Sunday 27 October 2013

Billie Joe Goes Country...

As we all know the 99 Revolutions tour is over for the time being, so the Green Day world has been extremely quiet save for instagram posts from the boys. However, the most unusual duet has surfaced in the form of Billie Joe Armstrong and Jazz beauty Norah Jones. This picture was posted online on Wednesday evening:


I'm guessing this is a promo shot of the two...a promo shot for what? Well, it turns out they have released an album of Everly Brothers tracks called 'Foreverly'.


 It is essentially their own spin on the album 'Songs Our Daddy Taught Us'- originally released in 1958. In an interview with Stereogum, Billie said:

" It all started with Stevie Wonder. 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."

The first single from the album is called Long Time Gone: a song that really shows the softness of Billie's voice that we don't often hear. The two voices go together perfectly, and the great thing about this album is that it brings attention to old songs that the people buying this album - myself included - would never have heard before. It surprised me just how great it actually is and I am looking forward to the rest of the album.

The track listing and their single can be seen below. The album will be released on November 25th but is available to pre-order on iTunes. You can also pre-order the CD and the digital album from billiejoeandnorah.com, and a Q&A with the pair has been posted on the Stereogum website - this has more details about the album and how it came about. (http://www.stereogum.com/1534781/qa-billie-joe-armstrong-norah-jones-unveil-duets-lp-hear-long-time-gone/franchises/interview/)

Tracklisting:

1. Roving Gambler
2. Long Time Gone
3. Lightning Express
4. Silver Hair Daddy Of Mine
5. Down In The Willow Garden
6. Who's Gonna Shoe Your Pretty Little Feet?
7. Oh So Many Years
8. Barbara Allen
9. Rocking Alone
10. I'm Here To Get My Baby Out Of Jail
11. Kentucky
12. Put My Shoes Away