The Indigo Girls - Center Stage - Acoustic Versions (1988-1989)

I like the Indigo Girls a lot, and I've already posted some albums of their stray tracks, with some being all original material and some being all cover versions. This starts a series of four albums that is different. It generally includes their most well-known songs, but in all acoustic versions, just Emily Saliers, Amy Ray, and two guitars.

Personally, although I enjoy hearing them rock out sometimes (the song "Land of Canaan" being a good example), I think they're usually at their best when they go the totally acoustic route. So consider this the first of a series of greatest hits albums, except with the songs stripped way back.

These albums wouldn't be possible if it wasn't for the Lifeblood website (www.lifeblood.net), which collects and makes easily available just about every Indigo Girls bootleg recording out there. I went through that website very carefully and focused on the in-person radio show appearances to make this album. Those can be a gold mine because they're recorded just about as well as any studio session. But often just the two Indigo Girls showed up at the radio stations with their acoustic guitars, rather than getting their entire band to come along and set up all their equipment. So these recordings allow one to hear the songs in a different way.

All the songs here date from 1988 and 1989, which was right when the Indigo Girls hit it big with their album "Indigo Girls." Most of the songs here are from that, although there are a few from elsewhere, including some early looks at a few songs from what would be their next album in 1990, "Nomads Indians Saints." There also are two songs here, "Cold as Ice" and "No Way to Treat a Friend," that remain officially unreleased to this day. (I have different versions of both on one of the stray tracks albums I've posted here already.)

Note that this album does not include their most well known song "Closer to Fine," even though it was released on their 1989. That's because the best all acoustic version of this I could find dates to 1990, so it will appear on the next album in this series.

01 Love's Recovery (Indigo Girls)
02 Cold as Ice (Indigo Girls)
03 Center Stage (Indigo Girls)
04 No Way to Treat a Friend (Indigo Girls)
05 Prince of Darkness (Indigo Girls)
06 Hand Me Downs (Indigo Girls)
07 Southland in the Springtime (Indigo Girls)
08 Welcome Me (Indigo Girls)
09 Secure Yourself (Indigo Girls)
10 Land of Canaan (Indigo Girls)
11 Kid Fears (Indigo Girls)
12 Crazy Game (Indigo Girls)

https://www.upload.ee/files/15852919/TIngidoGs_1988-1989_CenterStageAcousticVersions_atse.zip.html

The photo for the cover art is a publicity photo from 1989. I colorized it red and added the text.