Artist:     Various Artists

Album:     Willie Nile Uncovered

Label:     Paradiddle Records

Release Date:     08.21.2020

90

BUY DIGITAL

BUY PHYSICAL

Many great musicians and songwriters have sung Willie Nile’s praises, so it’s nice to see some of them coming together to sing his songs. Willie Nile Uncovered is a career-spanning two-CD collection of established and emerging performers celebrating the music of an artist who’s been at it for 40 years and is deservedly enjoying a late-career surge of creativity and acclaim.

Having come of age in the post-Punk Greenwich Village scene of the late ‘70s, Willie Nile’s music combines the edgy sensibility of that time with the folk traditions of an earlier era. The range of his catalog is well represented on the 26 tracks covered here, with hard-rocking tunes like “The Day I Saw Bo Diddley in Washington Square” covered by the band Leland Sundries alternating with the rootsy sounds of Annie Mark’s banjo-infused “Everybody Needs a Hammer” and tender ballads such as “I Can’t Do Crazy Anymore” from John Gorka.

Apologies in advance to the artists not mentioned here, but there are so many that it’s impossible to list them all. Notable names include Graham Parker on Willie’s anthemic “One Guitar,” Nils Lofgren on “All God’s Children” and Richard Barone on “Streets of New York.” One of the pleasures of this collection, though, is discovering new performers such as Quarter Horse (“When Levon Sings”) and Iridesense (“History 101”). Other standouts include James Maddock’s “She’s Got My Heart,” Emily Duff’s “Hell Yeah,” Caroline Doctorow’s “Lonesome Dark-Eyed Beauty” and the reggae take of “One Guitar” by Willie’s bass player, Johnny Pisano.

Somehow in the midst of the ongoing Covid crisis, Lucy Kaplansky’s “When the Last Light Goes Out on Broadway” seemed especially poignant. Fortunately, Willie Nile’s music is uplifting even when it’s bittersweet, a reminder of the importance of honesty and decency in art and life. Willie’s fans will enjoy this collection for its breadth and the refreshing interpretations of familiar songs while new listeners will discover some of what the fuss is all about. To get a better idea of what makes Willie Nile special, go back and listen to albums like Streets of New York, House of a Thousand Guitars, The Innocent Ones and American Ride or, better yet, when life resumes, see him live.

—Lou Montesano