Any Major Dude With Half A Heart

Following the first Stevie Wonder Songbook, posted for his 75^th birthday last year, here is the second of three volumes, to mark his birthday tomorrow, May 13. It sort of carries on from where we left off with Volume 1: versions of the classics and a few songs Stevie wrote but let others have.

Stevie was so prolific in the 1970s that he could afford the luxury of giving songs away, much as Lennon/McCartney did in their early years and Prince in the 1980s. And it wasn’t potential album fillers and b-sides which Stevie gave away. Those were hits.

One of them, Jermaine Jackson’s Let Get Serious, opened Volume 1. It would have been an even bigger hit for Stevie had he released it. On the present mix, there are:

• The Spinners’ It’s A Shame, co-written with Lee Garrett and wife Syreeta Wright. It’s a pity (or indeed a shame), that Stevie Wonder never recorded this track himself at some point. Garrett was also a co-writer of Let’s Get Serious, and before that, with Syreeta and Lula Mae Hardaway, of Signed, Sealed, Delivered.
• Tell Me Something Good was a hit for Rufus & Chaka Khan, but is covered here by Maceo Parker.
• Third World’s superb Try Jah Love, was written, with lyrics by backing singer and friend Melody McCully, after Stevie performed with Third World at Jamaica’s Sunsplash Festival in 1981. It was held that year in tribute to the recently late Bob Marley, and Stevie performed his song Master Blaster (Jammin’) with the band.
• Betcha’ Wouldn’t Hurt Me, from Quincy Jones’ The Dude album, featured lead vocals by Patti Austin. It was co-written with Stephanie Andrews, who coordinated the technical set-up for Wonder’s recordings. Stevie wrote several other songs with her, including Treat Myself, which appeared on Wonder’s 1995 Conversation Peace album.
• Stevie recorded Until You Come Back To Me, co-written with Clarence Paul and Morris Broadnax, in 1967 but mysteriously never released it until a until the superb triple anthology album Looking Back in 1977. In the interim, it became a big hit for Aretha Franklin. Later Luther Vandross incorporated it into a medley with the Carpenters’ Superstar. The song is covered here by the great British soul singer Ruby Turner. Stevie’s long-languishing original recording is still the best.
• I Can See The Sun In Late December wasn’t a single release but at over 12 minutes it dominated Roberta Flack’s 1975 Feel Like Makin’ Love album. It’s included here as one of two bonus tracks.

Volume 3 will include a few more songs Stevie Wonder gave away: Roberta Flack & Donny Hathaway’s You Are My Heaven (co-written with Canadian soul singer Eric Mercury), and Michael Jackson’s I Can’t Help It, which would have been a hit if it hadn’t appeared on the singles goldmine that was Off The Wall. The latter also credits Susaye Greene, whose other big co-writing credit is Deniece Williams’ Free (which sounds like a Stevie Wonder number, but isn’t. He released his own song with that title in 1987).

Another one that will feature on Volume 3 is the Syreeta classic Harmour Love. Syreeta and Stevie wrote many songs together, some recorded by her, some by him (such as If You Really Love Me, Never Dreamed You’d Leave in Summer, Do Yourself A Favor, Blame It On The Sun) — but Harmour Love was written by Stevie alone.

Both wrote the wonderfully grooving Smokey Robinson & The Miracle’s We Had A Love So Strong, which in turn was covered to good effect ten years later, in 1982, by Randy Crawford. It will also feature in Volume 3.

Smokey Robinson & The Miracle’s Tears Of A Clown, incidentally, was co-written by Smokey with Stevie. But it won’t feature in this trilogy because it really is Smokey’s song.

All writing credits are noted in the MP3tag.

Finally — because some people will, ahem, wonder — the vocalists on the Sergio Mendes cover of Lookin’ For Another Pure Love are Bonnie Bowden and Sondra Catton, members of Sergio Mendes & Brasil ’77. The former went on to become a Grammy-nominated jazz singer.

As always, the mix is timed to fit on a standard CD-R and includes home-mistraknowitalled covers as well as the text above in an illustrated PDF. PW in comments.

1. Stevie Wonder – Sir Duke (live) (1995)
2. Joe Cocker – You Haven’t Done Nothing (2007)
3. Dillard-Hartford-Dillard – Boogie On Reggae Woman (1980)
4. Arrival – He’s Misstra Know-It-All (1973)
5. Three Dog Night – I Never Dreamed You’d Leave In Summer (1971)
6. Sergio Mendes – Lookin’ For Another Pure Love (1975)
7. The Spinners – It’s A Shame (1970)
8. White Heat – I Love Every Little Thing About You (1975)
9. Thelma Houston & Jerry Butler – Joy Inside My Tears (1975)
10. Barbra Streisand – You And I (1977)
11. Helen Reddy – If It’s Magic (1975)
12. Quincy Jones – Betcha’ Wouldn’t Hurt Me (1977)
13. Michael McDonald – Higher Ground (2000)
14. Third World – Try Jah Love (1982)
15. Keb’ Mo’ – Isn’t She Lovely (2001)
17. Ruby Turner – Until You Come Back To Me (That’s What I Am Gonna Do) (1988)
18. Macy Gray – Tuesday Heartbreak (2012)
19. Vanessa Williams – Send One Your Love (2005)
BONUS TRACKS:
20. Roberta Flack – I Can See The Sun In Late December (1975)
21. Dave Valentin – Love Light In Flight (1985)

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Previous Songbooks:
ABBA
Ashford & Simpson
Barry Gibb Vol. 1
Barry Gibb Vol. 2
Bill Withers
Billy Joel
Bob Dylan Volumes 1-5
Brian Wilson
Bruce Springsteen
Burt Bacharach & Hal David Vol. 1
Burt Bacharach & Hal David Vol. 2
Burt Bacharach’s Lesser-Known Songbook
Carole Bayer Sager
Carole King Vol. 1
Carole King Vol. 2
Chuck Berry
Cole Porter Vol. 1
Cole Porter Vol. 2
Dolly Parton
Elton John & Bernie Taupin
George Harrison
Gordon Lightfoot
Hank Williams
Holland-Dozier-Holland
John Prine
Jimmy Webb Vol. 1
Jimmy Webb Vol. 2
Jimmy Webb Vol. 3
Kris Kristofferson
Lamont Dozier
Laura Nyro
Leonard Cohen
Neil Diamond
Neil Young Vol. 1
Paul McCartney Vol. 1
Paul McCartney Vol. 2
Pete Townshend
Prince
Rod Temperton
Rolling Stones Vol. 1
Rolling Stones Vol. 2
Sly Stone
Steely Dan
Stevie Wonder Vol. 1
Tom Waits
Van Morrison

More Songbooks
More Cover Mixes

In November I posted the first Neil Young Songbook, to mark the man’s 80^th birthday. To my surprise, there was a need for a second volume. And, well, here it is.

As in Volume 1, this collection pays tribute to Neil Young’s range: folk, country, hard rock, introspective balladry and political protest. The selections span from the late 1960s to the 2020s. Early adopters included the Everly Brothers, who in 1968 covered Mr Soul, written by Young for his former band, Buffalo Springfield.

Former bandmates David Crosby and Stephen Stills feature with solo tracks written or co-written by Young. The former’s Music Is Love was written by Crosby, Graham Nash and Young, almost getting the old gang back together.

