Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Tim O’Brien Covers:
Randy Newman, John Hartford, Jimmie Rodgers, Dylan, Hendrix & more!
…plus bonus covers of the Tim O’Brien songbook!




I’ve been thinking bluegrass all week, thanks to a pair of tickets to this weekend’s Joe Val Festival - an annual mid-winter marathon excursion which we’ve written about profusely in past years. It’s a form that often doesn’t get included in the folk blogger pantheon, save for the tradfolk and oldtimey set, and a tiny handful of Bluegrass specialists, but here at Cover Lay Down we like to define our terms broadly.

In an older sense, of course, our inclusion of the ‘grass is easy to defend: bluegrass is most definitely a folkform, though of a vastly different branch than the revivalist folk which generally defines the term in the popular mind. And though it is one of the newer folk genres - hewn out of old timey and appalachian countryfolk by a young Bill Monroe, and spread outward from there to infiltrate the corners of a culture - modern bluegrass is a broad umbrella, filling in the odd-shaped nooks and crannies between folk, country, and other peripheral forms, its sound ranging from countrified all-out newgrass to a gentle and sweet-sounding music bordering on popfolk.

Still, its origin in the band-driven sound generally frames bluegrass performance as a group thing; Joe Val, for example, will feature plenty of bluegrass groupings, but nary a soloist on the mainstage. Rarer is the bluegrass soloist, though there’s certainly room for the singer-songwriter in the ‘grass. And no one has worked harder to bring solo folk performance back to the bluegrass audience than Tim O’Brien. Today, we feature just a small slice of the vast spectrum of covers from this contemporary bluegrass legend - followed by a short set of bonus tracks from other, newer artists covering his own songbook. Ladies and gentlemen: Tim O’Brien.


Tim O’Brien has been around the barn and back again, as far as the Bluegrass world goes. Famous as a founding member of the seminal 70s and 80s contemporary bluegrass quartet Hot Rize and their Western swing alter ego Red Knuckles and the Trailblazers, whose members moved on in the early nineties after a five album run, Tim moved on easily to a strong career as both a highly respected producer and collaborator, and a solo artist trying to capture the full range of folk music, from singer-songwriter work to the exploratory, oft-countrified sound of pop bluegrass.

As a solo artist, O’Brien cites James Taylor and Joni Mitchell as antecedents; though he is generally found in a different section of the CD racks, there’s something to this comparison. O’Brien’s voice is sometimes strained, but it has its own unique beauty, and his adept delivery carries easily from poignant and lonely to playful and proud. His masterful guitar, banjo, fiddle and mandolin work is stunning in its direct simplicity; as both interpreter and composer, his lyrical tenderness and melodic prowess have an inimitable, easily recognizable style.


Prolific and dedicated to stretching the boundaries of his own craft after 30 years in the business, the Tim O’Brien canon includes over 25 albums in a variety of incarnations as soloist and group member, and each is worth celebrating. O’Brien won a well-deserved Grammy in the Traditional Folk category for his spare, intimate 2005 album Fiddler’s Green; his simultaneous release, 2005 album Cornbread Nation, is a personal favorite, one that moves fluidly through a batch of predominantly trad-song source material, teasing the worldbeat, the folk, the blues, the gospel, and a host of other influences out of oft-shadowed lines where genre blurs, marking his rightful place in the folk pantheon as a name-brand. Cover lovers will also be thrilled with Red On Blonde, Tim’s 1996 tribute to the man whose recordings first prompted him to pick up a guitar at age 12.

I’ve been lucky enough to catch Tim live in several guises: as a sidestage solo act, in duet-mode with his sweet-voiced sister Mollie, and even in full-blown progressive newgrass mode with a revivalist version of Hot Rize, who will next appear together for the unwashed crowds at this summer’s Bonnaroo. Each was a delight. And though even his canon of coverage is far too vast for us to include it all, I’m proud to share a fair sample of his work with folk fans who may have overlooked him. Listen, and then visit Tim O’Brien’s store for much, much more.



Of course, any musician as talented, influential and ubiquitous as Tim O’Brien has inevitably had his share of tribute from other artists, too. Earlier coverage came from the likes of Kathy Mattea, The Seldom Scene, New Grass Revival, and more; today’s bonus tracks include a half-dozen more recent favorites from the next generation of artists performing on and about the lines between bluegrass, folk, country and pop.



