Track Listing
1. Brand New Me
2. Right to the End - (featuring Michael McDonald)
3. Madame George
4. Piece of My Heart
5. Baby Workout
6. Rockin' Pneumonia and the Boogie Woogie Flu
7. A Case of You
8. Big Leg Blues
9. It Takes a Train to Cry - (featuring Michael McDonald) It Takes a Lot to Laugh
10. Share Your Love with Me
11. I Just Can't Keep from Crying Lord
12. Never Never Land
Details
Playing Time: 49 min.
Contributing Artists: Michael McDonald, Al Kooper, Jimmy Vivino
Album Notes
Personnel: Phoebe Snow (vocals, guitar); Michael McDonald (vocals, Wurlitzer piano); Clucky The Chicken (vocals); Steve Burgh (guitar, mandolin); Jimmy Vivino (guitar, background vocals); Larry Packer (fiddle); Scott Healy (accordion, piano, Wurlitzer piano); Al Kooper, Reese B. Wynans (Hammond B-3 organ); Glenn Worf, Michael Merritt (bass); Louie Appel, John Gardner (drums); Scott Frankfurt (percussion, loops); Cyro Babtista (percussion); Joel Moss (background vocals).
It took a lot of confidence to cover songs associated with such vocal powerhouses as Van Morrison ("Madame George"), Janis Joplin ("Piece of My Heart"), and Mary Martin ("Never Never Land") among others. Of course, Snow's own voice was so distinctive that she had no trouble making such material her own. In truth, the challenge with Snow is not so much finding songs as excluding them; it's hard to think of a song to which she couldn't bring a new and valuable interpretation. Her "Piece of My Heart" is just as impassioned as Joplin's, but comes from a different universe of feeling. She fully understands Bob Dylan's "It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry" (one of two duets with Michael McDonald) and suggests a few other meanings. Her "Baby, Work Out" is just as joyous as Jackie Wilson's, with some added emotions as well. Her "A Case of You" is just a vulnerable as Joni Mitchell's, and somewhat more knowing.