Re-worked: Singer/songwriters recording more than one version of a song

On occasion, FolkBlog is privileged to feature articles from our Australian correspondent, accomplished music journalist Sue Barrett.  

 

 By Sue Barrett

 

Record stores are interesting places — including for the conversations that take place in them. A few weeks ago, for example, the topic under discussion was the large number of new releases.

 

In 1976, when Ladyslipper Music (www.ladyslipper.org) released its first (four page!) resource guide, it was aiming to “create a comprehensive guide to all the recordings women had ever made” and expected the number to be in the hundreds. These days, Ladyslipper has more than 15,000 titles in its online catalog.

 

In 1981, Terry Hounsome’s New Rock Record (www.recordresearcher.com) included 30,000 albums. The most recent edition of Rock Record (RockRom 10) has details of in excess of 700,000 albums and singles.

In 1992, the first edition of the All Music Guide covered 23,000 or so recordings. Now the allmusic website (www.allmusic.com) includes more than 1.4 million albums.

 

Over the years, such things as perseverance, luck and a heap of international reply coupons have been key ingredients in collecting music — whether it be entire musical genres, sub-genres or sub-sub-genres.

In recent times, however, the sheer volume of available product (including re-releases on CD and DVD) has emerged as a new impediment for music collectors.

 

According to conservative guesstimates, tens of thousands of music CDs are released around the world each year, with hundreds of millions of CDs sold. In addition, recorded music is available in a seemingly ever expanding range of formats and products, including digital downloads and ring tones.

 

Given this situation, niche collecting may become increasingly attractive — perhaps orange vinyl (Ryan Adams) or red vinyl (Phranc); perhaps songs about AIDS (Toshi Reagon — ‘Foolish Attitudes’), baseball (Steve Goodman — ‘A Dying Cub Fan’s Last Request’), teachers (Fred Small — ‘Annie’) or the war in Iraq (Alex Legg — ‘Were You There?’); perhaps gatefold albums, flexi discs or mispressings.

 

With a spot of niche collecting in mind, FolkBlog recently caught up with some singer/songwriters who have recorded more than one version of a song…

 

CATIE CURTIS — www.catiecurtis.com

Catie Curtis, the youngest of three girls, grew up in a small coastal town in Maine, USA. While in high school, she began performing in local bars, restaurants and coffee shops. After graduating from college, Catie supported her music career by working as a house painter, as a waitress and for a social services agency, before becoming a full-time performer in 1992. Catie is the subject of the documentary film Tangled Stories and her songs have appeared in the television shows Grey’s Anatomy, Dawson’s Creek, Felicity and Alias and in the films 500 Miles to Graceland and A Slipping Down Life. Currently, Catie is finalising her new record, Sweet Life (scheduled for release on 26 August 2008). Catie Curtis included her song ‘Kiss that Counted’ on My Shirt Looks Good on You (2001), before re-recording it late in 2002 for Acoustic Valentine.

 

“The first time I recorded ‘Kiss that Counted’ (for My Shirt Looks Good On You), I was determined to keep the same vibe that (electric) mandolinist Jimmy Ryan and I established at my shows. He played an intro hook on electric mandolin, and then a cool Jackson Five-ish part on the choruses. The track, recorded with bass, drums and electric mandolin, wound up sounding fun and quirky, and won Indie Song of the Year from the Boston Music Awards. But I always felt like the recording didn’t capture the warmth that it could, and so I re-recorded it for Acoustic Valentine with two acoustic guitars. Now when I play it at shows I loop one acoustic guitar part and play the second acoustic part, re-creating the Acoustic Valentine arrangement. When I perform with a band, we combine the two approaches, which sounds great, so perhaps I’ll have to capture that one day in a live recording!”

