever" - not out of personal vanity, but as a tribute to the quality of the songs and artists featured. For that reason, we walked the proverbial extra mile in order to select what we believe are some of the best performances of each song. In some cases, this was quite difficult to determine and remains subject to endless debate, since certain songs have literally hundreds of different versions recorded by dozens of artists. Subjectivity inevitably played a part, since our personal tastes (mine and Paul's) may have resulted in some biased selections. However, we tried whenever possible to focus on performances that are widely recognized as among the best or most representative interpretations of a given song. At the same time, we also looked for unusual readings that might give a different or fresh spin to familiar melodies.

My initial selection comprised about 230 different songs, and I listened to more than a thousand performances (1,072 to be exact) in order to prepare the first short list, which was later shared with Paul. For some songs there were literally dozens of available covers, so our main challenge was deciding which one to include. For others, it was surprisingly difficult to find a strong version. In some cases - particularly with more obscure tunes - we had to resort to unofficial recordings, including some provided by the Rusties community, where both amateur and professional musicians share their interpretations.

Since my initial selection would result in too-long a collection even for die-hard fans standards, Paul made editorial cuts, excluding some songs (which I accepted with stoic dignity), but also requesting the inclusion of some of his personal favorites, which I happily complied. In the end, we settled on a 10-volume collection with about 150 tracks, with very little repetition (only two songs - "Heart of Gold" and "Cortez the Killer" - appear in more than one version, in different volumes). 

--- 

Note that Fabio wrote individual paragraphs about all the songs in this volume. To see that, please look at the Word file added to the download zip file. Thanks again to Fabio for his help putting these albums together.

I also want to add that these albums are ordered by the years the covers were recorded, not the years the songs were first recorded by Neil Young. So if you don't see songs you want included, please wait. There are no less than TEN albums! And for instance, some songs from this time period don't show up until the last one. 

This album is an hour and three minutes long.

01 Do I Have to Come Right Out and Say It (Gallery Production)
02 Sugar Mountain (Joni Mitchell)
03 Everybody, I Love You (Happy Day)
04 Round and Round (Bernie Schwartz)
05 Southern Man (Merry Clayton)
06 Birds (Linda Ronstadt)
07 Ohio (Isley Brothers)
08 Only Love Can Break Your Heart (Jackie DeShannon)
09 See the Sky about to Rain (Byrds)
10 New Mama (Stephen Stills)
11 Love Is a Rose (Linda Ronstadt)
12 Mr. Soul (Cher)
13 The Loner (Stephen Stills)
14 Lotta Love (Nicolette Larson)
15 Look Out for My Love (Linda Ronstadt)
16 Like a Hurricane (Roxy Music)
17 Are You Ready for the Country (Jason & the Scorchers)
17 Winterlong (Pixies)

https://pixeldrain.com/u/DW5ar8Yg

alternate: 

https://bestfile.io/en/ZnVTE05ucUWZ4Wc/file

The cover photo is from 1966 or 1967. The original was in black and white, but I colorized it with the help of the Kolorize program. I also used the Krea AI program to add detail. 

Allen Toussaint, James Dean Bradfield & John Grant - Songwriters' Circle, Bush Hall, London, Britain, 9-30-2011

Here's another episode of the great "Songwriters' Circle" BBC TV show. This one stars Allen Toussaint, James Dean Bradfield, and John Grant.

I don't think Allen Toussaint needs much introduction at this music blog. That's because I've already posted three albums of cover versions of his songs in my "Covered" series. Here's a link to the first one, in case you want to go back to that:

https://albumsthatshouldexist.blogspot.com/2019/10/various-artists-covered-allen-toussaint.html

But just in case you need a little reminding, here's a paragraph from his Wikipedia entry: "He was an influential figure in New Orleans rhythm and blues from the 1950s to the end of the century, described as 'one of popular music's great backroom figures.'" And here's the link to the whole entry:

Allen Toussaint - Wikipedia

James Dean Bradfield is best known as the lead singer and guitarist for the Manic Street Preachers. Nearly all of his music career has been with that band, from 1986 until the current day (writing this in 2026). At the time of this concert, he'd only released on solo album, in 2006. And he's released one more since, in 2020. So solo appearances like this have been rare for him. The Manic Street Preachers have been quite popular, selling 10 million albums worldwide. They've been especially popular in Britain, where they had 34 Top Forty singles in a row, from 1991 to 2010. 

