portrait of this blog's author - by Stephen Blackman 2008

Thursday, February 22, 2024

ALBUMS THAT SHOULD EXIST :: Fiona Apple Vol III . . . . . .(more Fiona can’t be bad!)

Fiona Apple - Cover Songs, Volume 3: 2011-2016

This is the third album of Fiona Apple performing cover versions. There's one more album to go after this.

If you like the previous volumes, you'll like this one. Once again, Apple surprised with lots of unusual choices for her covers. I have to admit though I did cheat a bit, in that I included three songs written or co-written by Apple. She has so few original songs that haven't appeared on her studio albums that I figure this is the best place to put them in my collection. Those are "Dull Tool," Container," and "Railroad Sam and Slingshot Sue." The last one is a bit odd, because I looked it up and it was written by Apple, another singer-songwriter named Andrew Bird, and a five-year-old boy only identified as Sam!

Five of the 12 songs on this album are officially released (track 2, 3, 6, 8, and 10). "Pure Imagination" is a rather odd case. It was released as an A-side in 2013. It's a song from the first "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" movie, released in 1971. The others are from movie soundtracks and appearances on other artist's albums.

As for the unreleased songs, only two come from concert bootlegs: "Jolene" and "It's Only Make Believe." Unfortunately, "Jolene" sounds a bit worse than the others, coming from an audience boot, but I included it anyway due to it being a strong performance of a great song. The others generally come from TV appearances (track four and nine) or an Internet show (tracks 11 and 12). 

The bonus track, "He's Funny That Way," is a bonus track because it doesn't sound as good as the others. 

This album is 44 minutes long.

Here's a list of the original songs for each album:

01 Jolene - Dolly Parton
02 Dull Tool - Fiona Apple
03 You're the One I Love - Everly Brothers
04 Let Me Roll It - Paul McCartney 
05 It's Only Make Believe - Conway Twitty
06 Pure Imagination - Leslie Bricusse &Anthony Newley
07 Container - Fiona Apple
08 I'm in the Middle of a Riddle - Anton Karas
09 Tombstone Blues - Bob Dylan
10 Left Handed Kisses - Andrew Bird
11 [I’d Like to Get You on A] Slow Boat to China - Kay Kyser & His Orchestra
12 Railroad Sam and Slingshot Sue - Andrew Bird, Fiona Apple & Sam
13.He's Funny That Way - Billie Holiday

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