Wednesday, August 24, 2022

Texas - Cover Versions, Volume 3 (2008-2021)

Here's the third and last of three volumes of cover versions by the British band Texas.

Texas's lead singer Sharleen Spiteri pursued a solo career for two solo albums, one in 2008 and the other in 2010. Then she rejoined Texas by 2013. So the first six songs come from that solo time period, and only feature Spiteri. But I doubt you'd notice if you didn't look at the credits, because the sound and style is basically the same. Spiteri's 2010 album, "The Movie Songbook," consists entirely of cover songs. I avoided including any of the album versions of those, though I did include a few if I found good alternate or live versions. One song, "Streets of Philadelphia," is a bonus track from that album.

Aside from that bonus track, the only other officially released versions are is "9 to 5" and "Speak Softly, Love," both of which come from different obscure various artists albums. As for the rest, the sound quality is generally excellent, although there is some variation. The vast majority of the songs come from in-person radio station appearances, or TV shows.

As an aside, I'm particularly impressed with the version of "Come On Eileen," which is radically different from the original, but equally good, in my opinion.

UPDATE 1: On November 4, 2022, I updated the mp3 download file. I added three songs I'd previously missed: "Speak Softly, Love," "Don't Save Me," and "I Say a Little Prayer." Thank you to the commenter LaRu for finding those. 

UPDATE 2: On November 12, 2022, I updated the mp3 download file. Commenter LaRu sent me two more songs that I'd missed: "Help" and "Dreams."

01 Son of a Preacher Man - Dusty Springfield
02 Should I Stay or Should I Go - Clash
03 Speak Softly, Love [Love Theme from 'The Godfather'] - Nino Rota / Andy Williams
04 Streets of Philadelphia - Bruce Springsteen
05 God Bless the Child - Billie Holliday
06 Many Rivers to Cross - Jimmy Cliff
07 I'd Rather Go Blind - Etta James
08 River Deep, Mountain High - Ike & Tina Turner
09 Jackson - Johnny Cash & June Carter Cash
10 Don't Save Me - Haim
11 I Say a Little Prayer - Dionne Warwick
12 Help - Beatles
13 The Letter - Boxtops
14 Let’s Stay Together - Al Green
15 9 to 5 - Dolly Parton
16 To Love Somebody - Bee Gees
17 Dreams - Fleetwood Mac
18 Young Americans - David Bowie
19 Come On Eileen -Dexys Midnight Runners

And here is the usual song list:

01 Son of a Preacher Man (Sharleen Spiteri & Charlotte Church)
02 Should I Stay or Should I Go (Sharleen Spiteri)
03 Speak Softly, Love [Love Theme from 'The Godfather'] (Sharleen Spiteri & Mauro Gioia)
04 Streets of Philadelphia (Sharleen Spiteri)
05 God Bless the Child (Sharleen Spiteri)
06 Many Rivers to Cross [Acoustic Version] (Sharleen Spiteri)
07 I'd Rather Go Blind (Sharleen Spiteri with Ronnie Wood)
08 River Deep, Mountain High [Edit] (Texas)
09 Jackson (Texas)
10 Don't Save Me (Texas)
11 I Say a Little Prayer (Texas)
12 Help (Texas)
13 The Letter (Texas)
14 Let’s Stay Together (Texas)
15 9 to 5 (Sharleen Spiteri)
16 To Love Somebody (Texas)
17 Dreams (Sharleen Spiteri)
18 Young Americans (Texas)
19 Come On Eileen (Texas)

This album is 57 minutes long.

https://www.upload.ee/files/15271243/Texs_2008-2021_CovrVersionsVol3_atse.zip.html

The cover photo is of Sharleen Spiteri at a celebrity event in 2008.

2 comments:

  1. Hey Paul, thanks for the upgrades, refreshed links to the Texas covers collections. Nicely done, and you are correct. Texas and Sharleen are quite ambitious in taking on a wide range of songs in these covers. Some work out better than others, I think, but it's always cool to hear bands pay homage in performing other artists' songs. Good job on these volumes!

    ReplyDelete