"Julie Covington" 1978
On the heels of her 1977 U.K. hit -- a cover of
Alice Cooper's "Only Women Bleed" --
Julie Covington went back into the studio with producers
Joe Boyd and John Wood to record 11 more tracks for what would be her self-titled second album.
Boyd helped put together a stellar cast to support
Covington -- including
Richard Thompson,
Simon Nicol,
Ian Matthews, and
Trevor Lucas from the various incarnations of
Fairport Convention, as well as
Steve Winwood,
John Cale,
Andy Fairweather-Low, and a collection of top-shelf session players. When it came to material, he was also helpful in gathering a fine collection of songs for
Covington to wrap her powerful, theater-honed voice around.
Boyd brought
Thompson's "I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight" and
Sandy Denny's previously unreleased "By the Time It Gets Dark" to the project, while
Covington added the Weill/
Brecht composition "Barbara's Song" from her days in the theater, to a list that included tunes from
Kate Bush,
Steve Winwood, and Kate and Anna McGarrigle. There's a slight commercial sheen to the music that gives the
Thompson and
Denny tracks a certain accessibility ("Bright Lights" was the first single), while "Barbara's Song" fits naturally with
Andy Fairweather-Low's dancehall shuffle "Dancing in the Dark," or
John Lennon's "How." On the other hand,
Tom T. Hall's rocking "I Can't Dance" is stiff and not really well-suited to
Covington, while Anna McGarrigle's "Dead Weight" seems forced and a bit rushed, lacking the subtle venom and dark humor of the original. Reissued in 2000, Julie Covington...Plus, which is a nice mix of folk-rock and pop, adds the bombastic "Only Women Bleed" along with a respectable cover of
Little Feat's "Easy to Slip" to the original 1978 release (Julie Covington). Both songs were previously only available as a single. ~ Brett Hartenbach, All Music Guide
Julie Covington: vocals
Richard Thompson: guitar, mandolin, vocals
Ian Matthews: vocals
Trevor Lucas: 12 string guitar, vocals
Simon Nicol: rhythm guitar
Steve Winwood: organ
John Cale: piano, clavinet
Willie Weeks: bass
Neil Larsen: keyboards
Chris Spedding: roland synthesizer
Russ Titelman: acoustic guitar
Andy Newmark: drums
Ray Cooper: percussion
Plas Johnson: saxophone
John Kirkpatrick: accordion
Greg Prestopino: vocals
Andy Fairweather Low: vocals
Gary Travers: vocals
Produced by Joe Boyd & John Wood
Fantastic album - thanks for sharing
ReplyDeletethanks.
ReplyDeletesaw this on vinyl a few months back but didnt buy it.
all star lineup...
I love her voice!!!!
ReplyDeleteThank you very much again.
bobdylan(Frank)
this is a really great post, thanks so much for your efforts
ReplyDeleteAmazon has this as unavaibale and valued at 88 pounds!
ReplyDeletehttp://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00004WN0A/thejuliecovin-21
thanks
Thanks. The Julie Covington albums are impossible to buy new, so this is really appreciated.
ReplyDeletei stumbled onto your website and now i don't want to leave.it's like being in an alladins cave.all these wonderful lost or forgotten rarities really are treasures thanks so much for your time &efforts
ReplyDeletewonderfull thanks.
ReplyDeleteonce again, another treasure, your hard work takes my breath away & even after all this time most of the links are alive showing the popularity of your site & the music...
ReplyDeletethanx again...
alex...
Superb
ReplyDeleteThanks for this. Almost impossible to get here in Oz. Much appreciated
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for this post. I bought the reissue of Julie's first album but couldn't obtain this second album. Bright Lights is one of my favourite pop songs ever.
ReplyDeletewish the download link was still active - would love to hear this one
ReplyDeletecould someone put up a new link? would love to hear this one
ReplyDelete