Evan
Cohen 2000 -
Part Two
Manifesto's Tim Buckley Tribute CD
Sing A Song For You
Before
we begin part two of our interview, wed like to make
our members aware of the fine job that you folks over at Manifesto
have done with your web site. The amount of information relative
to the new Tim Buckley Tribute CD entitled Sing A Song
For You is quite comprehensive.
Youve
provided listeners with a picture of each group or artist,
a brief paragraph about them, and a link to all their web
sites. Personally, I found this information most helpful simply
because I am not that familiar with most of the groups on
the cd.
Jack
My
first question is: who or what encouraged or inspired you
to attempt this tribute in the first place?
Evan
First
of all, we wanted to do something special for the 25th anniversary
of Tims death. There are only a few of us, really, who
are in a position to do something in the public
eye with regard to the catalogue of songs, and I feel a certain
responsibility here at Manifesto to undertake worthwhile projects.
So, with all of the various reissues and enhanced CDs planned,
I thought this would be a good way to compliment those other
releases.
And,
of course, a Buckley tribute hasnt been done before.
Which, in and of itself, is not a reason to do a tribute album
-- as you know, there have been an outright glut of these
sorts of projects for the last six or seven years. There have
been tribute albums for almost every artist you can think
of (and sometimes more than one!), and most of them are just
not very interesting. I dont mean artistically awful,
necessarily, I just mean not interesting.
It
appears to me that most of these albums involve people sitting
around at major labels and thinking who can we get to
do this? without any thought as to whether the artists
have any sort of sensitivity to the material, or whether the
chosen artists fit within any genre in a consistent way. Its
some sort of popularity and/or marketing contest, with the
hope that the big name will sell the
record. Ive really tried to move away from this trap.
As
for inspiration, it seemed to me that the most thoughtful
covers of Tims songs were those done by This Mortal
Coil and, by a somewhat related artist, Brendan Perry. Not
that there were that many Buckley covers in any event
think about it, there just arent. Nevertheless, there
is something really great about the way that Song to the
Siren fits with Liz Frasers voice, and the way TMC
did I Must Have Been Blind and Morning Glory.
Also,
lets face it, the British are much more into Buckley
than anywhere else. The average intellectual UK music fan
knows Tim. And I dont mean the older music fan who knew
Tims work when Tim was alive, but fans my age and younger.
I can think of two reasons for this one, the popularity
of the TMC version of Song to the Siren in 1984, and
two, the success of Dream Letter when it was released
in 1990.
So,
given all of that, I thought, why not do a whole album based
upon this genre dreamy, poppy, ethereal, British, the
4AD sound.
Jack
Do
you personally have a deeper appreciation of Tim Buckleys
music since the last time we did an interview?
Evan
I
think I have a deeper appreciation of the depth of the Buckley
catalogue
so many great songs to choose from.
Jack
How
complicated was it for you and your cohorts to put this project
together?
Evan
It
wasnt easy, lets put it that way. We did a lot
of research and thinking to find just the right group artists
to do this. As I said, not a popularity contest, but a genre-specific
search. On the business level, its never easy to do
anything when youre an indie label. When your letterhead
says Capitol Records or Warner Bros
on it, its easy to get people to do things. But when
it says Manifesto, you have to explain who you
are and what youve done and why it makes sense for us
to do an album.
The
fact that we have five Buckley albums in our catalogue helps
tell our story. But even with that, its still hard.
I will say that the 4AD people were just great (they had to
give their permission for us to record Mojave 3 and Brendan
Perry), as well as almost all of the people we dealt with.
The British have a music culture that is much more open to
the idea of an indie label doing something. I will say that
a few artists just didnt get it (or, perhaps
more accurately, their managers didnt get it),
but I think theyll be sorry when they see the finished
album.
This
was an immense amount of work, from choosing the artists,
locating them, sending faxes and emails, sending packages
of CDs to England, making the deals, funding the recordings,
writing the contracts, negotiating with managers, lawyers,
record companies, etc., gathering the sheet music and choosing
the songs, shipping tapes, sequencing, art direction
well,
you get the picture. And thats just the beginning.
"Who
could have known that Ian Masters would sing Because
of You like that? Its absolutely haunting.
These artists were chosen because they have a certain
style, and their collective styles fit together. But
they have ideas of their own..."
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Jack
Who
recruited the artists and who chose the songs that they recorded?
I
chose most of them, and Phil Bird of Carlin Music in London
chose a few of them. Moose was an easy choice, theyre
huge Buckley fans. They were the first to commit to this project,
and very professional people. They chose the song. Simon of
Cocteau Twins is a huge Buckley fan, and wanted Anneli from
Bel Canto to sing Morning Glory. This was great, because
I wanted people from both bands. Of course, Brendan was at
the top of my list for this album in fact, can you
even have a Buckley tribute album without him? I mean, no
performer has done more than Brendan to honor Tims legacy;
he does three songs in his live show!
You
certainly cant tell Brendan what Buckley song he should
sing. Originally, he was going to do Song to the Siren
and Chase the Blues Away (both songs he has done live),
but he changed his mind and did Dream Letter. Then
Simon Raymonde suggested The Czars for Song to the Siren,
and he was right. As for Mojave 3, I just love their sound
the modalities and instrumentation they use are just
perfect for a Buckley song (check out their song Some Kinda
Angel from their last album).
