Has There Ever Been A Truly Great Tribute LP Celebrating An Artist? What’s Your Favorite?
I’ve been pondering the deep, existential questions over the Labor Day Weekend. Memorial Day is probably a more appropriate time for such heavy pondering, but I am who I am. The main question I seem fixated on right now is the eternal mystery: Has there ever been a truly great tribute album?
I’m probably thinking about this as I’ve got 20th Century Paddy: The Songs Of Shane MacGowan on the brain. They’ve already released some great covers from Dropkick Murphys to Springsteen (“Rainy Night In Soho”) and even U2 (“Yeah, Yeah, Yeah, Yeah, Yeah”). I’ve obviously written about those last two songs. It’s got me exploring the Pogues’ catalogue and the full LP isn’t even out till November.
It’s actually more than 20th Century Paddy if I’m coming completely clean. A few weeks ago I was riding around in the car listening to satellite radio. I heard this Springsteen track I’d never heard before, “She Don’t Love Me Now.” I’m still utterly obsessed with this song. I told my buddy RK about it and he immediately turned me onto the video.
It’s from a tribute album for Jesse Malin, who has some health issues, and Bruce just kills the cover. He brought Jake Clemons along for the sax solo. The album it’s from, Silver Patron Saints, somehow slipped past me in 2023. This one might answer the question I posed in the title… Malin certainly has some heavyweight friends.
When I speak of a tribute “album,” I’m talking about a group of artists recording a complete album of cover songs to honor another artist? Typically, and I should say sadly, this usually happens when we lose a great artist like Warren Zevon. Time is, as we know, undefeated. But more and more over the years I’ve seen tribute albums done for artists who are still alive and kicking like Fats Domino, Bob Dylan, Neil Young or Jackson Browne.
I’m not talking about a single song here, I’m looking for whole albums. I mean, for example, there were so many great songs done in honor of John Lennon’s senseless and horrible death. You could almost put together an album – from Paul McCartney (“Here Today” was my favorite) and George Harrison to Paul Simon and Elton John.
Seger even wrote a song for his old buddy Glenn Frey when he passed which I thought was nice. More often than not an artist will simply cover one of the honoree’s songs, many times live. I’m sure we’ll get a slate of Dolly Parton covers soon. Sad to see that woman go… she was a saint.
I’m not sure I’ve ever heard a tribute album that I would say was “great.” They have the same problem any covers album would have, a wild diversity of artists going in different directions. I love cover songs (and cover albums for that matter), but the covering artist either takes it in a wildly experimental direction or is so slavishly devoted to the original it doesn’t add anything to the tune.
Not everybody can be Aretha doing Otis Redding’s “Respect.” Even Redding said, “She stole my song. That woman stole my song.” Not stealing it in a “didn’t give credit” kind of way, but stealing it in the “that song no longer belongs to me anymore” kind of way.
I will say that when the tribute album is also a live album – like say the Peter Green tribute concert Mick Fleetwood put together or the George Fest (Harrison) – it seems to improve matters greatly. With all different artists playing a concert it can seem like a blues jam at your local pub, only with superstars. Certainly the Peter Green felt that way.
I’ve been wondering if there is a truly great tribute album out there that you can listen to front to back, as they used to say in the vinyl world. I have a small list of tribute albums I’ve either purchased or sampled, but I’m not sure any of them are “great.”
So I thought I’d ask you rock n roll fans out there what your favorite tribute albums are – or better yet, which ones you think are “home runs,” if I may use a metaphor from a sport I no longer follow. I don’t think any tribute album is perfect but what album, put together to honor an artist, made up of covers do you think is best? Please put it in the comments and we’ll discuss!
Here are the ones that have left a mark on me, that I at least purchased a song or two from. And no, I didn’t include any of those country/bluegrass “Pickin’ On….” deals. No, thank you. Anyway, I put the title of the LP with the honored artist in (parentheses):
- Silver Patron Saints (Jesse Malin) – I haven’t gotten past my obsession with Springsteen’s “She Don’t Love Me Now” but intend to dive into this one.
- Chimes Of Freedom – The Songs of Bob Dylan (Honoring 50 Years Of Amnesty International) – I bought this whole thing. It’s a mixed bag but actually holds together okay. Miley Cyrus doing “You’re Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go” might be my favorite… and that’s a surprise.