It’s often forgotten that Young also wrote Nicolette Larson’s hit A Lotta Love. It features here in Larson’s live version from the 1979 No Nukes concert, backed by The Doobie Brothers.

Young’s hard-rocking ways are covered by Bon Jovi, Rick Derringer, Red Hot Chili Peppers and — rocking surprisingly hard — David Bowie.

On the rocking side, Sassafras’s version of Ohio is a highlight, better than the original. Matthew Sweet and the Indigo Girls likewise improve on Cortez The Killer.

More modern acts like Neko Case, Red June and especially Maria McKee with closer Barstool Blues do well in interpreting the quieter, more reflective side of Young’s writing.

It might be just a bonus track, but Boz Scagg’s 2018 blues jam of On The Beach is quite excellent.

As ever, the mix is timed to fit on a standard CD-R, includes home-freeworldrocked covers, and the above text in PDF format. PW in comments.

1. Bon Jovi – Keep On Rockin’ In The Free World (live) (1995)
2. David Bowie – I’ve Been Waiting For You (2002)
3. Ocean Colour Scene – On The Way Home (1997)
4. Paul Weller – Out On The Weekend (1995)
5. Neko Case – Dreamin’ Man (2001)
6. Red June – Comes A Time (2010)
7. Emmylou Harris – Long May You Run (live) (1982)
8. Jessi Colter – Hold Back The Tears (1978)
9. David Crosby – Music Is Love (1971)
10. Matthews Southern Comfort – Tell Me Why (1970)
11. Stephen Stills – New Mama (1975)
12. The Everly Brothers – Mr Soul (1968)
13. David Clayton-Thomas – Don’t Let It Bring You Down (1972)
14. Richie Havens – The Loner (1974)
15. Sassafras – Ohio (1975)
16. Nicolette Larson & The Doobie Brothers – A Lotta Love (live) (1979)
17. Rick Derringer – My My, Hey Hey (Out The Blue) (1980)
18. Matthew Sweet & The Indigo Girls – Cortez The Killer (1992)
19. Red Hot Chili Peppers – Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere (2012)
20. Idlewild – Lookin’ For A Love (2017)
21. Maria McKee – Barstool Blues (2005)
BONUS TRACKS
22. Boz Scaggs – On The Beach (2018)
23. Sufjan Stevens – There’s A World (2023)

GET IT!

Previous Songbooks:
ABBA
Ashford & Simpson
Barry Gibb Vol. 1
Barry Gibb Vol. 2
Bill Withers
Billy Joel
Bob Dylan Volumes 1-5
Brian Wilson
Bruce Springsteen
Burt Bacharach & Hal David Vol. 1
Burt Bacharach & Hal David Vol. 2
Burt Bacharach’s Lesser-Known Songbook
Carole Bayer Sager
Carole King Vol. 1
Carole King Vol. 2
Chuck Berry
Cole Porter Vol. 1
Cole Porter Vol. 2
Dolly Parton
Elton John & Bernie Taupin
George Harrison
Gordon Lightfoot
Hank Williams
Holland-Dozier-Holland
John Prine
Jimmy Webb Vol. 1
Jimmy Webb Vol. 2
Jimmy Webb Vol. 3
Kris Kristofferson
Lamont Dozier
Laura Nyro
Leonard Cohen
Neil Diamond
Neil Young Vol. 1
Paul McCartney Vol. 1
Paul McCartney Vol. 2
Pete Townshend
Prince
Rod Temperton
Rolling Stones Vol. 1
Rolling Stones Vol. 2
Sly Stone
Steely Dan
Stevie Wonder Vol. 1
Tom Waits
Van Morrison

More Songbooks
More Cover Mixes

On Monday, January 19, Dolly Parton turns 80. For some 60 years of that long life Dolly has lived as an instantly recognisable star. Often she has been musically underrated, and served as the butt of jokes that drew on a caricature of the woman — the breasts, the wigs, the rhinestones. But she owned that image, even joked about it herself.

Still, Dolly Parton’s career as a singer and songwriter should transcend the image. As a songwriter she has exceptional clarity and emotional intelligence, compassionate without sentimentality, and often grounded in her own lived experience.

Coming from the Appalachian ballad tradition, Parton is a storyteller and a model of empowerment. One of her masterpieces is Coat Of Many Colors. It is autobiographical but also a meditation on class, love and dignity. Jolene is a masterclass in tension, restraint and psychology. It reverses the usual power dynamics of jealousy by making the rival woman both threat and object of awe.

Parton’s range is astonishing. She can write persuasively about heartbreak (I Will Always Love You), social conditions (The Grass Is Blue, Down From Dover), and humour (Applejack, The Bargain Store). Her genius lies in her clarity and economy. She once said she likes songs that “say a lot with a little”, and that finds expression in her lyrics.

Yet for much of her career, this achievement was underrated, particularly outside country music circles. Parton was too often reduced to her appearance, trivialising a woman of immense talent and independence, in a culture that struggles to take overtly feminine women seriously. The irony, which Parton herself has always understood, is that the persona was a form of control. She leaned into the stereotype to disarm it, always with humour and astute self-deprecation. “It costs a lot of money to look this cheap,” she famously quipped.

She translated that image into her film roles. In 9 To 5 (1980), her character, Doralee Rhodes, is hyper-feminine, underestimated, and routinely objectified — but she is competent, intelligent, morally grounded and ultimately transformative. The film’s feminism is practical, set in workplace realities many women could identify with. Doralee represents a model of womanhood that rejects the false choice between femininity and authority.

In The Best Little Whorehouse In Texas and Steel Magnolias, she again played women whose strength resides in resilience, unconditional kindness and genuine emotion. These roles mirrored her real-life persona: warm, sharp, underestimated and, crucially, quietly but firmly in charge.

Dolly Parton in a scene from the 1980 film 9 To 5

Dolly’s philanthropy has added to a renewal of her image. The Imagination Library, founded in 1995, has distributed over 200 million books to children worldwide, driven by her conviction that literacy is central to empowerment. Her investments in education, disaster relief — notably after the 2016 Tennessee wildfires — and healthcare research are sustained and rarely publicised.

Her greatness resides in the coherence of her life and work. The songs, the image, the humour, the generosity reflect an inherently beautiful soul. Dolly Parton is a global treasure.

Parton’s songwriting genius, and the public perception of her persona, began to change when Whitney Houston’s immense cover version of I Will Always Love You turned out to be a mammoth hit. Soon, Jolene was rediscovered as a work of genius. It features here in the stunning version by the underrated Mindy Smith. Smith had recorded a version of the song for a 2003 tribute album of Parton songs. Clearly Dolly liked that version. When Smith re-recorded it for her fine One Moment More album of 2004, Dolly sang backing vocals.

I Will Always Love You features here in the beautiful 1975 cover by Linda Ronstadt. It’s notable that 13 of the present tracks are from the 1970s (and one from 1968), none from the 1980s or 1990s, and ten from the new millennium.

Parton’s music may be rooted in country, and obviously this mix includes tracks from that genre, but it has proved adaptable. So we have a set of soul singers doing Dolly, including Margie Joseph’s joyous reworking of the ballad Touch Your Woman.

As always, the mix is timed to fit on a standard CD-R, includes home-bluegrassed covers, and the above text in PDF format. PW in comments.

