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Tuesday, May 17, 2011

17th of May

Laura Cantrell - Kitty Wells Dresses                                
Kitty Wells Dresses
Thea Gilmore - John Wesley Harding
John Wesley Harding

Two ladies with the same idea - to present two legends to contemporary audience and to give a tribute to the authors they grow up with. They both succeeded in it. Laura's highlights are I Don't Claim to be an Angel, Amigo's Guitar and Making Believe and of course her own song Kitty Wells Dresses (that can stand side by side with any of classic Kitty Wells songs). Thea Gilmore was even more direct - she remake Dylan's classic John Wesley Harding album song by song. Her singing was reinterpretation of Dylan note by note, but instrumentation is different to the original. Piano is very prominent on some songs, there's no harmonica at all and guitar is prevalently electric. Thea's version of Frankie Lee & Judas Priest is not as raw and I'll be Your Baby Tonight is not as tender as the original, but on the other side Drifter's Escape is much tougher, and Dear Landlord is more humble than the original. My only objection is that both girls are playing it totally safe with their choices - this repertoire is not adventurous in any sense!