Duet records are the worst. I cannot think of a single one with more than two decent songs, and even those pale in comparison with original versions of songs. The closest thing to a good duets record is Steve Cropper's tribute to the Five Royales, and is that a duets record or a tribute with some help since Steve doesn't sing?
Maybe the Chrissie Hynde record will surprise us. Some duets work out quite well:
David Bowie/Freddy Mercury David Bowie/Bing Crosby Iggy Pop/Kate Pierson Nancy Sinatra/Lee Hazlewood Tom Petty/Stevie Nicks Roberta Flack/Donny Hathaway Peter Gabriel/Kate Bush Robert Plant/Sandy Denny Robert Plant/Alison Krauss Eddie Money/Ronnie Spector Shane MacGowan/Kirsty MacColl Chris Cornell/Eddie Vedder
I concede that most but not all of my list were referencing original songs. I'm a Chrissie Hynde fan and will reserve judgement until I've heard the tracks. I admit that nothing on her song list piques my interest.
Hmmmm. I see represented three of my all-time favorite singers (Lanegan, Lucinda & Hynde; and, by association, Alan Sparhawk is widower to another all-time favorite singers [Mimi Parker]), someone responsible for one of the greatest debut albums of all time (Hynde again), one of my favorite bands of all time (Low), and artists I have at least one song by (except for Carleen Anderson, who I had to look up to identify). I'll wait to judge. C in California
I'm a big fan of both of John Prine's duet records: "In Spite of Ourselves" and "For Better, Or Worse." Am I alone on those? ('Course I'm a big fan of everything John Prine. Damn, I miss him.)
Love Sway. Love Lucinda. Love Chrissie. But Sway should not be performed as a duet. Carla & Mick Taylor had the right approach. Duet and tribute albums seldom work for me beyond initial curiousity. After that last crumby Pretenders album, what faith I had in Hynde judgment eroded considerably. A duet album is unlikely to restore it.
That calls for a little "Summer Wine."
VR
Chased with Chrissie's version of "Property of Jesus."
KenD You are not alone. I've enjoyed Prine since the time I saw him open for Dan Hicks & His Hot Licks in late 1971. Hicks was great but Prine stole the show. At least I thought so. And I didn't know a thing about him before the gig. The next day I bought the debut LP. It was a stunner. Gordon Lightfoot was in the audience that night and it's a sure bet he wasn't there to check out Dan Hicks,
The two duet albums are both fine but not my favorites. I like his insightful orignal songs better. I saw him at Royce Hall UCLA with Iris DeMent shortly after "In Spite of Ourselves," was released. Good show. I saw Prine a bunch of times. Billed on different occasions with Jackie Deshannon, Steve Goodman, Waylon Jennings, Jerry Jeff Walker and Cowboy Junkies, to name a few.
But my all-time favorite Prine show was in 1996. That one's in my Top Twenty along with the other fifty. Prine was always very generous with his headlining performances. He went for at least two hours. But at this one particular show in 1996 the rapport with the crowd was so good that he went for nearly three. He played close to forty songs with his 5-piece Lost Dogs band and solo. I had cautiously loaded a DAT-180 in my Sony D-8 in case he went long. He went so long I was beginning to wonder whether the 180 was enough tape. He never left the stage. He forsook the encore formalities and just kept plowing away. It was incredible. I knew it was special because on that run I went to four one-nighters within a five day period. All the shows were great but this one was magical. "Lake Marie" blew the doors off. And then came the afterglow.
To some he was just a boring old guy who wrote songs that all sounded the same. To others he's an American treasure.
VR
Another thing I liked about Prine was his merch. Of course he had the CD's, but he also had a John Prine fly swatter and a John Prine "church key" bottle opener.
Ha! You must be a regular, referencing my comment from weeks ago. Okay, here goes. I buy a lot of records. I don't see anything here that interests me. I can't say I know any of Chrissie's music after "Message Of Love". What I see is a list of covers sung as duets with other veterans of the music biz. The guests in these sessions often literally phone in their parts. There is no guarantee both singers are live in the studio creating chemistry together. The music has likely already been cut by professionals. Well crafted, but kind of dull with few surprises. All I see is MOR product. It's just not my thing.
One more thing: this "solo" album will be the third in a row filled entirely with covers, usually not a good sign in a songwriter's career. We didn't need "Standing In The Doorway: Chrissie Hynde Sings Bob Dylan", released nearly 5 years ago, either.
30 comments:
Interesting line up of guest singers
Anything with Lucinda has possibilities. The rest not so much.
Captain Al
Mark Lanegan's dead, so...
Duet records are the worst. I cannot think of a single one with more than two decent songs, and even those pale in comparison with original versions of songs. The closest thing to a good duets record is Steve Cropper's tribute to the Five Royales, and is that a duets record or a tribute with some help since Steve doesn't sing?
Chrissie could sing the phone book and I'd listen to it. Doesn't mean the material would be great, but the voice!