Here the Wikipedia link to that band:

Manic Street Preachers - Wikipedia

And here's the one just from Bradfield:

James Dean Bradfield - Wikipedia

Finally, there's John Grant. He was the lead singer and main songwriter for the band the Czars. That band put out six albums from 1994 to 2006 before splitting up. Then Grant started a solo career, which has been very successful. His debut album "Queen of Denmark" was named the album of the year by Mojo Magazine. His third solo album, "Grey Tickles, Black Pressure," made it all the way to Number Five in the British album chart.

Here's the Wikipedia entry for him:

John Grant (musician) - Wikipedia 

As is the style for this show, each musical artist took turns performing their own songs. Then, at the end, they all did a song together. That song, "Yes We Can Can," is a Allen Toussaint classic from the early 1970s. I don't know if there's much musical connection between these three, but they're all talented songwriters, so the episode is a good one. 

So far, I believe I've posted twelve episodes of this show. After this one, I have one more to post. There are a few more, but I haven't been able to find them. 

This album is 59 minutes long.

01 A Certain Girl (Allen Toussaint)
02 talk (James Dean Bradfield)
03 If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next (James Dean Bradfield)
04 talk (John Grant)
05 Sigourney Weaver (John Grant)
06 talk (Allen Toussaint)
07 Get Out of My Life, Woman (Allen Toussaint)
08 talk (James Dean Bradfield)
09 Your Love Is Not Enough (James Dean Bradfield)
10 Where Dreams Go to Die (John Grant)
11 It's Raining (Allen Toussaint)
12 talk (James Dean Bradfield)
13 Small Black Flowers That Grow in the Sky (James Dean Bradfield)
14 Chicken Bones (John Grant)
15 Working in the Coal Mine (Allen Toussaint)
16 talk (Allen Toussaint)
17 This Is Yesterday (James Dean Bradfield)
18 Caramel (John Grant)
19 Southern Nights (Allen Toussaint)
20 A Design for Life (James Dean Bradfield)
21 Drug (John Grant)
22 Yes We Can Can (Allen Toussaint, James Dean Bradfield & John Grant)

https://pixeldrain.com/u/bpRoThJa 

alternate: 

https://bestfile.io/en/z1ZgmnnOWV5XUT4/file

I didn't post this album for a while, because coming up with a good photo was a challenge. I wanted an image with all three of the stars in it, from this exact concert. However, they were spread far around the stage. So I took a screenshot with Toussaint and Bradfield in it, and another one of Grant. Then I put Grant into the picture with the other two.

From left to right: Allen Toussaint, James Dean Bradfield & John Grant.

Richard Thompson - BBC Sessions, Volume 10: In Concert, Celtic Connections Festival, Royal Concert Hall, Glasgow, Britain, 1-17-1998

Here's another of many BBC albums by singer-songwriter Richard Thompson. This one is a full solo acoustic concert.

At the time of this concert, his most recent album was 1997's "Industry," done in collaboration with bassist Danny Thompson (who, by the way, shows up only for the last few songs in this concert). But only one song here was performed from that album, "Last Shift." His next album would be "Mock Tudor" in 1999, and he already performed one song from that, "Crawl Back (Under My Stone)." Otherwise, the songs are from other parts of his long musical career, plus an interesting cover, "She May Call You Up Tonight," originally done by the Left Banke.

I'm sure this was a BBC recording. I know this because this actually was two sets, with "Razor Dance" being the first song of the second set. And between the two sets, there was a voiceover by a BBC DJ explaining how the first set was over but the BBC would be coming back for the second set. I cut all that out, as I usually cut out BBC DJ talk that wasn't part of the actual concert.

However, I find something puzzling: given that this is a BBC recording, the sound quality was surprisingly crappy for the BBC! The main problem was the echo-y vocals. They sounded like they were recorded in a tunnel. And the second set had even more echo than the first set. Luckily, thanks to recent improvements in audio editing technology, this was fixable. It's just that it was a pain in the ass. I used MVSEP on all the songs, splitting them into vocals and instruments. Then I took just the vocal track and ran it through MVSEP again, using their "Reverb Removal" filter.

That pretty much got rid of all of the problems with the vocals. Now, this sounds excellent, like you'd expect a BBC recording to sound.  

This unreleased album is an hour and 24 minutes long. 

