Cover Story – Andrea Corr with Tinseltown In The Rain

There are some songs which just aren’t meant to be covered and this is one of them!

This is a track, and the lead single, from her album of cover versions titled “Lifelines” released on 30th May 2011.

Amazon UK is quoted as saying “Produced by John Reynolds and featuring co-production on several tracks by Brian Eno, `Lifelines’ is a personally curated collection of songs that have resonated throughout Andrea’s life and includes stunning versions of songs by a range of artists from Velvet Underground, Kirsty McColl, Harry Nilsson to Ron Sexsmith, Nick Drake and The Blue Nile. Expansive yet intimate, grown-up yet powerfully vulnerable, the primary instrument on the album is the voice and `Lifelines’ see’s Andrea at her most diverse, pushing the vocals and extending her range far beyond her previous recordings.”

Her choice of songs is excellent and you cannot question her bravery for taking them on……but why?

Well you heard why from the woman herself.

The Velvet Underground’s “Pale Blue Eyes” as so brilliantly covered previously by Paul Quinn and Edwyn Collins doesn’t fair much better.

If the album introduces a whole new audience to a selection of great songs why should we really complain, go buy the originals but if you wish you can buy her album by clicking HERE

Cover Story – The Velvet Underground

The influence of The Velvet Underground on rock greatly exceeds their sales figures and chart numbers. They are one of the most important rock and roll bands of all time, laying the groundwork in the Sixties for many tangents rock music would take in ensuing decades.

Yet just two of their four original studio albums ever even made Billboard’s Top 200, and that pair – The Velvet Underground and Nico (#171) and White Light/White Heat (#199) – only barely did so.

If ever a band was “ahead of its time,” it was the Velvet Underground. Brian Eno, cofounder of Roxy Music and producer of U2 and others, put it best when he said that although The Velvet Underground didn’t sell many albums, everyone who bought one went on to form a band.

The New York Dolls, Patti Smith, the Sex Pistols, Talking Heads, U2, R.E.M., Roxy Music and Sonic Youth have all cited The Velvet Underground as a major influence. The Velvets’ addressed such taboo subjects as sexual deviancy (“Venus in Furs”), drug addiction (“Heroin,” “White Light/White Heat”), paranoia (“Sunday Morning”) and the urban demimonde (“All Tomorrow’s Parties”). In so doing, they brought rock and roll into theretofore unexplored experiential realms with a literary and unabashedly adult voice.

The Velvet Underground managed to be both arty and earthy, reflecting the duality within the college-educated but streetwise Lou Reed, who wrote most of the material. Just a look at the array of names who have recorded tribute tracks to The Velvets and appear on this cd set shows the influence The Velvets had on later generations of musicians.

2009 saw the release of “Unpiecing The Jigsaw (A Tribute To TheVelvet Underground)”

Track Listing

CD 1 :
1. Run Run Run – Motorcycle Boy
2. Here She Comes Now – Nirvana
3. Pale Blue Eyes – The Mock Turtles
4. Sister Ray- Badgeman
5. Lady Godiva’s Operation – Chapter House
6. Shes My Best Friend – The Wedding Present
7. Im Set Free- Terry Bickers and Bradleigh Smith
8. Who loves the Sun – Shelley Orphan
9. All Tomorrows Parties -Buffalo Tom
10. Foggy Nation – Echo and the Bunnymen
11. Sweet Jane – Hurrah
12. Some Kinda Love – Levellers 5
13. Sunday Morning – James

CD 2 :
1. Femme Fatale- Beef
2. White Light White Heat – Revenge
3. Stephanie Says -Lee Ronaldo
4. Candy Says – The Telescopes
5. Im Sticking With You – Jellyfish Kiss
6. Beginning to see the Light – Into Paradise
7. Lonesome Cowboy Bill – Bill Nelson and Roy Rodgers Rocketeers
8. European Son – Ride
9. Im Set Free – The New Fast Automatic Daffodils
10. Head Held High- The Original Sins
11. What Goes On – The Screaming Trees
12. I heard her call my name – Half Japanese

CD 3 :
1. Jesus – Swerve Driver
2. Ocean – Eleventh Day Dream
3. Who Loves The Sun- The Dylans
4. Lady Godiva’s Operation- Fatima Mansions
5. All Tomorrows Parties – The Reegs
6. Murder Mystery – The Prank
7. Femme Fatale (live 1980’s) – Nico
8. All Tomorrow’s Parties (live 1980’s) – Nico

CD 4 :
1.Lou Reed talks – 47 minutes in depth with Lou Reed

To buy this album click HERE

Here is the appropriate “Sunday Morning” as covered by James.

“Sunday Morning” – James

To buy the music of James click HERE

As a bonus here is Echo & The Bunnymen with their version of “Foggy Notion” a track from my favourite Velvet’s album “VU”

“Foggy Notion” – Echo & The Bunnymen

To buy the music of Echo & The Bunnymen click HERE

To buy the music of The Velvet Underground click HERE

Video Mash Up – Velvet Underground v Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell

The Velvet Underground

Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell

It is brilliant how some of these just work so well!

Cover Story – Beck & The Velvet Underground

Beck has announced he’s to start a new online covers project featuring some big name friends including MGMT, Devendra Banhart and Jamie Lidell.

They’ll all be part of a new section/project called Record Club on his soon to be revamped website. The idea behind the project is that Beck ropes in some of his musician friends to record a cover of an entire album in one day. To make sure they capture an immediate, live feel there’ll be no rehearsals or arrangements done beforehand.

The covered album will then be slowly released online with a song a week being uploaded to Beck’s website and the websites of the musicians involved each record. The first album announced for the project is The Velvet Underground and Nico. Covering that in 24 hours without rehearsal, not something you’d imagine many musicians would do on their day off…

Source www.q4music.com

“Sunday Morning” – Beck

To buy the music of Beck click HERE

To buy the music of The Velvet Underground click HERE

Here is the original.