Uncovered [LP]

by Shawn Colvin

Overview

Shawn Colvin is no stranger to a good cover. She's sung the songs of other writers throughout her career, even finding space for Warren Zevon's "Tenderness on the Block" on her 1992 breakthrough Fat City, but she hasn't devoted an entire album to covers since 1994's Grammy-nominated Cover Girl. Arriving 21 years after that album, Uncovered feels slightly spare and quiet in comparison -- there are no productions as bright and full as that on "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic" -- but it follows the same basic formula as that album, with Colvin finding the quiet, intimate heart lying in each of these songs. She returns to a few of her favorite writers -- the first single pulled from Uncovered was "Hold On," and Tom Waits isn't the only repeated songsmith; she also repeats Robbie Robertson, reviving "Acadian Driftwood" this time around -- but casts her net a little wider than such expected celebrated singer/songwriters as Paul Simon, John Fogerty, Robert Earl Keen, Jr., Bruce Springsteen, and Neil Finn, finding room for Gerry Rafferty's "Baker Street," Stevie Wonder's "Heaven Is Ten Zillion Light Years Away," and Brenton Wood's classic '60s soul tune "Gimme a Little Sign," here performed as a duet with Marc Cohn. These slightly left-of-center choices illustrate the sly inventiveness of Colvin's interpretations, how she can retain the melody and emotion of the tune while shaping it to fit her gentle touch, and if this skill isn't forceful, it's nevertheless satisfying and deceptively sturdy, sounding stronger with each subsequent play. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Product Details

Release Date:	11/20/2015
Label:	Fantasy
UPC:	0888072379268
Rank:	111616

Tracks

1. Tougher Than the Rest
2. American Tune
3. Baker Street
4. Hold On
5. I Used to Be a King
6. Private Universe
7. Heaven Is Ten Zillion Light Years Away
8. Gimme a Little Sign
9. Acadian Driftwood
10. Lodi
11. Not a Drop of Rain
12. 'Til I Get It Right

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Shawn Colvin   Primary Artist,Vocals,Guitar
Marc Cohn   Primary Artist,Vocals,Featured Artist
David Crosby   Primary Artist,Featured Artist,Vocals
Steuart Smith   Bass,Guitar,Keyboards
Mike Meadows   Percussion
David Boyle   Keyboards
Milo Deering   Mandola,Pedal Steel,Lap Steel Guitar
Glenn Fukunaga   Bass,Bass (Upright)

Technical Credits

Alexandra Valenti   Photography
Sean Kelly   Engineer
Joseph Holguin   Assistant
Alfred Smith   Composer
Paul Blakemore   Mastering
Steuart Smith   Producer
Larry Henley   Composer
Joseph Hooven   Composer
Gerry Rafferty   Composer
Jacob Sciba   Assistant
Carrie Smith   Design,Art Direction
Paul Simon   Composer
Graham Nash   Composer
John Fogerty   Composer
Robbie Robertson   Composer
Jerry Winn   Composer
Robert Earl Keen   Composer
Kathleen Brennan   Composer
Neil Finn   Composer
Red Lane   Composer
Stewart Lerman   Mixing,Engineer,Producer
Bruce Springsteen   Composer
Tom Waits   Composer
Stevie Wonder   Composer
Steve Mazur   Engineer