RIYL: Eric Clapton, Sting, Jackson Browne
Will everyone who feels like they need to hear another version of “Maybe I’m Amazed,” “After Midnight,” or – God help you – “Make It With You,” please raise your hand? Thank you. The rest of you may be excused.
As covers projects go, Marc Cohn’s Listening Booth: 1970 has an admittedly nifty concept; it focuses strictly on songs from the year of its title. But the minus in this equation is that any song popular enough to survive the last 40 years has been played to death. There’s no doubt that Cohn really loves “Wild World” and “Long As I Can See the Light,” but so do millions of other people, which is why you’ve been able to hear the originals (as well as not a few covers of the songs on this album) on classic rock radio every day for at least the last 20 years. If you aren’t going to add something new to add to these songs, why bother?
It’s a question Cohn never really provides a satisfactory answer to here, aside from the obvious one: Because people from Cohn’s generation are suckers for nostalgia, and if they aren’t going to purchase his generally excellent original material — which, incidentally, does a far better job of synthesizing his influences than anything here — then he might as well cash a check and cut a slowed-down version of “No Matter What,” suitable for the next time Adam Sandler or John Cusack decides to film a romantic comedy.
Thoughts this cynical are depressing when you’re listening to classic songs like “Into the Mystic” and “The Tears of a Clown,” but they are, sadly, more interesting than anything that happens during Listening Booth: 1970. The performances are tasteful, the production is finely burnished, and Cohn’s voice remains a marvelously soulful instrument, but this is a hollow exercise. Like a musical Slanket, it’ll put your mother-in-law to sleep with a smile on her face. If you want more, look to Cohn’s albums of original material — or, better yet, the original recordings of these songs. (Saguaro Road 2010)