1. Dolly Parton – Star Of The Show (1979)
2. Margie Joseph – Touch Your Woman (1973)
3. Tina Turner – There’ll Always Be Music (1974)
4. Percy Sledge – Here I Am (1974)
5. Bettye LaVette – Little Sparrow (2005)
6. Mindy Smith – Jolene (2004)
7. Teddy Thompson – My Blue Tears (2007)
8. Kishi Bashi – Early Morning Breeze (2021)
9. Norah Jones – The Grass Is Blue (2003)
10. Johnny Cash – I’m A Drifter (Version 1) (rel. 2003)
11. Joan Osborne – Do I Ever Cross Your Mind (2003)
12. Emmylou Harris – Coat Of Many Colors (1975)
13. Linda Ronstadt – I Will Always Love You (1975)
14. George Jones – The Last One To Touch Me (1974)
15. Merle Haggard & The Strangers – In The Good Old Days (When Times Were Bad) (1968)
16. Nancy Sinatra & Lee Hazlewood – Down From Dover (1971)
17. Skeeter Davis – Just The Way I Am (1972)
18. Maria Muldaur – My Tennessee Mountain Home (1973)
19. Mary Kay Place – All I Can Do (1976)
20. Katy Southern – Two Doors Down (1977)
21. Rhodes Brothers – 9 To 5 (2020)
22. Patty Loveless – The Pain Of Loving You (2008)
23. Dolly Parton – Backwoods Barbie (2008)

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Previous Songbooks:
ABBA
Ashford & Simpson
Barry Gibb Vol. 1
Barry Gibb Vol. 2
Bill Withers
Billy Joel
Bob Dylan Volumes 1-5
Brian Wilson
Bruce Springsteen
Burt Bacharach & Hal David Vol. 1
Burt Bacharach & Hal David Vol. 2
Burt Bacharach’s Lesser-Known Songbook
Carole Bayer Sager
Carole King Vol. 1
Carole King Vol. 2
Chuck Berry
Cole Porter Vol. 1
Cole Porter Vol. 2
Elton John & Bernie Taupin
George Harrison
Gordon Lightfoot
Hank Williams
Holland-Dozier-Holland
John Prine
Jimmy Webb Vol. 1
Jimmy Webb Vol. 2
Jimmy Webb Vol. 3
Kris Kristofferson
Lamont Dozier
Laura Nyro
Leonard Cohen
Neil Diamond
Neil Young Vol. 1
Paul McCartney Vol. 1
Paul McCartney Vol. 2
Pete Townshend
Prince
Rod Temperton
Rolling Stones Vol. 1
Rolling Stones Vol. 2
Sly Stone
Steely Dan
Stevie Wonder Vol. 1
Tom Waits
Van Morrison

More Songbooks
More Cover Mixes

As Neil Young turns 80 on November 12, here’s the first of two volumes of a Songbook of covers.

Young’s songwriting is pretty distinctive, in sound and vision. Even as he traverses folk, rock, country and even experimental terrain, he is always unmistakably Neil Young — his unique vocal delivery that mixes vulnerability and grit, the evocative and sometimes combative lyrics, and the guitar work that can be brittle acoustic strumming or explosive electric solos.

To cover a Young song well requires of the artist to leave the behind idiosyncrasies of Young’s delivery and find their own way with the tune and lyrics.

Marsha Hunt does this well on Southern Man. Young’s original, from 1970s After The Gold Rush, confronts racism with fierce anger. Hunt’s version softens some of Young’s edge but retains, perhaps even intensifies, the moral weight.

On their 1983 live version of Like A Hurricane, Roxy Music retain the fury of the original, but add their arty gloss to it, plus a touch of soul with the remarkable backing vocals by Fonzi Thornton, Michelle Cobbs and Tawatha Agee. It’s even more epic than Young’s great version.

You’d expect Duran Duran to do something similar on their 1995 cover of The Needle And The Damage Done. Instead of trying to give Young’s delicate song more verve, they strip back the sound even more, to good effect.

One of Young’s lesser-known songs, the gorgeous Till The Morning Comes, is given beautiful treatment by Françoise Hardy in 1972. Here is a good case to be made that Young songs, at least the slow ones, are conducive to covers by women. The covers here by acts like Rita Coolidge, Elkie Brooks, Norah Jones, Everything But The Girl, Rumer, or kd lang bear this out.

As does the version of After The Gold Rush by Dolly Parton, Linda Ronstadt & Emmylou Harris on their 1999 Trio II album. Harris and Ronstadt had covered several Neil Young songs before that.

As ever, the mix is timed to fit on a standard CD-R, includes home-whined covers, and the above text in PDF format. PW in comments.

1. Tedeschi Trucks Band – Alabama (live) (2017)
2. Marsha Hunt – Southern Man (1973)
3. Bettye LaVette – Heart Of Gold (1972)
4. Dan McCafferty – Cinammon Girl (1975)
5. Southern Comfort – Harvest (1972)
6. Elkie Brooks – Only Love Can Break Your Heart (1978)
7. Dolly Parton, Linda Ronstadt, Emmylou Harris – After The Gold Rush (1999)
8. Roxy Music – Like A Hurricane (live) (1983)
9. Duran Duran – The Needle And The Damage Done (1995)
10. Del Amitri – Don’t Cry No Tears (1992)
11. kd lang – Helpless (2004)
12. Cowboy Junkies – Love In Mind (2022)
13. Johnny Cash – Pocahontas (rel. 2003)
14. Natalie Cole – Old Man (2006)
15. Norah Jones – Don’t Be Denied (2016)
16. Rumer – A Man Needs A Maid (2012)
17. Everything But The Girl – Birds (1993)
18. Françoise Hardy – Till The Morning Comes (1971)
19. Rita Coolidge – I Believe In You (1971)
20. The Byrds – Cowgirl In The Sand (1973)
21. Cassandra Wilson – Harvest Moon (1996)

GET IT!

Previous Songbooks:
ABBA
Ashford & Simpson
Barry Gibb Vol. 1
Barry Gibb Vol. 2
Bill Withers
Billy Joel
Bob Dylan Volumes 1-5
Brian Wilson
Bruce Springsteen
Burt Bacharach & Hal David Vol. 1
Burt Bacharach & Hal David Vol. 2
Burt Bacharach’s Lesser-Known Songbook
Carole Bayer Sager
Carole King Vol. 1
Carole King Vol. 2
Chuck Berry
Cole Porter Vol. 1
Cole Porter Vol. 2
Elton John & Bernie Taupin
George Harrison
Gordon Lightfoot
Hank Williams
Holland-Dozier-Holland
John Prine
Jimmy Webb Vol. 1
Jimmy Webb Vol. 2
Jimmy Webb Vol. 3
Kris Kristofferson
Lamont Dozier
Laura Nyro
Leonard Cohen
Neil Diamond
Paul McCartney Vol. 1
Paul McCartney Vol. 2
Pete Townshend
Prince
Rod Temperton
Rolling Stones Vol. 1
Rolling Stones Vol. 2
Sly Stone
Steely Dan
Stevie Wonder Vol. 1
Tom Waits
Van Morrison

More Songbooks
More Cover Mixes

On August 31, Van Morrison will turn 80, and such landmark birthdays are always a good reason to put together a Songbook.

Morrison is one of those artists who are difficult to classify. The Belfast-born songwriter has dabbled in rock, folk, soul, blues, jazz, gospel, Celtic folk and so on to arrive at a sound that is very much his own. With his warm voice and arrangements, he has created singalong folk-pop numbers (Brown Eyed Girl), intimate love songs (Crazy Love), pastoral excursions (Into The Mystic), improv suites (Cypress Avenue), rambling meditations (Rave On John Donne), even prayers (Have I Told You Lately).

