Texas - Acoustic Versions, Volume 2 (2008-2021)

It's been a huge pain in the rear for me having to redo all the download links recently, but at least it's had the positive effect of helping me notice some problems with my music collection. One example would be albums I thought I'd posted yet never actually did. Such as this one. I posted "Volume 1" of Texas doing acoustic versions of some of their songs back in October 2022. I even mentioned that I had a second volume coming. Then I just... forgot. Anyway, here it is, finally.

All the performances here are officially unreleased. But the sound quality is very good, because virtually all of them are from in person radio station appearances with no audience. That may even be the case for all of them, except I don't know the source for the first song, other than it being from 2008.

As I said with "Volume 1," I actually prefer the acoustic versions in most cases over the usual studio album ones. Most of the songs are originals, but there are a few cover versions, such as "Xanadu" and "Suspicious Minds." In those cases, they are different versions than the ones I used in the three covers albums I made for the band.

This album is 50 minutes long.

01 Stop, I Don't Love You Anymore (Sharleen Spiteri)
02 All the Times I Cried (Sharleen Spiteri)
03 It Was You (Sharleen Spiteri)
04 Say What You Want (Sharleen Spiteri)
05 Black Eyed Boy [Edit] (Sharleen Spiteri)
06 Xanadu [Edit] (Sharleen Spiteri)
07 I Don't Want a Lover [Edit] (Sharleen Spiteri)
08 Suspicious Minds (Texas)
09 Detroit City (Texas)
10 Dry Your Eyes [Edit] (Texas)
11 Summer Son [Edit] (Texas)
12 The Conversation (Texas)
13 Start a Family (Texas)
14 Hi (Texas)
15 Mr. Haze (Texas)

https://www.upload.ee/files/15430117/Texs_2008-2021_AcoustcVrsinsVol2_atse.zip.html

My apologies to the other band members of Texas, because once again the cover photo is only of the band's lead singer, Sharleen Spiteri. All I know about the photo is that it's from 2005. That's a few years before the time frame for this album, but I picked it because it shows her playing an acoustic guitar.

Texas - Acoustic Versions, Volume 1 (1991-2005)

Over the past couple of years, I've posted three volumes of cover versions by the British band Texas. (I posted the third volume only a few weeks ago, and updated the other two.) But Texas is not primarily a cover band. I like many of their originals, though they can be hit or miss. And if you've followed this blog for a while, you've probably noticed that I have a particular fondness for acoustic versions of songs. So I've collected two albums' worth of mostly Texas originals done in acoustic mode. To be honest, I generally prefer these versions.

It's a shame that Texas has never released any kind of acoustic album. All of the performances here are officially unreleased. But the sound quality is generally very good to excellent. The first two come from unknown sources. The rest generally were done in the studio for TV or radio shows. Only two songs (the second and fifth ones) were done before a live audience.

As far as I can tell, only the songs "Tired of Being Alone" and "Across the Universe" are cover versions. I found other versions of those two songs for the cover versions albums I posted; these versions are done in a more acoustic style. (There are some other cover versions done in acoustic mode where I could only find one good version, so in those cases I put them on the covers albums instead of these acoustic albums.)

This album is 46 minutes long.

01 Walk the Dust (Texas)
02 Tired of Being Alone (Texas)
03 Prayer for You (Texas)
04 So in Love with You (Texas)
05 Across the Universe (Sharleen Spiteri with Jools Holland)
06 In Demand (Texas)
07 Put Your Arms Around Me (Texas)
08 Can't Resist (Texas)
09 What about Us (Texas)
10 Nevermind (Texas)
11 Getaway (Texas)
12 Sleep (Texas with Paul Buchanan)

https://www.upload.ee/files/15852796/Texs_1991-2005_AcoustcVrsionsVol1_atse.zip.html

The cover photo features the band's lead singer Sharleen Spiteri in 1991.

Texas - Cover Versions, Volume 3 (2008-2021)

Here's the third and last of three volumes of cover versions by the British band Texas.

Texas's lead singer Sharleen Spiteri pursued a solo career for two solo albums, one in 2008 and the other in 2010. Then she rejoined Texas by 2013. So the first six songs come from that solo time period, and only feature Spiteri. But I doubt you'd notice if you didn't look at the credits, because the sound and style is basically the same. Spiteri's 2010 album, "The Movie Songbook," consists entirely of cover songs. I avoided including any of the album versions of those, though I did include a few if I found good alternate or live versions. One song, "Streets of Philadelphia," is a bonus track from that album.

