(What's so Funny 'bout) Peace, Love and Understanding
“This song puts into words a lot of the things I'm feeling in a way that I have a hard time verbalizing clearly. It's been covered a lot. There's the Elvis Costello version which to me has a defiant protest like quality to it (as well as a kind of unique coolness that only Elvis can do in his own way) and the original which is deeply felt and how Nick Lowe sings it today is almost pleading. It really says so much. I hope to fall somewhere in the middle.”
"Cover Me" Turns 10: Allison Crowe Brings Peace Note to Celebratory Album
“Ray Padgett founded the blog Cover Me in 2007 and has run it ever
since, growing it into the largest blog devoted to cover songs on the
web, with 80,000 individual readers a month. His music writing has
appeared in SPIN, MTV, Vice, Consequence of Sound, and more, and he’s
been interviewed as an expert on cover songs by the Wall Street Journal
and the BBC. He lives in New York City and also works as a senior music
publicist for Shore Fire Media, where his clients have included
Ben Harper, Lana Del Rey, and Maxwell.” Today, Cover Me’s 10th
birthday, Ray releases a present to music-lovers that’s been
six-months-in-the-making:
“We wanted to do something special to celebrate our tenth birthday. And
we wanted to celebrate not just ourselves, but celebrate the cover song
itself. So we put together this little album Cover Me Turns 10: A Covers
Tribute to Covers as a gift to our readers. We contacted several dozen
of our musician friends and asked them to cover a cover. That is, to
honor the many great songs we might not even know without an iconic
cover – Aretha Franklin reinventing Otis Redding’s ‘Respect,’ Quiet Riot
amplifying Slade’s call to feel the noize, Prince learning that nothing
compares 2 Sinéad O’Connor.
We’re honored that so many of our
favorite musicians contributed, and frankly speechless at how great a
job they did. So speechless, in fact, that we asked them all to
introduce their own work with a few sentences...” Celebrate @ http://www.covermesongs.com/2017/10/cover-me-turns-ten.html
Allison Crowe’s cover of “(What’s so Funny ‘bout) Peace, Love and Understanding”, closes this special tribute album.
With, both, “Cover Me” and “Coverville”,
a pair of the world’s premiere homes for lovers of
cover songs, sending birthday wishes to Allison
Crowe today, it’s an invitation to explore the
artist’s body of interpretive work. All music can
be found linked via the “ABC List” @
http://www.allisoncrowe.com/ABC.html
A supreme interpreter and arranger of songs -
traditional, Celtic, jazz, Broadway, hymns, carols
and aires – Crowe’s famed for her renewal of
popular songs – including those first penned by
Canadian icons Joni Mitchell and Leonard Cohen, and
Atlantic coast treasures Gary O’Driscoll, Al
Pittman / Ron Hynes, Wince Coles, Harry Hibbs+,
alongside tunes from The Beatles, Pearl Jam, Tori
Amos, Ani DiFranco,Counting Crows, Lovin’ Spoonful,
Phil Ochs, Annie Lennox, Radiohead, Ronnie Shannon,
Patty Griffin, Kris Kristofferson, the Rolling
Stones and more.
In this rich and varied repertoire, each of Crowe’s
singular performances is a favourite.
Having just come off the road with Allison Crowe
and Band – during our travels we learned of Leonard
Cohen’s passing. Tonight, his manager released
these details:
Allison Crowe, together with countless people all
over our world, shares a special bond with the bard
“born with the gift of a golden voice”. This
relationship intertwines with the DNA of Leonard
Cohen songs – among those in her repertoire is his
universal “Hallelujah”. Of this, “Cover
Me” founder and editor Ray Padgett opines:
“Born in British Columbia, Crowe has amassed a
loyal following in Canada and Europe. The
songwriter’s songwriter pure tones sound like a
bell, no show-off acrobatics necessary. The amazing
thing isn’t just that she performs the best version
of Leonard Cohen‘s oft-covered ‘Hallelujah’
(sorry Jeff); the amazing thing is that she does so
using the same solo piano style that everyone else
does. There’s nothing particularly creative about
it; her voice is just that good! So throw all those
other ‘sensitive’ covers. This one’s the keeper.”
The blog 'anacronyms' says:“Crowe's
version is a living thing, a meditation and a
celebration and a benediction."
