Beck Covers John Martyn's 'Stormbringer'

Beck has resurfaced, and he's revisiting his folk roots for a cover of late singer John Martyn's "Stormbringer," we happily discovered via Some Kind of Awesome.

Martyn -- a folk-and-jazzy singer and guitarist -- was well-loved by the big guns in his field, Eric Clapton and Nick Drake among them. Martyn passed away in 2009, and a tribute album to the late singer, Johnny Boy Would Love This, drops Aug. 16 to celebrate his somewhat under-appreciated work. The album features covers by 30 artists, including Robert Smith, Snow Patrol, Morcheeba and David Gray (tracklisting below).

The last we heard from Beck was also in cover form, except it was a cover of his own song, Tropicália, in collaboration with Brazilian singer/songwriter Seu Jorge. The song was also for a compilation -- the Red Hot Organization's charitable "Red Hot+Rio 2" album paying homage to the Tropicalia movement, which, on a sidenote, is also worth a spin.

LISTEN to Beck's take on "Stormbringer":

Stormbringer (Beck) by RyanLeeDawes

Beck's version of "Stormbringer" is a pretty faithful rendition of the original, but be a good music student and compare and contrast with Martyn's song:

In case you missed it, Robert Smith's very Robert Smith-like cover of "Small Hours" came out last month:

Robert Smith - Small Hours (BBC 6 Music) by CoF

Johnny Boy Would Love This Tracklisting:

Disc 1:
Let The Good Things Come (David Gray)
Glorious Fool (Clarence Fountain and Sam Butler)
Small Hours (Robert Smith)
Stormbringer (Beck)
Over The Hill (Ted Barnes featuring Gavin Clark)
I Don’t Wanna Know (The Swell Season)
Bless The Weather (The Emperors Of Wyoming)
Couldn’t Love You More (Lisa Hannigan)
Go Easy (Vetiver)
Solid Air (Skye Edwards)
You Can Discover (Cheryl Wilson)
The Easy Blues (Jelly RollBaker) ( Joe Bonamassa)
Dancing (Sonia Dada)
Certain Surprise (Sabrina Dinan)
One World (Paolo Nutini)

Disc 2:
May You Never (Snow Patrol)
Go Down Easy (Beth Orton)
Fairytale Lullaby (Bombay Bicycle Club)
Fine Lines (Syd Kitchen)
Head And Heart (Vashti Bunyan)
Run Honey Run (Morcheeba)
Angeline (Nicholas Barron)
Walk To The Water (John Smith)
Hurt In Your Heart (Judy Tzuke)
Road To Ruin (Jim Tullio)
John Wayne (Oh My God)
Rope Soul’d (The Blackships)
Back To Stay (Ultan Conlon)
Anna (Brendan Campbell)
Tearing And Breaking (Phil Collins)

Comments

[bjork rules]

10:46 PM on 08/09/2011

Beck is one of my fave artists, and puts on the best live show I have ever seen. Rush puts on a good show, but Beck is awesome! Heaven Hammer, the remix of Missing, is one of the best pieces of music ever, I can't get enough of it...Here it is for those that want to have their minds blown:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dICM0-fRSuw

[AG creative]

01:29 AM on 08/08/2011

I'm stoked any time that a musician who can sing and play an instrument at the same time gets any level of success.

[CDL1]

05:23 PM on 08/07/2011

I got no turntables and a microphone...

[bjork rules]

10:49 PM on 08/09/2011

That's okay, Beck does...and he knows how to use 'em, so enjoy!

[CDL1]

12:25 AM on 08/10/2011

Bjork, now there's an artist I haven't heard about in a long time. Great singer! I loved Vespertine..

[Ryan81]

03:42 PM on 08/07/2011

I like it.

[DamonIcke]

01:32 PM on 08/07/2011

Beck resurfaces. Most other musicians just release new music. Beck resurfaces, i guess, because he's a cult member with a cult-like following. He's a decent song writer, but i'm not drinking his chemtrail kool aid.