Aside from that bonus track, the only other officially released versions are is "9 to 5" and "Speak Softly, Love," both of which come from different obscure various artists albums. As for the rest, the sound quality is generally excellent, although there is some variation. The vast majority of the songs come from in-person radio station appearances, or TV shows.

As an aside, I'm particularly impressed with the version of "Come On Eileen," which is radically different from the original, but equally good, in my opinion.

UPDATE 1: On November 4, 2022, I updated the mp3 download file. I added three songs I'd previously missed: "Speak Softly, Love," "Don't Save Me," and "I Say a Little Prayer." Thank you to the commenter LaRu for finding those. 

UPDATE 2: On November 12, 2022, I updated the mp3 download file. Commenter LaRu sent me two more songs that I'd missed: "Help" and "Dreams."

01 Son of a Preacher Man - Dusty Springfield
02 Should I Stay or Should I Go - Clash
03 Speak Softly, Love [Love Theme from 'The Godfather'] - Nino Rota / Andy Williams
04 Streets of Philadelphia - Bruce Springsteen
05 God Bless the Child - Billie Holliday
06 Many Rivers to Cross - Jimmy Cliff
07 I'd Rather Go Blind - Etta James
08 River Deep, Mountain High - Ike & Tina Turner
09 Jackson - Johnny Cash & June Carter Cash
10 Don't Save Me - Haim
11 I Say a Little Prayer - Dionne Warwick
12 Help - Beatles
13 The Letter - Boxtops
14 Let’s Stay Together - Al Green
15 9 to 5 - Dolly Parton
16 To Love Somebody - Bee Gees
17 Dreams - Fleetwood Mac
18 Young Americans - David Bowie
19 Come On Eileen -Dexys Midnight Runners

And here is the usual song list:

01 Son of a Preacher Man (Sharleen Spiteri & Charlotte Church)
02 Should I Stay or Should I Go (Sharleen Spiteri)
03 Speak Softly, Love [Love Theme from 'The Godfather'] (Sharleen Spiteri & Mauro Gioia)
04 Streets of Philadelphia (Sharleen Spiteri)
05 God Bless the Child (Sharleen Spiteri)
06 Many Rivers to Cross [Acoustic Version] (Sharleen Spiteri)
07 I'd Rather Go Blind (Sharleen Spiteri with Ronnie Wood)
08 River Deep, Mountain High [Edit] (Texas)
09 Jackson (Texas)
10 Don't Save Me (Texas)
11 I Say a Little Prayer (Texas)
12 Help (Texas)
13 The Letter (Texas)
14 Let’s Stay Together (Texas)
15 9 to 5 (Sharleen Spiteri)
16 To Love Somebody (Texas)
17 Dreams (Sharleen Spiteri)
18 Young Americans (Texas)
19 Come On Eileen (Texas)

This album is 57 minutes long.

https://www.upload.ee/files/15271243/Texs_2008-2021_CovrVersionsVol3_atse.zip.html

The cover photo is of Sharleen Spiteri at a celebrity event in 2008.

Texas - Cover Versions, Volume 2 (1997-2008)

Yesterday, I posted the first of two albums of cover versions by the band Texas. Here's the second and final album. You should read the write-up to that other album for general information. But, in short, you don't have to be a fan of Texas's original material to enjoy these albums. As you can see, the band covers the same kind of music that is generally featured in this blog, and lead vocalist Sharleen Spiteri has an excellent voice.

Speaking of Spiteri, she went solo for a few years, roughly from 2008 to 2012. Then the band got back together and has stayed together ever since. So there's a big chunk of songs here that are credited to Spiteri instead of Texas. But it basically sounds the same. Note that Spiteri released a solo album in 2010, "The Movie Songbook," that entirely consists of cover versions. I've deliberately avoided including any songs from that album so as to not cut into album sales. But I did include a couple of songs from it if they were significantly different versions.

