compiled by Peter Sjöblom, November 1999

This is a listing of every cover version released by the Walkabouts and Chris & Carla. There are also a couple of songs included that they've only performed live and cannot be found on any official Walkabouts/Chris & Carla release.

Songs that were co-written with other people (such as "Storm Crazy" with Peter Buck) don't fall into the covers category, and therefore you won't find them here. However, some curiosities managed to sneak their way into here after all...

At the end, there's also a section of songs written by the Walkabouts/Chris Eckman and covered by other artists.

There are references to original versions where the original artist is known.

As for traditionals, there are usually more than one suggested recording of a song. These references are selective; there are probably about a million more recordings of each of those songs. I leave it up to you to seek further, find versions you like better; that's the funniest part anyway! I must admit that I haven't heard all of the versions suggested herein, so I can't vouch for each and every version suggested. Please regard them as mere guidelines, not as definite recommendations. However, I've tried to include the recording(s) that the Walkabouts based or might have based their version on.

Original (or Alternative) title: Some songs are known by other titles.

written by: No explanation needed.

Cover Where you can find the cover.

Original Where you can find the original. For traditionals, this is substituted by

Other versions Here you find suggestions of other recordings of a traditional song. Further versions are sometimes mentioned in the comments.

An [*] following an album title denotes that it is a Chris & Carla release.

Please note that Chris & Carla's "Recorded 21/2/95 in Ljubljana, Slovenia" is refered to as "Ljubljana" throughtout the text.

As regards my comments following the titles, they are shamelessly subjective! But I never had the ambition to be academically correct anyway.

Well, it all started when I realized that I had several of the songs covered by the Walkabouts in my own collection. Every now and then, I stumbled across another song, and it struck me just how good they were. I discovered lots of music I had never heard before. Most consciously, I began hunting the originals I hadn't yet heard, collecting them on tape as they appeared, and slowly an intriguing (albeit slightly inconsistent) overview of mainly American music began to develop. On these tapes I have made for my own private use, there are blues, country, rock, easy listening, singer/songwriter - several great musical styles are represented, and the tapes are a great source for entertainment as well as knowledge.

It's been a great pleasure working with this. It has taken quite some time and quite some effort was put into it, but I personally think it was worth it. I've been finding many interesting threads along the way, and that has indeed been inspiring!

Searching the internet was of course useful. When trying to find information on traditional songs, The Folk Song Index proved to be a good reference guide, as it lists many different recordings of the same song. You'll find it at http://miltonsweb.mse.jhu.edu:8001/research/folkindex/index.htm

Another folk song archive features lyrics and MIDI files: http://www.acronet.net/~robokopp/folkindx.htm

And of course, there has been some great and patient people helping me out with this, sending me tapes of songs, digging out obscure facts... Great thanks go out to Gustaf Bengtsson, Christer Bäckhage, Håkan Johansson and Karl Tiderman. Also thanks to Reinhard Holstein at Glitterhouse. Special thanks to Andrew Chin who put some greatly appreciated effort into finding some songs for me that I didn't have.

However, my greatest thanks must go to Chris Eckman who has not only been very kind and supportive answering a stream of questions e-mailed to him, but also approved to letting me use his quotes in this article.

Please e-mail me with comments, suggestions, additions, corrections and your what-the-hell-do-you-mean-by-that: soundmind@hotmail.com

Enough said, hope you'll enjoy it, on the with the show!

Cover unreleased

Original Love : "Forever Changes" (Elektra, 1967)

"It was recorded during the same session as "Certain Gift" which is one of the extra tracks on the CD of 'Rattlesnake Gardens'", says Chris Eckman. Judging by the psychedelic feel of "Certain Gift", this could be a killer. It's also one of highlights of Love's  career and "Forever Changes" is one of the best albums ever.

written by Neil Young

Cover V/A: "This Note's For You Too! - A Tribute to Neil Young"

Original Neil Young: "Tonight's the Night" (Warner/Reprise, 1975)

A very fine example of the Walkabouts precise intuition for choosing covers. So many bands of the 90's have in various ways attempted to pay tribute to Neil Young, and so many of them have come off like mere copycats or worse. But the Walkabouts were born with the gift to treat the Young legacy with respect as well as self-respect. "Alberquerque" shows a calm surface, but there are dark and weird secrets beneath it. You can never know where or what they are; they never show, but they're there and just to know that sends shivers down the backbone...

written by Neil Young

Cover unreleased

Original Neil Young: "Zuma" (Warner/Reprise, 1975)