Maybe the Chrissie Hynde record will surprise us. Some duets work out quite well:
David Bowie/Freddy Mercury
David Bowie/Bing Crosby
Iggy Pop/Kate Pierson
Nancy Sinatra/Lee Hazlewood
Tom Petty/Stevie Nicks
Roberta Flack/Donny Hathaway
Peter Gabriel/Kate Bush
Robert Plant/Sandy Denny
Robert Plant/Alison Krauss
Eddie Money/Ronnie Spector
Shane MacGowan/Kirsty MacColl
Chris Cornell/Eddie Vedder
If it is a good as her cover of Caroline, No then it should be just fine. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wZbXqz-23AE
- Paul in DK
Some of you are too kind. First of all, at least six of those songs should never be covered again.
And looking at your list, Brian, the thing that stands out is, everyone one of those duets was an original song.
To me, this Hynde thing looks truly awful.
Oops, every one but the Plant/Krauss, I should have said.
I concede that most but not all of my list were referencing original songs. I'm a Chrissie Hynde fan and will reserve judgement until I've heard the tracks. I admit that nothing on her song list piques my interest.
Hmmmm. I see represented three of my all-time favorite singers (Lanegan, Lucinda & Hynde; and, by association, Alan Sparhawk is widower to another all-time favorite singers [Mimi Parker]), someone responsible for one of the greatest debut albums of all time (Hynde again), one of my favorite bands of all time (Low), and artists I have at least one song by (except for Carleen Anderson, who I had to look up to identify).
I'll wait to judge.
C in California
I've been wrong before.
It will simply have to tide us over until Only The Strong Survive Vol. 2.
Songs look great...
You forgot k.d. lang & Roy Orbison doing "Crying"
I'm a big fan of both of John Prine's duet records: "In Spite of Ourselves" and "For Better, Or Worse." Am I alone on those? ('Course I'm a big fan of everything John Prine. Damn, I miss him.)
If Chrissie's voice is intact, I plan to enjoy this record. If not, not so much.
Love Sway. Love Lucinda. Love Chrissie. But Sway should not be performed as a duet. Carla & Mick Taylor had the right approach. Duet and tribute albums seldom work for me beyond initial curiousity. After that last crumby Pretenders album, what faith I had in Hynde judgment eroded considerably. A duet album is unlikely to restore it.
That calls for a little "Summer Wine."
VR
Chased with Chrissie's version of "Property of Jesus."
If it inspires kd lang to record another album, I'll accept a crappy duets CD.
It may be sacrilegious, but I liked Always In My Mind with Rufus Wainwright. He and Christie are 2 of my favorite voices.
KenD You are not alone. I've enjoyed Prine since the time I saw him open for Dan Hicks & His Hot Licks in late 1971. Hicks was great but Prine stole the show. At least I thought so. And I didn't know a thing about him before the gig. The next day I bought the debut LP. It was a stunner. Gordon Lightfoot was in the audience that night and it's a sure bet he wasn't there to check out Dan Hicks,
The two duet albums are both fine but not my favorites. I like his insightful orignal songs better. I saw him at Royce Hall UCLA with Iris DeMent shortly after "In Spite of Ourselves," was released. Good show. I saw Prine a bunch of times. Billed on different occasions with Jackie Deshannon, Steve Goodman, Waylon Jennings, Jerry Jeff Walker and Cowboy Junkies, to name a few.
But my all-time favorite Prine show was in 1996. That one's in my Top Twenty along with the other fifty. Prine was always very generous with his headlining performances. He went for at least two hours. But at this one particular show in 1996 the rapport with the crowd was so good that he went for nearly three. He played close to forty songs with his 5-piece Lost Dogs band and solo. I had cautiously loaded a DAT-180 in my Sony D-8 in case he went long. He went so long I was beginning to wonder whether the 180 was enough tape. He never left the stage. He forsook the encore formalities and just kept plowing away. It was incredible. I knew it was special because on that run I went to four one-nighters within a five day period. All the shows were great but this one was magical. "Lake Marie" blew the doors off. And then came the afterglow.
To some he was just a boring old guy who wrote songs that all sounded the same. To others he's an American treasure.
VR
Another thing I liked about Prine was his merch. Of course he had the CD's, but he also had a John Prine fly swatter and a John Prine "church key" bottle opener.
Looking at it nearly put me to sleep.
BBJ-
Let's hear the reasons rather than the usual disdain.
At least BBJ signed his name.
No love from anyone here for Tony Bennett/Lady Gaga??
Bruce H.
Ha! You must be a regular, referencing my comment from weeks ago. Okay, here goes. I buy a lot of records. I don't see anything here that interests me. I can't say I know any of Chrissie's music after "Message Of Love". What I see is a list of covers sung as duets with other veterans of the music biz. The guests in these sessions often literally phone in their parts. There is no guarantee both singers are live in the studio creating chemistry together. The music has likely already been cut by professionals. Well crafted, but kind of dull with few surprises. All I see is MOR product. It's just not my thing.
One more thing: this "solo" album will be the third in a row filled entirely with covers, usually not a good sign in a songwriter's career. We didn't need "Standing In The Doorway: Chrissie Hynde Sings Bob Dylan", released nearly 5 years ago, either.
Hear, hear!
Chrissie's jazz album was surprisingly good too.
I saw John Prine open for Johnny Cash in Webster Hall, New York City in 1988. They both exceeded my expectations as legends.
Bing Crosby / Rosemary Clooney
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