As I’m listening to Michael J. Mand’s St. James Infirmary show on OWWR, I’m thinking of last week when he played my cover of “All I Have to Do Is Dream,” right after Bonnie Raitt’s Grammy-winning “Just Like That” and John Lennon’s “God”—love the segues! This set starts about 45 minutes in, with my song about 9 minutes later.
Michael chooses his songs very carefully, and a couple that I especially like on this podcast, besides the two I’ve mentioned, are “I Wish It Would Rain,” another cover, this one from Bruce Springsteen’s recent album of soul songs, and yet another cover, “I’ve Just Seen a Face,” by the Weeklings.
The set with my cover song from the St. James Infirmary playlist, Feb. 10, 2023.
So far on today’s broadcast, I’m taken with “This Is a Song for Miss Hedy Lamarr,” though it gave me pause to see that it’s by Johnny Depp, along with Jeff Beck (written by Depp and Tommy Henriksen). I can’t think of Depp in the way I used to (beautiful, charismatic, a little outsider-y) but also can’t deny that this is a good song (about someone beautiful, charismatic, a little outsider-y) .
And “All I Have to Do Is Dream” is a great song, written by Boudleaux Bryant and made famous by the Everly Brothers. My version, performed with Joan Chew (keys) and Graig Janssen (guitar), leans (swoons?) into the sadness of the lyrics. The live recording is from a show I did at the Bowery Electric—it’s on my EP Dream: Live Recordings from the Map Room—and afterward a friend said the song "seemed ripped out of your heart.” It felt that way too, but there’s something delicious about releasing those feelings.
Thanks again to Michael J. Mand; as you may remember from my last post, he named my “Alithia’s Flowers (Children of Uvalde)” song of the year for 2022. And be sure to check out the podcast of his Feb. 10 show, with my “All I Have to Do Is Dream” track, and keep his Friday afternoon show in mind—it’s improved my day already!