His songs often stay clear of rigid verse-chorus-verse formulas in favour of long, loose, looping progressions that reflect his jazz background. His acoustic folk-rock tends to incorporate horn sections, organs and fluid bass lines borrowed from soul music.

One of Morrison’s lyrical traits, especially on earlier works, was the use repetition to create an incantatory, almost trance-like intensity. A line or a word might be sung again and again, each time with a slightly different emphasis. In 1978, he told Rolling Stone that “every time I’m singing, I’m singing syllables. I’m just singing signs and phrases.”

This, as well as distinctive and versatile vocal characteristics such as his rhythmic off-the-beat phrasing and other idiosyncrasies, can pose a challenge to those who cover Van Morrison songs. Those who imitate his style risk sounding like a parody. It can be done, but it’s not easy to get it right.

So a good cover requires a new interpretation rather than attempting to duplicate Morrison’s unique phrasing and feel. And since Morrison’s melodies and phrasing are so loose, they can lend themselves to interpretation, much like jazz numbers — if the cover artist can find a way in. Doing so is to take a risk, which is why aside from a few obvious ones, few Morrison tracks have been widely covered.

One that has been much-covered is Have I Told You Lately, though I suspect that it is Rod Stewart’s treacly bastardisation of the song that provides the template for most of the covers, rather than Morrison’s original, which was a prayer addressed to God, not laying on the charm for the laydee in Rod’s life. It features here in Laura Fygi’s version, which lacks the smarminess of Stewart’s effort.

Quite a few of my Van Morrison favourites have, to my knowledge, never been covered, or not well enough for inclusion: Higher Than The World, Days Like This, Hungry For Your Love, Everyone, Astral Weeks, Queen Of The Slipstream, Domino, Immaculate Speech Of The Heart…

Still, that leaves us with 27 covers that pay tribute to the songwriting genius of Van Morrison.

As ever, the mix is timed to fit on a standard CD-R, includes home-stoned covers, and the above text in PDF format. PW in comments.

1. The Band with Van Morrison – Caravan (1978)
2. Martha Reeves – Wild Night (1974)
3. Grady Tate – Moondance (1974)
4. El Chicano – Brown-Eyed Girl (1972)
5. Merry Clayton – Glad Tidings (1970)
6. Jackie DeShannon – And It Stoned Me (1971)
7. Ben E. King – Into The Mystic (1971)
8. Dusty Springfield – Tupelo Honey (1973)
9. Kim Carnes – Warm Love (1976)
10. Miriam Makeba – Brand New Day (1970)
11. Aaron Neville with Robbie Robertson – Crazy Love (1996)
12. Rumer – I Wanna Roo You (2011)
13. Shawn Colvin – Someone Like You (1996)
14. Bettye Lavette – Real Gone Gone (2018)
15. Dexys Midnight Runners – Jackie Wilson Said (Live) (1982)
16. Maria McKee – Lonely Sad Eyes (1993)
17. Santa Esmeralda – Gloria (1977)
18. Bo Diddley – I’ve Been Workin’ (1974)
19. Delbert McClinton – Bright Side Of The Road (1980)
20. Toni Brown & Terry Garthwaite – Come Running (1977)
21. Freddie Scott – He Ain’t Give You None (1967)
22. Johnny Rivers – Slim Slo Slider (1970)
BONUS TRACKS:
23. Ruby Turner – Checkin’ It Out (1981)
24. Laura Fygi – Have I Told You Lately That I Love You (1995)
25. The Flying Pickets – The Happiest Place In Town (1990)
26. Phoebe Snow – Madame George (1998)
27. Jeff Buckley – Sweet Thing (rel.2003)

GET IT!

Previous Songbooks:
ABBA
Ashford & Simpson
Barry Gibb Vol. 1
Barry Gibb Vol. 2
Bill Withers
Billy Joel
Bob Dylan Volumes 1-5
Brian Wilson
Bruce Springsteen
Burt Bacharach & Hal David Vol. 1
Burt Bacharach & Hal David Vol. 2
Burt Bacharach’s Lesser-Known Songbook
Carole Bayer Sager
Carole King Vol. 1
Carole King Vol. 2
Chuck Berry
Cole Porter Vol. 1
Cole Porter Vol. 2
Elton John & Bernie Taupin
George Harrison
Gordon Lightfoot
Hank Williams
Holland-Dozier-Holland
John Prine
Jimmy Webb Vol. 1
Jimmy Webb Vol. 2
Jimmy Webb Vol. 3
Kris Kristofferson
Lamont Dozier
Laura Nyro
Leonard Cohen
Neil Diamond
Paul McCartney Vol. 1
Paul McCartney Vol. 2
Pete Townshend
Prince
Rod Temperton
Rolling Stones Vol. 1
Rolling Stones Vol. 2
Sly Stone
Steely Dan
Stevie Wonder Vol. 1
Tom Waits

More Songbooks
More Cover Mixes

EDIT: Reposted to mark Brian Wilson’s death on June 11, 2025.

Yesterday, on June 20, 2022, Brian Wilson turned 80, just two days after his fellow songwriting genius Paul McCartney, who was the subject of a Songbook last week, turned 80 himself. How were the stars aligned (if you subscribe to that kind of thing) that June 1942 to create two such man within two days of one another?

Wilson and McCartney (and his fellow Beatles) ran a pop music innovations race in the mid-1960s, a serious but friendly competition that spurred each other to greater heights. If a winner must be declared, then it is McCartney, who kept going with some great work while Wilson collapsed under the weight of his own ambitions, and fragile mental health. Crucially, where McCartney had the support, even if often troubled, of his fellow Beatles, who shared in the processes of artistic growth, Wilson had to contend with those, in the band and commercial departments, who still wanted fun fun fun songs about hot cars ‘n’ tanned gals.

The Beach Boys and their striped shirts. Brian Wilson is front right.

When Wilson heard The Beatles’ Rubber Soul album in 1965, he immediately wrote God Only Knows (with Tony Asher), the first track for what would become the Pet Sounds albums. That album, in turn, motivated The Beatles to up their game — from the already astonishing Revolver album — to create Sgt Pepper’s.

Four months before that album was released in June 1967, The Beatles had released Lennon’s Strawberry Fields Forever. Reportedly, when Wilson heard that song, he broke down and cried, saying: “They got there first!” That was quite a concession from the man who by then had already produced the stroke of eternal genius that is Good Vibrations.

Wilson’s attempt to top Sgt Pepper’s — and let’s cut a sad story short — ended in artistic and personal decline following the stressful production of the aborted Smile project, and the disastrous reception of what turned out to be the compromise album, Smiley Smile. Wilson completed that project in 2005 with the release of his Smile album.

In the studio during that productive mid-‘60s period, Wilson didn’t even have the Beach Boys with him. His “band” comprised various members of the Wrecking Crew, the collective of highly professional session musicians. One of them, guitarist Glenn Campbell, actually became a member of The Beach Boys in their touring formation. Carl and Dennis, Jardine and Love would come in to lay down vocal tracks — and, of course, their harmonies were integral to the Beach Boys sound. Mike Love would co-write some songs, though in many cases, the extent of his contributions is a matter of diverging memories.

