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.

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://www.upload.ee/files/15100182/BrandiC_2005-2010_CoverSongsVolume1_atse.zip.html

The cover art photo comes from a 2007 concert.