Bryan Ferry - The Bride Stripped Bare. We've had some chat recently about the five great Ferry solo records that he did while Roxy was still in it's hey day. Three of the five of his were made up entirely of cover songs - with These Foolish Things, to me, the Gold Standard of how (and why) to make a album of all cover songs. [Def Leppard may not be your cup of tea - but check out their all-cover CD - YEAH! from 2006.] And here we have The Bride Stripped Bare. Allegedly, he made this record in response to his break up with Jerry Hall. This record has a mix of self-penned tunes and covers of songs that you might not have imagined him trying. Starting with his "Sign of the Times" (Ferry) and "Can't Let Go" (Ferry). Then "Hold On (I'm Coming)" (Isaac Hayes, David Porter). "The Same Old Blues" (J.J. Cale).
Another of his - "When She Walks in the Room" (Ferry). Then "Take Me to the River" (Al Green, Mabon "Teenie" Hodges), "What Goes On" (Lou Reed), and "Carrickfergus" (an Irish folk song, arranged Ferry). He ends with a cover of "That's How Strong My Love Is" (by Roosevelt Jamison). And his own number, "This Island Earth" (Ferry). I thought Take me to the River was surely written by those in the Talking Heads. To attempt a song by J.J. Cale is an enormous task. To nail it, as he does, is genius. But I selected What Goes On to accompany this post - for good reason.
Brian Ferry solo is a black hole for me, so glad to learn about his work. "What Goes On" sounds like a great song (lame video though).
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