Actors like De Niro and Pacino have their ways of getting into character; Wilson was a method musician, once even filling his home studio with sand to recreate a beach (as if a feature of beaches is grand pianos just standing there). By then he had already experimented with LSD — a year before that drug reached The Beatles — and other drugs. The riff for California Girls came to him after his acid trip.

The progress in Wilson’s songwriting was as spectacular as that of The Beatles. Between the plagiarised Surfin’ USA in 1963 (for which Chuck Berry rightly got a co-writing credit) and the intricate but appealing Wouldn’t It Be Nice were only three years.

So here we have the Brian Wilson Songbook. Nancy Sinatra’s version of California Girls from a 2003 album, features the backing vocals of Brian Wilson and ex-Beach Boy Jeffrey Foskett. Nancy’s version opens this set, so suitably the first voice we hear is Brian Wilson’s. And Wilson closes this collection with a cover of his own song from 2005’s Smile album, Surf’s Up. The Nancy Sinatra track was co-produced by the legendary Billy Strange, who arranged These Boots Are Made For Walking, as well as Duane Eddy and The Ventures, who in turn had influenced the Beach Boys.

Wilson originally offered Don’t Worry Baby to The Ronettes, and was profoundly inspired by their hit Be My Baby. They didn’t record it because Phil Spector declined it. Instead The Beach Boys recorded in 1964. Wilson once said he thought it was their finest moment. It later was a hit for BJ Thomas. Thirty-odd years after Spector vetoed Don’t Worry Baby, Ronnie Spector finally recorded it, co-produced by Joey Ramone, a fan of both The Ronettes and The Beach Boys. The Ramones themselves feature later in the mix with Surfin’ Safari.

Spector might have rejected Wilson’s composition, but fellow Capitol signing Sharon Marie recorded Wilson and Mike Love’s Thinkin’ ’Bout You Baby, which Wilson also produced and arranged, with another Wilson/Love composition, The Story Of My Life, on the flip-side. It was not a success, nor was the previous year’s Wilson job Run-Around Lover. The Beach Boys rejigged Thinkin’ ’Bout You Baby and recorded it as Darlin’ in 1967.

If we have ever wondered what ABBA might have sounded like if they had been The Beach Boys, Anni-Frid Lyngstad’s Swedish cover of Wouldn’t It Be Nice gives us a hint. She recorded it for her 1975 Swedish language LP Frida Ensam, which was produced by Benny Anderson, another genius of arrangement, with Björn Ulvaeus on guitar. The album also included the original version of ABBA’s Fernando (featured on Any Major Originals: 1970s).

There are some Beach Boys songs that are impossible to cover well, unless you change the whole structure of it. Good Vibrations is a good example of that. The original is one of pop music’s towering achievements; covering it straight is to punch upwards, even if you do it competent, as Todd Rundgren did in 1976. So I’ve opted for the 1975 cover by The Troggs, which deconstructs the original’s entire arrangement, and does to it what William Shatner had done a few years earlier with other hits, though The Troggs do it with greater discipline and restraint than old Cap’n Kirk. I doubt I’ll ever love what The Troggs did with it, but it’s good fun fun fun.

The same applies to I Get Around; the psychedelic version by the Andrew Oldham Orchestra — whose version of the Rolling Stone’s The Last Time (featured on the Copy Borrow Steal mix) gave the Verve’s Bitter-Sweet Symphony its hook — is joyfully mad.

As ever, the mix is timed to fit on a standard CD-R, includes home-good-vibrationed covers, and the above text in PDF format. PW in comments.

1. Nancy Sinatra – California Girls (2003)
2. The Carpenters – Fun, Fun, Fun (1973)
3. Anni-Frid Lyngstad – Skulle de’ va’ skönt (Wouldn’t It Be Nice, 1975)
4. Johnny Rivers – Help Me Rhonda (1975)
5. Ronnie Spector – Don’t Worry Baby (1999)
6. Bruce Springsteen – When I Grow Up To Be A Man (live, 1985)
7. Dave Alvin – Surfer Girl (2006)
8. Rumer – The Warmth Of The Sun (2015)
9. Linda Ronstadt – In My Room (1996)
10. Andrew Oldham Orchestra – I Get Around (1965)
11. The Troggs – Good Vibrations (1975)
12. Bobby Vee – Here Today (1966)
13. P.P. Arnold – God Only Knows (1968)
14. Carmen McRae – Don’t Talk (1967)
15. Sharon Marie – Thinkin’ ‘Bout You Baby (1964)
16. Jan & Dean – Surf City (1963)
17. The Surfaris – Be True To Your School (1964)
18. Nick DeCaro – Caroline, No (1969)
19. Nazareth – Wild Honey (1976)
20. David Garland – I Just Wasn’t Made For These Times (1993)
21. Kirsty MacColl – You Still Believe In Me (1981)
22. Wall Of Voodoo – Do It Again (1987)
23. The Rubinoos – Heroes And Villains (2002)
24. The Smithereens – Girl Don’t Tell Me (1995)
25. Ramones – Surfin’ Safari (1993)
26. Frank Black – Hang On To Your Ego (1993)
27. Brian Wilson – Surf’s Up (2005)

GET IT!

Previous Songbooks:
ABBA
Ashford & Simpson
Barry Gibb Vol. 1
Barry Gibb Vol. 2
Bill Withers
Billy Joel
Bob Dylan Volumes 1-5
Brian Wilson
Bruce Springsteen
Burt Bacharach & Hal David Vol. 1
Burt Bacharach & Hal David Vol. 2
Burt Bacharach’s Lesser-Known Songbook
Carole Bayer Sager
Carole King Vol. 1
Carole King Vol. 2
Chuck Berry
Cole Porter Vol. 1
Cole Porter Vol. 2
Elton John & Bernie Taupin
George Harrison
Gordon Lightfoot
Hank Williams
Holland-Dozier-Holland
John Prine
Jimmy Webb Vol. 1
Jimmy Webb Vol. 2
Jimmy Webb Vol. 3
Kris Kristofferson
Lamont Dozier
Laura Nyro
Leonard Cohen
Neil Diamond
Paul McCartney Vol. 1
Paul McCartney Vol. 2
Pete Townshend
Prince
Rod Temperton
Rolling Stones Vol. 1
Rolling Stones Vol. 2
Sly Stone
Steely Dan
Stevie Wonder Vol. 1
Tom Waits

More Songbooks
More Cover Mixes

EDIT: Reposted to mark Sly’s death on June 9, 2025.

Last week, on 15 March 2023, it was Sly Stone’s 80th birthday. It passed me by until I saw a friend mentioning it on Facebook, expressing his surprise that the man born Sylvester Stewart was still alive. And it indeed seems to be a miracle, given Sly’s unwholesome lifestyle as a younger man.

Sly’s use of cocaine — stored in a violin case — was so prolific that it destroyed his nasal cavities. Apparently, his party trick was to insert a shoelace up one nostril and pull it out through the other. When Sly appeared at the Grammys in 2006, he looked ready for knocking on heaven’s door. But 17 years later, at 80, he’s still with us. Stand!

His body of work merits Any Major Songbook, kicking off with a collaboration of the man himself with Buddy Guy and John Mayer, from an album of collaborations with well-known names.

Some tracks here are by acts whose decision to cover Sly & The Family Stone is not surprising. But one name you might not have immediately thought of as featuring on this mix when you saw the title is that of James Last. The German bandleader was the perpetrator of much disposal easy listening fare, but it’s not well-known that the baton-swinger Last could be dangerously funky, as he is on Sing A Simple Song. Nor would you have expected venerable Big Band leader Woody Herman to cover a track called Sex Machine, his first name notwithstanding.