Chris Eckman: "'Barstool Blues' was recorded during the 'Setting the Woods on Fire' sessions in a very tossed off, improvised way. The lyrics were very mangled. I doubt it is worth hearing again." I'm also told that the song breaks down halfway through...

written by Alex Chilton

Cover "Where The Deepwater Goes" 12"/"Death Valley Days"

Original Big Star: "Sister Lovers" a k a "Big Star's 3rd" (RykoDisc, 1992)

The sleeve notes for the "Deepwater" EP promises that the track was "from the upcoming tribute album 'Alex's Wonderland'", but the Alex Chilton tribute on Safety Net Records never materialized. The song was however resurrected on "Death Valley Days". Big Star's version has an uncanny atmosphere, and some of it is lost on The Walkabouts' version. The version's OK, but if I had to choose between the two, I'd go for Chilton.

written by Serge Gainsbourg, English translation by Steve Wynn

Cover "Drown" CD5/"Trail of Stars" CD 1st ed./"Trail of Stars" 2LP

Original Brigitte Bardot & Serge Gainsbourg: "Brigitte Bardot et Serge Gainsbourg" (LP, Fontana, 1968), Steve Wynn: "Dazzling Display" (CD, 1992)

The song was performed as early as during the "Nighttown" tours, but it took another two years until it cropped up on a record. Both Gainsbourg and Wynn might have had an influence the Walkabouts.

written by John Cale

Cover "Satisfied Mind", "To Hell and Back"

Original John Cale: "Fear" (Island, 1974)

Not as imaginative as many others of the band's interpretations, and although it is pleasant, I prefer John Cale's original.

written by Nick Drake

Cover "Death Valley Days", V/A: "Brittle Days"

Original Nick Drake: "Five Leaves Left" (Island, 1969)

I've knocked on "Brittle Days" - the so called "Nick Drake tribute album" - before, so let's just say that it clearly proves what a difficult task it is to do a decent cover. And the Walkabouts prove how brilliant it can be when it works. They find a drowsy, psychedelic flow in and float along with it with an awesome grace. This is just about the perfect example of what a cover can be like - different from the original, but performed with an appropriate respect. Excellent!

written by Scott Walker

Cover V/A: "Out of the Blue Volume 6"

Original Scott Walker: "Till the Band Comes In" (BGO, 1970)

Charming and with a pleasant dash of humour not unlike Tom Waits. One can argue that the track is very short, but the original of this rather unknown Scott Walker song is more or less of the same length.

written by Mary Margaret O'Hara

Cover "Satisfied Mind"

Original Mary Margaret O'Hara: "Miss America" (Virgin, 1988)

I never really "got" Mary Margaret O'Hara until after I had heard this fine version of one of her more heartfelt songs when I checked out "Miss America" again. Suddenly I was able to see beyond the 80's production of the album, her only one to this date, and appreciate the songs.

written by Richard Thompson

Cover "Shelter for an Evening"*

Original Richard & Linda Thompson: "I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight" (Island, 1974)

One of the two covers exclusive to "Shelter for an Evening" . It's OK, but they don't really catch up with Richard and Linda.

Alternative title: "Drill Ye Tarriers Drill"

traditional

Cover "Cataract"

Other versions Sam Hinton: "Real McCoy" (LP, Decca, 196?), Barry Luft & Tim Rogers: "Songs of the Iron Rail - The Canadian Railroad Experience in Song" (LP, Sefel, 1983), Dan Quinn: "Minstrels and Tunesmiths" (LP, JEMF, 1981)

The "Cataract" sleeve notes claims that it's a Walkabouts original, but I always suspected it's a traditional song. Let's ask Chris about it: "'Drille Terriers' is indeed a traditional, and it is a song that Carla brought to the band. It is something that was taught to her by a family friend - very much passed down in the great folk music tradition." So there!

"Cataract" is the only place I've seen it entitled "Drille Terriers". A more common title is "Drill Ye Tarriers Drill", but it apparently uses the same melody and more or less the same lyrics. There's also a song called "Drill Ye Heroes Drill" which I'm not sure whether it's the same song, but it very well might be.

Worth noting is also that the album title by Barry Luft & Tim Rogers suggests that the song is of Canadian origin.

written by Charlie Rich

Cover "Satisfied Mind", "To Hell and Back" (video only), "Ljubljana"*

Original Charlie Rich: "Feel Like Going Home - The Essential Charlie Rich" (Epic/Legacy, 1997)

A common favorite among fans. It still crops up in the band's live set occasionally. On the "Trail of Stars",Terri got a verse too in the trading off routine between the participants. The gospel atmosphere captured in the Walkabouts' performance of it is clearly evident also in Charlie Rich's soulful original. The double CD named after the song features two versions of it, one is a demo version with only Charlie Rich's vocals and piano, with the essence of the song stripped bare. A thrilling song, in whatever arrangement.

written by Patti Smith & Lenny Kaye

Cover "Satisfied Mind"

Original Patti Smith: "Horses" (Arista, 1975)

The Walkabouts altered Patti Smith by slowing it down and changing it from a sexually fuelled assault on resignation to a dark moody prayer with a great underlying strength. Two very different ways to go, but both of them are relevant, none of them is more correct than the other. I wonder if Patti have heard this version of her song, and what she thinks of it.

