speed of dark

Last Sunday Mr. Folkie and I participated in the 10th Annual Hike For Hope which raises funds for breast cancer research. There are Walk For Hope activities around the country, so do a good deed and lend your support to an excellent cause.

I bet you didn't know you could help breast cancer victims by just listening to music, though. Joseph H. Spadaro, founder and president of American Laundromat Records produced a double-CD tribute album of Neil Young songs covered by women artists in memory of his mother Norine Spadaro, who died of breast cancer in 2005. Proceeds from the sale go to Casting For Recovery, which provides fly fishing retreats all around the U.S. specifically for women who have or who have had breast cancer.

The song selections are from Young's early albums, mostly Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere (1969), After the Goldrush (1970), and Harvest (1972). "I Am a Child" appeared originally on Buffalo Springfield's Last Time Around in 1968, and "Ohio" appeared on CSNY's Four Way Street in 1971. Later songs include "Like A Hurricane" from American Stars and Bars (1977), "Walk On" which first appeared on Decade (1977), "Comes A Time" (1978), and "Powderfinger" from Rust Never Sleeps (1979).

So how is the record? Quite nice, really, but my main complaint, as I listened to Disc 1, was that the ladies could have been more adventurous in their covers. I don't hear anyone go out on a limb to reinvent the song and make it personally her own. Dala's cover of "A Man Needs A Maid" is sweetly sad but lacks the hollow ache of loneliness that marked Young's original. Except for Veruca Salt's "Burned" (also a Buffalo Springfield tune), Disc 1 has a bit of a smoothed-out, country-pop feel that might be meant to appeal to a broader than alternative/rock audience. My favorite from this disc is "Down By the River" by Jill Sobule and John Doe (X).

Disc 2, however, seems to have more spice, and I think Dala does much better with her piano-laced "Ohio," also covered pretty well on Disc 1 by Darcie Miner. In fact the first four tracks on Disc 2 are excellent, as is Louise Post's "Sugar Mountain." As for "Helpless," k d lang's version remains the definitive cover. I did expect more gumption from The Watson Twins, but Kristin Hersh makes up for the lack with dark, buzzy electric guitar and an echo-y chorus on "Like A Hurricane." I would think Neil approves of that one and of Luff's equally thick and fuzzy "Tell Me Why." Heidi Gluck's closing song, "Walk On," is a jaunty, gutsy rocker.

These sample MP3s will be here for only a very short time due to the charity purpose of the CD. Buy it--the price for the two CDs makes it a bargain--for yourself or as a gift for a special lady friend.

Disk 1
1. Heart Of Gold - Tanya Donelly
2. I Am A Child - Britta Phillips (Luna)
3. Comes A Time - Kate York
4. The Needle And The Damage Done - Lori McKenna
5. Down By The River - Jill Sobule with John Doe
6. Burned - Veruca Salt
7. Cowgirl In The Sand - Josie Cotton
8. A Man Needs A Maid - Dala
9. Ohio - Darcie Miner
10. Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere - Carmen Townsend

Disk 2
1. Cinnamon Girl - Euro Trash Girl
2. I Believe In You - Julie Peel
3. Tell Me Why - Luff
4. Ohio - Dala
5. Helpless - Elk City
6. Only Love Can Break Your Heart - Amilia K. Spicer
7. Sugar Mountain - Louise Post
8. Powderfinger - The Watson Twins
9. Like A Hurricane - Kristin Hersh
10. Old Man - Cindy Wheeler (Caulfield Sisters)
11. Walk On - Heidi Gluck (Some Girls)

Label: American Laundromat Records
Buy at Amazon, iTunes

CD cover art by Katy Horan