The bonus tracks include an early, pre-Family Stone track which Sly co-wrote and produced for Bobby Freeman in 1964. C’mon And Swim was a #5 pop hit in the US, and thus Sylvester’s first chart outing. He had been involved in music since he was a child, singing gospel music with his siblings Loretta, Freddie and Rose. The latter two would become members of Sly & The Family Stone, and are also survivors of their band’s militant hedonism pf the 1970s. Their solitary single as juvenile gospel singers, released in 1952, featured on Saved! Vol. 1.

Sly & The Family Stone are important as a musical act, having integrated various genres to create their funky music, using a drum machine when that was still nascent technology, and so on. And they were one of the first major multiracial act to score hits — much to the chagrin of the Black Panthers, who demanded the two white members be replaced. That wasn’t Sly’s way. His way was to advise abstention from the use of racial epithets.

This collection exceeds CD-R length, though tracks 1-19 are timed to fit on one, and so covers made be mice elf are included, as is the above text in a PDF. PW in comments.

1. Sly & The Family Stone with Buddy Guy & John Mayer – You Can Make It If You Try (2005)
2. Bettye LaVette – Thankful N’ Thoughtful (2012)
3. Manhattan Transfer with Chaka Kahn – Hot Fun In The Summertime (1995)
4. Dr John – Thank You (Falletin’ Me Be Mice Elf Again) (1994)
5. Billy Paul – Everyday People (1970)
6. The Ghana Soul Explosion – Family Affair (1973)
7. The Nineteenth Whole – You Caught Me Smilin’ Again (1972)
8. Al Jarreau – Somebody’s Watching You (1976)
9. Gladys Knight & The Pips – Everybody Is A Star (1971)
10. The Jackson 5 – Stand (1969)
11. Ike & Tina Turner – I Want To Take You Higher (1970)
12. The Three Degrees – You’re The One (1970)
13. Love Childs Afro Cuban Blues Band – Life And Death In G&A (1975)
14. James Last – Sing A Simple Song (1972)
15. Bar-Kays – Dance To The Music (1971)
16. Gene Harris – Don’t Call Me Nigger, Whitey (1974)
17. Dillard-Hartford-Dillard – The Same Thing (1980)
18. The Colourfield – Running Away (1987)
19. Maceo Parker – In Time (1990)
Bonus Tracks:
20. Bobby Freeman – C’mon And Swim (1964)
21. Eric Burdon & The Animals – I’m An Animal (1975)
22. George Howard – Just Like A Baby (1998)
23. Diana Ross – Le Lo Li (1976)
24. Simply Red – Let Me Have It All (1987)
25. Mercury Rev – If You Want Me To Stay (1992)
26. Woody Herman – Sex Machine (1969)

GET IT!

Previous Songbooks:
ABBA
Ashford & Simpson
Barry Gibb Vol. 1
Barry Gibb Vol. 2
Bill Withers
Billy Joel
Bob Dylan Volumes 1-5
Brian Wilson
Bruce Springsteen
Burt Bacharach & Hal David Vol. 1
Burt Bacharach & Hal David Vol. 2
Burt Bacharach’s Lesser-Known Songbook
Carole Bayer Sager
Carole King Vol. 1
Carole King Vol. 2
Chuck Berry
Cole Porter Vol. 1
Cole Porter Vol. 2
Elton John & Bernie Taupin
George Harrison
Gordon Lightfoot
Hank Williams
Holland-Dozier-Holland
John Prine
Jimmy Webb Vol. 1
Jimmy Webb Vol. 2
Jimmy Webb Vol. 3
Kris Kristofferson
Lamont Dozier
Laura Nyro
Leonard Cohen
Neil Diamond
Paul McCartney Vol. 1
Paul McCartney Vol. 2
Pete Townshend
Prince
Rod Temperton
Rolling Stones Vol. 1
Rolling Stones Vol. 2
Sly Stone
Steely Dan
Stevie Wonder Vol. 1
Tom Waits

More Songbooks
More Covers Mixes
More CD-R Mixes

A couple of years ago a reader suggested that I compile a Songbook on The Who’s Pete Townshend. I thought it was a good idea, and set to the task of putting together such a thing. Then other tasks got in the way. But as Pete’s 80^th birthday on May 19 approached, I finished the job, and here it is.

For all the windmilling, feedback-drenched guitar solos and smashed musical instruments, the real genius of Pete Townshend resides in his songwriting. Even as a youngster barely into his twenties, Townshend was writing lyrics that cut straight to his psyche —neurotic, inquiring, defiant.

Unlike many of his peers, Townshend wasn’t just writing about cars and girls and drugs — though there was some of that too. His lyrics addressed themes of identity, transcendence and disillusionment, challenging the grey British post-war social compact and expressing the frustrations felt by a generation of young people at the oppressive nature of the status quo, while also questioning the reaction to the reactionaries.

Townshend could deliver hard jabs in short songs. My Generation was the snarling anthem of youthful rebellion, but it went deeper than sloganeering, expressing the fear of fading relevance before you’re even an adult — and thus hoping for an early death. Well Pete got old before he’ll die.

Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend of The Who performing at Maple Leaf Gardens, Toronto, on October 10, 1976. (Creative Commons)

As the 1960s turned into the ’70s, he also developed a taste for the bombastic and epic. Tommy, released in 1969, wasn’t the first rock opera but it was the one that proved the form could work, artistically and commercially. Then came 1973’s Quadrophenia, which some regard as his masterpiece, and perhaps his most personal work with The Who.

Won’t Get Fooled Again from 1971 might well have been a punchy singalong anthem — Townshend retained the endless intro because the song was supposed to be part of another rock opera, Lifehouse. That was going to be a multi-media project based on the teachings of the Indian spiritual leader Meher Baba (who claimed to be the Avatar, or God in human form, of the age). Hence the title Baba O’Riley, like Won’t Get Fooled Again on the excellent Who’s Next?, the album that featured songs from the abandoned project (the O’Riley of the title is the minimalist composer Terry O’Riley).

Townshend solo work was more reflective, interrogating themes of faith, failure, and self-inquiry — with all his personal demons, some widely publicised and discomfiting, there was much to explore. The featured Rough Boys, from 1980, might get you dancing footloose.

If all that makes Pete seem like a humourless old character, well… One song that has made people laugh is Squeeze Box — discussion of which by a pair of parents was a highlight in the wonderful Freaks & Geeks TV series — with its lyrics of, “She goes in and out and in and out and in and out and in and out, she’s playing all night and the music’s all right. Mama’s got a squeeze box, Daddy never sleeps at night.” Well, Pete has denied any double entendre: “It’s not about a woman’s breasts, vaginal walls, or anything else of the ilk.” So apparently it is about playing the accordion.

It has been said that if Keith Moon was the chaos in The Who, Townshend was the conscience — a storyteller, a philosopher, and a bit of a crank.

As always, the mix is timed to fit on a standard CD-R (that is, without the bonus tracks), and includes home-windmilled covers, and the above as a PDF. PW in comments.

