Thursday Tidbits:
Upcoming Freakfolk Odetta Tribute from Wears The Trousers
After hinting at the project for months, our favorite anglocentric femme-celebrating mag/blog Wears the Trousers has finally finished mixing their upcoming tribute album Beautiful Star: The Songs of Odetta; I’m honored to have been among the first to hear it, and after settling into it for a few go-rounds I’m also pleased to announce that it’s a strong album well worth celebrating on several levels - among them its respectful approach to the Odetta songbook, its musical range and depth and beauty, and the fact that all profits will go to benefit UK women’s charities.
The album features covers of sixteen signature songs from the powerful folk icon and interpreter of traditional song, thirteen of which were commissioned specifically for the WTT-curated project. The artists here are well chosen, and so - unlike so many mixed-bag tribute compilations - Beautiful Star comes across as a consistent piece overall, with sparse, atmospheric song settings and an abundance of female musicians from the weird, raw, and etherial end of the folk spectrum whose interpretations only beg deeper appreciation through multiple listens. Standouts include Liz Durrett, Linda Draper, Arborea, Ane Brun, Anaïs Mitchell, and Marissa Nadler, whose bonus non-album-track cover of Another Man Done Gone will be released into the wild in a few weeks for the usual blog blitz.
I don’t have permission to release any of the new tracks, but here’s one of the three previously-released songs, a haunting take on tradtune Motherless Child from BC-based experimental folk artist Ora Cogan; Gemma Ray’s version of 900 Miles, first released as a b-side in August, is an equally stunning contribution. Listen to both to whet your appetite for what is sure to be remembered as one of the best tribute albums of the year, and then bookmark or blogroll Wears the Trousers so you’ll be ready to catch Beautiful Star when the album drops on November 30th.
- Ora Cogan: Motherless Child (trad./ pop. Odetta)
(from Tatter, 2007; will appear on Beautiful Star, 2009)
Odetta passed at the end of 2008 after a long and fruitful career of song interpretation; her contribution to folk music itself, and to its vital role as an engine of societal change, remain unparalleled. Here’s a pair of my favorite covers from her own recording career, each vastly different, yet somehow both a perfect, soulful balance of weary and majestic.
- Odetta: No Expectations (orig. Rolling Stones)
(from Odetta Sings, 1970) - Odetta: Pastures of Plenty (orig. Woody Guthrie)
(from The Greatest Songs of Woody Guthrie, 1972)
Previously on Cover Lay Down:
- Liz Durrett covers Cat Stevens, plus other songs of love
- Arborea covers Ella Jenkins, and other recent indiefolk tradsongs
- Ane Brun covers Cyndi Lauper and Alphaville, alongside a few more new artists
- Linda Draper covers the Rolling Stones, Harry Nilsson, and Phil Ochs; Brooke Brown Saracino covers Anais Mitchell
- Marissa Nadler covers Pearls Before Swine and Leonard Cohen, with our first linkback to Wears the Trousers.
[Update 8:48 pm] Bonus points: turns out Linda Draper’s gorgeously sparse, subtle take on tradtune Sail Away Ladies is also streamable here, on Myspace. Great artist, great tune, great cover.
Category: Uncategorized
October 29th, 2009 at 7:29 pm
I found your blog on google and read a few of your other posts. I just added you to my Google News Reader. Keep up the good work. Look forward to reading more from you in the future.
October 30th, 2009 at 1:20 am
Just love the Odetta tracks. Powerful. Thanks for introducing me to her work.
October 30th, 2009 at 12:27 pm
Absolutely fantastically beautiful version of Motherless Child.
Thank you.
October 30th, 2009 at 12:31 pm
The Ora Cogan is pretty typical of the project, Dan; if you like it - a good sign - I highly recommend setting the clock to purchase both the tribute album and Ora Cogan’s upcoming project The Quarry when they come out.
October 30th, 2009 at 3:00 pm
Free Folk please. Nothing freaky, just amazingly gorgeous music and musicians
October 30th, 2009 at 9:31 pm
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This post was mentioned on Twitter by trsrstweets: The first review of our Odetta tribute album is in! http://bit.ly/3Dji57...
October 31st, 2009 at 8:46 am
No Expectations…. WOW! Thanks for sharing this out-of-print gem. I notice that she recorded Elton’s “Take Me to the Pilot” on the same release. Will you post that sometime soon? (Hey, an EJ post would be a good theme… have you done that already?
DAN
October 31st, 2009 at 11:50 am
Glad you liked the Rolling Stones cover, mDan — it’s a nice one, eh? The tracks are hard to find, but I’ll put Elton John on the TBD docket, and see what I can do…
November 8th, 2009 at 1:25 pm
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