For as rightfully revered as Lucinda Williams is in being regarded the Queen of Americana, she has always been and continues to be a huge music fan. Between Williams’ insatiable love of other people’s music and the encouragement of manager/husband Tom Overby, the critically acclaimed singer-songwriter has cast a rather net of unusual song choices she’s gone with covering over time right up to her current record The Ghosts of Highway 20, where she delivers a stellar reading of Bruce Springsteen’s “Factory.” Whereas Williams’ early career found her going down a path of cutting songs by traditional blues and country artists like Sleepy John Estes, Hank Williams, The Carter Family and Robert Johnson, recent years have found her dipping into the non-roots rock canons of AC/DC and The Clash. Here are five of the Louisiana native’s favorites.
1. The Velvet Underground “Pale Blue Eyes” from The Velvet Underground (1969)
“I’ve always loved that song and the Velvet Underground. That album that the song comes from is one of my favorite albums of all time. I love the melody of it and the imagery.”
2. Nick Drake “Which Will” from Pink Moon (1972)
“I recorded this one…The reason for that is that I discovered him in the early ‘80s and I love all of his stuff. I actually cut that song before I recorded it [for one of my records]. It’s on another album and I don’t even know if it’s still in print. It was right after I moved to Los Angeles in the mid-1980s and I was asked to do a song for some tribute album that was songs from dead folk singers, people like Nick Drake and Tim Hardin.”
3. Marvin Gaye “Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler)” from What’s Going On (1971)
“I love doing that song. We worked up for the Occupy Wall Street gig at the Fillmore. It’s kind of one of his protest songs and a great one at that. I love that it’s making a statement.”
4. Gnarls Barkley “Who’s Gonna Save My Soul” from The Odd Couple (2008)
“I love the melody of this song along with the feeling of singing it and also what it says. I also love the refrain of it.”
5. Thievery Corporation featuring Wayne Coyne of the Flaming Lips “Marching the Hate Machines (Into the Sun)” from The Cosmic Game (2005)
“The words are written by Wayne Coyne of the Flaming Lips and Thievery Corporation wrote the music. I played that live with the band and I love it. Again, it’s a topical song. ‘Marching the heat machines into the sun…’ What a beautiful line. The imagery and the melody are beautiful (starts singing it)…It’s almost anthemic.”
