The beauty of a cover version is that it expands the work of an artist you like, whilst opening the door on another that you may never have heard of. And so it is with Beach House's version of April Suzanne, originally by Robert Lester Folsom.
I'm a fan of Beach House and, unless it had been pointed out to me, I would have assumed that April Suzanne was their own composition, a delectable serving of sun-soaked dream pop.
However, April Suzanne first appeared on Robert Lester Folsom's debut album Music And Dreams in 1976....
... which captures the rays of sunshine half a century earlier, with a shadow of melancholy underlined by the sparing lyrics.
Here's a more contemporary version that Robert recorded in Chicago for Audiotree Live on 4th August 2025, replete with fulsome (Folsom?) beard....
Anthology Recordings issue a 50th anniversary edition of Music And Dreams on 16th October. Alongside the original album, there are ten reel-to-reel demos on the vinyl and CD formats.
The 24-track digital album offers up two bonus cover versions, April Suzanne by Beach House and Music And Dreams by Hannah Cohen. For only twelve bucks, the latter has been added to my shopping list.
No comments:
Post a Comment