Thoughts on music

This blog is intended to do "exactly what it says on the tin" so below are some of my 'Thoughts on Music'. They predominantly concern recent matters but will not always do so. I'll also happily turn to matters of the music industry more generally if and when I feel so inclined. So there! If you don't agree with something please feel free to add a comment. They are moderated by me (so I'll get to read it) and I might even reply. Above all however just enjoy whatever music you like! Richard

Monday, May 02, 2011

Cover Versions 2011 - Thea Gilmore - John Wesley Harding

Song lyrics and cover versions put a great deal of traffic here and I have intended to address more of both for a while now. I'm going to start with the latter as it happens and this is released in the UK today.
It is a dangerous thing indeed - not an album of covers but the cover of an entire album - and is a tribute to one of the most inspiring and widely covered artists in honour of his seventieth birthday, on May 24, by one of the most prolific singer-songwriters that the UK has and, very importantly, one to whom sticking with traditional music industry conventions is quite alien.

Including 'Loft Music' (2004), which was an album of covers, this is only her second venture into such territory but between 1998 and 2010 she has also released nine studio albums, a live album and several (often limited edition) EPs.