- Enjoy Every Sandwich (Warren Zevon) – This is a pretty great one, Zevon had a great group of friends and they all show up… but it’s marred by the presence of talentless Adam Sandler singing “Werewolves Of London.”
- Looking Into You: A Tribute To Jackson Browne – This one had some moments. I bought Don Henley’s “These Days.”
- Nativity In Black (Black Sabbath) – I think there was a series of these? Were they any good?
- Goin’ Home: A Tribute To Fats Domino – This one is pretty superb held together by the brilliance of Fats’ songs. When asked if he was the King of rock n roll, Elvis said, “That ain’t me, you want to talk to Fats Domino.” Indeed.
- Mick Fleetwood And Friends Celebrate The Music Of Peter Green – I loved this live, blues jam style concert for Peter Green and that early era of Fleetwood Mac.
- George Fest (Harrison) – Great concert with McCartney, Clapton and Petty. Nice!
- Power Of Soul: A Tribute To Jimi Hendrix – I actually really dug this one… Prince and Sting may be my favorite covers here.
- Encomium: A Tribute To Led Zeppelin – I vaguely remember this one. Grunge era bands doing Zeppelin songs… I seem to remember it made quite a stir.
- Heart Of Gold: The Songs Of Neil Young, Vol. 1″ – This actually came out last year, and was to benefit the Bridge School, Neil’s charity. It actually held together well as everybody chose Neil’s acoustic side songs and had stand out tracks from Eddie Vedder and Fiona Apple.
These are about the only tribute albums that spring to mind. I know there has to a lot more out there. I’m sure somewhere there’s a tribute to the Grateful Dead out there? Let me know what your favorites are. I’m always in search of a good covers song!
Cheers!
I also remember that “Encomium” album was sort of a big deal when it came out. Never heard it besides 4 Non Blondes (ugh) cover of “Misty Mountain Hop” and STP’s decent take on “Dancing Days”. I don’t know if I’d need to visit it.
Another one for the list: “Deadicated: A Tribute to the Grateful Dead”. I remember hearing about it when it was released in 1991 but don’t think I heard anything from it. Jane’s Addiction is on it, along with Elvis Costello.
The only ‘Encomium’ track I remember was “Dancing Days’ by STP… I remember we all liked it but I think retrospective reviews have been savage.
I vaguely remember ‘Deadicated’ but didn’t recall who was on it. I’ll have to go look. Man, Elvis Costello, a very talented guy, has never met a tribute album he’s said no to. Good on him! Jane’s Addiction doing a Dead song, now that’s intriguing. Cheers and thank you for these suggestions!!
The main thing with any tribute albums is they are always “of their time”. The artists might be covering songs that are 20, 30, 40 years old or older, but unless they slavishly recreate the old songs to a T, it’s going to be an interpretation of the lens of the current time. Plus, a lot of tribute albums are put together by labels who want to feature their “now” bands vs. bands who actually like the music, so the results are often going to be sub-par. Something like Encomium probably sounded fine in 1995, but looking back three decades later it’s pretty easy to pick it apart.
Another tribute album remembered: Working Man, a 1996 offering put out by Magna Carta Records (who?) Looking at Wikipedia/AllMusic, this one differs from others as an “all star” band was assembled vs. they typical “one band/one song” take. I vaguely remembered seeing it in a record store around the time, but the lineup of musicians did not appeal. AllMusic gave it 4 1/2 stars (!) and said it’s the best tribute album ever (!!) and Terry Brown produced (‽) so it might be worth a visit. Might.
Very true about record companies assembling a lot of these tribute albums, likely to lure older fans into “digging” the current up and comers. But to me the best tribute LPs are the ones where the artist’s friends or devotees come forward. Like the one for Buddy Holly a few years back… I think even McCartney recorded a track, as he was such a huge fan. Or alas, when artists come together to honor a lost comrade, so to speak.
I am both laughing and freaking out about Working Man! 4 1/2 stars, my lord! I’m too intrigued not to check this one out! Thank you for sharing this! I do seem to have a vague memory of this project but haven’t heard a note off the record! I look forward to doing so!!!