Here's a list of the original artists for each song:

01 You're All I Need to Get By - Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell
02 Parisian Pierrot - Noel Coward
03 Don't You Want Me - Human League
04 Surrender - Diana Ross
05 Take Me with U - Prince
06 Private Number - William Bell
07 Across the Universe - Beatles
08 Tainted Love - Gloria Jones / Soft Cell
09 Suspicious Minds - Elvis Presley
10 What Do I Get - Buzzcocks
11 Misty - Erroll Garner
12 Alice - Tom Waits
13 All These Things that I've Done - Killers
14 I Heard It through the Grapevine - Gladys Knight & the Pips / Marvin Gaye

It terms of sound quality, everything here sounds very good. I've maintained extra high sound quality standards for these two albums. That means some songs got cut. (I'm particularly bummed I couldn't find a good enough version of "Crazy" by Gnarls Barkley.) Eight of the 14 songs here are officially unreleased. But that doesn't matter due to the high quality control.

I'm at a total loss as to when and where the song "All These Things that I've Done" is from. I'm placing it around 2008, since it's a Sharleen Spiteri solo version, and that's when her solo career began. But I very well could be wrong. If anyone knows better, please let me know.

Here's the usual song list:

01 You're All I Need to Get By (Texas)
02 Parisian Pierrot (Texas)
03 Don't You Want Me [Edit] (Texas)
04 Surrender (Texas)
05 Take Me with U (Texas)
06 Private Number (Texas & William Bell)
07 Across the Universe (Texas)
08 Tainted Love (Texas)
09 Suspicious Minds (Texas)
10 What Do I Get [Edit] (Texas)
11 Misty (Sharleen Spiteri)
12 Alice (Sharleen Spiteri & Jane Birkin)
13 All These Things that I've Done (Sharleen Spiteri)
14 I Heard It through the Grapevine (Sharleen Spiteri & Jamie Lidell)

This album is 51 minutes long.

https://www.upload.ee/files/15852803/Texs_1997-2008_CovrVersionsVol2_atse.zip.html

The cover photo is of Sharleen Spiteri in 2003. The photo is actually of her in an embrace with actor Ewan MacGregor, but I cropped him out of it. Once again, my apologies to the other band members for not featuring them on the cover.

Texas - Cover Versions, Volume 1 (1989-1993)

Full disclosure: I'm not that much of a fan of the band Texas. I like them about on the "greatest hits" level. That said, I think they're a talented band with an especially gifted singer, Sharleen Spiteri. Recently, I've been working with musical friend Lil Panda, and he turned me on to the idea of compiling a collection of cover versions by Texas. That's what I've made here, with his help. Whether your like Texas's originals or not, they play a great and ambitious bunch of classic songs for their covers, with Spiteri's vocals an obvious highlight. So if you enjoy the music of the blog in general, you should like this.

Here's a list of who did the original versions:

01 Dimples - John Lee Hooker
02 Living for the City - Stevie Wonder
03 It Hurts Me Too - Tampa Red / Elmore James
04 Sympathy for the Devil - Rolling Stones
05 Heart of Glass - Blondie
06 Tired of Being Alone - Al Green
07 I Can't Get Next to You - Temptations / Al Green
08 What Goes On - Velvet Underground
09 Sweet Child O' Mine - Guns N' Roses
10 I've Got a Feeling - Beatles
11 Revolution - Beatles
12 One Love - Bob Marley

All but two of the songs here have been officially released: "Sympathy for the Devil" and "Heart of Glass." In terms of sound quality, they sound as good as the rest. Most of the songs are from B-sides or an album of BBC performances. The cover "Tired of Being Alone" was a big hit in 1992. I figure any Texas fan would know that version already. So instead I've included an acoustic version that comes from a B-side.
 
Here is the usual song list:

01 Dimples [Edit] (Texas)
02 Living for the City (Texas)
03 It Hurts Me Too (Texas)
04 Sympathy for the Devil (Texas)
05 Heart of Glass (Texas)
06 Tired of Being Alone [Acoustic Version] (Texas)
07 I Can't Get Next to You [Edit] (Texas)
08 What Goes On [Edit] (Texas)
09 Sweet Child O' Mine [Edit] (Texas)
10 I've Got a Feeling (Texas)
11 Revolution (Texas)
12 One Love (Texas) 

This album is 50 minutes long.

https://www.upload.ee/files/15852696/Texs_1989-1993_CovrVersionsVol1_atse.zip.html

I know Texas is a full band, but my interest is mainly due to the vocals of Sharleen Spiteri, so she gets the cover billing here. The photo of her dates to 1998.