Kover Albums: Listening Booth 1970

As if by coincidence, I've taken part in several conversations about songwriting recently and all of them have pointed to the early 1970's as a peak of quality for songwriting in popular music. I don't believe that this consensus is solely based on fond reminiscence either. If you take even a cursory look at a chart of the top 100 songs of 1970, it's almost staggering. Nearly every song is a solid classic of pop music and that's just the singles. How much great music is on those albums from which the singles were pulled? It's an embarrassment of musical riches that has rarely been matched in the years since.

This is exactly the point being made by Marc Cohn and his producer, John Leventhal on the 2010 album, "Listening Booth: 1970". In this video, Cohn & Leventhal discuss how the album was developed and demonstrate how the process began with the Cat Stevens tune, "Wild World".

"Listening Booth: 1970" represents a continuation of a creative resurgence for Cohn that was brought on by one of the strangest and scariest events of his life. In 2005, while driving back to his hotel with his band and tour manager after a show in Denver, Co., Cohn was shot in the head by a would-be carjacker. The bullet was removed from his left temple, as it had miraculously missed penetrating his skull by barely a centimeter. Cohn sustained no permanent physical damage, which allowed him to be released from the hospital the next day. After working through a bout of post-traumatic stress, Cohn has been busier than ever. Ending a nearly ten-year absence from the studio, he released one of his most critically acclaimed records, "Join The Parade" in 2007 and supported it with over 150 shows across the States. Cohn says "I had always had my priorities straight when it came to my family. For me, it never felt right bringing children into the world and then spending all your time in a studio or a tour bus. But that night in Denver somehow brought me a new appreciation for my work and my audience."

This album ultimately brings Cohn back to where he began; playing songs which, like his own hit single "Walking In Memphis", spoke eloquently about the transformative healing power of music. But even more than that, "Listening Booth: 1970" is truly the soundtrack to his life. As Cohn reflects, "It seemed like such a natural progression for me to do a record like this because, if you've been following my records from my first single, I have been paying tribute to musicians through my writing all along, from Al Green to Elvis to Levon Helm to Charlie Christian; it's really been a touchstone for me. Now I'm just repaying a debt of gratitude to the artists who've changed my life and taught me how to do what I do."

Cohn also invited a few guests to appear on the album, including India.Arie on an update of Bread's first single, "Make It With You", Aimee Mann on Badfinger's "No Matter What" (interesting, as Aimee covered "Baby Blue" herself some years back), and folk journeyman Jim Lauderdale duetting on the Grateful Dead's "New Speedway Boogie" from their excellent "Workingman's Dead" album. Other highlights include inventive takes on great songs by The Box Tops, Simon & Garfunkel, Eric Clapton, and Smokey Robinson.

The album is not categorically a soul record, but it sure is soulful. Proof of that is shown in Marc's version of one of my favorite Van Morrison tunes, "Into The Mystic". It retains all the emotion of the original while adding a new feel.

All things considered, this is no slapdash album of cover tunes where everyone is winging it and could not care less how it turns out. This is a thoughtful, meaningful, personal recording where all parties involved are personally invested in the interpretation of this music. It gets no better than that. Go to Amazon and add it to your collection right now. Your CD player and your soul will thank you.

For some reason or another, this album does not appear to be available on high quality vinyl, which I find rather odd, as it would seem tailor made for that format, given the lineage of the music and the warm, acoustic vibe that permeates these sessions. Perhaps one day, some enterprising reissue company like Mobile Fidelity will make that happen. How about it, MoFi?