Widge’s Sonic Emporium #9

First of all, let me share some frustration. There was a song I desperately wanted to end this playlist with: “That’s All Right (Håkan Hellström Edit)” by Laura Rivers. Here it is:

The original version of the Laura Rivers song is from the Smithsonian Folkways Recordings collection. I can find no additional information on the vocalist. Which is a goddamn shame, because I could listen to that voice for days. The version embedded here reminds me of Gavin Bryars and his adaptation of a homeless man singing (recorded for a film, and no trace of the man or the song’s provenance was ever found) “Jesus’ Blood Never Failed Me Yet.” One of the many iterations of the project brought Tom Waits in to accompany the original vocalist:

I couldn’t bring myself to include the Rivers/Hellström song because it cuts off so rudely and abruptly. It just wasn’t the way to end the playlist. So I share it here as a sort of gorgeous outtake, I suppose.