Customer Reviews

It's Like This

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

In case you haven't figured it out yet, It's Like This is a collection of covers from rock, folk and jazz. Rickie Lee Jones, performing vocals and guitar, effortlessly makes them seem like they were written for her. She manages this feat even with songs like Steely Dan's "Show Biz Kids," and Traffic's "Low Spark of High Heeled Boys," which are signature tracks for their original artists. Of course, the styles and sensibilities of Paul McCartney's songwriting in "For No One" can't be disguised, nonetheless Rickie's performance is haunting and beautiful, vying with "On The Street Where You Live" for best vocal performance on the album.

If you're looking for slick pop hits, go buy the new Emmylou Harris CD instead. It's Like This does have potential airplay tracks like "Show Biz Kids," "Low Spark of High Heel Boys," and especially "Trouble Man," but most of the other tracks are minimalist exercises in folk and jazz vocals, in which Rickie Lee Jones demonstrates her casual mastery of technique and sultry style that continues to seduce devoted fans. Of course, the fact that she gets help from fellow artists like Joe Jackson, Taj Mahal, Dan Hicks and Ben Folds only makes the album that much better.

Since Rickie Lee Jones is not capable of making a less-than-great album, it's hard to be critical of any of her work in the context of her whole catalog. Each release is different from the last one and "It's Like This" is no exception. After the daring and brilliant masterpiece "Ghostyhead", Rickie Lee returns to a collection of some of her favorite songs. If you were lucky enough to catch some of her intimate shows during the past few years then this album will sound familiar on first listen. "It's Like This" is a little more spontaneous sounding than it's "sister" recording, 1991's near perfect "Pop Pop". But it's also a little less gorgeous and maybe a little less awe-inspiring this time around. Rickie's covers still shine and make you appreciate her unique singing style and instrumental arrangements. Stand outs include a pair of Gershwin songs: I Can't Get Started & Someone to Watch Over Me, a fantastic version of the old standard On the Street Where You Live, Hoagy Carmichaels Up a Lazy River and Marvin Gaye's Trouble Man. As always, masterful musicians accompany Rickie Lee that make you realize why among musicians she is considered a national treasure. Joe Jackson, Taj Mahal, Dan Hicks and Ben Folds lend their talents.

A renowned singer/songwriter doing an album of cover tunes always makes for an interesting experience: as a writer, the artist at hand is likely to select a song whose melody or lyric truly moved them, rather than just zero in on commercial songs for a second-hand hit. Rickie Lee Jones' "It's Like This" is a perfect example; drawing from obscure pop and lesser-heard jazz standards (only "Someone to Watch Over Me" is an easy choice), the singer comes up with one of the most original and compelling album of covers you're likely to find.

Steely Dan's "Show Biz Kids" gets things off to a traditional Rickie Lee start: a jazzy piece of bohemian pop that comes through the speakers like a breath of fresh air. The jazz overtones in Marvin Gaye's "Trouble Man" are brought to the forefront for a stellar reading, and leave it to Rickie to cover one of the most-covered bands ever (The Beatles), but to select one of the lesser-heard songs, the elegant and heartbreaking "For No One." Of the jazz standards, "Smile" benefits from the stark beauty of a duet between Rickie and acoustic guitar, and "I Can't Get Started" is so full of gorgeous longing you almost want to get your heart broken just to play the track at 2 a.m. There's upbeat joy to be found as well, though, on "The Street Where You Live" and a particularly strong "Up a Lazy River."

Boasting strong piano and guitar turns from Rickie and guest appearances by Joe Jackson, Ben Folds, and Taj Mahal, "It's Like This" proves once and for all that the gift of interpretation is just as important as the gift of composition. When remakes are this strong and original, is it truly fair to call them "covers"?

Rickie Lee Jones is one of those artists like Laura Nyro with whom people click or squirm. We click. This disc is cool, an album of jazz-flavored covers. "Show Biz Kids" written by Steely Dan's Becker & Fagen is a wild intro cut about Las Vegas. The lyric profanity, "They don't give a f**k about anybody else," startles. Marvin Gaye's "Trouble Man" pulsates in an eery manner and builds momentum to end. Rickie has the ability to make a tune all her own. She maximizes the haunting Beatles melody on "For No One," with the piano jabbing the underlying anger in contrast to Rickie's wistful vocal. "Smile" is given a sad treatment, stretching the emotional depth of the song. I love her version of Traffic's "Low Spark of High Heeled Boys." It's more smokey than smokin' compared to the original, but the stark bass and piano arrangement let Rickie explore the emotional highs and lows. I didn't think "On the Street Where You Live" could possibly sound fresh, but with prominent drums and Rickie's voice out on a lark, this is total fun. The little pause on the lyric, "They don't -- bother me" is an example of how she makes the song completely hers. Gershwin's "I Can't Get Started" with Jeff Dellisant's clarinet and "Someone to Watch Over Me" are gems. "Up A Lazy River" rocks on in a Broadway kind of way. "Cycles" is a reflective piece. The CD closes with a short version of the Bernstein/Sondheim tune "One Hand, One Heart." I don't know who does the male harmony vocal, but it is gorgeous, giving a quiet strength to counterpoint the vulnerable quality of Rickie's vocal. This is a great effort on her part, showing us that Rickie Lee Jones is a jazz singer who needs a category all her own to define her. Enjoy!