01 I Feel So Good (Richard Thompson)
02 The Ghost of You Walks (Richard Thompson)
03 talk (Richard Thompson)
04 Hamlet (Richard Thompson)
05 talk (Richard Thompson)
06 Last Shift (Richard Thompson)
07 1952 Vincent Black Lightning (Richard Thompson)
08 Pharaoh (Richard Thompson)
09 Keep Your Distance (Richard Thompson)
10 A Heart Needs a Home (Richard Thompson)
11 talk (Richard Thompson)
12 She May Call You Up Tonight (Richard Thompson)
13 Razor Dance (Richard Thompson)
14 Turning of the Tide (Richard Thompson)
15 Bathsheba Smiles (Richard Thompson)
16 talk (Richard Thompson)
17 How Will I Ever Be Simple Again (Richard Thompson)
18 Walking on a Wire (Richard Thompson)
19 talk (Richard Thompson)
20 Crawl Back [Under My Stone] (Richard Thompson)
21 talk (Richard Thompson)
22 Persuasion (Richard Thompson)
23 talk (Richard Thompson)
24 Genesis Hall (Richard Thompson)
25 Wall of Death (Richard Thompson)
26 Beeswing (Richard Thompson)
27 I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight (Richard Thompson)

https://pixeldrain.com/u/nT5vntg7

alternate:

https://bestfile.io/en/mLq34igKU2lILED/file

The cover photo is from a concert at San Jose State University, in San Jose, California, on June 28, 1998.

The Carpenters - Full Acappella, Volume 2: 1977-1983

Here's the second volume of the Carpenters' "Full Apcappella." Like the first volume, this was mostly put together by musical friend Fabio from Rio, with just a little assistance by me. Again, we get to hear Karen Carpenter's marvelous lead vocals, and sometimes backing vocals, with no instrumental music getting in the way.

This volume deals with the latter half of the Carpenters' musical career. It wasn't as commercially successful as the first half, probably due to Karen Carpenter's self-inflicted declining physical health. Tragically, she died in 1983 at just the age of 32, so this volume ends in that year.

Like Volume 1, Fabio wrote extensive notes talking about the tracks and where they're from. He also explains why some of the songs have edits. That's included in the download zip. 

By the way, note that back in 2018, I posted an album that contained versions of Carpenters that only had vocals, bass, and drums. I called it "Near Acappella," because it was stripped way down, but not fully acappella. Well, Fabio found two more songs for that while he was looking for songs for these two volumes. So I've just updated that album with those two added songs. I also changed the cover image to one I like better. Here's the link:

https://albumsthatshouldexist.blogspot.com/2018/05/the-carpenters-near-acappella-1969-1975.html 

This album is 51 minutes long. Thanks again to Fabio for putting these albums together!

01 All You Get from Love Is a Love Song [Edit] (Carpenters)
02 Calling Occupants Of Interplanetary Craft [Edit] (Carpenters)
03 Knowing When to Leave (Carpenters)
04 Make It Easy on Yourself (Carpenters)
05 Suntory Pop Jingle No. 1 (Carpenters)
06 Suntory Pop Jingle No. 2 (Carpenters)
07 Silent Night (Carpenters)
08 Ave Maria (Carpenters)
09 Where Do I Go from Here [Edit] (Carpenters)
10 Someday (Carpenters)
11 Lovelines [Edit] (Carpenters)
12 The Uninvited Guest (Carpenters)
13 If We Try [Edit] (Karen Carpenter)
14 Make Believe It's Your First Time (Carpenters)
15 When It's Gone [Edit] (Carpenters)
16 Two Lives [Edit] (Karen Carpenter)
17 I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day (Carpenters)
18 Little Altar Boy (Carpenters)

https://pixeldrain.com/u/ZBC5J2CX

alternate:

https://bestfile.io/en/aV3vEIDjOPMuc7c/file

I don't know where or when the cover photo is from. I just thought it was a nice picture of Karen Carpenter. 

Neil Sedaka with Captain and Tennille - The Midnight Special, NBC Studios, Burbank, CA, 11-14-1975

Neil Sedaka died on February 27, 2026, just a few days ago as I write this. It just so happened I had some music to post from him. In fact, this is the second of two albums I'm posting based on his appearances on the "Midnight Special" TV show.

