Friday, 22 November 2024

Free


Another selection ripped from music magazine cover mount CDs, this time featuring Paul Weller.

There seems to be such reverence for Weller in the likes of Mojo, Q or Uncut magazine that it's always a little surprising when, as with this year, one of his songs doesn't appear on the end of year 'best of' CD.

Personally, my relationship with Paul Weller's solo career has been in and out, mostly out, though I have enjoyed the handful of 21st century albums that I've heard.

This 13-song selection leans heavily on that period, with only a trio of songs from the 1990s, one original, one cover and one live version combining both. 
 
Paul Weller does like a cover version and whilst he's thrown in the occasional unexpected choice, no such surprises here with Neil Young, John Lennon, Nick Drake, Bob Dylan and (a bit of) Edwin Starr. But, what Weller does, he does well(er).

Given the disparate sources and time span, I think I've managed to sequence a coherent selection. If I were being a C90 cassette compilation purist, I would have dropped a track to keep it to 45 minutes or so. What the heck, it's Friday, have a free one on me!

1) Brother To Brother: Terry Callier ft. Paul Weller (2002)
2) Birds (Cover of Neil Young) (2004)
3) In Another Room (2020)
4) The Changingman (Live @ Glastonbury Festival) (2007)
5) Instant Karma! (Cover of John Lennon & Plastic Ono Band) (2002)
6) River Man (Cover of Nick Drake) (2010)
7) Has My Fire Really Gone Out? (ft. Max Beesley & Robert Howard) (1993)
8) I Shall Be Released (Cover of Bob Dylan) (1996)
9) Black River (2007)
10) Brushed (The Black Barn Sessions) (2020)
11) Satellite Kid (Album Version) (2017)
12) What Would He Say? (Demo Version) (2018)
13) (Can You Hear Us) Holy Man / War (Cover of Edwin Starr) (Live @ Civic Hall, Wolverhampton) (1994)
 
1993: Wild Wood: 7
1994: Live Wood: 13
1996: Out Of The Sinking EP: 8
2002: Instant Karma 2002: A Tribute To John Lennon (Uncut magazine promo CD): 5
2002: Speak Your Peace: 1 
2004: Studio 150: 2
2007: This Old Town EP: 9
2008: 22 Dreams: 9
2008: Live From Glastonbury (Q magazine promo CD) : 4
2010: No Tears To Cry EP: 6
2017: A Kind Revolution: 11
2018: The Mojo Anthology: 15 Rare & Unreleased Tracks From Our Legendary Friends (Mojo magazine promo CD): 12
2020: In Another Room EP: 3
2020: The Mojo Festival 2020 (Mojo magazine promo CD): 10

Free (48:45) (KF) (Mega)

1 comment:

  1. That hits the spot, K. If you take Weller the person out of the equation and just concentrate on Weller the music then you won’t go far wrong.

    JM

    ReplyDelete