Cover albums are a dime a dozen and most of them are a waste of space and resources. The folks at Big Stir Records and Spyderpop Records reached out the artists on their roster to lay down a new version of tube that is more often than not overly familiar, but most of the tracks We All Shine On: Celebrating The Music Of 1970 got a fresh paint job that gives them a new lease on life. The recipe? Make a song your own, throw in instruments that were not used for the original and have fun in the studio. Also: have a guy with good ears in the producer's seat, in this case music journalist/ author/drummer John M. Borack. By doing so Bill Lloyd nailed Mama Told Me Not To Come, The Armoires got Yellow River flowing, The Legal Matters roughed up What Is Life a bit, and Diamond Hands reinstated the original "Coca Cola" line for Lola.
On the other hand, some artists picked a tough one. Danny Wilkerson could not save Everything Is Beautiful, but in his defence the original was cringeworthy corny. The Brothers Steve faced the Cracklin' Rosie challenge and came out battered and bruised, securing a win with call-and-response vocals. The big one is right at the end, when The Used Electrics make a fuzz to bring the noise for Loose.
With 21 tracks there is something for everyone who is familiar with the originals, even the ones that had you reaching for the dial to change the channel back then. Riki Tiki Tavi was definitely not a high point in Donovan's discography and dumping all the remaining I Think I Love You singles by The Partridge Family in existence in a landfill would be a great idea. Other than that it is pretty cool to see lesser known gems like Share The Land and Indiana Wants Me being included among the usual suspects.
We All Shine On: Celebrating The Music Of 1970 is released via Big Stir Records (CD, digital).
Tracks:- Petsche/Raines - Are You Ready?
- Bill Lloyd - Mama Told Me Not To Come
- The Armoires - Yellow River
- sparkle*jets U.K. - Sunshine
- Darian - Arizona
- Mitch Easter - Didn't I (Blow Your Mind This Time)
- Danny Wilkerson - Everything Is Beautiful
- Lannie Flowers - Walk A Mile In My Shoes
- Irene Pe単a - Come And Get It
- Richard Barone - Riki Tiki Tavi
- Popdudes - Share The Land
- The Brothers Steve - Cracklin' Rosie
- Pat Buchanan - Tighter, Tighter
- The Legal Matters - What Is Life
- Bobby Sutliff - Indiana Wants Me
- The Test Pressings - Love Grows Where My Rosemary Goes
- Starbelly - Reflections Of My Life
- Marc Jonson - Lay Down (Candles In The Rain)
- Jonathan Pushkar - I Think I Love You
- Diamond Hands - Lola
- Chris Price - Fresh As A Daisy
- The Used Electrics - Loose