The other album of his I recently posted was based on when he hosted the Midnight Special on February 14, 1975. He was back to host the show again on this date, November 14, 1975. It was unusual for anyone to host the show twice in one year, but his career had an extraordinary revival in the mid-1970s. He had been very successful in the late 1950s and early 1960s, but had a long stretch of no hits in between.

The peaks of his 1970s revival was when three songs he wrote all reached Number One in the U.S. singles chart. First, "Laughter in the Rain" in late 1974. Then Captain and Tennille had a massive hit with his "Love Will Keep Us Together" in 1975. Not only was did it hit Number One, but it was the best selling song of the year. Later in 1975, he had another Number One with "Bad Blood." All three of those songs were performed here. Captain and Tennille were one of his guests for the episode, so he performed a rare version of "Love Will Keep Us Together" with them. 

At the same time Sedaka was having his big comeback, Captain and Tennille were becoming big stars. The Captain, real name Daryl Dragon, became a member of the Beach Boys touring band in 1972 as a keyboard player. He met Toni Tennille and helped her also join the Beach Boys touring band as a second keyboardist. The two of them began playing clubs as a duo together. Their debut album (also called "Love Will Keep Up Together" was released in 1975, and it was a big hit. The two of them also got married on November 11, 1975, which was just three days before this episode was broadcast. However, it probably was taped maybe a month or two earlier.

Here's the Wikipedia entry about the duo:

Captain & Tennille - Wikipedia

Like the other Neil Sedaka Midnight Special album I've posted, this one draws from multiple episodes. The first eleven tracks are from the November 14, 1975 episode mentioned in the title. Tracks 12 and 13 are from the February 14, 1975 episode that was also hosted by Sedaka. Track 14, "Cuddle Up," is from the June 20, 1975 episode. The remaining tracks, 15 to 18, are from the November 29, 1974 episode.

Two of the songs here are Captain and Tennille performing without Sedaka. They did a cover of the famous Carole King song "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman." It looks like that was a song they never officially released. "Cuddle Up" is a song the Captain wrote with Dennis Wilson of the Beach Boys when he was working with the Beach Boys. There is a Beach Boys version as well as a version on the debut Captain and Tennille album.

In case you're curious, the only other musical guests on the November 14, 1975 episode hosted by Sedaka were K.C. and the Sunshine Band and Helen Reddy. Freddie Prinze also did a comedy segment, and there was an interview with Robert Plant of Led Zeppelin.

This album is 43 minutes long. 

01 talk [Edit] (Wolfman Jack)
02 talk (Neil Sedaka & Helen Reddy)
03 Bad Blood (Neil Sedaka)
04 Breaking Up Is Hard to Do (Neil Sedaka)
05 talk (Neil Sedaka & Captain & Tennille)
06 Love Will Keep Us Together (Neil Sedaka & Captain & Tennille)
07 talk (Neil Sedaka & Captain & Tennille)
08 [You Make Me Feel Like] A Natural Woman (Captain & Tennille)
09 talk (Neil Sedaka & Helen Reddy)
10 Lonely Night [Angel Face] (Neil Sedaka)
11 When You Were Lovin' Me (Neil Sedaka)
12 talk (Neil Sedaka)
13 Don't Let It Mess Your Mind (Neil Sedaka)
14 Cuddle Up (Captain & Tennille)
15 talk (Neil Sedaka)
16 Laughter in the Rain (Neil Sedaka)
17 talk (Neil Sedaka)
18 Standing on the Inside (Neil Sedaka)

https://pixeldrain.com/u/Xoij3ph7

alternate:

https://bestfile.io/en/VxuFgI0FmZGU51N/file

The cover image is a screenshot I took from the YouTube video of this episode. It shows Tennille singing with Sedaka on "Love Will Keep Us Together."

Various Artists - BBC In Concert, Giants of Motown, NEC, Birmingham, Britain, 4-6-1992

Here's a pretty interesting BBC concert. It's from a Motown package tour in 1992. It features many of the big Motown names who were touring in 1992, though certainly not all. The first part stars Edwin Starr, the Marvelettes, the Supremes, and Martha Reeves and the Vandellas. Then the second half features the Temptations and the Four Tops, performing separately and also doing some songs together.

Note that some key members were missing. A key missing person was Diana Ross, who sang the lead vocals on nearly all Supremes songs. So some other former members of the Supremes had to bill themselves as the "Former Ladies of the Supremes" for legal reasons. They were Jean Terrell, Scherrie Payne, and Lynda Laurence. Terrell was the lead singer who replaced Ross in 1970. The other two also were only members of that group after Ross left. 

