Fiona Apple - Cover Songs, Volume 4: 2016-2022

Here's the last of four volumes of Fiona Apple performing cover versions. I particularly enjoyed this series, and I wish it could keep going, but this is all I could find with worthy sound quality. This last volume gets us caught up to the present day, more or less (as I write this in early 2024).

All but four of the songs here have been officially released. They're from the usual mix of movie soundtracks, appearances on other artist's albums, and various artists compilations. 

As for the unreleased ones, those are tracks 1, 2, 3, and 9. The first one, "Ain't That a Shame," was done for an Internet show. The next two are from another Internet show, this one hosted by musician Andrew Bird (and they're duets with Bird). I included three other songs from that same show on the previous album in this series. Finally, the ninth song, "The Whole of the Moon," was done for the TV show "The Affair," but it only appeared in the show, not on a soundtrack for it or anything like that.

There are two bonus tracks, "All Night Thing" and "You Don't Own Me." They're both from audience concert bootlegs. Their quality was good enough for bonus tracks (some others didn't even make that cut), but not good enough for the album proper.

Here's a list of the original artists for each song:

01 Ain't That a Shame - Fats Domino
02 Why - Andrew Bird
03 Oh, Sister - Bob Dylan
04 I Can't Wait to Meet You - Solangie Jimenez & Thomas Cabaniss
05 Your Molecular Structure - Mose Allison
06 It Won't Be Wrong - Byrds
07 In My Room - Beach Bosy
08 Don't Worry 'Bout Me - Katherine Perry
09 The Whole of the Moon - Waterboys
10 7 O'Clock News - Silent Night - Simon & Garfunkel medley, including "Silent Night" by Franz Xaver Gruber & Joseph Mohr
11 Love More - Sharon Van Etten
12 [Remember Me] I'm the One Who Loves You - Stuart Hamblen
13 Where the Shadows Lie - Bear McCreary

All Night Thing - Temple of the Dog
You Don't Own Me - Leslie Gore

And here's the usual song list:

01 Ain't That a Shame (Fiona Apple)
02 Why (Fiona Apple & Andrew Bird)
03 Oh, Sister (Fiona Apple & Andrew Bird)
04 I Can't Wait to Meet You (Fiona Apple)
05 Your Molecular Structure (Tippo All Stars & Fiona Apple)
06 It Won't Be Wrong (Fiona Apple & Jakob Dylan)
07 In My Room (Fiona Apple & Jakob Dylan)
08 Don't Worry 'Bout Me (Jeff Goldblum & the Mildred Snitzer Orchestra with Fiona Apple)
09 The Whole of the Moon (Fiona Apple)
10 7 O'Clock News - Silent Night (Phoebe Bridgers, Fiona Apple & Matt Berninger)
11 Love More (Fiona Apple)
12 [Remember Me] I'm the One Who Loves You (Watkins Family Hour with Fiona Apple)
13 Where the Shadows Lie (Fiona Apple & Bear McCreary)

All Night Thing (Fiona Apple)
You Don't Own Me (Shirley Manson & Fiona Apple)

https://www.upload.ee/files/16345640/FONAAPPL2016-2022CvrSngsVlum4_atse.zip.html

The cover photo was taken at the Ohana Fest in Dana Point, California, on September 9, 2017.

Fiona Apple - Cover Songs, Volume 3: 2011-2016

This is the third album of Fiona Apple performing cover versions. There's one more album to go after this.

If you like the previous volumes, you'll like this one. Once again, Apple surprised with lots of unusual choices for her covers. I have to admit though I did cheat a bit, in that I included three songs written or co-written by Apple. She has so few original songs that haven't appeared on her studio albums that I figure this is the best place to put them in my collection. Those are "Dull Tool," Container," and "Railroad Sam and Slingshot Sue." The last one is a bit odd, because I looked it up and it was written by Apple, another singer-songwriter named Andrew Bird, and a five-year-old boy only identified as Sam!

Five of the 12 songs on this album are officially released (track 2, 3, 6, 8, and 10). "Pure Imagination" is a rather odd case. It was released as an A-side in 2013. It's a song from the first "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" movie, released in 1971. The others are from movie soundtracks and appearances on other artist's albums.

As for the unreleased songs, only two come from concert bootlegs: "Jolene" and "It's Only Make Believe." Unfortunately, "Jolene" sounds a bit worse than the others, coming from an audience boot, but I included it anyway due to it being a strong performance of a great song. The others generally come from TV appearances (track four and nine) or an Internet show (tracks 11 and 12). 

