Paul Weller will release a brand-new covers album in July, his second following 2004’s Studio 150. Find El Dorado features contributions from Noel Gallagher, Robert Plant, Declan O’Rourke and more, and will be released July 25 on Parlophone.
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READ MORE: Every Paul Weller Album Ranked!
Listen to Weller’s version of Lawdy Rolla, originally recorded by French jazz/soul outfit The Guerrillas in 1969, below:
Weller’s last full set of covers, Studio 150, included versions of standards such Wishing On A Star, All Along The Watchtower and The Carpenters’ Close To You. Find El Dorado, however, dips into more eclectic fare for its source material.
Also released today, is a cover of Brian Protheroe’s 1974 track Pinball (a song Arctic Monkeys frontman Alex Turner included on his mix of songs for MOJO of influences on the band’s 2018 album Tranquillity Base Hotel & Casino). A take on Christy Moore’s 1975 version of Mountain’s One Last Cold Kiss featuring Middlesbrough folk singer Amelia Coburn is included, and Senegalese kora player Seckou Keita joins Weller for a version of Duncan Browne’s 1973 hit Journey. White Line Fever, from The Flying Burrito Brothers’ third, post-Gram Parsons LP and a track Weller was hymning to MOJO way back in 1998, is also featured in the set.
“These are songs I’ve carried with me for years,” Weller says of the selection. “They’ve taken on new shapes over time. And now felt like the moment to share them.”
Former Led Zeppelin frontman Robert Plant features on vocals and harmonica for a version of Clive’s Song, written by The Incredible String Band’s Clive Palmer, and first recorded by Scottish folk singer Hamish Imlach in 1969.
Noel Gallagher, meanwhile, plays acoustic guitar on El Dorado, originally written by Derry songwriter Eamon Freil for the 1986 film The Best Man.
The Oasis songwriter has contributed to multiple Weller albums over the past three decades, and he spoke to MOJO last year about his friendship and creative partnership with the former Jam leader:
“He’s always had that drive to do something new – the jump from Eton Rifles to Town Called Malice is immense, and a few months later you’re into The Style Council," Gallagher told MOJO. "He actually gets frustrated with artists who are not as forward thinking as him. He thinks most of us do the same old same old and get away with it. I remember, backstage before one of his shows in the ’90s, when someone made the mistake of going: “Fucking hell, won’t you just do Town Called Malice?” And there followed a massive row in the dressing room. He wouldn’t play anything from the past in those days.”
See the full list below, plus who originally recorded the song:
Find El Dorado Track Listing:
Handouts In The Rain (Richie Havens)
Small Town Talk (Bobby Charles)
El Dorado (Eamon Friel)
White Line Fever (The Flying Burrito Brothers)
One Last Cold Kiss (Christy Moore)
When You Are A King (White Plains)
Pinball (Brian Protheroe)
Where There’s Smoke, There’s Fire (Willie Griffin)
I Started A Joke (Bee Gees)
Never The Same (Lal and Mike Waterson)
Lawdy Rolla (The Guerrillas)
Nobody’s Fool (The Kinks)
Daltry Street (Jake Fletcher / PP Arnold)
Journey (Duncan Browne)
Clive’s Song (Hamish Imlach)
Find El Dorado will be released July 25 via Parlophone.
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Oasis And More In The Latest Issue Of MOJO!
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Photo: Dean Chalkley