Week 2 of "Allison Crowe August" Live

Woke this morning to the sounds of ‘The Friday Morning Markout’ on CHMR Radio – with genial show-host FanBoy Mark Jabroni ringing in “week 2 of ‪#‎AllisonCroweAugust‬!”

Hearing the DJ spin almost the entire two-night concert set of Allison – “Live at Wood Hall” – on the air’s a welcome reminder of how great is this release: http://music.allisoncrowe.com/album/live-at-wood-hall It’s an all-time fan fave, particularly in Europe where the sound of solo voice and piano is especially appreciated. Here’s a capsule description from when Rubenesque Records first posted this double-disc – dim the lights and enjoy the concerts:

Live at Wood Hall is an exciting journey through Allison Crowe's concert repertoire, recorded with a simple clarity in the converted chapel of Victoria (B.C.)'s Conservatory of Music. Alongside more than an album's worth of original songs of love and hope, social and political conscience, and real beauty, Allison covers cherished favourites - including Ani DiFranco ("Independence Day"), Counting Crows ("A Murder of One"), Tori Amos ("Playboy Mommy"), Janis Joplin ("Me and Bobby McGee"), and John Lennon ("Imagine"). Colours in the artist's musical palette range from roots & blues, through folk, pop/rock, jazz and Broadway. There's even a traditional Irish aire, "Believe Me If All (Those Endearing Young Charms)", sung acappella. Once again, Larry Anschell (Turtle Studios) captures the music on tape and Alix Whitmire designs the beautiful artwork/CD cover. " 'Music, man, that's where it's at'/ it is a religious line/ outside, the chimes rung/ an they/ are still ringin."

Full album credits, track-listing and all at the link below. And, to enjoy week 3 of “Allison Crowe August” upcoming - search "CHMR's RING RUST" on the Stitcher app, or listen live via http://www.chmr.ca/main.html 

Wedding Song - Cohencentric's Marvellous Take

Allan Showalter, always illuminating and entertaining concierge and much more at the Chelsea Hotel of culture blogs, “Cohencentric: Leonard Cohen Considered”, shares the keys to Allison Crowe’s “Wedding Song” video – its musical gallery hung with fotos by Billie Woods: http://cohencentric.com/2016/07/08/wedding-song-allison-crowes-small-masterwork

Checking in with nods to Andrew Marvell, Joni Mitchell, Janis Joplin, Lucinda Williams and Alicia Keys – our guide observes: “Turns out all the hype about about Allison’s vast tonal, thematic, and emotional range is true.” And, with another turn of phrase, unlocks this realization: “Once you’ve heard one Allison Crowe song, You’ve heard one Allison Crowe song.”

Chelsea Hotel No. 2

Allison Crowe checks in again with a take on human relations - "Chelsea Hotel No.2" - Leonard Cohen's irregular ode to one whose "heart was a legend".

Allison's joined on this recording by cellist Brendan Millbank - and Kayla Schmah is string arranger and producer on this track from the album "Spiral":

http://music.allisoncrowe.com/track/chelsea-hotel-no-2

Chelsea Hotel No. 2

Words & Music by Leonard Cohen, Ron Cornelius
Performed by Allison Crowe

I remember you well in the Chelsea Hotel,
you were looking so brave and so sweet,
giving me head on the unmade bed,
while the limousines wait in the street.
Weel, those were the reasons, that was New York,
we were running for the money and the flesh
That was called love for the workers in song
probably still is for those of them left

Ah, but you got away, oh, didn't you baby,
you just turned your back on the crowd,
you got away, I never once heard you say,
I need you, I don't need you,
I need you, I don't need you
and all of that jiving around.

I remember you well in the Chelsea Hotel
you were famous, your heart was a legend
And you told me again that you preferred handsome men
but for me you would make an exception
And then clenching your fists for the ones like us
who are oppressed by the figures of beauty,
you fixed yourself, you said, "Well, never mind,
we are ugly but we have the music"

Ah, but you got away, didn't you baby
You just turned your back on the crowd
You got away, I never once heard you say
I need you, I dont need you
I need you, I dont need you
and all of that jivin around

Now, I don't mean to suggest that I loved you the best,
I can't keep track of each fallen robin.
but, I remember you well in the Chelsea Hotel,
that's all, I don't think of you that often

Me and Bobby McGee

"Me and Bobby McGee" penned by Fred Foster and Kris Kristofferson, closes this second concert of Allison Crowe "Live at Wood Hall". Allan Showalter, Buddha of the Broomcorn, blog-master @ http://1heckofaguy.com says, "Allison Crowe is the best thing to happen to 'Me And Bobby McGee' since Janis Joplin changed Kristofferson's lyrics."