So the Supremes were more like the 1970s version, which was practically a different group with the same name. They did have some big hits though, including "Up the Ladder to the Roof" and "Stoned Love," both of which were performed here, and were originally sung by Terrell.

 

However, most of the other groups fared better. There was personnel turnover, but key lead singers remained. For instance, Gladys Horton was the lead singer on all the Marvelettes records, and Martha Reeves was the lead singer for all the Vandellas records. The Four Tops were amazingly consistent, keeping the same four members from 1953 until 1997. 

The situation with the Temptations was more complicated, since that band had a lot of personnel turnover even during their most popular eras, including quite a few different lead singers. At the time of this concert, the band consisted of Ali-Ollie Woodson (lead tenor), Otis Williams (baritone), Ron Tyson (tenor), Richard Street (second tenor) and Melvin Franklin (bass). Williams and Franklin were original members.

I'm not entirely sure, but I think this Giants of Motown "tour" may have just done these two concerts, in London and Birmingham. I can't find any references to any other concerts. So it's a lucky thing one of them was recorded by the BBC.

The music is unreleased. The sound quality is excellent. I do have "[Edit]" in the titles of a couple of songs, but it's been so long since I edited this that I forget why.  

This album is an hour and 56 minutes long.

01 25 Miles (Edwin Starr)
02 S.O.S. [Stop Her on Sight] (Edwin Starr)
03 War - I Heard It through the Grapevine (Edwin Starr)
04 H.A.P.P.Y. Radio (Edwin Starr)
05 Too Many Fish in the Sea (Gladys Horton & the Marvelettes)
06 talk (Gladys Horton & the Marvelettes)
07 When You're Young and in Love (Gladys Horton & the Marvelettes)
08 Please Mr. Postman [Edit] (Gladys Horton & the Marvelettes)
09 You Keep Me Hangin' On (Former Ladies of the Supremes)
10 Band Intros (Former Ladies of the Supremes)
11 Reflections (Former Ladies of the Supremes)
12 Where Did Our Love Go - Baby Love - My World Is Empty without You (Former Ladies of the Supremes)
13 Up the Ladder to the Roof (Former Ladies of the Supremes)
14 Stoned Love (Former Ladies of the Supremes)
15 talk (emcee)
16 [Love Is like A] Heat Wave - Nowhere to Run (Martha Reeves & the Vandellas)
17 Jimmy Mack (Martha Reeves & the Vandellas)
18 talk (Martha Reeves & the Vandellas)
19 Third Finger, Left Hand (Martha Reeves & the Vandellas)
20 talk (Martha Reeves & the Vandellas)
21 Dancing in the Street (Martha Reeves & the Vandellas)
22 Superstar [Remember How You Got Where You Are] (Temptations & the Four Tops)
23 Something about You (Temptations & the Four Tops)
24 Papa Was a Rolling Stone - Baby, I Need Your Loving (Temptations & the Four Tops)
25 talk (Temptations & the Four Tops)
26 7 Rooms of Gloom (Temptations & the Four Tops)
27 Girl [Why You Wanna Make Me Blue] (Temptations)
28 The Way You Do the Things You Do (Temptations)
29 Ain't Too Proud to Beg (Temptations)
30 Ball of Confusion [That's What the World Is Today] (Temptations)
31 Just My Imagination (Temptations)
32 Papa Was a Rolling Stone (Temptations)
33 Get Ready (Temptations)
34 Treat Her like a Lady (Temptations)
35 My Girl (Temptations)
36 I Can't Get Next to You (Temptations)
37 Baby, I Need Your Loving (Four Tops)
38 When She Was My Girl (Four Tops)
39 Bernadette (Four Tops)
40 It's the Same Old Song (Four Tops)
41 Walk Away Renee (Four Tops)
42 Reach Out, I'll Be There - Standing in the Shadows of Love (Four Tops)
43 I Can't Help Myself [Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch] [Edit] (Four Tops)

https://pixeldrain.com/u/NJBgHJ2c

alternate: 

https://bestfile.io/amUebhRMAqADjoo/file

The cover photo is a promotional poster for this concert. It actually was meant to promote two concerts: this one, and one in Wembley Arena, in London, one day earlier. So I put a photo from this concert in the square that had the details about the London concert. The photo was very low-res, so it wouldn't have made a good cover on its own. This poster was pretty low res as well, but I was able to clean it up with the use of Photoshop and Krea AI.