 

SHONA LAING — www.shonalaing.com

Shona Laing’s music career began in New Zealand as a teenager, before she moved to the UK, where she worked with Manfred Mann’s Earth Band. In 1988, ‘(Glad I’m) Not a Kennedy’ reached #14 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart and ‘Soviet Snow’ reached #32 on the Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart. Shona has re-recorded ‘Kennedy’ and ‘Soviet Snow’ (as well as ‘Caught’) for her new acoustic album, Pass the Whisper (2007).

 

“Being confined to voice and guitar when playing live, (earning a crust), meant I had to re-work ‘Soviet Snow’, ‘Kennedy’ and ‘Caught’, all songs that were originally on the South album (1987) and really did use all the big orchestral sounds of the eighties, all the new samples…four keyboards all midied in a stack and then a helicopter or a dead president’s voice thrown in for some atmos’. Necessity became again the mother of invention, evolution.

 

“In more recent times I’ve had the opportunity to work with some fab people who were dedicated to the integrity of acoustic instruments. I guess I rediscovered my musical roots after journeying through so many ‘modern’ possibilities. I rediscovered the magic of playing music with people rather than machines.

“Playing solo, ‘Kennedy’ had been a lament for a while — very slow and melancholy — but with the addition of bass and bhodran I…started enjoying the song again. I’ve also been a bit gentle with myself as regards the keys of these renditions, lowering them all a full tone. As a ‘young’un’ I would probably not have admitted that as a matter of pride but I think it suits the aging voice and the different timbre of the world. All three songs (though ‘Caught’ may not be as known) have been refreshed by being revisited and I’m looking forward to applying similar treatments to other songs in the back catalogue the next time I’m in the studio which hopefully will be before too long.”

 

JOE DOLCE — www.joedolce.net

Joe Dolce (b. Ohio, USA) lived on a commune in California and in experimental communities in Hawaii, before moving to Australia in 1979. As well as working with Lin van Hek as the Difficult Women performance group (a literary-music show consisting of vignettes, songs and portraits of creative women writers and artists), Joe has maintained a solo career. Joe’s song ‘Shaddap You Face’ reached #1 on the Australian and UK music charts in 1981 and sold five million copies around the world. According to Joe Dolce, there are three instances where he has recorded two different studio versions of one of his songs.

 

“‘Return’ is a poem of C P Cavafy, which I set to music in 1970. I recorded an acoustic fingerpicking version and a band arrangement — both of which were different tracks on my first Australian album, Shaddap You Face (1981). I wanted an intimate version, but also a version which would explore the musicality inherent in the song. I plan to record at least one more version of ‘Return’ as it is one of 15 poems in a Cavafy songcycle I set to music called ‘When the Lips and the Skin Remember’.
 
“With ‘Jack of Diamonds’ (the words were written by playwright Phil Motherwell and the music by me), I recorded a guitar and vocal version for a cassette album, Steal Away Home in 1995. I came up with an arrangement idea for minor blues harp and string quartet, so I included this version on my album, Freelovedays (2002).
 
“And ‘Dragon Lady’ (words by Phil Motherwell) also appeared on Steal Away Home. Over the years, Lin and I began singing this together so I decided to record it again with her and included it on my latest album, The Wind Cries Mary (2007).
 
“I encourage singer/songwriters to re-record songs that they initially recorded prematurely. Wagner used to say that a well written piece of music is greater than any single performance of it and that also applies to recordings. Many songwriters are under pressure — or they have the resources — to record quite often — sometimes once a year. However, many songs need years to gestate — and many rewrites — to reach their true potential. There may be a more mature and stronger song down the track. I’ve been working on the Cavafy songcycle for 18 years and ‘Return’ for 38 years. A good song only gets better the longer you let it season.”

 

CONNIE KALDOR — www.conniekaldor.com

Connie Kaldor (b. Saskatchewan, Canada) began performing in the 1970s and released her first solo studio recording, One of These Days, in 1981. Since then, Connie has toured Canada, India, China, Europe and the USA; won three JUNO Awards; written a musical (Dust and Dreams), the sound track for several films (including Nature’s Heart) and the music for a play (The Destruction of Eve). Connie first recorded the songs ‘Spring on the Prairies’ and ‘Grandmother’s Song’ for the various artists album, Prairie Grass, Prairie Sky: Music from Saskatchewan (1975) and re-recorded them for her album, Wood River: Home Is Where the Heart Is… (1992).