It's a bit surprising that a live version of it hasn't turned up on any of the official bootlegs or any compilation. When they played during the 1996 tours, it definitely was one of the highlights.

written by Willie Nelson

Cover "Swinger 500"

Original Willie Nelson: "The Best of Willie Nelson" (Capitol, 1973) or just any Willie Nelson comp.

"Time Slips Away" is probably one of Willie Nelson's most well known songs, and although being rather OK, it might not be his best. And I don't think it can compete with the originals on "Swinger 500".

written by Jim Webb

Cover V/A: "Out of the Blue Volume 6"*

Original Glen Campbell: "Classics Collection" (Collectables, 1990)

As opposed to Glen Campbell's hit version, Chris & Carla's radio session recording is stripped down to only two acoustic guitars and vocals. The song survives the treat, and once again it proves what a good songwriter Jim Webb is. He wrote mainly for other people; for instance Glen Campbell (who also recorded "Wichita Lineman", see below, and "By the Time I Get to Phoenix") was one of them, and actor Richard Harris who had a hit with "MacArthur Park" from one of his albums consisting of only Webb originals. Webb's songs are rather intricate harmonically and melodically, and the arrangements are thorough albeit a bit on the bombastic side.

written by Arthur Lee

Cover "See Beautiful Rattlesnake Gardens" CD

Original Love: "Out Here" (LP, Blue Thumb, 1969)

One of the more consistent songs off Love's "Out Here". and also one of the best ones from the unreleased "Weights & Rivers" album. Despite the fact that this is a very early Walkabouts cover, it sounds mature. Thankfully it's added to the "Rattlesnake Gardens" CD.

written by Neil Diamond

Cover "All for This" CD5

Original Neil Diamond: "Brother Love's Travelling Salvation Show" (LP, MCA, 1969, on CD as "Sweet Caroline" UNI/MCA)

Neil Diamond should not be underestimated! OK, so he wrote and had hits with songs like "Sung Song Blue" and "Sweet Caroline" which both suck big time as far as I go. But don't let that obscure the fact that he also came up with loads of really great songs. "Glory Road" is one of them, and it was originally on his "Brother Love" album which also features the wonderful "If I Never Knew Your Name" and the sweet and mellow "Juliet". All his early albums have their embarrasing moments too, but it's worth the effort to check them out for the sake of the good songs.

It's very easy to detect a bad Neil Diamond original album. Basically all of them were released after "Jonathan Livingston Seagull" from 1973, and they almost always sport his 70's hair-sprayed Barbara Streisand look. Unfortunately, there's no compilation to gather all his good stuff and leave out all the crap, so if you want to find the nuggets, there's a lot of dirty work to do in the cheapo bins and at flea markets.

The original of "Glory Road" is more sparse than the Walkabouts' re-working of it, and apart from being on the CD reissue of "Brother Love" (tragically re-named "Sweet Caroline"), it's also on the 2CD compilation "Glory Road 1968-1972".

traditional

Cover "Death Valley Days"

Other versions A billion ones from The Animals to Joan Baez to Frijid Pink to Bob Dylan to any street singer with a cap on the head and a guitar case on the ground.

We've all heard this song a thousand times too many, and I was a bit put down at first by the fact that the Walkabouts had recorded it. How stupid I was! Because when I eventually heard it, I realized that once again they had practised musical magic and had brought new and unexcpected life to it. It's strangely eerie, and it's hard to resist Terri's driving beat. That The Walkabouts were able to make a song like this shake and shiver again is a proof for their excellence as good as any.

traditional

Cover "See Beautiful Rattlesnake Gardens"

Other versions The Byrds: "5D" (Columbia, 1966).