The Carpenters - Full Acappella, Volume 1: 1966-1976

Back in 2018, I posted an album by the Carpenters called "Near Acappella." It featured versions of their best songs done with very minimal instrumental backing, usually just vocals, bass, and drums. Lately, I've been collaborating with Fabio from Rio on some albums. He shares my appreciation for the vocals of Karen Carpenter. I don't know what it is, but there was something very special and unique about her singing. So Fabio wanted to make a "Full Acappella" album, and he did most of the heavy lifting to make it happen. It turns out we had enough material for two albums. Here's the first one.

The rest of this write-up here was written by Fabio:

Inspired by Paul's "Near Acappella" Carpenters collection from some years ago, I decided to check if there were "full acappella" versions of Carpenters songs available, since in recent years audio tools (with or without AI) have gotten better separating vocals from instrumentals. It turns out there are indeed a lot of acappella versions of Carpenters songs out there, so I selected the best ones I could find. At first, the album I made from the acappella versions I found made for a relatively short album. So Paul suggested "two or three more tracks." But I got excited with my "new toy" (the MVSEP online tool that makes it possible to segregate all kinds of tracks from a multitrack source) and ended up creating an additional dozen tracks myself, while also finding some more. That ended up being too much for a single disc. So, as per another suggestion by Paul, this became a "twofer", or two volume collection. These albums may be considered twin siblings of the earlier "Near Acappella" collection.

I got about half of the tracks from YouTube channels or Facebook fan groups, and the remaining were done with MVSEP. I used Audacity software to exclude instrumental breaks, intros, and outros, as well as cleaning up the occasional odd instrument (a drum roll, a sax riff), in order to keep this new collection truly "full acappella." All those that have "[Edit]" in their titles had some additional cleaning done by Paul or me (other than what was already done by whoever shared the acappella tracks originally).

We (myself and Paul) discussed a bit about pros and cons of including harmony vocals (by Richard and/or backing singers, or even occasionally a full choir, like in "Sing" and "Goodnight"). Paul was inclined to keep only Karen's leading vocals. But I argued that a full album with just Karen's voice, regardless of how beautiful it is, could sound a bit monotonous, while the harmony vocals help to provide additional color and variety. So, in the end, we decided to keep them.

---

There's more to Fabio's comments, including explanations of the sources of all the songs. Check out the Word file included in the download zip for that. However, here's one final comment from him, about the bonus track: 

While mining for tracks, I found two already done acappella versions of "We've Only Just Begun": one with only Karen's lead vocal track, and another with lead vocals and harmony vocals. Both are good - the "lead singing only" is more intimate and a bit melancholic, while the "lead vocals with harmonies" is quite exquisite. So, I suggested to Paul that we could keep them both, one at the official track list and another as a bonus track for Volume 1.

This album is 46 minutes long. 

01 I'll Be Yours [Edit] (Karen Carpenter)
02 Goodnight (Carpenters)
03 We've Only Just Begun (Carpenters)
04 Maybe It's You [Edit] (Carpenters)
05 [They Long to Be] Close to You [Edit] (Carpenters)
06 Baby It's You (Carpenters)
07 Rainy Days and Mondays [Edit] (Carpenters)
08 [A Place to] Hideaway (Carpenters)
09 Sometimes (Carpenters)
10 A Song for You (Carpenters)
11 Goodbye to Love [Edit] (Carpenters)
12 Sing [Edit] (Carpenters)
13 From the Heart Comes the Soul (Carpenters)
14 Aurora (Carpenters)
15 Only Yesterday [Edit] (Carpenters)
16 Solitaire [Edit] (Carpenters)
17 Love Me for What I Am [Edit] (Carpenters)
18 Eventide (Carpenters)
19 Good Friends Are for Keeps (Carpenters)
20 Ordinary Fool [Edit] (Carpenters)

We've Only Just Begun [Harmony Vocals Version] [Edit] (Carpenters)

https://pixeldrain.com/u/En3Makbp

alternate: 

https://bestfile.io/en/2L3B4h5poc7r7wm/file

I don't know anything about the cover image except it's Karen Carpenter "circa 1970." The original was in black and white, but I colorized it with the use of the Kolorize program.