 

“I think that songs are bound to change over time. First of all you record them for the most part when they are new, untried on the road and before a crowd and often the miles of touring and shows work their magic on a song and there will be a performance where you discover something different. As the writer, perhaps you feel as if you are allowed to do that. Writing is a process for some songs. Face it some songs are worked up before you have found your own place in them. I don’t record many songs over, other than if a song is used for a different purpose like in a film. It’s ironic because I have been feeling lately that I would like to go back and re-record songs that didn’t get done right the first time. Recording has developed so much over the years and an artist can afford more time. The recording process is different from performing live and that was a learning curve for me. I have always worked to get a recording to have the same magic that a live performance can do. What I do find interesting is seeing my songs done by others and seeing them take these songs for their own. I just saw a children’s choir sing an arrangement of ‘Wood River’ and I was quite moved. I think that you hope that your songs have enough in them that they can be sung by anyone.”

 

PAT HUMPHRIES — www.pathumphries.com

Pat Humphries was born in Ohio, USA where she began performing in the children’s chorus of the Cleveland Orchestra at age 12. Singing in several other choruses in the Cleveland area took Pat on tours of the USA and Romania. In 1977, Pat began performing independently which she continued through college. Pat wrote her first song ‘Never Turning Back’ in 1984, at a song writing workshop with Si Kahn. At that same workshop she collaborated with Australian performer Judy Small and wrote the song ‘Walls and Windows’. From there, Pat performed at concerts, conferences and demonstrations in the eastern United States with periodic tours to California and performances in Cuba and Nicaragua. She worked primarily as a solo artist from 1984-2000. In 2001, Pat and her life partner, Sandy Opatow began writing and performing together as emma’s revolution. They released their first duo recording One x a million = change in 2004. Together Pat and Sandy tour extensively in the USA and beyond, having already travelled to 37 states and six countries. In addition to their own touring, they frequently travel with Holly Near as her band. Pat Humphries has recorded more than one version of her songs ‘Swimming to the Other Side’ and ‘Never Turning Back/Keep on Moving Forward’.

 

“When I signed to Appleseed Recordings to do my second solo CD, Hands, I chose to re-record ‘Swimming to the Other Side’ from my first, self-released CD, Same Rain. Swimming got the most airplay on that first CD, so it made sense to re-record it to take advantage of Appleseed’s better distribution network. I also thought this would be an opportunity to record a different arrangement of the song. Partly as a result of the broader distribution, Swimming became the subject of a segment on National Public Radio’s All Things Considered in May 2002. The segment featured me and folk legend, Pete Seeger, who also sings the song. NPR had never gotten such a huge response to a music feature. They got emails and phone calls and Hands was number one in sales for three days on Amazon.com, outselling every pop and rock recording on the site. The story brought thousands more people to our website and to our concerts. Sandy and I subsequently re-recorded Swimming for our newest emma’s revolution release, Roots, Rock and Revolution (2007).

 

“I was singing ‘Never Turning Back’ at the memorial for Congresswoman Bella Abzug in the General Assembly chambers of the UN. The song had been sung at the 4th UN World Conference on Women in Beijing and had become the unofficial theme of the conference. They showed a video of Bella in Beijing where she said, ‘It’s not enough to never turn back, we have to keep on moving forward’. After seeing the video, I re-named the song — ‘Keep on Moving Forward’. For Roots, Rock and Revolution, Sandy and I re-recorded ‘Keep on Moving Forward’ in LA with members of the band formerly known as Sabia. Their Afro-Cuban flavored version of the song was always one of my favorites.”

