Billie Joe + Norah – Foreverly

I’m really original here, so because it was Pride weekend in Taranna, I’m gonna call this series on my finds…

Pride Of Taranna Series Pt. 1: BMV #1 – Billie Joe + Norah – Foreverly

Knowing this existed, and always meaning to get it, didn’t help me get it ’til now. But here it is! And it’s really quite freaking awesome. These are two people I never would have put together in my mind, but it totally works. I like their voices together. I like how they approached the songs, I liked the sound they achieved. It’s true to the style, feel, and intention of the original… with enough of a twist (with Jones’ vocals) to it that it stands on its own as a cool unique thing too. It swings and sways, waltzes and twangs, and it sweetly holds your attention throughout.

I wish I’d snagged this when it came out instead of (inexplicably) waiting this long, it’ll be in rotation a good long while. Damn, that was super-cool.

Hit It Or Quit It? Hit!

***

Here’s what this is:

“Foreverly is a collection of traditional songs, and is a reinterpretation of the 1958 album Songs Our Daddy Taught Us by The Everly Brothers. It is promoted by the lead single “Long Time Gone”” (Wiki)

Here’s how it happened, according to Armstrong:

“In an interview with Stereogum, Armstrong said: “It all started with Stevie Wonder. [laughter] We sang together with Stevie Wonder and his band and a whole bunch of people, that’s how Norah and I first met. Then … well, I got into the Everly Brothers’ record a couple years ago and I thought it was just beautiful. I was listening to it every morning for a while off and on. I thought it would be cool to remake the record because I thought it was sort of an obscure thing and more people should know about it, but I really wanted to do it with a woman singing because I thought it would take on a different meaning — maybe broaden the meaning a little bit — as compared to hearing the songs being sung by the two brothers. And so my wife said, ‘Why don’t you get Norah Jones to do it?’ and I was like, ‘Well, I kinda know her.’ Well, I mean, we had Stevie Wonder in common. And so I called her and she said yes. So it was kinda like a … well, I keep saying it was kinda like a blind date.” (Wiki)