Definitely worth mentioning and very listenable – ‘Terurn of the Grievous Angel – A tribute to Gram Parsons. Songs – “She” – Pretenders and Emmylou Harris” Ooh Las Vegas” – Cowboy Junkies “Sin City” – Beck and Emmylou Harris “$1000 Wedding” – Evan Dando and Juliana Hatfield “Hot Burrito #1” – The Mavericks “High Fashion Queen” – Chris Hillman and Steve Earle “Juanita” – Sheryl Crow and Emmylou Harris “Sleepless Nights” – Elvis Costello “Return of the Grievous Angel” – Lucinda Williams and David Crosby “One Hundred Years From Now” – Wilco “A Song For You” – Whiskeytown “Hickory Wind” – Gillian Welch.
It could be worse, not? Cheers Kenneth.
Oh man this one sounds fantastic. I think I saw the title when I was researching this post to jog my memory on the ones I knew. This one sounds like the elusive “great” tribute album. Great group of musicians doing covers of the legendary Gram Parsons’ tunes. This is a definite “look into” for me! Thank you Guy!
In 99 out of 10 cases, the original is better than the cover, but that does not mean one should ignore the covers, because they are performed out of reverence and respect for the artist being honored. And therefore deserve a place in the musical universe, because the songs are usually outstanding and great.
I’ve thought of cover songs as a “2 for 1” kind of deal. The song has the patina of the original version which already elevates it and we get a new version by a completely different artist. And yes, those artists covering the song are really trying to honor the other musician and nobility & humility are always things I hold in high esteem!! Cheers!
Shame on me, but I went looking to see if a tribute album to JJ Cale existed. And indeed, three in fact. Of which – The Breeze: An Appreciation of JJ Cale – is the best-known and most star-studded project. The album was released by Eric Clapton along with fellow top musicians such as Tom Petty, Mark Knopfler, Willie Nelson, John Mayer, and Derek Trucks as a tribute following Cale’s passing. Can’t be bad.
Oh yes! I remember this one. It’s heavy on the Clapton as I recall… I remember EC singing “Call Me The Breeze” previously made famous by Lynyrd Skynyrd. This will be a good one for me to check out! Thank you!!
Agree on “The Breeze”
More in the folk vein, but would suggest “Beautiful: A Tribute to Gordon Lightfoot”, an ironic title because the song “Beautiful” is not on the album. One of the things about Lightfoot, (and I feel this about Chris Isaak and JJ Cale too) is most of his songs can be interpreted in such a dramatic way that I often fail to connect the interpretation to the original, which is a perverse sort of complement. The tribute album misses some good covers singers from Dylan though to the Dandy Warhols, but does include interpretations by folks like the Cowboy Junkies.
Speaking of 20th Century Paddy, I also wondered if Shane and ever covered a Lightfoot song. Turns out he has not but found this interesting twist, courtesy of Wikipedia.
“The most notable link is the famous Irish rebel song “Back Home in Derry.” Written as a poem by Irish republican Bobby Sands while imprisoned, folk legend Christy Moore set the lyrics to the exact musical arrangement and melody of Gordon Lightfoot’s classic, “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.”. Bobby Sands is quite a figure in Ireland…depending on the circles ones runs in…
The older I get the more I like Lightfoot. My younger brother was a fan when we were kids. I’ll absolutely add this to the list of tribute albums I need to dive into!
I must admit, I never thought Bobby Sands would come up on B&V but who doesn’t love a little free form dialogue!
Cheers!
Just listened to the Lightfoot album, and thoroughly enjoyed it. Listening to Canadian or is it Canadien artists performing the songs of and honoring Gordon Lightfoot, feels almost… subversive these days. Thanks for this suggestion!
Yes, Deadicated from 1991 is top notch from start to finish. The aforementioned Ripple by Jane’s Addiction is completely stellar. Side note, Perry Farrell is a big Deadhead. He followed them pre JA and can be found on many a rockumentary extolling the beauty of The Dead. Must have for any serious music collector.
There’s also Day of The Dead from 2016 which features a much bigger line up of tunes and contemporary artists from that era.
Also, of note, is All My Friends from 2014, a Tribute with and to Gregg Allman. Excellent song choice and diversity of artists, video of the evening is worth seeking out, too.