 

RICHARD J FRANKLAND — www.goldenseahorse.com.au

Richard J. Frankland (b. Victoria, Australia) is a Gunditjmara man, who has worked as a soldier, fisherman and field officer for the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody. Richard is also a singer/songwriter, author, playwright, actor and film maker. As a musician, Richard has performed solo and in bands, including Djaambi (which supported Prince on his 1991 Australian tour) and The Charcoal Club. Richard Frankland recorded his song ‘Who Made Me Who I Am?’ for the various artists album, Making Tracks (1999) and re-recorded it for The Charcoal Club’s album, Cry Freedom (2005).

 

“Many songs for me, and perhaps for other singer/songwriters, evolve — that is, new elements come to the song as in content or it develops musically over the years. Additionally with the changing of line ups new arrangements come along, new feels and a new spirit or essence of the song comes along. These are some of the reasons that I re-record, for the new voice of the song, the new feel and not necessarily making it a better song, just a different interpretation.”

 

JODI MARTIN — www.jodimartin.com

Singer/songwriter Jodi Martin, with her roots-based music, captures strong images of urban and non-urban Australia. Jodi grew up in Ceduna, a small isolated coastal town in South Australia — surrounded by the sea and never ending flat land — before moving to Sydney. Jodi’s album Water and Wood (2001) includes two versions of her song ‘Sometimes I Wonder’, including a dub remix as a hidden track.

 

“I recorded ‘Sometimes I Wonder’ with Nicky Bomba…the song has a folk-reggae approach, and I had always wanted to experiment with a dub remix. It felt like a little piece of Jamaica in Melbourne as we added delays and remixed the tracks — FUN! I like it because it feels like an echo or a refrain having the song reappear at the end of the album.

 

“I did an even more extreme thing on my latest album, 15 Minutes Out to Sea, where ‘Screwed Up’ appears first as a pop-country track, and then at the end of the record again, dressed completely differently. It is darker and more alternative; richly layered with loping, dinky piano lines.

 

“I have been on a songwriting pilgrimage for almost a year now, in Montreal Canada, working with co-writers and learning more about my songwriting craft. I am so happy with the new songs, and I cannot wait to take them on the road. I am coming home to Australia in May and June 2008 to tour with Arlo Guthrie and road test the new material!”

 

HOLLY NEAR — www.hollynear.com

Holly Near (b. California, USA) has a long history in film, television and theatre and as well as an activist for peace, justice and human rights. In 1971, Holly was part of the Free the Army Tour (with Jane Fonda and Donald Sutherland). And in 1972, she established Redwood Records. Holly’s autobiography, Fire In The Rain…Singer In The Storm, was published in 1990. Over the years, Holly has worked with many other performers, including Ronnie Gilbert, Pete Seeger and Arlo Guthrie. Holly Near’s fourth album, Imagine My Surprise! (1978), included ‘Mountain Song’, which Holly and Cris Williamson re-recorded for the album, Cris & Holly (2003).

 

“‘Mountain Song’ has been a backpack song for me, meaning I can take it with me anywhere. I have sung it with a Reggae band from Tennessee, with a Palestinian ’ud player, with a women’s chorus and a rock band. I can easily teach it to groups. If they don’t know the words I can teach them sounds to make that go along with the lyric. I can sing it alone and I have sung it as a duet with Cris Williamson. I have recorded it a cappella and I have recorded it with many vocal parts. Adrienne Torf does a great piano version of the tune, although that is not recorded.

 

“The song was inspired by an Appalachian woman who went up against the companies who strip mine in the eastern mountains of the US. She said, ‘If you are going to take my mountain, you will have to take me first!’ As the story goes, they did remove the woman and threw her in jail. But what I loved about the story, and what inspired the song, is that she did not step down. She knew where she stood and it became someone else’s job to remove her. Powerful thing to know exactly where one stands. Powerful thing.”

 

Sue Barrett is an Australian music writer, with a special interest in women in music. She spends a lot of time in record stores — discovering new recordings, filling in gaps from past years and buying yet another version of songs that she already has!

© 2008