The bonus track, "He's Funny That Way," is a bonus track because it doesn't sound as good as the others.

This album is 44 minutes long.

Here's a list of the original songs for each album:

01 Jolene - Dolly Parton
02 Dull Tool - Fiona Apple
03 You're the One I Love - Everly Brothers
04 Let Me Roll It - Paul McCartney
05 It's Only Make Believe - Conway Twitty
06 Pure Imagination - Leslie Bricusse &Anthony Newley
07 Container - Fiona Apple
08 I'm in the Middle of a Riddle - Anton Karas
09 Tombstone Blues - Bob Dylan
10 Left Handed Kisses - Andrew Bird
11 [I’d Like to Get You on A] Slow Boat to China - Kay Kyser & His Orchestra
12 Railroad Sam and Slingshot Sue - Andrew Bird, Fiona Apple & Sam
He's Funny That Way - Billie Holiday

Here's the usual song list:

01 Jolene (Fiona Apple with Nickel Creek)
02 Dull Tool (Fiona Apple)
03 You're the One I Love (Sara Watkins with Fiona Apple)
04 Let Me Roll It (Fiona Apple with the Roots)
05 It's Only Make Believe (Fiona Apple)
06 Pure Imagination (Fiona Apple)
07 Container (Fiona Apple)
08 I'm in the Middle of a Riddle (Fiona Apple & Maude Maggart)
09 Tombstone Blues (Watkins Family Hour with Fiona Apple)
10 Left Handed Kisses (Andrew Bird with Fiona Apple)
11 [I’d Like to Get You on A] Slow Boat to China (Fiona Apple & Andrew Bird)
12 Railroad Sam and Slingshot Sue (Fiona Apple & Andrew Bird)

He's Funny That Way (Fiona Apple)

https://www.upload.ee/files/16303085/FONAAPPL2011-2016CvrSngsVlum3_atse.zip.html

The cover photo is from a concert at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles on September 14, 2012.

Fiona Apple - Cover Songs, Volume 2: 2006-2011

As I said in my write-up for Volume 1 in this series, I hadn't known much about Fiona Apple's music, but I helped Mike Solof post an alternate version of one of her albums, and I liked what I heard. I checked to see if she had any non-album tracks worth sharing, and I discovered a cornucopia of cover versions, enough for four volumes. Here's the second volume.

Also as I said with my Volume 1 write-up, I was impressed with the depth of her musical knowledge as shown by the cover songs she's performed. That's even more evident with Volume 2. The vast majority of the songs here are good and interesting, yet obscure.

Three songs are unreleased. The first two were done in concert with Elvis Costello, and come from a bootleg. "Angel Eyes" appeared in the 2008 movie "Largo" but was never released on a soundtrack. 

The rest come from a mix of official sources. For instance, "Why Try to Change Me Now" and "I Walk a Little Faster" come from a Cy Coleman" tribute album and "Everyday" comes from a Buddy Holly Tribute album. Margaret Cho is a famous comedian who also has had a music career, and "Hey Big Dog" comes from one of her albums. See the mp3 tags for more details like that.

There are two bonus tracks, "Walking After Midnight" and "When I Get Low, I Get High." Those come from audience bootlegs of concerts, and the sound quality just wasn't good enough to be included with the rest of the songs.

This album is 42 minutes long.

01 I Want You (Fiona Apple with Elvis Costello)
02 Shabby Doll (Fiona Apple & Elvis Costello)
03 Sally's Song (Fiona Apple)
04 Still I (Fiona Apple & Christophe Deluy)
05 Angel Eyes (Fiona Apple)
06 Why Try to Change Me Now (Fiona Apple)
07 I Walk a Little Faster (Fiona Apple)
08 Hey Big Dog (Margaret Cho & Fiona Apple)
09 So Sleepy (Fiona Apple with Jon Brion & the Punch Brothers)
10 Everyday (Fiona Apple)

Walking After Midnight (Fiona Apple)
When I Get Low, I Get High (Fiona Apple with Nickel Creek)

https://www.upload.ee/files/16287854/FONAAPPL2006-2011CovrSngsVlum2_atse.zip.html

The cover photo shows Apple with her hair being blown in the wind on the roof of a building in New York City in May 1997. It doesn't fit the time period well, but I liked the photo.

Fiona Apple - Cover Songs, Volume 1: 1997-2005

A few weeks ago (as I write this in February 2024), I posted an alternate version of a Fiona Apple. I wasn't that familiar with her music other than a couple of hit songs, so I decided to listen more of her stuff. Long story short, that led me to create this, a series of four albums of cover versions she did. None of these appeared on any of her studio albums, since she reserves those for her original songs.