As with "Drille Terriers", this one curiously credits the Walkabouts as songwriters. It is of course a traditional, adapted by several performers in the folk field. I find it likely however that the Walks based their version on the Byrds' "Fifth Dimension" interpretation. Can't keep from wondering what it would've been like if they had kept the whole song in the way it begins - the 40 seconds desert psych intro is very pleasant.

written by Randy Newman

Cover "Scavenger"

Original Randy Newman: "12 Songs" (Warner, 1970)

The Walks push this song into a more singer/songwriter styled rock territory, while the original moves around like a dazed trespasser in a land of dustbowls and tumbleweeds. I heard the cover before I heard the original, and I was stunned by Newman's arrangement that includes tablas and Ry Cooder's acoustic desert porch slide guitar. Both versions have their advantages though, and I wouldn't want to be without neither of them.

written by Neil Young

Cover "Jack Candy" CD5/"New West Motel" 2LP/"Death Valley Days"

Original Neil Young: "American Stars'n'Bars" (LP, Warner/Reprise, 1976)

So, what can be said about this song that hasn't been said before? For the "Devil's Road" tours, a cool intro and ending was added to the song, on one occasion at least introduced as an Isaac Hayes tribute. The middle section (you know the "We all went down to Montreux" part) is nicked from Deep Purple's "Smoke on the Water". The furious 2 Meter session version on "Death Valley Days" is my favorite.

written by Nick Cave

Cover "Satisfied Mind", "To Hell and Back", "Mystery Mountain Chronicles", V/A: "2 Meter Sessies", V/A: "Fingerprints Vol. 2", "Ljubljana"*

Original Nick Cave: "Henry's Dream" (Mute, 1992)

Quite obviously the most well represented cover in the Walkabouts discography, being included on various albums seven times. It still has a pretty safe home in their live sets too. Must be a strong favorite with the band. I really love old Nick's original , but the Walkabouts give him a good match and bring home the trophy. I've said it before, but this has more and more turned into "that Walkabouts song that Nick Cave does"... Nick reputedly never said anything in particular about it, but Mick Harvey liked it. The "2 Meter Sessies" version is the one I adore the most.

written by Tilman Rossmy

Cover "Death Valley Days", V/A: "Out of the Blue Volume 2"

Original Die Regerung: "So Drauf" (L'Age d'Or, 1992)

Always brings down loud cheers from the audience when the band includes it in their German shows. A cute and charming little ditty that's very hard to resist.

written by Pewee Maddux

Cover "Satisfied Mind", "Mystery Mountain Chronicles"

Original Pewee Maddux & His Lazy River Boys on V/A: "Folk Music in America Vol. 9 - Songs of Death & Tragedy" (LP, Library of Congress, 1978)

Pewee Maddux's real name was Murphy Monroe. Thr album to feature his version of the song was released on LP in 1978, and no-one including Chris Eckman has seen a CD reissue of it. Never heard it, but I assume that the whole album is great. Albums with titles like "Songs of Death & Tragedy" usually are.

written by Townes Van Zandt

Cover "Nights Between Stations"*

Original Townes Van Zandt: "Townes Van Zandt" (Rhino, 1969)

As with Neil Young songs, the Walkabouts have an unusual ability to give songs written by Townes van Zandt an imaginative-yet-respectful treatment. It's clearly evident that Chris Eckman knows Townes' music by heart, soul, mind and spirit. Therefore, he and his fellow musicians can hardly fail when they choose to cover a song by Chris' "#1 idol" (as he once dubbed him). This cover has only got an official release on Chris & Carla's mailorder live album "Nights Between Stations", and although being predominantly acoustic, the take on the song is highly electrifying. There's danger and desperation in Chris' voice and the rockabilly styled backing vibrates with frenzy. It works perfectly well along with Townes own version.

written by Bob Dylan

Cover "Death Valley Days", "Shelter for an Evening"*, V/A: "Revolution Come and Gone"

Original Bob Dylan: "Bringing it All Back Home" a k a "Subterranean Homesick Blues" (Columbia, 1965).

OK, so I'm not going to deny it: I think "Maggie's Farm" is BORING, no matter who does it, be it Bob Dylan, The Walkabouts or whoever. Well, the "Revolution"/"Death Valley Days" version is surprisingly good alright, but that doesn't change anything. I still think it's a rather bad excuse for a song.

written by Herman "Junior" Parker & Sam Phillips

Cover performed live

Original Junior Parker on V/A: "Between the Rails - America's Train Songs" (GNP Crescendo, 1996).

