What would you pick, Bob?

[Sam]

Bob - say you were asked to do an album. No tight budget, but it had to be an album of material written by other artists.

We know an army of people have covered your songs - but under those conditions, what songs would you choose?

[grant]

Now, I realize this isn't in the spirit of the opening post, but I really want to hear Bob do "Crazy" by Gnarls Barkley. You know, that new pop song? It'd make a great cover.

[Lind]

Sam, this is such a great question it’s taken me two weeks to answer and even now, I have to say it’s too overwhelming. The only answer I can give you is: “Uh . . . gosh. I don’t know.”
The deal is this: There are so many great songs out there – songs I wish I’d written – that I could compile a 12-song album right now and do another one in 20 minutes and there might not be a single duplicate.
Those who have seen me in person know I always do at least one cover every show.
One I’ve been doing lately is Tom Paxton’s “Bottle of Wine.” There must be more than 50 covers of that tune by everyone from Fireball to Judy Collins to the Kingston Trio.
But everyone who does it – including Paxton himself – treats it like a rollicky, good-time, fun-lovin’ drinkin’ song.
Maybe I have no sense of humor. But I feel it and sing it in a much different way.
I see no sense in covering a song unless I can give it something that others haven’t.
So, all this said, here in this exact time (Thursday Aug. 31, 2006 at 3 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time) is a baker’s dozen tunes I would do if I were recording right now with the band rehearsed and the mic on.
(Bear in mind things might be different at 3:20):

1. Blue Skies
2. I Can’t Make You Love Me (If You Don’t)
3. Mama Said (There’d Be Days Like This)
4. Easy To Be Hard (From HAIR)
5. You Belong To Me (Chilton Price’s not Carly Simon’s)
6. In My Life
7. Smile (Charlie Chaplain)
8. Like Strangers (Boudleaux Bryant)
9. Begin the Beguine
10. Cottage For Sale
11. Nadine
12. New York Minute (Henley)
and
13. Stardust (the world’s most perfect song)

A lot of songs I love haven’t been listed. Several reasons for that.
Some aren’t listed because I can’t imagine giving them anything they haven’t had from other artists. For instance “At Last” rips my insides out every time I hear it. But Etta does the whole job for me. I can’t find any room for me after she’s pushed her soulful two cents into it. Same with “On My Own.” Beautiful song, but – come on – Patty LaBelle and Michael McDonald don’t need any help from me.
Other songs are beautiful too but they’re beautiful because they’re so personal to the writer. For instance, “Fountain of Sorrow” and “Shape of a Heart” (both by Jackson Browne) are so deeply honest and personal that singing them would feel, to me, like going through someone’s personal belongings.
End of long-winded response.

[Sam]

Thanks for the reply, Bob. Your list was a surprise; I had you down for a bit of a rock 'n' roller. And for some reason I thought Don McLean's Vincent may have made it onto the list. I do hope your reply hasn't started a "We-Want-Another-Bob-Lind-CD" campaign.

But one of the first things that struck me, wasn't the songs on the list. It was your feelings for Etta's (James?) At Last. There are people who feel the same way about some of your songs.

Also - taking on board what you said about "Fountain Of Sorrow" and "Shape Of A Heart" - how did you feel about Keith Relf covering Mr Zero?

Is it just me, or can anybody else see a passing physical resemblance between Bob and Tom Paxton?

On the subject of covers, Jamie's "Lind Me Four" dropped through the letterbox this week. He's done a good job, considering it's a one-man production (OK - somebody else mastered it). Worth a listen folks.

How did you rate it, Bob.

[bob_32_116]

I believe Bob has hit the nail on the proverbial with his comment that there is no point in doing a cover of a song unless you give it something extra or different. I have heard countless covers that sound almost identical to the original. As far as I am concerned there is only one reason why that happens. Clue: it's got 5 letters, starts with 'M'... and I don't mean M-U-S-I-C.

One cover I always liked was CSNY's version of Joni Mitchell's Woodstock. The two versions sound nothing alike, but both sound great.

Bob Dylan was apparently so impressed with Jimi Hendrix's version of All Along the Watchtower, that he introduced it at a concert by saying "This is a cover of a Jimi Hendrix song". That's what a cover SHOULD do - take the song and give it something extra and special.

[Terry]

I, for one, would love to hear an entire album of "Bob LInd Sings Cole Porter". Night and Day, Anything Goes, etc....

[Lou C]

Unless I'm having some kind of confused-memory flasbacks, I've heard Roberto in live performances cover "While My Guitar Gently Weeps," "Hey Girl" (the beautiful if incredibly masochistic and need-addicted Geffin/Carole King tune), and "If" (by Bread).

Bob, what about Leonard Cohen? I'm thinking of something he didn't record but Jennifer Warren did ... "Coming Back to You" ("Even in my dreams at night, I never get it right. Even when you bend to give me comfort in the night. So I've got to have your word on this, or none of this is true. And I'll I've said / is just instead / of coming back to you.")

And one Bob didn't mention as one he knows is an amazing song but I'm sure he would agree no one could cover better than Ray Charles did - Charles' heart-wrenching live version of "Say No More."

[grant]

By the way, for those of you who love cover versions to bits, there's a great (if long) article at The Oxford American on covers.

The author has some interesting observations on what covers do that makes them so endearing (or, in some cases, so lame), and manages to name-drop almost every cover song I'd consider "essential" or "mandatory."

And a whole bunch of others besides, which I think I'll be hunting down....

[bob_32_116]

I was listening to Urge Overkill's cover version of Neil Diamond's "Girl, You'll be a woman soon" recently and noticed, not for the first time, how different it is from most of Diamond's compositions and how much it sounds like a Bob Lind song.

If memory serves me correctly, the song came out in 1966, the same year as the Don't Be Concerned album. Some cross influence here maybe?

Urge Overkill's version is a classic example of a pointless cover, it sounds almost exactly the same as the original. However I can imagine Mr Lind here giving it a good treatment, maybe with a production along the line of Truly Julie's Blues.

[grant]

I'm a pathetically unoriginal soul:

Look at all the Gnarls Barkley covers!

Quite like the Twilight Singers' one. And I always have a soft spot for Cat Power, but I realize others often don't appreciate her (although she really doesn't normally sound quite like that, more like this).

Nelly Furtado's not bad, either.

Anyway, for your delectation.

[rob68]

I'm a pathetically unoriginal soul:

Look at all the Gnarls Barkley covers!

Quite like the Twilight Singers' one. And I always have a soft spot for Cat Power, but I realize others often don't appreciate her (although she really doesn't normally sound quite like that, more like this).

Nelly Furtado's not bad, either.

Anyway, for your delectation.

Love Ray LaMontagne's version.....he's great.