I must say I was very pleasantly surprised by her choice of covers. She's a bit like Marshall Crenshaw, with his deep knowledge of music history resulting in the many albums of cover versions I've been posting here. Apple must have a similar deep musical knowledge, because she hasn't just done the usual suspects of big rock hits from the 1960s until today. She's done some of those songs, sure, but she also goes way back, covering songs from the pre-rock and roll era. There are some of those here, like "It's Only a Paper Moon" (first done in 1933), "River, Stay Away from My Door" (first done in 1931), "Tonight You Belong to Me" (first done in 1928), and the like. There are more in the same vein on the other volumes in this series. I did NOT expect that from a 1990s alt rock star! Additionally, she has an excellent, unique voice, so this is a winner of an album all around.

Seven of the songs here have been officially released, and five have not. "Across the Universe" and "Please Send Me Someone to Love" are from the "Pleasantville" movie soundtrack. "Frosty the Snowman" is from a various artists Christmas album. Maude Maggart is Apple's sister, though she changed her last name to differentiate herself from her sister. "It's Only a Paper Moon" and "After You've Gone" are both from a Maggart album. "Tonight You Belong to Me" and "River, Stay Away from My Door" are live performances included as bonus tracks on Apple's 2005 album "Extraordinary Machine."

As for the unreleased songs (the first four plus track 10), they're generally from concert bootlegs. However, "Please Come Home for Christmas" is from an in-person radio station appearance. They all have excellent sound quality, except for "After You've Gone," which is a bit rougher, since it's from an audience boot.

The two bonus tracks are bonus tracks due to sound quality. They also are from audience boots, but even rougher ones.

This album is 41 minutes long, not including the two bonus tracks.

01 Angel (Fiona Apple)
02 Siting in Limbo (Fiona Apple)
03 Use Me (Fiona Apple)
04 Please Come Home for Christmas (Fiona Apple)
05 Across the Universe (Fiona Apple)
06 Please Send Me Someone to Love (Fiona Apple)
07 Frosty the Snowman (Fiona Apple)
08 It's Only a Paper Moon (Maude Maggart & Fiona Apple)
09 A Sleeping Bee (Maude Maggart & Fiona Apple)
10 After You've Gone (Fiona Apple)
11 Tonight You Belong to Me (Fiona Apple)
12 River, Stay Away from My Door (Fiona Apple)

Just One of Those Things (Fiona Apple)
Kissing My Love (Fiona Apple)

https://www.upload.ee/files/16247074/FONAAPPL1997-2005CovrSngsVlum1_atse.zip.html

The cover photo shows Apple at a concert in a Tower Records store in West Hollywood, California, in 2005. As an aside, "After You've Gone" is from this performance.

Fiona Apple - Extraordinary Machine - The Jon Brion Version (2005) (A MIKE SOLOF GUEST POST)

Mike Solof is back with another guest post. This time, it's an alternate version of Fiona Apple's 2005 album "Extraordinary Machine." The released version is excellent. However, there was a different, still entirely unreleased version all ready to go earlier in the year that was never released. Produced by Jon Brion, it was basically the same bunch of songs, but drastically different takes of nearly all the songs.

Wikipedia has a very good explanation:

Extraordinary Machine - Wikipedia

Furthermore, Mike has written up the whole story in his PDF notes, which I recommend you read. Everything else you need to know should be in those notes. 

Oh, one last thing I should mention: although this is a bootleg, the sound quality is just as good as an official album.

This album is 49 minutes long.

01 Not About Love (Fiona Apple)
02 Red Red Red (Fiona Apple)
03 Get Him Back (Fiona Apple)
04 Better Version of Me (Fiona Apple)
05 Oh Well (Fiona Apple)
06 O' Sailor (Fiona Apple)
07 Used to Love Him (Fiona Apple)
08 Window (Fiona Apple)
09 Waltz [Better than Fine] (Fiona Apple)
10 Extraordinary Machine (Fiona Apple)
11 Please Please Please (Fiona Apple)
12 Better Version of Me [Alternate Version] (Fiona Apple)

https://www.upload.ee/files/16163219/FIONAPL2005_ExtrrdinryMchnealt_atse.zip.html

The cover uses the same text and font as the original version, but the image is different. The official cover has some plant life on it, and there's a picture on the back of more plant life. This is just that back image moved to the cover.