(Applause/thanks)

Tidings Time for One of Today's Greats: Musician Allison Crowe

Allison Crowe’s recent concert tour of continental Europe again reveals her as one of the great popular musicians of the modern era. Playing for audiences in Germany, Holland, France, Austria and Italy, Crowe, possibly the world’s most independent recording artist, shares a joy of music and a personality that is wild as the wind.

Talent today can matter more than it has for decades and few, if any, performers in rock or pop music demonstrate that reality more abundantly than does the singer-songwriter whose Canadian home stretches from Nanaimo, British Columbia to Corner Brook, Newfoundland, Canada.

Along with releasing seven albums/CDs containing original song-writing of a singular range and quality, this century Allison Crowe has earned a reputation for her gorgeous voice, and unique ability to viscerally communicate emotion without sentimentality.

Crowe’s honest approach serves well, too, in making her, not only an uniquely exciting songwriter and live performer, combining voice, piano and guitar, but, at the same time, a peerless interpreter of a most varied songbook.

Upon her return to Canada from Europe, "Cover Me" blog's Editor-in-Chief Ray Padgett, (SPIN, Consequence of Sound, Mashable and more), premieres Allison Crowe's take on Annie Lennox & Dave Stewart - Eurythmics' "Sweet Dreams"

In the accompanying article, "Allison Crowe Shows Us What 'Sweet Dreams' Are Made Of…", writer Eric Garneau says of Crowe's bare take on the song: "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.

"1 Heck of a Guy", a blog renowned for its witty reportage on Leonard Cohen, shines a light on Allison Crowe's "alchemy" in covering songs - saying:

"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."

News of this latest cover magic has spread to the MTV blog: "Allison Crowe Strips Down Eurythmics' 'Sweet Dreams' " – and the site which has been serving 'Sweet Dreams' to devoted Eurythmics fans since 1999 - ethrillnet

Allan Showalter’s “1 Heck of a Guy” includes a link to this YouTube audio with pic.

It’s been only a few months since “Cover Me” first shared its discovery of Allison Crowe’s interpretations, including her version of “Hallelujah”. In the years since Crowe recorded the song for her “Tidings” CD, it’s been covered by more than 200 acts – from cult-type faves in various genres, such as Susanna and the Magical Orchestra, and folkie Kathryn Williams, to mainstream crooners kd lang, Susan Boyle, Justin Timberlake w. Matt Morris, and more. It’s been adopted by Simon Cowell and the Idol/X Factor/Got Talent et al franchises.

The remarkable harvest of “Hallelujah” recordings, and the Olympian marketing exercises that attend some releases of the song, add to the stature of Crowe’s single/first take interpretation. Says music journalist Padgett: “The songwriter’s 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.”

It’s coming on Christmas, and for Allison Crowe, this means a “Tidings” concert tour. It’s time to stir together traditional Christmas carols and holiday favourites with an organic blend of rock, jazz, folk, gospel and soul. "Be prepared to be amazed," chimes ChristmasReviews.com "Music for the season and all time."

Allison Crowe’s Canadian Tidings Concert 2010 Tour dates:

Nov. 25 - Campbell River, BC: St. Peter’s Anglican Church – w. the Campbell River Children’s Choir – to aid CR Food Bank & the Hospice Society
Nov. 27 – Gibsons, BC: Heritage Playhouse Theatre – w. Ellisa Hartman
Dec. 3 – Ladysmith, BC: Ladysmith First United Church – w. Lena Birtwistle
Dec. 4 – Victoria, BC: Fairfield United Church – w. Bob Benvenuti – to aid Artemis Place & HepCBC
Dec. 10 - Gabriola Island, BC: The Haven
Dec. 11 – Nanaimo, BC: St. Andrew’s United Church – w. Hayley Read, Kiana Smith, Mathew Walker, Taylor Manns, Brynn Newman, Chelsea Peckett, Emily Blake, Kevin Patton & “Maestro” Rick Becker – to aid The Mind’s Eye &
Woodlands SS Band & Basketball programs
Dec. 17 – Corner Brook, NL: Corner Brook First United Church

Full details on these shows will be announced next week on Allison's website.

Here’s to peace on earth, goodwill toward all.

Musical Wonderwoman Behind the Scenes of The Watchmen

"Superman or Green Lantern ain't got a-nothin' on" singer-songwriter Allison Crowe.

The Canadian musician has transformed into a much-acclaimed and loved international presence in music - all without the sort of corporate-backing, grant-funding, and ad-shilling elements that can be like kryptonite to an artist of talent and integrity.