Tributes, like covers, are such a great way to understand the organic topsoil that births all these seeds and flowers we enjoy ~ Grate stuff for sure!
I am surprised and somewhat delighted to learn that Perry Farrell is a Deadhead. That is not something I knew anything about. I’ve got Deadicated on my list to check out but it doesn’t look like all the tracks are out on the evil Spotify.
The Day Of The Dead is a feast for any Dead fan. I looked it up and it’s 3 discs long. One might use the word sprawling! That’s another one I’ve added to my list of “to listen to” albums.
I have a vague memory of the Gregg Allman thing. I absolutely love that guy. I’ll have to do some spelunking there as well!.
Thank you David!
Haven’t gotten to ‘Deadicated’ yet but am loving the ‘Day Of The Dead’ collection! Thank you for this suggestion!
Listening to “All My Friends” as I type this and wow, the impassioned performances here. I’m really digging this one, but as you know I’m a huge Allman fan. Thank you for this one!
To be honest, I have never paid much attention to tribute albums because I am usually of the opinion that the original is better than the cover. But I make an exception for the tributes to Gram Parsons and JJ Cale. But no one can match or improve Warren Zevon’s versions because that man was unique. And I feel the same way about Neil Young’s music; his style and his voice cannot be matched.
I’ve always found covers songs to be fascinating. What another artist does with an original can be revealing to the creative process and choices each artist makes. I don’t know why, I just always dug a good cover song and tribute albums have provided so many of those great covers. But as I always say, to each their own! One man’s coffee is another man’s tea, as they say! Cheers Guy!
When I think about it, I understand why I accept some tributes are better than others – JJ Cale was a genius with a very unique style of his own, with a fantastic groove and feeling, but the execution of his music was sometimes a bit sloppy, unfinished, and a bit lazy, but that was JJ Cale through and through. He actually didn’t care that much.
When, for example, Eric Clapton takes on a song like ‘After Midnight’ or ‘Cocaïne, and others, and throws a fantastic rock beat at it, those songs suddenly take on a whole new dimension. To put it in other words, Clapton polished the diamonds. But I rarely or never have that feeling with Warren Zevon’s covers of his songs; they are rarely open to improvement because they are finished and complete. I cannot explain it any other way.
Oh I get it Guy, Zevon was a unique artist in almost every way – iconoclastic in his songwriting, good but maybe not perfect vocals – so it’s hard for another artist to take one of his songs and “make it your own.”
Atlhough I would argue Linda Rondstadt always did a lovely job covering his stuff in the early days, “Poor Poor Pitiful Me” springs to mind.
And on the tribute album I absolutely love Springsteen’s live cover of “My Ride’s Here.” Although admittedly I’m a huge Springsteen fan as well. Henley sweetens up “Searching For A Heart” a bit, making it not better per se, but very listenable.
I like that line you used about “polishing the diamond.” That’s a good way at looking at some cover songs.
Cheers!
Wasn’t there a Kiss one, Kiss my ass? Also didn’t the Eagles get back together because of one
Not sure about the Kiss, but ‘Kiss My Ass’ sounds familiar to me.
The Eagles did get together after a bunch of country artists did a tribute album of covers of Eagles tunes. Travis Tritt, of all people, invited the 5 members (Henley/Frey/Walsh/Schmitt/Felder) to appear in the video he made for his track (which song he did escapes me). I remember in one shot they’re all playing pool together.
Anyway, they hadn’t seen each other in a long time and they enjoyed hanging out. That led to discussions and suddenly ‘Hell Freezes Over.’
Cheers!!
I absolutely love Just Because I’m a Woman, a great album of Dolly Parton covers from years ago.
I’ll check it out! Who are some of the artists on that one?
Alison Krauss, Melissa Etheridge, Norah Jones, Joan Osborne, Shelby Lynne, Emmylou Harris, Kasey Chambers, Shania Twain, Mindy Smith, Allison Moorer and Sinead O’Connor. It’s a stellar lineup!
Ah I see, the title, “Just Because I’m a Woman’ plays into only recruiting women artists to sing. Brilliant! There’s some heavy hitters on this record. I’ll definitely check it out! Cheers and thank you Michael!