As I said in my write-up to Volume 1, Johnson only recorded 29 songs during his very short musical career in the 1930s. Since his musical influence has been so enormous and the number of songs he did is so small, I've found versions of every single one of those 29 songs. More of the famous songs were included in Volume 1. For some of the songs here, like "Photograph Blues" and "Drunken Hearted Man," I had to struggle to find any good covers at all. That said, all of Johnson's songs are worthy, and I did ultimately find good covers for all of them.
As with Volume 1, I tried hard to find covers from a variety of artists. That's why, for instance, I have a version of "Stop Break Down" here by the Jeff Healey Band instead of the more well known one by the Rolling Stones. The version of "Hellhound on My Trail" by Larkin Poe is actually unreleased. They did a version on their 2020 album "Kindred Spirits" that's frustatingly short, at only 43 seconds long! But happily, they did a two-minute long version for their "Tip O' the Hat" video series, so I used that version.
This album is about 50 minutes long, and Volume 1 has a similar length.
01 Honeymoon Blues (John Hammond)
02 Me and the Devil Blues (Cowboy Junkies)
03 They're Red Hot (Red Hot Chili Peppers)
04 Little Queen of Spades (John Mooney)
05 32-20 Blues (Bob Dylan)
06 Kind Hearted Woman Blues (Keb Mo)
07 Stop Breaking Down (Jeff Healey Band)
08 Last Fair Deal Gone Down (Beck)
09 Milkcow's Calf Blues (Robert Palmer)
10 Stones in My Passway (John Mellencamp)
11 Phonograph Blues (Pyeng Threadgill)
12 If I Had Possession Over Judgement Day (Rory Block)
13 Dead Shrimp Blues (Dan Patlansky)
14 Drunken Hearted Man (Devil Makes Three)
15 Hellhound on My Trail (Larkin Poe)
https://www.upload.ee/files/15833563/CoveredRobertJ_1983-2020_Volum2_atse.zip.html
As I explained with my Volume 1 write-up, there are only three confirmed photos of Robert Johnson, and all of them are in black and white. Furthermore, all of them are in fairly bad shape, considering they're family heirlooms dating to the 1930s. I colorized this one, and made lots of little tweaks in order to make it presentable. It still has some issues, but hopefully it gives you a rough idea of what he looked like, in color.
I'm enjoying this. Many thanks
ReplyDeleteI've been listening to The Travelling Willburys and this seems to dovetail nicely. Maybe it's just me.
ReplyDeleteAny interest in attempting a Willburys alternative album?
Many thanks.
This is a great collection, thanks! A lot of your selections were familiar to me, I just hadn't heard them in a while, but many were not, and that Pyeng Threadgill version has replaced the Roy Rogers cut on Vassar Clements's album as my favorite. I burned all 29 to a CD-R and it's been playing in my car all week. I took the liberty of making myself a new cover for my 29 cut disc, using that Color Surprise app as well as some other Photoshop tricks, and included a link back to your site. I hope that's okay. Thanks again for all the fine work you do.
ReplyDeleteclicky
Glad you like. :) I like what you did with the cover. Since you're familiar with this material, are there are any cases where you prefer another cover for these songs?
DeleteNo, you do a great job with the covers as well as the playlists. It's just that CD-Rs I play in my car can hold 4 or 5 hours of MP3s and I like to fill them up. Since both volumes fit on a single disc I thought I would make a new cover. I also wanted to see what I could do to improve that "new" photo of Mr. Johnson. Are you familiar with the app Remini Enhance? Unfortunately you have to use it from your phone and then do a complicated workaround to get it on your computer, but it can do scary stuff with old blurred photos. Check it out. And thanks again.
ReplyDeleteNo, I don't mean that kind of cover, I meant cover versions of songs of RJ, if you know of any particularly good ones I didn't include.
DeleteAnd no, I've never heard of that app. But I certainly could use something like that.
Do you know the Delaney & Bonnie and Friends version of Come On in My Kitchen that was done live in the A&R Studios with Duane Allman? That'd be my pick. I like the Peter Green Splinter Group with Doctor John on From Four Till Late, George Thorogood's 2017 acoustic Steady Rollin' Man, and would have to go with Magic Sam's Sweet Home Chicago. Both Hugh Laurie and Johnny Shines do a nice job with They're Red Hot but they are almost as short as the Chili Pepper version. However Sam Bush does a nice long take of it which, unfortunately, is a hidden track after Whisper My Name on 2009's Circle Around Me. I bet it could be unhidden.
ReplyDeleteNice suggestions, thanks. I'll have to check those out.
ReplyDeleteEssa sua ideia é mesmo muito boa. Estou baixando praticamente tudo q vjo em seu Blog. Grato por disponibilizar essas maravilhas sonoras. Vida longa ao seu Blog e à nós!
ReplyDelete