So, after hearing those three versions of Love from Room
109 on Works In Progress, I sent that CD to England
(with about six other Buckley albums!) to their management,
with the strong suggestion that they do that song. They agreed,
and it turned out great. I think most of the other artists
chose the songs, as most of them were very familiar with the
entire Buckley catalogue. For instance, Dot Allison had already
sampled Dream Letter for a song on her last album,
so I knew that she was a fan.
Jack
Were
any of the performers unfamiliar with Tims work before
they signed on?
Evan
I
think the only singer on the entire album who was unfamiliar
with Tim was Heather Duby, a young singer from Portland who
records on Sub Pop. She has quite a voice, ethereal yet powerful.
Jen Casebeer, who does A & R for Manifesto, heard her
album and thought she would be perfect. And she is! As I said
earlier, all of the British artists were familiar with Buckleys
work.
Jack
Some
artists went for the straight cover renditions of Tims
songs while others tried to be a little more inventive by
changing the tempo and the melody at times. I feel Shelleyan
Orphan was successful at what she did with Buzzin
Fly, but Id be very much interested in hearing what
people think of Lilys version of Strange Feelin
and Trams rendition of Once I Was. Were you
surprised to hear such daring changes in a few of the songs?
Evan
Well,
thats a tough call. I was only half-surprised, in a
good way, for many of the recordings that the artists turned
in. For instance, who could have known that Ian Masters would
sing Because of You like that? Its absolutely
haunting. These artists were chosen because they have a certain
style, and their collective styles fit together. But they
have ideas of their own. So Kurt of Lilys hears Strange
Feelin a certain way and if you know him,
you would know that he does not take these sorts of things
lightly. Paul of Tram heard Once I Was in his own way,
and, as I suspected, Paul can really hit those notes.
Jack
With
the exception of I Woke Up, Sweet Surrender, and
Because Of You it seems that your tribute collection leans
heavily on the songs that were recorded prior to Starsailor.
Was that intentional?
Evan
Well,
not really. As I said before, Dream Letter was an immensely
popular album, and most of the artists wanted to do songs
from that general period. So all of the most popular Buckley
songs are represented. But Im very happy that Because
of You got in there as well.
Don
While
there is a mixture of styles on the cd, the songs all hang
together remarkably well from a production and engineering
standpoint. Is that a happy accident, or did you apply some
studio production techniques to the final product?
Evan
Well,
I can tell you its not in the production techniques.
With the exception of the tracks by Mark Lanegan and Mike
Johnson (which were recorded by the same musicians at the
same place and time), and the tracks by Mojave 3 and Neil
Halstead (Neil is the singer of Mojave 3), the other tracks
were all recorded at different times and places and studios.
We had no input at all once they got in the studio. But if
you feel that the songs work well together, it has to do with
the selection process, making sure that each artist has the
sound that I wanted. Thats the key. Then its a
matter of deciding on the right sequence, and getting the
mastering perfect.
Don
Do
you have any personal favorite tracks on the cd?
Evan
Id
really hate to single any of the tracks out, because it implies
that I dont feel strongly about the other ones. But
be that as it may, I do like Mojave 3s Love from
Room 109 its such a powerful song, approaching
some sort of an emotional core of the album. They are such
great arrangers. I think Ian did a great job, Moose is perfect,
Annelis vocals and Simons keyboards are beautiful,
and Brendans work is as thoughtful and talented as you
would expect from him. Im also thrilled that Shelleyan
Orphan re-formed just for this project. I think Heathers
vocals are very powerful. I hate to leave anyone out.
Don
Will
Manifesto be doing anything special to promote this release?
Evan
Aside
from the usual publicity, radio promotion, advertisements,
etc., we were thinking of organizing a Tim Buckley tribute
show in London, with four of five of the artists from this
album. That might be in late September. If anything interesting
comes up, Ill post it to the site.
Jack
Thank
you Evan for sharing your thoughts and insights with us, and
on behalf of all our members I wish you all the success in
the world with this new release.
As
far as my gratitude is concerned, Id like to point out
that it was you who heard the call and delivered the goods.
Congratulations on a job well done.
I
recommend that all our members and guests check out the Manifesto
web site for more details concerning the Tim Buckley Tribute
cd entitled "Sing A Song For You". Its located
at http://www.manifesto.com
Here
is the track list.
Disc
One
Moose
- Sing A Song For You
Simon
Raymonde & Anneli Drecker - Morning Glory
Brendan Perry - Dream Letter
Mojave
3 - Love From Room 109
The
Friendly Science Orchestra(with Ian Masters) - Because of
You
Mark
Lanegan - Cafe
Shelleyan
Orphan - Buzzin' Fly
Mike
Johnson - I Woke Up
Cousteau
- Blue Melody
Disc
Two
Heather
Duby - I Must Have Been Blind
Dot
Allison - Sweet Surrender
Geneva
- Pleasant Street
The
Lilys - Strange Feelin'
The
Mad Scene - Happy Time
Neil
Halstead - Phantasmagoria in Two
Tram
- Once I was
The
Czars - Song to the Siren
©
2000 Jack Brolly/Room 109
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