When I included a couple of my favourite covers bands in last weekend’s post, Some New (And Older) Music, it raised the thought in what I laughingly call my mind that it has been several months (actually, three) since I gave you an ‘official’ Under The Covers piece, so it seems about time that I did another. This is a really mixed bag, but I hope to have some fun with these.
The first one is from my favourite Russian folk group, who you may recall from their previous visits here. As well as their own music and traditional Russian folk songs, they aren’t averse to choosing covers from elsewhere. First, a little bit of background to the song. I’ll Tell Me Ma is a well-known children’s song, which accompanies a playground game, and was collected in various parts of England in the 19th century. In the Irish version the chorus usually refers to Belfast and the song is known as The Belle of Belfast City. English versions usually refer to the Golden City or London City. This is what the lovable bunch of Russian lunatics did with it:
I think that’s brilliant, although it’s a long way from the version by Van Morrison and The Chieftains which has always been my favourite (on the 1988 album Irish Heartbeat). Those kazoos really add something, don’t they! And their girl seems to have got around a bit too: not being content just to lay waste to Belfast she also took trips to Riga and Moscow. There are many recordings of the song, mostly by Irish artists: Christy Moore, Sinead O’Connor, Lick the Tins (part English, part Irish), The Dubliners… the list goes on, but none have done it quite like this, I think. If you click on the closed captions link you’ll see that the two foreign language sections are in Latvian and then Russian, and both sets of lyrics differ from the traditional version. An intriguing variation.
One of the covers I gave you last weekend was from the excellent First To Eleven, with their version of the Sixpence None The Richer pop classic Kiss Me. Last Monday was Valentine’s Day, and this new cover version was released just in time for it:
As I’ve mentioned before, The Hound And The Fox are McKenzie and Reilly Zamber, a husband and wife duo from Grants Pass, Oregon, who write their own songs as well as releasing many covers. Everything they do is beautifully played and sung, and is infused with the love they so clearly share. This is a perfect song for them.
I am indebted to a fellow blogger, Leon Stevens, for introducing me to this next band with his post for this week’s Music Monday. As I said to him in the comments, I had never heard of The Good Lovelies before, even though they have been making music for more than a decade. He remarked that he thought I’d like them, and he was right! I’ve been exploring their music over the past few days, and the three of them – Caroline Brooks, Kerri Ough and Sue Passmore – do make lovely music together, and have a lot of fun with it too. This is a well-known and much covered song, but I think their version is up there with the best I’ve heard:
The band are from Canada – as is Leon, who seems to be on a one man crusade to introduce the rest of the world to overlooked Canadian musicians. There have been several that I’ve enjoyed before this one, so if you’re interested follow the link to his blog and sign up! The Good Lovelies now have several EPs and albums to their name, the first of which won a prestigious Juno Award in 2010. They have ventured outside Canada too, having played in the UK and Australia, among other countries, and hopefully we’ll see and hear more of them once the pandemic allows. In case you needed reminding, the song is by Leonard Cohen, from his 1984 album Various Positions. There are more than 300 recordings of it, notably by Jeff Buckley, whose version was released as a single in 2007, ten years after his death, and made #2 in the UK. The list of acts who have covered it is stellar, probably because it is such a great song, by the man who I still think should have been the Nobel Prize winner, not that other guy.
This next one is a bit of a novelty. A new trend for what became known as Bardcore grew up via YouTube in 2020 – I guess people were bored staying at home and decided to try something different. Hildegard von Blingin’ – the name is a play on the medieval composer Hildegard Von Bingen – is one of the foremost exponents. She is Canadian (one for you, Leon) and has released several covers of well-known songs. The style takes a medieval approach to songs, changing their lyrics to fit how they might have been in the period, and accompanies them with acoustic instruments. Do you fancy a little bit of medieval Dolly Parton? OK, here you go:
I don’t know the name of the singer behind that non de plume (or should that be nom de chanson?) but she has a wonderful voice. She is a full time illustrator for film and tv, so her releases are not frequent: there are now a total of thirteen to enjoy and they are all excellent. 4.3m views for this one and 823k YouTube subscribers are stats that say ‘success’ to me.
By a strange quirk of the way my mind works, that song by Dolly Parton prompted an image of Dolly as the Barbie Girl of pop and country. So where better to go for today’s final song than this:
In its original by Aqua that is, to my mind, one of the most annoying songs of all time, not helped by the fact that it reached #1 in the UK and countless other countries, as well as making #7 in the US, so it was to be heard everywhere. But this Postmodern Jukebox cover is absolutely brilliant. Morgan James, who takes lead vocal, is a classically trained singer and has three albums to her name, as well as her collaboration with Postmodern Jukebox, which resulted in several videos and her touring with the group. This is superbly done, and the boys in the band are great, right down to the very end. There are so many simple touches about it, such as the way Morgan stays in character as the plastic doll throughout, the idiot who takes over the tambourine, or the guy with the odd socks which make it one of the best covers I’ve come across.
As I said at the outset, these are a mixed bag, but I hope they’ve given you some fun and enjoyment. This occasional series will be back again soon – hopefully not after another three month gap! Have a lovely weekend, and stay away from stormy weather 💨
Take It Easy 