Album Review: Rickie Lee Jones – Kicks (The Other Side Of Desire/Thirty Tigers)

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Rickie Lee Jones turns in her fourth (count ‘em) covers collection, and it’s a winner.

Let’s face it, covers collections are a dime a dozen these days, with every vocalist and their mother paying tribute to someone or something, or just simply taking a last look back to the past.

The thing I ask myself when faced with the prospect of considering a covers album is:

  1. Is the artist one who is capable of adding something new to a song that is most likely very well known?
  2. Is the song selection interesting?

Rickie Lee Jones scores a resounding “yes” on both questions.

Casual music fans may consider her a one-hit wonder with her 1979 single Chuck E’s In Love, but, the now 64 year old has been making unique records for the past 40 years and her three preceding covers albums have all been cool, with the first two (1991’s Pop Pop and 2000’s It’s Like This) concentrating on jazz and blues standards, while the last one, 2012’s The Deal You Know (produced by Ben Harper), focused on rock classics by the likes of  The Stones, Neil Young and The Band.

On Kicks, Rickie Lee mixes things up, including tunes that date back to 30s and 40s (You’re Nobody Til Somebody Loves You, Nagasaki) and a few pop nuggets from the early 70s (America’s Lonely People, Elton John’s My Father’s Gun).

One of the more surprising choices is album opener, Bad Company, originally by the band Bad Company.

Jones replaces the bravado in Paul Rodgers’ original take on the song with something more brooding. It’s a track that easily ticks both boxes…unexpected selection and interesting reworking that forces the listener to reconsider the song itself.

For this album, Jones has recorded this album in her adopted home town of New Orleans, surrounding herself with some of that city’s finest musicians.  And while this wouldn’t be mistaken for a Dr John record, that Crescent City influence seeps through.

The first three songs on Kicks date from the 70s and then all bets are off as Jones cherry picks tunes from the previous 50 years. Her eccentric personality shines on her version of You’re Nobody Til Somebody Loves You, a tune many Kiwis will know from Dean Martin’s recording in the early 60s.

Double bass player James Ellington lays down a late night groove on Mack The Knife which is followed by another surprising choice, Steve Miller’s lovely 1968 tune Quicksilver Girl.

I think the last two tracks are my favourites, though.

The End Of The World, a hit for Skeeter Davis in 1962, is, hands down, one of the saddest songs ever written, and those mournful New Orleans horns lend the track just the right tone, as does Rickie Lee’s soulful spoken word bit.

This is followed by another weeper….Johnny Ray’s 1951 tearjerker, Cry.

Jones doesn’t try to give the song the same melodramatic reading that Ray did. Instead, she sounds resigned to her fate, with the music track featuring a pedal steel guitar and gorgeous clarinet solo.

Yep, Rickie Lee Jones knows how to assemble a covers album. But hey, with that singular voice, she’d probably sound good singing the phone book (do they still make them?).

My only disappointment is that she didn’t include a version of Paul Revere & The Raiders’ Kicks. Oh well, maybe next time.

Marty Duda

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sg5pc3j2z48

 

 

 

Marty Duda
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