Crowe's latest props come from Hollywood director Zack Snyder whose movie version of The Watchmen opens today in theatres worldwide. The creative team behind The Watchmen blockbuster already list Allison Crowe alongside Jimi Hendrix in their fave pop culture music listening right now (on their Cruel and Unusual Films site).

What can now be revealed is that, for the past year+, two of Allison Crowe's recordings of iconic songs have been part of The Watchmen film's creation.

Crowe, one of the most original and exciting songwriters and performers to emerge since rock's golden age, is also world-renowned for the beauty and emotional power of her song interpretations.

"Allison Crowe is the best thing to happen to 'Me And Bobby McGee' since Janis Joplin changed Kristofferson's lyrics", says American culture blogger Allan Showalter (in his 1 Heck of a Guy blog).

Her recording of Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah", a song with devotees for each of its plenitude of renditions, has found a cherished place with global audiences. "Crowe's version is a living thing, a meditation and a celebration and a benediction," says one reviewer. Another calls her Tidings album, single/first take, version of Hallelujah, simply, "one of the most amazing things ever recorded onto magnetic tape".

The Watchmen movie, a faithful adaptation of the seminal graphic novel created by writer Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons, presents an alternate reality set in a 1985 when Richard Nixon is still US President, and costumed heroes are outlawed as vigilantes. Characters inhabiting this twilight world, writes Slant mag, are "all psychological misfits, their perversions and sadism warped reflections of superhero virtues, and Snyder pulls few punches in his depiction of them, from the Comedian gunning down a pregnant woman in cold blood... to the sexually messed-up Nite Owl and Laurie (Silk Spectre II) sc***ing".

Discussing this latter scene, in which leather/latex fetishism of costumed crime-fighting serves to conquer male impotence, Zack Snyder provides insight into the wedding of music to imagery and action. "I originally had a different version of 'Hallelujah' on that scene - it was the version by Allison Crowe, and it was really beautiful," he explains to the Boston Phoenix. "Too beautiful, as it turned out, because when I showed it to my buddies, they were like, 'Wow, you really mean this, this love scene.' So I was like, okay, that didn't work."

To fit this particular dystopian vision, Allison Crowe's singular, modern, covers have made way for the film's use of the original song recordings. The famous Janis Joplin and Leonard Cohen tracks are paired, instead, subversively.

It's tremendously exciting for Crowe to be part of The Watchmen movie process and, "mind-blowing", as she describes it, to receive such respect and appreciation. Looking to the independent Ani DiFranco as a model, she says it's an honour, and, "stirs a certain somewhat buried hope that things can still be done the way I believe they can... and that there are still people who love music for music's sake".

Allison Crowe is readying now for performances in Western and Atlantic Canada, and her return to Scotland, Germany, Austria, the Czech Republic and more concert locations this Spring. Visit http://www.allisoncrowe.com for music and for more news.

Allison Crowe: Making Music for All to Love

"All things pass away... love and music last forever" ~ Gaelic saying.

Allison Crowe's raw concert video of "I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Love You)" ) recently joined Oscar and Grammy-winner Jennifer Hudson's version in views on YouTube. "Sexpert" Susie Bright, pioneering feminist writer, teacher, activist, (co-founder of "On Our Backs" and familiar even from playing herself in an episode of HBO's "Six Feet Under"), places the song, the break-through hit for Aretha Franklin, at the top of the list of "straight" love songs that have crossed over into also being an unforgettable lesbian love song. And, blogs Bright: "I just had another little gasp listening to Allison Crowe's cover of the same."



As noted in my previous post, Entertainment Weekly has an item on of Zack Snyder, Deborah Snyder, and Wesley Coller - the director/producer team behind upcoming Hollywood blockbuster 'The Watchmen' - launching a website for their own Hollywood production company.

In the Lounge of 'Cruel and Unusual Films', the creative trio list their pop culture delights - movies, books and music. Sound-wise, they're digging the Jimi Hendrix version of "All Along the Watchtower" and Allison Crowe's "Hallelujah" cover.

Allan Showalter, one of the web's most erudite and entertaining culture bloggers, says of another classic interpretation: "Allison Crowe is the best thing to happen to 'Me And Bobby McGee' since Janis Joplin changed Kristofferson's lyrics."

Still, it's the focus of his "pastiche of a blog", 1 Heck of a Guy, on an original Allison Crowe song that most fits this weekend. Of this "small masterwork" Showalter writes:

"How To Create An Impressive Music Video

1. Start with the carpe diem based proposal in the final couplet of Andrew Marvell's not-quite-ruined-by-anthologization 'To His Coy Mistress:'

Thus, though we cannot make our sun
Stand still, yet we will make him run.

2. Hire Joni Mitchell to translate that sentiment into lyrics and music. Insist that Janis Joplin act as consultant to prevent Joni from over-intellectualizing the premise into oblivion.