Elvis Presley 1955 recording is one of the corner stones of rock music, and you can find it on just about every Elvis compilation covering the 50's. It's also - along with Junior Parker's 1953 original - on the soundtrack to Jim Jarmusch's movie "Mystery Train" (oh, really?). The Walkabouts played the song live in 1991.

written by Townes Van Zandt

Cover performed live*

Original Townes Van Zandt: "Delta Momma Blues" (Rhino, 1971)

Chris & Carla opened a short Walkabouts set on a tribute night to Townes Van Zandt in Seattle 1997 by playing this song. Chris introduced it thus: "We saw Townes play in I think '92 at the Backstage. He introduced this song, and he said, 'If anybody listened to this song that morning, then they were pretty fucked up'. That had actually been the first song that Carla and I had put on that morning, so... It says something about us." And then just he and Carla gave the song a hushed, almost bluesy performance. A pity that it has never been officially released. Other songs performed that night - which by the way was the first night with Baker - were "Lungs" (as a duet and not as frantic as on "Nights Between Stations"), "Snake Mountain Blues" and "Sanitorium Blues", the latter with Gary Heffern and Michael Schuler.

written by Neil Young

Cover "Where the Deep Water Goes" EP, "Unhinged" flexi disc, "Death Valley Days", "Shelter for an Evening"*, "Ljubljana"*

Original Neil Young: "On the Beach" (LP, Warner/Reprise 1974)

Another classic example of Walkabouts doing Neil Young. It's well represented on various releases, although the "Deep Water", the flexi and "Death Valley Days" is the same recording. It very much reflects the world weary mood of Neil Young's version on the album of the same name.

written by Gene Clark

Cover "Satisfied Mind"

Original Dillard & Clark: "Through the Morning, Through the Night" (Edsel, 1969)

A tasteful pick from Dillard & Clark's second album. The first one, "The Fantastic Expedition of Dillard & Clark" is a better album to these ears, but the follow-up has it moments, among them "Polly", a typically sensitive Gene Clark composition. The Walkabouts stay rather true to the original, trusting the strength and beauty of the song itself.

written by Johnny Rivers

Cover "Satisfied Mind", "Airmail"

This one was heavily re-worked before it got its place on "Satisfied Mind". They have slowed it down and put it in a minor key, and the song works way better like that than with Johnny Rivers. He does it in an uptempo, shallow way which prevents it from flourishing with all the grandeur of the cover version. Johnny Rivers just runs through a song, The Walkabouts tell a story. That makes a difference.

The song is on various Johnny Rivers compilations, such as "Anthology 1964-1977" put out by Rhino in 1991.

Original title: "No More My Lord", also "No More My Lawd"

traditional

Cover "Jack Candy" CD5, "New West Motel" 2LP, "Death Valley Days"

There are several different versions floating around of this traditional prison work song, and none of them fully correspond to the band's version. Chris clears out some of the confusion: "The idea for this one came from the version of 'No More My Lawd" found on an album called 'Wake Up Dead Man'. (Yep, I stole the title!) The recording was made by Alan Lomax, it has chain gang prisoners singing it - somebody added some reverb to it, and it's the fucking scariest thing you've ever heard. I adapted the song, adding some lyrics of my own." (The stolen title Chris mentions did of course turn up as the first line of "Dead Man Rise".)

I'd also like to take the opportunity to recommend The Pentangle's great version of "No More My Lord" on "Sweet Child" from 1968.

Original title: "Corcovado (Quiet Night of Quiet Stars)"

written by Antonio Carlos Jobim/Eugene John "Gene" Lees

Cover V/A: "A Tribute to Antonio Carlos Jobim"

Original Astrud Gilberto: "Jazz 'Round Midnight" (Verve, 1996)

This sounds a bit unfinished to me. Something's lacking, but I can't really point out what it is. It feels as if there's a story hidden in the music, but that it doesn't get across to me. Strange, and frustrating. Someday maybe I'll wake up in the middle of the night, put it on and just grok it.

written by Robert Forster

Cover "Satisfied Mind", "To Hell and Back", "Where the Air is Cool and Dark" (edits) (soundtrack)

Original Robert Forster: "Danger in the Past" (Beggars Banquet, 1990)

If someone had given me "Danger in the Past" and said, "Guess what song the Walkabouts have covered" and I hadn't known about "The River People", I would have guessed at the unnerving title track. So "The River People" might not be the obvious choice from that album, and nothing wrong with that. The half-lazy flow of the original is changed for a more hectic drive on both the studio album and "To Hell and Back". But still I wonder what "Danger in the Past" might have sounded like coming through the amps of the Walkabouts...

written by Jack Rhodes & Joe "Red" Hayes

Cover "Satisfied Mind", "To Hell and Back"

Original Porter Wagoner: "The Essential Porter Wagoner" (RCA, 1997)

What a wonderful song this is! Chris refered to as "a traditional song of sorts" during the Chris & Carla Copenhagen show in 1998, and he made a good point there. It has been recorded by just so many country and non-country artists over the years that it's heading for traditional status.

