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

Albums That Should Exist : Fiona Apple Cover Songs Vol II 2006 - 2011

So once again Albums that Should Exist (Paul) goes into overdrive and has compiled these fine albums no. 1 from Fiona Apple’s covers 

Fiona Apple Cover Songs Vol II - 2006 - ATSE

Paul says: 

"As I said in my write-up for Volume 1 in this series, I hadn't known much about Fiona Apple's music, but I helped Mike Solof post an alternate version of one of her albums, and I liked what I heard. I checked to see if she had any non-album tracks worth sharing, and I discovered a cornucopia of cover versions, enough for four volumes. Here's the second volume.
Also as I said with my Volume 1 write-up, I was impressed with the depth of her musical knowledge as shown by the cover songs she's performed. That's even more evident with Volume 2. The vast majority of the songs here are good and interesting, yet obscure.
Three songs are unreleased. The first two were done in concert with Elvis Costello, and come from a bootleg. "Angel Eyes" appeared in the 2008 movie "Largo" but was never released on a soundtrack. 
The rest come from a mix of official sources. For instance, "Why Try to Change Me Now" and "I Walk a Little Faster" come from a Cy Coleman" tribute album and "Everyday" comes from a Buddy Holly Tribute album. Margaret Cho is a famous comedian who also has had a music career, and "Hey Big Dog" comes from one of her albums. See the mp3 tags for more details like that.
There are two bonus tracks, "Walking After Midnight" and "When I Get Low, I Get High." Those come from audience bootlegs of concerts, and the sound quality just wasn't good enough to be included with the rest of the songs."

This album is 42 minutes long.

 

01 I Want You (with Elvis Costello)
02 Shabby Doll (with Elvis Costello)
03 Sally's Song 
04 Still I (with Christophe Deluy)
05 Angel Eyes 
06 Why Try to Change Me Now 
07 I Walk a Little Faster 
08 Hey Big Dog (with Margaret Cho)
09 So Sleepy ( with Jon Brion & the Punch Brothers)
10 Everyday  

Bonus tracks 
Walking After Midnight 
When I Get Low, I Get High ( with Nickel Creek)

 Get it, you won’t be disappointed . . . 

Fiona Apple covered The Waterboys’ The Whole of the Moon for the series finale of Showtime’s The Affair.

 

ALBUMS THAT SHOULD EXIST : Fiona Apple 1997 - 2005 - COVER SONGS

Fiona Apple - Cover Songs, Volume 1: 1997-2005

Paul Says:

A few weeks ago (as I write this in February 2024), I posted an alternate version of a Fiona Apple. I wasn't that familiar with her music other than a couple of hit songs, so I decided to listen more of her stuff. Long story short, that led me to create this, a series of four albums of cover versions she did. None of these appeared on any of her studio albums, since she reserves those for her original songs.

I must say I was very pleasantly surprised by her choice of covers. She's a bit like Marshall Crenshaw, with his deep knowledge of music history resulting in the many albums of cover versions I've been posting here. Apple must have a similar deep musical knowledge, because she hasn't just done the usual suspects of big rock hits from the 1960s until today. She's done some of those songs, sure, but she also goes way back, covering songs from the pre-rock and roll era. There are some of those here, like "It's Only a Paper Moon" (first done in 1933), "River, Stay Away from My Door" (first done in 1931), "Tonight You Belong to Me" (first done in 1928), and the like. There are more in the same vein on the other volumes in this series. I did NOT expect that from a 1990s alt rock star! Additionally, she has an excellent, unique voice, so this is a winner of an album all around.

Seven of the songs here have been officially released, and five have not. "Across the Universe" and "Please Send Me Someone to Love" are from the "Pleasantville" movie soundtrack. "Frosty the Snowman" is from a various artists Christmas album. Maude Maggart is Apple's sister, though she changed her last name to differentiate herself from her sister. "It's Only a Paper Moon" and "After You've Gone" are both from a Maggart album. "Tonight You Belong to Me" and "River, Stay Away from My Door" are live performances included as bonus tracks on Apple's 2005 album "Extraordinary Machine."

As for the unreleased songs (the first four plus track 10), they're generally from concert bootlegs. However, "Please Come Home for Christmas" is from an in-person radio station appearance. They all have excellent sound quality, except for "After You've Gone," which is a bit rougher, since it's from an audience boot.

The two bonus tracks are bonus tracks due to sound quality. They also are from audience boots, but even rougher ones. 

This album is 41 minutes long, not including the two bonus tracks. 

01 Angel (Fiona Apple)
02 Siting in Limbo (Fiona Apple)
03 Use Me (Fiona Apple)
04 Please Come Home for Christmas (Fiona Apple)
05 Across the Universe (Fiona Apple)
06 Please Send Me Someone to Love (Fiona Apple)
07 Frosty the Snowman (Fiona Apple)
08 It's Only a Paper Moon (Maude Maggart & Fiona Apple)
09 A Sleeping Bee (Maude Maggart & Fiona Apple)
10 After You've Gone (Fiona Apple)
11 Tonight You Belong to Me (Fiona Apple)
12 River, Stay Away from My Door (Fiona Apple)

Just One of Those Things (Fiona Apple)

Kissing My Love (Fiona Apple) iona Apple)