Rickie Lee Jones (not) covering Stevie
 

“... I did also try a song by Stevie Nicks and one by Joni Mitchell but I couldn't reach the emotional connection to make them work."
What song do you think she tried?
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/m...interview.html

Your guess is as good as mine. Maybe it was Black Velvet or Total Eclipse Of The Fart.

Rickie Lee Jones doesn't strike me as someone dense enough to think that those songs are by Stevie or Joni that is more Paris Hilton territory.

I have a real soft spot for Rickie Lee Jones, she has been one of my favorites forever! What a special thrill it would have been to hear her cover a Stevie composition. I cannot even imagine which track she would attempt. A jazzy version of "Dreams"? A bluesy folk take on "That's Alright", or even a reinterpretation of "Has Anyone Ever Written Anything For You"?
I always wondered what Rickie thoughts were about Stevie, since they came into the business basically in the same generation. I have fond memories of buying "Pirates" & "Bella Donna" basically within weeks of each other in 1981!:thumbsup:

That was very honest of her to admit. I hope the Stevie song wasn't the pedestrian Landslide.

Michele

I'd be surprised if Rickie tried out "Landslide", being that song has been covered ad nauseam over the last 20 years, I'd like to think Rickie would be a little more original than that. It is intriguing to contemplate which of Stevie's compositions she considered.

Though, I suppose it shouldn't be too surprising in theory that Stevie & Joni were at the tip of her tongue when considering female songwriters to cover; both are eccentric & generally write in ambiguous prose. Those aspects are probably relatable to her own sensibilities as a writer, even though some of Rickie's more recent output has dabbled in politics and social issues...but then again so has Stevie's (Illume, Soldier's Angel & New Orleans).

I don't know why, maybe because one of my favorite albums by Jones is the often overlooked Ghostyhead, but I see her doing a really nice, if somewhat understated, version of Sisters of the Moon.

Rickie and Stevie are my favorite 2 female artists. I believe that neither of them should "try out" each other's work. Which, I have a funny feeling, that they would agree with. Hmmmmm..... unless it something played live together, on their own terms.

I tend to agree, which makes it so compelling that Rickie even admitted to trying a cover of Stevie's. Stevie and Rickie are such stylistic singer/songwriters with very ingrained performance and vocal styles. I find it sad that unlike Stevie, whose works have been reintroduced to new generations over the last 20 yrs, Rickie seems to not had that generational cross over. That's really too bad, because she is phenomenal, easily in my top 5 females singer/songwriters of all time.

interesting take, Chris. That's Alright was the first thing to pop into my mind.

They are two of my favorite singers, as well. I complain occasionally that Stevie can be a tad self indulgent with her lryics at the risk of the songs structure but NO ONE has done that more than Rickie Lee Jones has on her last three cds...and her newest release of covers is BAD:sorry:

I absolutely love Rickie Lee Jones. She's one of the best. I can't stop playing her album "Ghostyhead" which in my opinion is forgotten masterpiece. I think that Rickie Lee Jones would do great job by covering one of Stevie's less popular ballads and transform it into her own artsy piece of music. Personally I would like to hear her take on "I Sing For The Things" or "Alice".

I think Rickie would do a great job on Doing the Best that I Can and Docklands

I've just heard Rickie Lee Jones' new album "The Devil That You Know" and I must say that I am glad that she didn't cover Stevie Nicks. This album is so dull and lifeless, I wonder why such a great artist as Rickie Lee Jones even bothered to go to the studio and record this dreadful album.

I don't know what happened to Rickie over these past ten years. And one could argue that it has actually been close to 20 years since she put out a really good album (Traffic from Paradise). Clearly she has demonstrated her amazing songwriting abilities in the past, and I have always admired her creative spirit and her willingness to try new things. But just when you start believing Ricki can do no wrong, she turns around and puts out these awful covers albums: Girl at Her Volcano, Pop Pop, It's Like This, etc. Just awful. Early in her career, back when she fancied herself as some kind of neo- beatnik-jazzy-hippie chick, she would do these heavy-handed covers of jazz standards in this terribly affected Louie Armstrong/Satchmo phrasing. Yuck. Fortunately she grew out of that and eventually peaked in the late 80s/early 90s with Flying Cowboys and then Traffic from Paradise, but it's been all downhill after that. Her 2006 album Sermon on Exposition Street, was totally improvised and it is accordingly totally unlistenable. I didn't bother to even look for her 2009 album Balm in Gilead, and the YouTube videos of her recent performances seem to impart the feelings of apathy from an artist who has lost the narrative of her musical journey and just doesn't care anymore. It's sad.

THANK YOU!!!! I'm a fan of Rickie Lee's as well, but I HATE the new album! She just can't "do" covers!!! By trying to do something "new" or "fresh", she just ends up murdering the song!! I'm GLAD she didn't do anything by Stevie....that would have REALLY upset me!!
(On the flipside, I've loved the two previous albums, particularly BALM...!).

Well one must not underestimate the influence of the perpetually bland Ben Harper, with whom Rickie has been collaborating in recent times. He actually produced the latest covers album, "The Devil You Know" and has certainly not done her any favours.
When I first read about Rickie having considered covering a Stevie song, it occurred to me that Ben would have most likely suggested it. I approve of all the possible choices mentioned within this thread, but I would lay money on "Landslide" being the one that was attempted.
PS HejiraNYC, "Balm In Gilead" isn't as bad as you might fear - it's certainly an improvement on "Sermon On Exposition Street".

My 2 cents...I'm a huge Rickie Lee fan, but I too think that this new covers CD is not very listenable. But I still would have loved to hear her do Stevie. Judging from the other choices on the CD, it would have been one of her (or Fleetwood Mac's) hits. I also have not been a huge fan of her later CDs, with the exception of a few songs here and there, but the CD before this covers CD was really good. :) Also, I just saw her live a few months ago without knowing that she was putting out a covers CD and I have to say that live the songs worked a lot better than they do on the CD. :)

I would friggin' love to hear Rickie Lee do Gold Dust Woman!

Kevin

I can see that many people hate on Rickie Lee Jones' 2007's "The Sermon on the Exposition Boulevard" which happens to be one of my all time favourite albums of her entire career. The key to listen to this album is just actually to have more time to hear all the nuances of her performances, especially the improvised ones. I listen to this album more often than any other album from her. In the beginning I was totally against it, thinking it was just a bad experience, but time has been really kind to this record and it stands as one of the most inspiring albums in my collection. But going back to covers albums...Rickie did decent job with "Girl at her Volcano" but the rest was simply unlistenable. Who can stand woman with child-like voice mumbling song after song for 40 freaking minutes...? Definately not me :)