It was Porter Wagoner's first hit back in 1955, going to the #1 spot in the States, and the very same year it was followed by two cover versions; one by Red & Betty Foley and one by Jean Shepard. And then the covers have kept coming. The Byrds did it for "Turn! Turn! Turn!", Roy Drusky recorded it a couple of years later; there's even a strange version by Bob Dylan on his 1980 album "Saved" (bet you had forgot that that even existed)!

Apart from The Walkabouts gorgeous rendition of the song, I simply love Jeff Buckley's soulful arrangement of it as found on the posthumous "Sketches for My Sweetheart the Drunk (Columbia, 1998). And don't forget the wonderful version on "Safe at Home" by the International Submarine Band featuring Gram Parsons (on CD from Shiloh, originally released in 1968). Chris explained to me once that it wasn't a particular version of it that triggered off the Walkabouts' cover, but rather the song itself. It's very easy to understand, because it's such a great song. Such a great great great song!

Walkabouts version lyrics by Townes Van Zandt, music by Chris Eckman

on "Lift Your Burdens Up" CD5, "Immaculate" CD5

Townes version written by Townes Van Zandt

on Townes Van Zandt: "A Far Cry From Dead" (Arista Austin, 1999), as "Sanitarium Blues"

This has almost an apocryphal vibe to it, and it's arguable whether the Walkabouts' version should actually be called a cover. Both their version and the one by Townes Van Zandt may be considered originals. The lyrics for it were passed on to Chris, and he set his own music to it. This version was to be released on the Virgin CD singles refered to above, but both releases were cancelled. When a Townes recording of it later surfaced on the posthumous "A Far Cry From Dead", it was a version entirely written by Townes himself, although in a fashion similar to the Walkabouts' with the lyrics more or less spoken.

written by Hank Williams

Cover nope!

Original Hank Williams: "40 Greatest Hits"

Alright, so there is no Walkabouts cover of this song, but as they named their 1994 album after it, I thought it would be fun to mention it anyway. "No we never recorded the Hank Williams song", says Chris, "or any of his other songs. Him and Gram Parsons are who got me into country music however. They are the kings. They are the soul of country."

Original title: "Junkie's Lament"

written by Gary Heffern

Cover "Satisfied Mind"

Original Gary Heffern: "Along Came a Ditch" (Glitterhouse, 1996)

Originally on long deleted vinyl only release "Bald Tires in the Rain", it's far easier to obtain Gary Heffern's original by getting Glitterhouse's mailorder compilation "Along Came a Ditch". The Walkabouts take it for a walk down the road of country & western, while Heffern keeps it on a more restrained level. What I think of it very much depends on my mood.

written by Mick Jagger & Keith Richards

Cover "Your Hope Shines" CD5

Original The Rolling Stones: "Exile on Main Street" (Rolling Stones Records, 1972)

Trashy "drunken gospel" version still hidden away among the additional tracks on the "Your Hope Shines" CD single. Has to be played loud. Something of an oddity perhaps, but it wouldn't have been out of place on "Death Valley Days".

written by Townes van Zandt

Cover "New West Motel", "To Hell and Back", "Ljubljana"*

Original Townes Van Zandt: "Our Mother the Mountain" (Rhino, 1969)

Townes himself loved how our heroes turned his song into a furious hard-edged adrenalin-soaked electric fuse-blowin' five minute freak-out; it's the heartening raging spirit of rock'n'roll pushing a marvellous country wail to the very edge of everything. Nuff said.

written by The Carter Family

Cover "Satisfied Mind", "Nights Between Stations"

Original The Carter Family: "Anchored in Love 1927-1928" (Rounder, 1993)

Chris once confessed to me that basically, only the lyrics for the Carters' song are left for the Walkabouts' version. The original's rather goodhearted cheerfulness is transformed into a more subtle, slightly brooding mournfulness. There are dark clouds high above and a foreboding wind ripples the surface of the ocean... Unnerving and captivating with Carla's chilling vocals in the center. Always one of my favorites on "Satisfied Mind".

written by George Jones

Cover "Life Full of Holes"*, "Ljubljana"*

Original George Jones & Tammy Wynette: "Greatest Hits" (Epic, 1977)

I've heard two George Jones versions of this song and the better of them is the duet with Tammy Wynette as found on the abovementioned "Greatest Hits" comp. This one is more relaxed whereas the other is almost jerky.. I mean, can you just imagine a jerky version of it after hearing Chris & Carla doing it?