Rickie Lee Jones doesn't just "cover" songs, she internalizes them, lives with them, and then offers them to us from within, full of thought, emotion and life. "It's Like This", her third full set of cover songs (following the equally excellent "Girl At Her Volcano" and "Pop Pop") in her now 20-year recording career, is a brief, heartfelt musical voyage in which Sondheim & Bernstein and Lerner & Loewe mingle exquisitely with Steely Dan, The Beatles and Traffic. The common denominator, of course, is Jones' own amazing arranging and vocal abilities, as well as her good sense to surround herself with collaborators willing to take part in her vision rather than detract from it. As always, her unique voice swoops, pouts, wails and celebrates the music like a true jazz instrumentalist (her interpretations could easily be likened to Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker and Miles Davis, for instance), while never drawing attention to herself or away from the lyrics. In Jones' hands, the well-worn "On the Street Where You Live" becomes a fresh shout of joy, seemingly starting at her toes and ending somewhere in the clouds. "For No One", while as straight-forward a cover as she's ever done, takes on a new poignancy as you almost hear her heart well-up in sadness over the familiar lyrics. And "One Hand, One Heart", an emotionally naked, 2-minute duet with Joe Jackson, utterly stuns the listener in less time than it takes most singers to clear their throat. Like other true originals such as Lotte Lenya, Edith Piaf, Judy Garland, Janis Joplin, and Bjork, Rickie Lee Jones sings with every inch of her being, with need and not calculation... and here, as on all of her recordings, that allows for an almost inexplicable connection with her listeners.

Thank you, Rickie. I love you too.

Matthew - MBarberLA@aol.com

"Only those who risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go" - T.S. Eliot

If the rest of this album stunk (which it doesn't), we'd still pay the price for her wonderful rendition of our favorite Steely Dan song, "Show Biz Kids". Of course, this now makes two versions in which we still cannot understand the mantra-like background refrain("Las Vegas"?,"Lost Wages"?, "Lotsa Wedgies"? If anyone out there can help, please do.) On this album of others people's material, Rickie Lee makes some other excellent choices including Marvin Gaye, The Beatles, Traffic and real old-timers like George Gershwin, Hoagy Carmichael and Leonard Bernstein. It seems appropriate and inevitable that she record a song from West Side Story which surely influenced her earliest songs of urban drama. The album is well produced with moody arrangements, her trademark slurred delivery, and pianistic pleasures provided by Joe Jackson and Ben Folds.

Rickie Lee Jones doesn't just "cover" songs, she internalizes them, lives with them, and then offers them to us from within, full of thought, emotion and life. "It's Like This", her third full set of cover songs (following the equally excellent "Girl At Her Volcano" and "Pop Pop") in her now 20-year recording career, is a brief, heartfelt musical voyage in which Sondheim & Bernstein and Lerner & Loewe mingle exquisitely with Steely Dan, The Beatles and Traffic. The common denominator, of course, is Jones' own amazing arranging and vocal abilities, as well as her good sense to surround herself with collaborators willing to take part in her vision rather than detract from it. As always, her unique voice swoops, pouts, wails and celebrates the music like a true jazz instrumentalist (her interpretations could easily be likened to Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker and Miles Davis, for instance), while never drawing attention to herself or away from the lyrics. In Jones' hands, the well-worn "On the Street Where You Live" becomes a fresh shout of joy, seemingly starting at her toes and ending somewhere in the clouds. "For No One", while as straight-forward a cover as she's ever done, takes on a new poignancy as you almost hear her heart well-up in sadness over the familiar lyrics. And "One Hand, One Heart", an emotionally naked, 2-minute duet with Joe Jackson, utterly stuns the listener in less time than it takes most singers to clear their throat. Like other true originals such as Lotte Lenya, Edith Piaf, Judy Garland, Janis Joplin, and Bjork, Rickie Lee Jones sings with every inch of her being, with need and not calculation... and here, as on all of her recordings, that allows for an almost inexplicable connection with her listeners.

it's really like this-i'm having sooo much fun listening to this record. i was sceptical- i mean covers? it's like van gogh drawing that donkey head on the matchbook cover... but i'm wrong. WRONG! trouble man's my favorite- haunting-with a pirates warp that the song's been woven through. friendly ghosts of past work nodding and smiling, informing the directness, the freshness of the vocals, the arrangements. Joe Jackson's contributions are great- not to be overlooked. and ben's piano on low spark is just so brilliant. thanks rlj- for so much pleasure!

I simply cannot stop listening to this CD. I am a new Rickie Lee Jones fan who bought this CD only to hear the tracks that Joe Jackson sings on, and I was impressed by the whole collection. The CD features familiar tunes, but performed in a way that will make them seem new and refreshing.

"For No One" is perfectly done. "Show Biz Kids" had me singing in the car. "On The Street Where You Live" reminded me of when I first fell in love with my wife and couldn't stand to be without her. (I still feel that way, but the song took me back!)

I can't get over David's review, where he thought it odd that she "added" a four-letter-word into "Show Biz Kids" - take another listen to the original, bub. I love this album, and if you love RLJ, buy it !