1. The Who – Who Are You (1978)
2. The Jam – So Sad About Us (1978)
3. Sweet – My Generation (1974)
4. Keith Moon – The Kids Are Alright (1975)
5. Ramones – Substitute (1994)
6. Rush – The Seeker (2004)
7. The Smithereens – Tommy (2009)
8. The Chieftains with Roger Daltrey – Behind Blue Eyes (1992)
9. Bettye LaVette – Love Reign O’er Me (2010)
10. Richie Havens – Won’t Get Fooled Again (2008)
11. Michelle Schmitt – Love Ain’t For Keeping (2011)
12. Laura Branigan – Squeeze Box (1983)
13. Elton John – Pinball Wizard (1974)
14. Tina Turner – I Can See For Miles (1975)
15. Yvonne Elliman – I Can’t Explain (1973)
16. David Bowie – Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere (1973)
17. Jennifer Warnes – We’re Not Gonna Take It (1969)
18. London Symphony Orchestra with Merry Clayton – The Acid Queen (1972)
19. Sylvie Vartan – Ce soir nous sommes la pour vous (Join Together) (1972)
20. I Pooh – Ora che cosa farai (La-La-La-Lies) (1966)
21. The Spontaneous Generation – Pictures Of Lily (1968)
22. The London Philharmonic Orchestra – Baba O’Riley (1998)
BONUS TRACKS:
23. Pete Townshend – Rough Boys (1980)
24. Green Day – A Quick One While He’s Away (2009)
25. Natalie Imbruglia – Let My Love Open The Door (2015)
26. Billy Fury – Long Live Rock (1973)
27. The Amboy Dukes – It’s Not True (1967)
28. The Pudding – Magic Bus (1966, original version)

GET IT!

Previous Songbooks:
ABBA
Ashford & Simpson
Barry Gibb Vol. 1
Barry Gibb Vol. 2
Bill Withers
Billy Joel
Bob Dylan Volumes 1-5
Brian Wilson
Bruce Springsteen
Burt Bacharach & Hal David Vol. 1
Burt Bacharach & Hal David Vol. 2
Burt Bacharach’s Lesser-Known Songbook
Carole Bayer Sager
Carole King Vol. 1
Carole King Vol. 2
Chuck Berry
Cole Porter Vol. 1
Cole Porter Vol. 2
Elton John & Bernie Taupin
George Harrison
Gordon Lightfoot
Hank Williams
Holland-Dozier-Holland
John Prine
Jimmy Webb Vol. 1
Jimmy Webb Vol. 2
Jimmy Webb Vol. 3
Kris Kristofferson
Lamont Dozier
Laura Nyro
Leonard Cohen
Neil Diamond
Paul McCartney Vol. 1
Paul McCartney Vol. 2
Prince
Rod Temperton
Rolling Stones Vol. 1
Rolling Stones Vol. 2
Sly Stone
Steely Dan
Stevie Wonder Vol. 1
Tom Waits

More Songbooks
More Covers Mixes
More CD-R Mixes

Today, May 13, Stevie Wonder turns 75 — a good moment to start a three-part Songbook dedicated to the great gamechanger.

These three Songbooks will feature the great Stevie classics, along with a bunch of songs he wrote for others. In fact, we kick off with one of those: Jermaine Jackson’s Let’s Get Serious, which also features Wonder on vocals. This is the only one of the songs written for others on this volume, but there will be quite a few more on the other two.

Stevie’s reign as a resident genius was relatively short, about a dozen years. That brilliance was already clear when he was a teenager in the 1960s, but it truly hit its stride when Wonder — barely out of his teens — demanded and received creative control. Through his twenties and into his early thirties, he produced some of the most astonishing soul music ever made.

For all intents and purposes, Stevie Wonder abdicated his throne in 1982 following the release of Original Musiquarium Vol. 1, a greatest hits collection covering his adult years, rounded out with four superb new tracks — including the lovely ballad Ribbon In The Sky, the blistering Frontline, and the magnificent Do I Do. The latter, a ten-minute workout in classic Stevie mode, closes Side Four rather abruptly — a fitting bookmark for the most creatively fertile period of Stevie’s career.

Then came the Mother’s Day schlock of 1984’s I Just Called to Say I Love You — a nadir in Wonder’s artistic output but also his commercial peak. I still recall that afternoon in 1984 when the radio presenter announced he’d be playing Stevie Wonder’s brand-new single — and the sense of betrayal I felt when I heard that ditty.

The same man who had created Superstition had now put out a nursery rhyme that sounded like it was recorded by a wedding singer. And people who didn’t get Superstition bought that drivel in droves — the same people who, a year later, would buy Jennifer Rush’s traumatising The Power Of Love, and a year after that, Chris De Burgh’s unforgivable Lady In Red. Wedding singer fare, indeed.

In truth, though, I Just Called… isn’t quite as awful as that. It is the arrangement that is teeth-grindingly bad. Listen to John Prine’s totally sincere, slowed-down country-folk version on this collection, and you’ll find a pretty decent song buried in there.

Still, my disappointment notwithstanding, I bought the Woman In Red soundtrack — which was more or less a Stevie Wonder album. A few bright spots aside, it felt like a declaration of artistic surrender.

I haven’t had much use for the follow-up, 1985’s In Square Circle, nor for Stevie’s next big hit, Part-Time Lover or the mawkish Overjoyed. Apart from the Jungle Fever soundtrack and the beautiful ballad For Your Love from 1995’s agreeable Conversation Peace album, none of the later releases has really made much of an impression. Unsurprisingly, not much from the post-1982 period will feature over the three volumes.

Anyway, who needs anything new when the old stuff never really ages? And there is still so much to rediscover in the Stevie Wonder songbook!

Most of the songs in this set were written by Stevie Wonder alone. Three are co-writes: Uptight (Everything’s Alright) and My Cherie Amour (with Henry Cosby and Sylvia Moy), and Never Had A Dream Come True (with Syreeta Wright).

The other two volumes will follow in the coming months, leading up to a Songs In The Key Of Life Revovered collection for its 50th anniversary in September 2026. It’ll be the Year of Stevie!

As always, the mix is tined to fit on a standard CD-R — though that would mean missing out on the long but blistering bonus track — and includes home-uptighted covers as well as the text above in an illustrated PDF. PW in comments.

1. Jermaine Jackson – Let’s Get Serious (1979)
2. Sister Sledge – As (1977)
3. Rosetta Hightower – Signed Sealed Delivered (1971)
4. The Bar Kays – I Was Made To Love Her (1972)
5. Jackie Wilson & Count Basie – Uptight (Everything’s Alright) (1968)
6. The Jackson 5 – Never Had A Dream Come True (1970)
7. S.O.U.L. – My Cherie Amour (1972)
8. Marlena Shaw – You Are The Sunshine Of My Life (1973)
9. Donny Hathaway – Superwoman (1972)
10. Ahmad Jamal – Superstition (1973)
11. Ray Charles – Living For The City (1975)
12. José Feliciano – Golden Lady (1974)
13. Luther Vandross – Creepin’ (1985)
14. Paul Johnson – Heaven Is 10 Zillion Light Years Away (1987)
15. Incognito – Don’t You Worry ‘Bout A Thing (1992)
16. Nancy Wilson – Ribbon In The Sky (1984)
17. Mel Tormé – All In Love Is Fair (1980)
18. John Prine – I Just Called To Say I Love You (2018)
BONUS TRACK:
19. Ray Barretto – Pastime Paradise (1981)

GET IT!