*previously posted as part of this Grey Fox Bluegrass Fest feature.
**previously posted along with 8 other covers of Gillian Welch’s Orphan Girl.
***previously posted as part of a full set of Coversongs about Sleep.
****previously posted as part of a full post of Oceanfolk Covers.
*****previously posted in a set of Passover Coverfolk.

Category: Tim O'Brien, bluegrass

11 Responses to “Tim O’Brien Covers:
Randy Newman, John Hartford, Jimmie Rodgers, Dylan, Hendrix & more!
…plus bonus covers of the Tim O’Brien songbook!”

  1. Rob Ickes & Tim O’Brien Cover Blind Faith “Can’t Find My Way Home”…Plus Tim O’Brien Covers Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix, The Beatles and More « Rock God Cred
    February 10th, 2010 at 6:52 pm

    [...] Click here to go to CLD to check Rob Ickes & Tim O’Brien covering Blind Faith “Can’t Find My Way Home”…plus Tim O’Brien covers Bob Dylan “I Don’t Believe You”, “Man Gave Name to All of The Animals” & “Lay Down Your Weary Tune”…The Leaves/Jimi Hendrix “Hey Joe”, The Beatles “Norweigian Wood”…plus more. [...]
  2. John Anealio
    February 10th, 2010 at 6:53 pm

    Awesome post! I am a massive Tim O’Brien fan. I love his version of “Long Black Veil”. I think “More Love” is a perfect song. The Dixie Chicks do a nice version of it and Tim’s version with Darrel Scott is quite good as well. My favorite version of it is a solo version where he accompanies himself on octave mandolin. I don’t know if a recording of it exists, but you can watch him perform it on his “How to play mandolin and bouzouki” instructional DVD.
  3. boyhowdy
    February 10th, 2010 at 7:06 pm

    I actually have a live version of More Love from the Mountain Stage tribute to John Hartford - sounds like just Tim and mando only. Let me know if you want it, John.
  4. Arlene
    February 11th, 2010 at 1:13 pm

    I was just listening to Patty Griffin’s cover of Hank Williams’ “House of Gold” on Downtown Church, and as great as it is, it doesn’t move me as much as the cover of it by Tim O’Brien and Darrell Scott on their album, Real Time.
  5. zh
    February 15th, 2010 at 11:31 pm

    Just wanted to drop a line & say how much I enjoy the site and the covers, and to say thanks for your work in rounding them up & presenting them in an entertaining format. :)
  6. Yosty
    February 16th, 2010 at 2:04 pm

    Thanks for the Tim O’Brien post - great artist and great music!

    If possible, can you post Tim and Mollie’s cover of the gospel song “Shut De Do?” I saw them perform this song with Chris and Sara from Nickel Creek at MerleFest several years ago and it was an amazing.
  7. Flo
    February 18th, 2010 at 5:14 am

    Had the pleasure of seeing Tim O’Brien, and a whole host of fabulous singers and musicians including his sister, Eddi Reader, Cara Dillon as part of the Transatlantic Sessions, here in the UK.

    Amazing - and thanks for the links (and the site btw)!
  8. FiL
    February 19th, 2010 at 12:30 pm

    I really enjoyed this post. What a fantastic bunch of performances!
  9. Irish Singer-Songwriters Week, Vol 2: Women’s Voices (A St. Paddy’s Day Who’s Who of Irish Coverfolk) — Cover Lay Down
    March 16th, 2010 at 11:13 pm

    [...] ages ago, as a part of a feature on Compass Records, and featured both her Tom Waits cover and her Tim O’Brien cover from 2008 Indie Acoustic award-winning album In Love + Light in recent features on the gentlemen in [...]
  10. Festival Coverfolk 2010: Grey Fox Bluegrass, July 15-18 — Cover Lay Down
    June 29th, 2010 at 10:09 pm

    [...] O’Brien: Flora, The Lily Of The West (trad.) February’s Tim O’Brien mega-feature remains live, so rather than tout him endlessly, feel free to head back in time for over a score of [...]
  11. California Coverfolk, Vol. 6: Oregon Transplants Stephen Malkmus, M. Ward, Tony Furtado, & Darol Anger — Cover Lay Down
    August 17th, 2010 at 9:46 pm

    [...] about his regional recognition. We most recently heard Furtado covering the ol’ standard Man of Constant Sorrow with Tim O’Brien; here’s a few more faves from a long overdue [...]

Leave a Reply