The Covers EP Vol.1

So I thought with the imminent release of my new EP based on songs by other songwriters I admire I'd give you a bit of background on all five artists whose songs I've covered.

 1) Judee Sill -

I must admit I only recently stumbled across the music of Judee Sill but was immediately taken in by her haunting (classical-esque) melodies and intriguing, opaque lyrics. 
She was the first artist signed to David Geffen's Asylum label 
The song I chose of hers was 'Jesus was a Crossmaker'. It is filled with religious connotations and yet you feel underneath it all lies a simple love-song reminiscent of "Will You Love Me Tomorrow" by Carole King and Gerry Goffin.

Like so many artists of her generation Judee's story is one filled with sorrow and regret as she sadly passed away long before her time at the age of 35 having never received the recognition she longed for and deserved during her lifetime.

Her she is performing 'The Kiss'. This was recorded in London in February of 1973 for the "Old Grey Whistle Test" TV program on the BBC with Bob Harris presenting.

2) John Martyn - 

If ever a man encapsulated the term 'Troubled Troubadour' it was probably John Martyn. 
l first heard about John Martyn from my aunt who bought "Sweet Little Mysteries - The Island Anthology" for me one Christmas. It was a great present as he was someone I learnt a lot from in terms of his songwriting skills and guitar technique.

His songs are always accompanied by an interesting guitar part and he always played around with his tunings something which I hadn't really thought of doing before I listened to his music.

I chose this song to cover as it was always my favourite of his - such a beautiful melody and haunting lyrics about love lost...written whilst he was going through a divorce from his wife Beverley.

There's a great piece written for the Guardian's "Old Music" section where Greg Freeman talks about his appreciation for John Martyn's 'Sweet Little Mystery' here, there's also a link to a live performance from 1984 - http://www.theguardian.com/music/2012/feb/10/john-martyn-sweet-little-mystery


3) Tom Waits - 

Tom Waits's repertoire isn't the easiest to get your teeth into...having said that he's written some absolute classics and a bit like Dylan, once you accept the voice for what it is, the songs open themselves up as treasures to behold.

His first album 'Closing Time' (again released on Geffen's influential Asylum Records) is one of my all-time favourites and a great place to start for first time Waits listeners...very simply produced, it's all about the songs and the performances.

I first heard this song however covered by another artist Tim Buckley. Though his version had mixed critical responses I liked it and went about to discover the original. I think the lyrics are brilliant at painting a picture (the ultimate goal with any song - make the listener feel as if they're standing in the writer/singers shoes) and the sentiment fits perfectly with the melody.

Here's Lisa Hannigan and Cormac Curran's version performed live at Turning Pirate NYE Mixtape 2012.

4) Joni Mitchell - 

Another iconic artist from the late 60s-early 70s. So influential still today.
She flourished like many singer-songwriters did in the Laurel-Canyon (Los Angeles / California) scene that emerged during that period and spawned many a successful career including those of James Taylor, Jackson Browne, Eagles and many more.
Again like with Judee Sill - David Geffen (seen above with Joni and Cass Elliot from the Mamas & the Papas) was prominent behind the scenes.
The song I chose was written for David Geffen and describes a trip Geffen and Mitchell made to Paris with Robbie and Dominique Robertson (from The Band).


5) Dan Fogelberg

Probably the least well known out of the five artists I chose, Dan Fogelberg was an American singer-songwriter who had his biggest success in the early 1980s, just before I was born.
The song 'Leader of the Band' was his biggest hit and it's not hard to see why - it's a beautiful song with poignant lyrics.
It's a love song but not in the traditional meaning of the term but about the bond between a father and a son.
Not too dissimilar in that respect to Cat Stevens' hit 'Father & Son' in that it tells of how both the father and the son can tend to have difficulties sometimes in understanding one-another but ultimately there is mutual respect and love that they share with each other.

You can listen to the tracks from The Covers EP Vol.1 on SoundCloud here - https://soundcloud.com/allewismusic/sets/the-covers-ep-vol-1