Previous Songbooks:
ABBA
Ashford & Simpson
Barry Gibb Vol. 1
Barry Gibb Vol. 2
Bill Withers
Billy Joel
Bob Dylan Volumes 1-5
Brian Wilson
Bruce Springsteen
Burt Bacharach & Hal David Vol. 1
Burt Bacharach & Hal David Vol. 2
Burt Bacharach’s Lesser-Known Songbook
Carole Bayer Sager
Carole King Vol. 1
Carole King Vol. 2
Chuck Berry
Cole Porter Vol. 1
Cole Porter Vol. 2
Elton John & Bernie Taupin
George Harrison
Gordon Lightfoot
Hank Williams
Holland-Dozier-Holland
John Prine
Jimmy Webb Vol. 1
Jimmy Webb Vol. 2
Jimmy Webb Vol. 3
Kris Kristofferson
Lamont Dozier
Laura Nyro
Leonard Cohen
Neil Diamond
Paul McCartney Vol. 1
Paul McCartney Vol. 2
Prince
Rod Temperton
Rolling Stones Vol. 1
Rolling Stones Vol. 2
Sly Stone
Steely Dan
Tom Waits

More Songbooks
More Covers Mixes
More CD-R Mixes

On Saturday, December 7, Tom Waits turned 75, which is a good occasion for a Songbook. In this case, though, the idea was mooted a while ago by reader Karsten, who noted in January that the singer-songwriter’s jubilee was this year — rather than by my own brilliant foresight.

I am certainly not alone in finding Tom’s voice difficult to navigate. It isn’t just that his voice lacks melodic loveliness, but on the output of half his career, he sounds like he is in pain. That voice — which, of course, some people cherish — apparently is not the result of an injury or illness. According to Waits, his unique voice developed over time through a combination of factors, including years of singing in smoky bars, performing late-night gigs, and experimenting with different vocal styles.

This rough, growling voice became his trademark, and he embraced it as part of his artistic persona. It certainly gives his songs a unique personality, which is a good thing, given the range of genres these songs cover, from Weil-Brecht Lieder to honky tonk.

But… the voice is an acquired taste, and I’ve not managed to acquire it, at least not wholesale. Of course, there are the earlier albums — songs like Ol’ 55 or San Diego Serenade — and some older Waits songs I do love. His version of Way Down In The Hole is by far my favourite of the five versions used as themes of The Wire (though I feature Steve Earle’s version here), and I love the gospel of Come On Up To The House or the loveliness of the great love song Picture In The Frame.

For those who are dissuaded from exploring Waits’ by his voice, this collection of covers (and, in the case of the Crystal Gale song, an original written by Waits) might serve as a good introduction to the man’s repository of songs, one that reveals the man’s genius, especially as a lyricist.

It includes the obvious songs, such as Downtown Train (covered here by Bob Seger, though I also recommend the Everything But The Girl version), I Hope That I Don’t Fall in Love With You, Christmas Card From A Hooker In Minneapolis, (Looking For) The Heart Of Saturday Night, Tom Traubert’s Blues, and Jersey Girl, made famous by Bruce Springsteen’s live cover.

Some other better-known songs didn’t make the cut, for lack of covers that I liked. But at 34 tracks, I think this set provides a fair overview of Waits’ catalogue. All are written by Waits, four of them with his wife Kathleen Brennan (they are marked in the ID3 tags, two of them I namechecked above). I think it’s fair to say that Waits’ output after 1980 is greatly influenced by his wife, who herself is a musical artist.

Of the songs here, Jersey Girl tends to be dismissed by Waits afficionados; I struggle to understand that. It’s a perfectly lovely song, even if it sounds more like the lovechild of Springsteen and Van Morrison than cutting-edge Waits. I also like Waits’ 1980 original. It’s dedicated to Kathleen, so it seems a bit churlish to spurn it.

The lot ends with an aptly titled Waits original, Midnight Lullaby, from his 1973 debut album, Closing Time. It closes with the wonderful lines, “When you are much older, remember when we sat/At midnight on the windowsill, and had this little chat/And dream/Come on and dream/Come on and dream/And dream, and dream/Come on and dream.”

Tracks 1-21 are timed to fit on a standard CD-R, and the lot includes the above text in an illustrated PDF and home-wired covers. The image used on the cover is by ch_stencil. PW in comments.

1. Ramones – I Don’t Want To Grow Up (1995)
2. Grievous Angels – Cold Cold Ground (1998)
3. Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band – Jersey Girl (1981)
4. Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band – Downtown Train (1989)
5. Eagles – Ol’ 55 (1974)
6. Crystal Gayle – Take Me Home (1983)
7. Jerry Jeff Walker – (Looking For) The Heart Of Saturday Night (1976)
8. Barbi Benton – San Diego Serenade (1976)
9. 10,000 Maniacs – I Hope That I Don’t Fall In Love With You (1992)
10. Willie Nelson – Picture In A Frame (2004)
11. Johnny Cash – Down There By The Train (1994)
12. Sarah Jarosz – Come On Up To The House (2009)
13. Steve Earle – Way Down In The Hole (2007)
14. Blind Boys of Alabama – Jesus Gonna Be Here (2002)
15. Dave Alvin – Blind Love (2006)
16. Neko Case – Christmas Card From A Hooker In Minneapolis (2000)
17. The Holmes Brothers – Train Song (1998)
18. Elvis Costello – Innocent When You Dream (1995)
19. Los Lobos – Jockey Full Of Bourbon (2004)
20. Norah Jones – The Long Way Home (2004)
21. Bettye LaVette – Yesterday Is Here (2012)
BONUS TRACKS
22. Floyd Dixon – Blue Skies (2000)
23. James Taylor – Shiver Me Timbers (2009)
24. Southside Johnny & The Asbury Jukes – New Coat Of Paint (1984)
25. T Bone Burnett – Time (1986)
26. Tim Buckley – Martha (1973)
27. Rod Stewart – Tom Traubert’s Blues (Waltzing Matilda) (1992)
28. Robert Plant & Alison Krauss – Trampled Rose (2007)
29. Linda Thompson – Day After Tomorrow (2007)
30. Nanci Griffith – Please Call Me, Baby (2006)
31. Mary Foster Conklin – Broken Bicycles (2000)
32. Ute Lemper – Grapefruit Moon (2006)
33. Anna Ternheim – Anywhere I Lay My Head (2005)
34. Tom Waits – Midnight Lullaby (1973)

GET IT!

Previous Songbooks:
ABBA
Ashford & Simpson
Barry Gibb Vol. 1
Barry Gibb Vol. 2
Bill Withers
Billy Joel
Bob Dylan Volumes 1-5
Brian Wilson
Bruce Springsteen
Burt Bacharach & Hal David Vol. 1
Burt Bacharach & Hal David Vol. 2
Burt Bacharach’s Lesser-Known Songbook
Carole Bayer Sager
Carole King Vol. 1
Carole King Vol. 2
Chuck Berry
Cole Porter Vol. 1
Cole Porter Vol. 2
Elton John & Bernie Taupin
George Harrison
Gordon Lightfoot
Hank Williams
Holland-Dozier-Holland
John Prine
Jimmy Webb Vol. 1
Jimmy Webb Vol. 2
Jimmy Webb Vol. 3
Kris Kristofferson
Lamont Dozier
Laura Nyro
Leonard Cohen
Neil Diamond
Paul McCartney Vol. 1
Paul McCartney Vol. 2
Prince
Rod Temperton
Rolling Stones Vol. 1
Rolling Stones Vol. 2
Sly Stone
Steely Dan

More Songbooks
More Covers Mixes
More CD-R Mixes