"Ladies Sing The Boss: The Songs Of Bruce Springsteen" by VARIOUS ARTISTS (27 May 2022 UK Ace Records 19-Track CD Compilation - Part Of Their 'Songwriters' Series) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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"...'Neat The Refinery's Glow..."

 

I'm a huge fan of Ace Records, and this Friday, 27 May 2022 UK CD "Ladies Sing The Boss: The Songs Of Bruce Springsteen" by VARIOUS ARTISTS on Ace CDTOP 1607 (Barcode 029667105729) is part of their 'Songwriter' Series of compilations.

 

On-going since as far back as 2007 - they were initially about Brill-Building/Muscle Shoals teams like Gerry Goffin & Carole King, Ellie Greenwich & Jeff Barry, Cynthia Mann & Barry Weil, Dan Penn & Spooner Oldham, P.F. Sloan and Steve Barri and so on. But then they started in on solo writers like Neil Diamond, Lee Hazelwood, Nilsson, Randy Newman, Donovan, Gene Clark, Leon Russell, Kris Kristofferson and now a big daddy indeed - Bruce Springsteen.

 

At 75:37 minutes, and with exceptional audio (most are 00's onwards so are wel recorded anyway) – you get a fabulously detailed 20-page booklet with smart and very even-handed liner notes from compiler SEAN ROWLEY. With a reputed 150 covers listed on Spotify by women covering his now 50-year catalogue - as you can imagine there are some seriously good 'Brooooce' versions on here. But not all of them in truth are successful, let alone advances on the originals or even as moving.

 

I'm 64 this year and have been a Loose Windscreen fan since 1974 - own all his discs - seen him live etc - but what this compilation misses out on is his undoubtedly romantic side. I should explain. The ladies have almost all gone for the darker broodier albums - especially "Nebraska", "The Ghost Of Tom Joad", "Devils And Dust" and the industrial wastelands of America spread around most of his other studio albums going back to "Darkness On The Edge Of Town" in 1978.  What this means is that the overall listen is a tad gloomier than you would want it or it should be. I have always found Bruce hopeful – and that doesn’t actually come across here enough. And worse - I'm not sure that if I didn't line up all of these song choices on a CDR packed with the Springsteen originals - that compilation would knock spots off of this one.

 

Having said such, there have been gems that have surprised people in Springsteen's sometimes bombastic catalogue - the sheer pain seeping out of every pore of "Streets Of Philadelphia" and the staggering genuinely lush romance of "Secret Garden" - both soundtrack songs ("Philadelphia" and "Jerry Maguire"). It's arguable that only Bettye Lavette's stunningly gut-wrenched Soul take on "Streets Of Philadelphia" is the only song on "Ladies Sing The Boss..." that matches if not improves on the original – her voice, a double bass and a lone grand piano coming at you like Mavis Staples getting righteous and making the hairs on your arms stand up and salute.

 

I also think that songs about his children and his relationship crashes are too absent - the gorgeous "If I Should Fall Behind" or "Living Proof" and "My Beautiful Reward". Good choices come off the "Tunnel Of Love" album - Hem's lovely lilting "Valentine's Day" (harmonies between Sally Ellyson and Steve Curtis to die for) - but where is "Tougher Than The Rest" or "My Brilliant Disguise". Goth Queen Moa Holmsten from Meldrum does an equally filmic "Highway 29" about hapless criminal lovers, while the Mandolin take on the campfire light of "Ghost of Tom Joad" by Solas is a joyous find. And who would have thought that the sheer Pop of "Dancing In The Dark" could be given a new lick of paint and come out looking better and even deeper for it (change my clothes, my hair, my face...). Emmylou Harris ends it all on "My Father’s House" – a tale of ties that bind – impossible to beat and a lifetime spent trying to deal with them.

 

Alternatives - Linda Ronstadt did a stunner on her 1998 CD album "We Ran" of "If I Should Fall Behind" and I might also have replaced the Bat For Lashes version of "I'm On Fire" with the Soccer Mommy one and thrown in Trisha Yearwood's cut of the outtake "Sad Eyes" to show that side of his catalogue where sometimes goodies get unreleased for decades. So for the want of better assessment, I rejiggered the tracks playlist, dropped three and added in my recommendations as such...

 

* = Replacement

1. State Trooper – Deane Carter (Track 5)

2. Ghost Of Tom Joad – Solas (Track 6)

3. I'm On Fire – Bat For Lashes *

4. Highway 29 – Moa Holmsten (Track 9)

5. Dancing In The Dark – Lucy Dacus (Track 2)

6. Streets Of Philadelphia – Bettye Lavette (Track 11)

7. Valentine's Day – Hem (Track 12)

8. If I Should Fall Behind – Linda Ronstadt *

9. Factory – Lucinda Williams (Track 13)

10. Johnny 99 – Shovels & Rope (Track 14)

11. Cover Me – Thea Gilmore (Track 15)

12. Secret Garden – Kerry Hart (Track 16)

13. Fire – Anna Calvi (Track 17)

14. Nebraska – Aoife O'Donovan (Track 18)

15. Devils And Dust – Jessie Kennedy (Track 4)

16. Sad Eyes – Trisha Yearwood *

17. Thunder Road – Cowboy Junkies (Track 10)

18. Because The Night – Patti Smith (Track 1)

19. My Father's House – Emmylou Harris (Track 19)

 

I am certain others will have different interpretations and perhaps want to send the boys round to my house to sort out my less-than-enlightened choices. In the meantime, this and the Gene Clark CD set recently released by Ace in this Series (see separate review) are making me see my heroes in an even warmer light.

 

Deliver me from nowhere – well - even through other people's takes - Bruce and his evolving songs has always covered my losses with a musical hug...