3. Convince Lucinda Williams to sing it.

4. Add photos of someone who looks both interesting and sexy, maybe Alicia Keys, taken from a pictorial perspective that evokes American Beauty.

Then, you've got yourself a dandy music video.

Alternatively, you could click on the start button of this video of Allison Crowe singing 'Wedding Song,' with words and music by Allison Crowe, featuring photos of Allison Crowe.

Comparing Allison's version of 'Bobby McGee,' recently posted here at Allison Crowe And Bobby McGee, and 'Wedding Song' leads to an unavoidable conclusion:

Once you've heard one Allison Crowe song,
You've heard one Allison Crowe song.

Turns out all the hype about about Allison's vast tonal, thematic, and emotional range is true.

It is difficult to find better words on which to end than the last verse of 'Wedding Song:'

So count down the days
and draw the curtains back
pour the wine and say
that we'll love as much as we both can do
until our dying day"


Happy V-Day, St. Valentine's... whatever love and music moves you.

Allison Crowe Spring tour dates coming soon.

Cruel and Unusual film-makers

Entertainment Weekly has an item on The Watchmen movie's director/producer team of Zack Snyder, Deborah Snyder, and Wesley Coller launching a website for their own Hollywood production company.

In the Lounge of Cruel and Unusual Films, the creative trio list their pop culture delights - movies, books and music. Sound-wise, they're digging the Jimi Hendrix version of "All Along the Watchtower" and Allison Crowe's Hallelujah cover.

Much as seeing a mountain of haggis in my local supermarket triggers memories, so, too, does this musical connection.

A few years back, a national Canadian news magazine, Macleans, interviewed Allison, asking her favourite, classic, jazz and rock recordings.

Her top classic rock picks included Janis Joplin's "Me and Bobby McGee" and the Hendrix version of Bob Dylan's "All Along the Watchtower" - both tracks will be heard in the upcoming Watchmen movie.

Add to these, Cohen's song that's currently sweeping the world, recordings from some of my all-time fave singers, Billie Holiday and Nina Simone, songwriters, and composers, and, the soundtrack alone appears worth the admission:

Desolation Row - My Chemical Romance
Unforgettable - Nat King Cole
The Times They Are A-Changin' - Bob Dylan
The Sound Of Silence - Simon & Garfunkel
Me & Bobby McGee - Janis Joplin
I'm Your Boogie Man - KC & The Sunshine Band
You're My Thrill - Billie Holiday
Pruit Igoe & Prophecies - The Philip Glass Ensemble
Hallelujah - Leonard Cohen
All Along The Watchtower - Jimi Hendrix
Ride of the Valkyries - Budapest Symphony Orchestra
Pirate Jenny - Nina Simone* (*end credits of the "Tales From The Black Freighter" DVD).

The studio promises these iconic recordings "once heard in the context of the film, will never be thought of the same way again."

Here's wishing the Cruel and Unusual crew great success, and, sending big thanks, as well, for listening to, and sharing, Allison's music.

Hail to the Haggis! - two videos to celebrate!!

On my two most recent visits to the village super-market, I noticed there was a pile of haggis in the meat cooler. This seemed unusual, but, considering how much touring Allison does, I am pretty accustomed to hearing multiple languages, and facing music, food and drink of any number of countries.

Still, I wondered, how and when did haggis become so popular here - on my little island in the Canadian Pacific Ocean?

Returning home, without any "meaty pudding" in my grocery bags, I tune into the CBC Radio program, "In the Key of Charles", and the show's marvellous host, Gregory Charles is devoting the entire two hours this Sunday night to Robbie Burns' poetry and song.

Och, aye!!

Happy Robbie Burns Day!!

Haggis, it's speculated, has its origins in the Scottish Highlands - as a ration for the drovers journeying down through the glens.

Allison has roots in that bonnie land, and, more recently, enjoys a mutual love with Scotland. It's fitting, then, I've made a couple of videos, while drinking Highland Park single malt, a scotch introduced to me by Allison and Billie Woods, who picked up a bottle in Kirkwall, when they adventured in the Orkney Islands last Fall.

Me and Bobby McGee - 't'is a fine start, especially as the vid contains images of the Scottish Highlands - alongside scenes from Germany:



And, here's Wedding Song:



Billie Woods took all the pics - on tour with Allison across Europe in 2008. Allison performs all the music. Larry Anschell recorded "Me and Bobby McGee" live, in Victoria, B.C., Canada. "Wedding Song", Allison recorded - from Newfoundland to Vancouver Island, Canada.

So, raise a glass, of whatever you choose.

Sláinte mhaith!!