Greg Mitchell is the author of a dozen books and now writer/director of award-winning films. He was also a longtime editor of the legendary Crawdaddy.
We featured the fine singer/songwriter Aoife O’Donovan here recently and before you know it she was appearing on Stephen Colbert’s show with Allison Russell in her latenight debut. Now I follow her closely and hoping that she wins that Grammy she is up for. (Doesn’t hurt that she is a huge fan of Joni, Dylan, Springsteen’s Nebraska album, and Richard Thompson.) This week she announced that she was thrilled to be able to cover a song by Bill Callahan, “Drover,” when recording (but left off) her recent Age of Apathy album, and it will now appear later this month on an expanded digital version of that lp. She posted it on YouTube yesterday and it is tremendous (and she plays every instrument).
Now, I’d heard of Callahan vaguely as an ultra-indie (originally in the group Smog, perfect name) with several low-fi albums but probably never actually heard him. So I checked out his version of “Drover” and it is also fantastic, with a quite different delivery thanks to his deep baritone (either straight from an old John Ford cowboy flick or modern day apocalyptic thriller). So here are those two versions, starting with Bill, plus more from the pair. And a Cartoon of the Day. Enjoy, then subscribe, please, it’s still free. What a deal!
Below, two more cuts from her Grammy-nominated lp.
Callahan’s vintage classic, “Dress Sexy At My Funeral.”
Few find the restraint to carry off Joni’s “A Case of You”, but O’Donovan nailed it.
Meanwhile, Bill lays down an “Astral Weeks” vibe here.
Cartoon of the Day
Aoife reminds me ever so faintly of my all-time favorite, Eva Cassidy. Thanks for sharing.
Live From Here is one of my favorites and that rendition of A Case Of You is sublime. Great stuff.