Album: Levi's Pioneer Sessions: 2010 Revival Recordings
I absolutely love covers. I will listen to just about anyone sing someone else's song. I especially love when it's a cover you don't expect, maybe because it's from an artist from a different genre or style or era. You'll notice this affinity for covers as the countdown progresses, as tribute albums are planned to be sprinkled throughout.One place I never expected to find a great album of covers was from an album sponsored by a denim company. So imagine my surprise when I stumbled upon the Levi's Pioneer Sessions: 2010 Revival Recordings track listing. On it were familiar artists singing songs that, by title, weren't as familiar to the eyes but whose sound was very familiar to the ears.
Check out the track listing below:
Nas - "Hey Young World" by Slick Rick
The Swell Season - "Young Hearts Run Free" by Candi Staton
She and Him - "Fools Rush In" by Rick Nelson
The Dirty Projectors - "I Dreamed I Saw St. Augustine" by Bob Dylan
Colbie Caillat - "Maria" by Blondie
The Shins - "Goodbye Girl" by Squeeze
Raphael Saadiq - "It's A Shame" by The Spinners
Bomba Estereo - "Pump Up the Jam" by Technotronic
Jason Mraz - "Spirit in the Sky" by Norman Greenbaum
John Legend and the Roots - "Our Generation" by Ernie Hines
This is not what you would usually expect from a blue jean company. Instead of Toby Keith covering "Sweet Home Alabama" or Creed pulling an extended version of "Free Bird," you're given tracks from the likes of Raphael Saadiq, Nas, She & Him, and The Shins. But as always, there was one particular track that caught my eye and captured my heart: a cover of Candi Staton's "Young Hearts Run Free" by The Swell Season.
Now I won't get into the greatness of The Swell Season too much, but they are the amazing group behind the movie, "Once", and the Oscar-winning song, "Falling Slowly." I'm sure they'll show up on this blog again sometime in the next 359 days. I was, however, lucky enough to see this song performed live at the Brown Theater and screamed so loud when they started playing it I'm sure some people wondered why I was actually there.
Year Released: 2010
# of Tracks: 10
Denim Company Sponsoring Album: Levi's
Best Lyric: "No martyr is among you know whom you can call your own; but go on your away accordingly you know you're not alone" - I Dreamed I Saw St. Augustine - Bob Dylan (covered by The Dirty Projectors)
Best Track: "Young Hearts Run Free"
I don't know how many of you choose to remember the Leonardo DiCaprio/Claire Danes version of "Romeo & Juliet," but as a middle school kid at the time of its release it was a pretty big deal. It was produced by MTV for God's sake and MTV has never been above showing a commercial for their product between, and sometimes during, each video played on TRL. I can't recall if we really understood the "modern" take on the Bard's tale, but we continuously watched the movie hoping it would fire up our significant other enough to make out. My favorite character in the movie was Mercutio, played by Harold Perrineau. As an added bonus, this role did not require Perrineau to narrate prison rape scenes from a wheelchair nor continuously shout "I just want my son!" on a lonely, weird island. Unfortunately, the role did require him to dress in drag and lip-sync "Young Hearts Run Free" in a drug-fueled scene that tipped the strange scale in the movie and burned itself into my brain, while simultaneously summarizing teenage television in the mid-90's. It's why The Swell Season version was such a refreshing, yet familiar, song for me to find again.
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