A lot of what you are likely to find in the George Jones section in your favorite record store is soaked with schmaltzy strings and Jim Reeves-like female background vocals, but he had - and still has - a god-given voice that can elevate a song to higher grounds. And also, if the album features the hit "A Good Year for the Roses", as many Jones compilations do, then it's worth hearing.

written by Johnny Marr & Morrisey

Cover performed live*

Original The Smiths: "The Queen is Dead" (Rough Trade, 1986)

Let's just pray that this isn't a song that never comes out. It was played during the "Swinger 500" tour and it was brilliant. A far cry from the Smiths' original, much slower and stripped down to basically Chris' vocals and electric piano, it could bring on a pin-drop silence in the audience. Please tell me that there's a proper recording of it... Please please please let me get what I want!

written by Jim Webb

Cover "Shelter for an Evening"

Original Glen Campbell: "Classics Collection" (Collectables, 1990)

Another Jim Webb-penned Glen Campbell 60's hit that has been successfully reworked by Chris & Carla, and one of the highlights of the otherwise not entirely successful live album.

traditional

Cover "Satisfied Mind", "To Hell and Back", "Ljubljana"*

Other versions Blue Sky Boys on V/A: "Folk Music in America, Vol. 9 - Songs of Death & Tragedy" (LP, Library of Congress, 1978), The Carter Family: "Anchored in Love - Their Complete Victor recordings, 1927-1928" (Rounder, 1993),

It might be as with "Satisfied Mind" that it was the song itself that inspired the Walkabouts to cover it, rather than any particular one of the many recordings there are. It's easy to assume that the Carter Family had a great influence on the band, but being quite different from the Walks' version. perhaps the Blue Sky Boys played a greater role in how the cover turned out, as they are featured on the same compilation as Pewee Maddux's "Lover's Crime". Just a guess though, as I haven't heard it.

I'd also like to mention Royston Wood & Heather Wood who in the 70's did the song on their "No Relation" album on Transatlantic. They were both in the British "hardcore a capella" 60's three-piece Young Tradition (with Peter Bellamy completing the line-up), and their version bear some relation (no pun intended!) to the Walkabouts' fragile and touching version.

Said merely for the sake of the anecdote, the Walkabouts brought tears to people's eyes when they played the song during a Kurt Cobain memorial night in Seattle.

traditional

Cover "Rag + Bone"

Other versions Amelda Riddle: unknown source, Hank Ferguson: "Behind These Walls" (LP, Folk Legacy, 1963), Rosalie Sorrels: "Folk Songs of Idaho and Utah" (LP, Folkways, 1961), Doc & Merle Watson: "Ballads from Deep Gap" (LP, Vanguard, 1971)

Tracing the origins of this song has been one of the hardest parts when compiling this covers listing. In an interview by Jean Debbs for the Puncture magazine in 1990, Chris says, "We'd been playing a version of it live, but just a free-form mess, a drony one-chord thing... Actually the way it started was that Carla had a version of it on an old called 'Folk Song '65'..." There is indeed an album called "Folk Song '65', released by Elektra that year, but according to track listings, the song's not on it. Of course, there might be other compilations with the same title, or perhaps Chris simply mixed it up with an entirely different album. When I asked him about this song recently, he said, "The singer's name is Amelda Riddle, I can't help you with the name of the recording we learned it from, I am not sure what it is or where it ended up!"

I haven't found any information at all on her, so Amelda Riddle remains a mystery. Several other artists have recorded "Wreck of the Old #9" however, see "other versions" above.

written by Tom Waits & Kathleen Brennan

Cover "Jack Candy" CD5, "New West Motel" 2LP, "Death Valley Days"

Original Tom Waits: "Frank's Wild Years" (Island, 1987)

There's a pale aura of traditional songwriting surrounding this Tom Waits song, and perhaps that's what attracted the Walks in the first place. I always thought this to be one of the best songs written by Tom Waits, and so it's definitely the peak of the otherwise rather unfocused album "Frank's Wild Years". The Walkabouts further emphasize the beauty of it.

written by The Walkabouts

Performed by Silkworm

Cover "Even a Blind Chicken Finds a Kernel of Corn Now and Then" (Matador 1998)

Original "Scavenger"

This version by fellow Seattle-ites Silkworm is a 1992 4-track recording, and it's also on the Matador various artists compilation "What's Up Matador". Vocalist/guitarist Joel R.L. Phelps later left the band and eventually re-emerged with "Warm Spring Nights" in 1996 (subsequently reissued by Glitterhouse) before continuing to work with backing band the Downer Trio.

written by Chris Eckman

Performed by Willard Grant Conspiracy

Cover "Radio Free WGC" (RykoDisc 1999)

Original "Swinger 500"*

The motion of the "Swinger 500" version is that of the trembling heat; the motion of the Willard Grant Conspiracy's cover is that of gently flowing water. They're not afraid of leaving their mark on it, carefully, beautifully... They have made the song their own with an excellence they share with the Walkabouts doing a cover... "Radio Free WGC" isn't the easiest album to find as it was sold only via RykoDisc mailorder after the release of the Willards' "Mojave". But please do try to find it; it's worth the effort, not only for the cover version, but for the rare musical beauty in general of one of the best bands today.

written by Chris Eckman

Performed by Carolyn Wennblom on "Bees to the Honey" (Glitterhouse 1995).