Thank you, sincerely, L. Cohen. We have the music.
Today - November 16 - marks the birthday of the
great musical artist, Allison Crowe. Celebrated as
an original songwriter and performer in popular
music genres, Allison's song interpretations are
also globally loved. "Cover
Me" tweets in appreciation, reprising this
Spotlight from the blog’s founding editor, Ray
Padgett @
http://www.covermesongs.com/2010/07/in-the-spotlight-allison-crowe.html
“There are some voices that speak (or sing) for
themselves. You know the ones. Voices where it
doesn’t matter what they sing. Voices where it
doesn’t really matter what instruments support
them. Solomon Burke has such a voice. Jeff Buckley
had it. Allison Crowe has it too...”
During creative discussions for the 2011
Hollywood movie “Sucker Punch”,
Zack Snyder, the stylized-action-fantasy film’s director, asked Allison Crowe for her
take on “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of
This)” - the ‘new wave’ smash hit
written, and originally performed, by
Eurythmics (Annie Lennox & David A.
Stewart).
In premiering Allison’s version, “Cover Me” blog’s
Eric Garneau says “this ‘Sweet Dreams’ demands to
be heard. She delivers a reading on this ’80s mainstay at
once beautifully melodious and ferociously in-your-face.
The simple recording – guitar and vocals only – bestows on
the tune an intimacy that makes it sound like she’s perched
square in front of you, serenading you and running through
a whole spectrum of emotions.”
The film excerpt in this song video, (#10 in Allison’s “16
Songs” album), is from “L’Etoile de Mer”, the
avant garde 1928 collaboration of American modernist artist
Man Ray (1890 – 1976), French photographer Jacques-André
Boiffard (1902-1961) and surrealist poet Robert Desnos
(1900- 1945). The film’s characters are portrayed by Desnos
and actors André de la Rivière and Kiki de Montparnasse –
legendary Parisian artist’s model, music, singer, painter+
born Alice Prin (1901 – 1953).
Giving “The Sea Star” or “The
Starfish”, as it’s known in the
English language, its liquid, dream-state,
appearance, the film-makers shot images via
mirrors and through rough + textured glass.
"Allison, whose covers include not only outstanding versions of Joni Mitchell’s 'River' and 'A Case of You,' Leonard Cohen’s 'Hallelujah,' 'The Beatles’ 'In My Life' and 'Let It Be,' Lennon’s 'Imagine,' and Cyndi Lauper’s 'Time After Time,' but also the most provocative and seductive (forgive me, Aretha) take I’ve heard on Ronnie Shannon’s 'I Never Loved A Man (The Way I Love You).' And, I stand by my conviction that Allison Crowe is the best thing to happen to 'Me And Bobby McGee' since Janis Joplin changed Kristofferson’s lyrics."
Today's 1 Heck of a Guy post also includes a link to this YouTube audio with pic:
When the makers of Hollywood movie "Sucker Punch" were looking for ideas on how to approach the song, they called on Allison Crowe. For the 2011 blockbuster from director Zack Snyder, actress Emily Browning performs the song as a production number that opens what promises to be an exciting, visceral, film ride.
"She delivers a reading on this '80s mainstay at once beautifully melodious and ferociously in-your-face."
Allison Crowe being a rock musician - well, what was called rock in the '60s - she really enjoys, but doesn't replicate, the sounds of the original's pop sensibility. She strips things to their emotional core.
The image accompanying this passionate music is of Allison Crowe performing @ Tunnel, an underground jazz club in Vienna, Austria. This foto is by Canadian-Brazilian photographer-musician Billie Rocha-Woods
Cover Me, the covers blog penned New York-based music writer, Ray Padgett, (SPIN, Consequence of Sound, Mashable and others) features In the Spotlight: Allison Crowe
"There are some voices that speak (or sing) for themselves. You know the ones. Voices where it doesn’t matter what they sing. Voices where it doesn’t really matter what instruments support them. Solomon Burke has such a voice. Jeff Buckley had it. Allison Crowe has it too."
So begins a posting which well showcases a cross-section of Allison's cover work - Rolling Stones, Cyndi Lauper, Pearl Jam, The Beatles and, says Padgett, "the best version of Leonard Cohen’s oft-covered 'Hallelujah' ".
Check out Cover Me for this Allison installment, and, for lots more on the art and fun of interpretation.