[David Keith]

11:43 AM on 08/07/2011

Beck is always impressive. One of the best in music of our generation.

[JerseyHooligan]

11:21 AM on 08/07/2011

hey beck, let us know when you stop fooling around with that scientology stuff... until then, your just a wacko

[David Keith]

11:43 AM on 08/07/2011

Oh, no! He's not into Scientology, is he? Really? That's so stupid.

[elicourey]

12:00 PM on 08/07/2011

he was basically born into it. he's a musical genius....who cares what his religious beliefs are

[Maaloc]

10:49 AM on 08/07/2011

i thought Beck had some folksy in all his songs?

[schneider360]

10:35 AM on 08/07/2011

ive never heard this song before but i was a HUGE fan of beck's album sea change. its like this song was writing for him. beautiful.

[AG creative]

01:25 AM on 08/08/2011

yeah that album ruled.

[slowuncle]

10:27 AM on 08/07/2011

I always enjoy Mr Hansen but am especially chuffed that he is paying homage to the late great John Martyn---Stormbringer was actually a duet album with his wife Beverly. It was recorded just prior to the string of classic and influencial lps for which Martyn is mostly known (Bless the Weather, Solid Air & Inside Out) They have all been lovingly remastered by Island and they sound like they could have been recorded yesterday: stylistically they have no precedent and are virtually timeless sounding

[Panther2000]

10:02 AM on 08/07/2011

wonderful song. I love the use of melllotron.

[Scotty Curtis]

08:32 AM on 08/07/2011

Unfortunately all I can think of when I hear or read about him is that he's a member of the Scientology cult. :(

[camelias and sweet tea]

09:14 AM on 08/07/2011

Why, when he is a Mormon?

[camelias and sweet tea]

09:15 AM on 08/07/2011

Oops, wrong Beck, thought they meant Porky Pig Beck...too early, should read the articles first I guess...Be right back, need coffee

[Cinquopated]

08:08 AM on 08/07/2011

Beck's annunciation isn't clear, the vocals are muddled and seem to have some echo on them.

[sam i am]

10:53 AM on 08/07/2011

I thought the same thing... the vocals, piano and drums on Martyn's version are so clean... what a great recording. I like Beck's work but the original is far superior. You take a big chance when you do a cover!

[AG creative]

01:27 AM on 08/08/2011

Either the attenuation on the mic-pre or the compressor is loose.

It's crispy and warm when the arrangement section stops.

[ktomas]

07:59 AM on 08/07/2011

Sounds pretty good, although the cover doesn't make me think of John Martyn's work by a long shot. It's nice that there's a tribute album to him arriving soon. I still play Martyn's 'Solid Air' and 'Sunday's Child' albums quite a bit.

[Jon Jony]

06:31 AM on 08/07/2011

I stopped listening to Beck after the album Sea Changes - when I finally admitted to myself that he was just the poor man's Bob Dylan.

[aliceco]

09:56 AM on 08/07/2011

You even listened to Sea Changes?. I couldn't do it if you paid me. Is it worth the listen in all seriousness Jon Jony?

[Jon Jony]

10:43 AM on 08/07/2011

Well Alice; it is all a matter of personal taste I guess.... however I rationalized listening to Sea Changes and his earlier stuff mainly because everything else at the time was so terrible.

I have since resigned to listening (mainly) to classical music because I find most pop music trite.

The one song that I still enjoy listening to by Beck is "Devil's Haircut". This despite the main riff in the song has literally been ripped off (ie sampled) from the fabulous song "I can only give you everything"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LtscUJHqHaA

However what I dislike most about Beck's music is a sense of a kind of false intellectual and spritual ethos (that to be fair exists in most pop music - to even more of an extent - in other words Beck is amongst the best of the worst). And no I am not religious.

In essence - his music feels deluded (rather than grounded in reality). And no - I have no idea if it has anything to do with his personal and religious beliefs having affected his art....

[Jon Jony]

11:11 AM on 08/07/2011

My bad... It is actually called "Sea Change".

Sorry it has been a while.