Not recorded by the Walkabouts or Chris & Carla.

Carolyn Wennblom appears as a back-up vocalist on albums by various Seattle performers, including the Walkabouts. In 1995 she got to record her pleasant "Bees to the Honey", still her only album to this date, featuring several Walkabouts members. Many songwriters contributed fine songs to the album, among them Chris Eckman, who came up with "Morningstar". "'Morningstar' was a song that was considered for 'Life Full Of Holes'", he says, " but I don't think we even went as far as playing it together (meaning Carla and I). I brushed it up a bit and when I heard Carolyn was looking for songs I offered it to her." A generous gesture, as it is a truly wonderful song that can also be heard on the very first volume of Glitterhouse's various artists mailorder series "Out of the Blue".

written by Chris Eckman

Recorded by Townes Van Zandt

Cover "In Pain" (Normal 1999)

Original "Devil's Road"

On January 1, 1997, Townes Van Zandt left for good. Only shortly after, Chris Eckman's written piece "Reflections on Townes Van Zandt" was published on this website. There he writes, "Two weeks ago we received a tape in the mail from Wolfgang, a friend of both Townes and ours. On the tape was a recording of Townes singing one of our songs, 'The Stopping-Off Place' ('move along, cannot stay'). A smile never left my face for days. It was a huge gesture of kindness, that sadly we will never be able to repay."

Listening to this recording, it sounds as if Townes is almost dying before the microphone. And in a way he was, too - it was recorded in November 1996, only a few months before he died. It's so scary... And at the same time it is touching to hear how bravely he struggles to make it to the end of the song, only making the hugeness of the gesture from Townes to Chris and the Walkabouts even greater.

written by The Walkabouts

Performed by Terry Lee Hale

Cover "Where the Air is Cool and Dark" soundtrack (Glitterhouse 1997)

Original "Scavenger"

Perhaps blasphemous, but this is my favorite version of "Train to Mercy"! Terry Lee Hale is one of the most underrated singers and songwriters of the last two decades, and here he proves that he can bring the best out of somebody else's song as well. I'd love to see the film just for the scene where Terry Lee comes into a bar, picks up a guitar and starts to play, performing magic...

written by The Walkabouts

Performed by Gary Heffern

Cover performed live

Original "New West Motel"

There's a little story behind this track, and Chris tells it to us: "The only song I ever wrote for anyone was "Unholy Dreams" from "New West Motel". I wrote this for Gary Heffern, and his band played it for quite awhile, although the form was somewhat different. I readapted it and stole it back from him."

written by The Walkabouts

Performed by Chet Kane

Cover unreleased

Original"Scavenger"

Chet Kane is another criminally overlooked singer/songwriter from the Seattle era. I mean, Terry Lee Hale is a superstar in comparison ... He released two albums; "It's Only A Dance" which was produced by Michael Wells in 1991, and "Tears for Columbia", for which Chet Kane joined the Glitterhouse roster in 1994. His music is a personal take on acoustic country rock with a small but highly attractive strain of psychedelia in it, especially in the very tasteful electric guitar playing. "Tears for Columbia" is now deleted, and as far as I know, Kane hasn't even got a record deal.

His version of "Where the Deep Water Goes" remains unreleased, which is a pity and a shame as it is both graceful and personal, with his wonderful tenor voice on top.

Original title: "Whiskey XXX"

written by The Walkabouts

Performed by Leon Redbone

Cover "Live and Kickin'" (Cleopatra 1999)

Original "Cataract"

Of all the covers included herein, this must be the oddest of them all. I haven't heard this version, but considering that Leon Redbone is a rather mysterious person heavily into a kind of a pre-WWII ragtime, blues and jazz revival of his own, this just got to be... different. Or as Chris puts it: "A few other people have covered my songs, and most recently Leon Redbone!! Crazy world."

According to Leon Redbones official website, "Live and Kickin'" is similar to the "Leon Redbone Live" album on Pair/Essex Records.

This article is dedicated to anyone who ever cared for storytelling and a good song.