When Emmylou Harris Held Back: Half as Much Live at the Ryman Cut Deeper
At the Ryman, Emmylou Harris turned Half as Much into a lesson in restraint, letting...
Melody Era
Creedence Clearwater Revival Turned Bo Diddley’s Before You Accuse Me Into a Cosmo’s Factory Confession
On Cosmo’s Factory, Creedence Clearwater Revival treated a Bo Diddley blues as more than a...
David Cassidy’s Quiet Plea Made The Partridge Family’s Girl, You Make My Day a Shopping Bag Standout
Inside The Partridge Family’s 1972 Shopping Bag, Girl, You Make My Day gave David Cassidy...
Country Radio Heard Her Again: Linda Ronstadt’s “Walk On” from 1995’s Feels Like Home
In “Walk On,” Linda Ronstadt did not return to country as a stranger; she sounded...
Linda Ronstadt’s Am I Blue Found Its ache in Nelson Riddle’s 1986 Farewell Glow
On Am I Blue, Linda Ronstadt did not simply visit the old songbook; she let...
Nashville Changed the Weather: Neil Diamond’s Gold Don’t Rust on 1996’s Tennessee Moon
In Gold Don’t Rust, Neil Diamond used the Nashville frame of Tennessee Moon to ask...
Barry Gibb’s Little 1930s Movie Glows Inside Bee Gees’ ‘Technicolor Dreams’ from This Is Where I Came In
On the Bee Gees’ last studio album, Barry Gibb turned a quiet acoustic song into...
The Rain Sounded Inherited: Josh Turner’s 2020 Country State of Mind Cover of Keith Whitley’s I’m No Stranger to the Rain
In Josh Turner’s 2020 studio cover, Keith Whitley’s rain-soaked survivor’s song becomes an act of...
Before the Breakthrough, Linda Ronstadt Let J.D. Souther’s I Can Almost See It Open Don’t Cry Now
Before her Asylum years became a turning point, Linda Ronstadt opened Don’t Cry Now with...
A Quiet Lead Became Trio’s Heart: Emmylou Harris on Jean Ritchie’s My Dear Companion
On the 1987 Trio album, Emmylou Harris turned Jean Ritchie’s My Dear Companion into something...
The Softest Call Cuts Deepest: Emmylou Harris’s I Hear a Call on 1993’s Cowgirl’s Prayer
On Cowgirl’s Prayer, Emmylou Harris turns I Hear a Call into a hushed act of...
Synths First, No Voice: John Fogerty’s ‘Goin’ Back Home’ Opens 1986’s Eye of the Zombie
Before John Fogerty sings a word on Eye of the Zombie, Goin’ Back Home lets...
A Comeback With a Bruise: David Cassidy’s “For All the Lonely” on His 1992 Scotti Brothers Return
On David Cassidy’s 1992 comeback trail, “For All the Lonely” sounded less like a return...
A Quiet Song Caught Fire: Linda Ronstadt Recast Eric Kaz’s Blowing Away on Living in the USA
On a bright 1978 album built for motion, Linda Ronstadt turned Eric Kaz’s Blowing Away...
A City Song Caught Fire: Neil Diamond’s Street Life on 1977’s Love at the Greek
On Love at the Greek, Neil Diamond turned Street Life from an album cut into...
Before the Big Singalongs, Neil Diamond’s Dig In Fired Up 1969’s Brother Love’s Travelling Salvation Show
In Dig In, Neil Diamond sounds like an artist still close enough to the street...
Before Disco, Bee Gees’ “Edison” Made Odessa’s Baroque Pop Feel Like Biography in Motion
On Odessa, the Bee Gees turned biography into chamber pop, and “Edison” shows how far...
Maurice Gibb Steps Forward on Bee Gees’ Omega Man, the Size Isn’t Everything Cut Built on Brotherhood
On Omega Man, the Bee Gees let Maurice Gibb carry the pulse, revealing a brotherly...
No Flash, Just a Vow: Josh Turner’s “If You Ain’t With Me” on 2024’s This Country Music Thing
On a 2024 album built around country identity, Josh Turner lets If You Ain’t With...
That Deep Christmas Grin: Josh Turner Recasts Santa Claus Is Comin’ To Town on King Size Manger
On King Size Manger, Josh Turner turns a familiar Christmas warning into a warm, low-voiced...
When Linda Ronstadt Returned Home, “Dos Arbolitos” Became the Quiet Heart of Canciones de Mi Padre
On Canciones de Mi Padre, Linda Ronstadt turned Dos Arbolitos into something more than a...
Linda Ronstadt Found a Worn-In Promise Inside Bruce Springsteen’s If I Should Fall Behind on We Ran
On We Ran, Linda Ronstadt did not simply borrow Bruce Springsteen’s vow; she let it...
When the Bottle Failed Her: Emmylou Harris Reframed Merle Haggard’s The Bottle Let Me Down on Pieces of the Sky
On Pieces of the Sky, Emmylou Harris did not copy Merle Haggard’s hurt; she let...
Emmylou Harris Found the Still Point in Leonard Cohen’s Ballad of a Runaway Horse on 1993’s Cowgirl’s Prayer
On Cowgirl’s Prayer, Emmylou Harris turned Leonard Cohen‘s wandering parable into a low-lit folk-country meditation...
The Compassion Came First: Emmylou Harris’s 1977 “She” on Luxury Liner Honors Gram Parsons
On Luxury Liner, Emmylou Harris heard “She” as a person first and a song second,...
A Late-Career Reckoning: Emmylou Harris’s My Name Is Emmett Till on Hard Bargain
On Hard Bargain, Emmylou Harris turned a country-folk song into an act of witness, letting...
A Sweet Detour After Protest: John Fogerty’s “Sugar-Sugar (In My Life)” on Deja Vu All Over Again
Between a warning song and a roots-rock grin, John Fogerty found room for sweetness that...
A Sweet Title in a Dark Room: John Fogerty’s Soda Pop on Eye of the Zombie
On Eye of the Zombie, John Fogerty placed a bright little title like Soda Pop...
After the screams faded, David Cassidy’s “Sheltered in Your Arms” found a different refuge on Old Trick New Dog
On “Sheltered in Your Arms”, David Cassidy sounds less like a star returning to old...
When David Cassidy Sounded Older Than the Show: The Partridge Family’s “I Would Have Loved You Anyway” on 1971’s Sound Magazine
On Sound Magazine, a polished television-pop album track gave David Cassidy room to sing regret...