On the radio today, I heard Green Day’s cover of “Working Class Hero” from the upcoming John Lennon tribute album, and it was good. Very good, a nice band choice for a song, played in a style that suits both the song and the artist.
But looking at the album list, there are far more songs that seem like awful choices (Jack Johnson and Avril Lavigne both doing versions of “Imagine,” Big & Rich, Black Eyed Peas) than good and fitting tracks (the aforementioned Green Day, REM doing “#9 Dream,” Aerosmith doing “Give Peace a Chance”). Enough that I have trouble thinking I’d want the entire album with such a paltry selection of really good tracks.
Looking into it a bit more, I discovered that a solid 50 tracks were submitted by artists, and the album’s organizers pared it down. The article mentions Ozzy Osbourne, Duran Duran, and Willie Nelson as artists who didn’t make it to the album. It doesn’t say which songs each performed, or any of the other 25 or so artists are. I’d love to know what Willie recorded (if “Imagine,” which seems like a fitting choice for his style, then I’d easily rather have his than Jack Johnson or (really?) Avril Lavigne). The ray of light is that a number of the non-album recordings will be released as singles on digital sites (though, presumably not Apple’s iTunes, what with all the dispute between Apple and the Beatles’ Apple that’s prevented any Beatles except for the random tribute track or soundtrack inclusion from appearing in the store). But I’d love to know ahead of time. Anybody find out what Willie, Ozzy, or Duran Duran recorded? Which other artists gave contributions that didn’t make it?