Jesse's Forget-Me-Nots

Jesse's Forget-Me-Nots

Bruce Von Stiers

Most of the music of Jesse Terry leans towards alt-folk and Americana. He has ventured into adding his own mark to other types of music, including a recent, well-received holiday themed album.

Now Jesse has moved into a new musical venture. This venture is a double album of covers. There are a few older tunes and several more modern ones. The songs move across several genres, including country and pop. The title of this collections of songs is Forget-Me-Nots Volumes 1 & 2.

Some of the people who've worked with Jesse before helped on this collection as well. Eamon McLoughlin was on violin, viola and mandolin. Will Kimbrough played electric and acoustic guitars. Neilson Hubbard was on drums, did some harmonies and played piano on one song. Juan Solorzano was on electric guitar. Danny Mitchell played organ, piano, keys and did some harmonies.

Also playing with Jesse was Fats Kaplin on pedal steel, lap steel, dobro, violin, and mandolin. Fats has worked with a bunch of artists such as Trisha Yearwood, Jack White, John Prine and Beck. Alan Fish played acoustic guitar on one song and Craig Bickhardt provided harmonies on the same song. Mary Rose Lynne, who was on Jesse's When We Wander album, provides harmonies. Also providing harmonies was Mary Bragg.

The collection was produced by Jesse and Neilson Hubbard. Executive producers were Rick and Marianne Chester. The songs were recorded at The Bunkhouse in Prosperity, South Carolina and at Skinny Elephant Recording in Nashville. The collection is being released on Jesse's label, Wander Recordings.

Probably the best-known version of Harbor Lights was recorded by the Sammy Kaye band. Typically done with a Hawaiian sound, Jesse moves the song into more of a folk styling.

Jesse does a nice job with the Tom Waits song, Hold On. The vocals are lighter than Waits' throaty vocals. There are great harmonies in the song as well.

Eric Clapton has a subtle tone to his song, Let It Grow. Jesse adds a somewhat more heartfelt sound to his rendition of the song.

Losing You was made popular by Brenda Lee. Jesse adds a folk flavor to the song. There are some terrific harmonies in the song.

All Through The Night is a great song from Jules Shear that was later covered by Cyndi Lauper. It is wonderfully done here by Jesse.

I've been a fan of Joni Mitchell it seems like forever. One of my favorite songs of hers is A Case of You. Jesse does a fair rendition of the song. His has a more of a folk sound to it though.

Tom Petty was gone far too soon. Jesse performs a really nice rendition of Petty's song Walls.

Over the years, Glen Campbell had several signature songs. One of the first of those was the John Hartford song, Gentle On My Mind. I have heard a few artists do the song over the years. With his rendition, I think Jesse's is the best I've heard other than Campbell. Not only is the music terrific, Jesse's vocals are great. And the harmonies are fantastic.

There are a few true classic songs on the album. I usually see these on jazz styled albums. The Johnny Mercer, Hoagy Carmichael song, Skylark, is well done here. As is the Gershwin song, Someone To Watch Over Me. Jesse kept the essence of each song, just adding a bit of his own touch. And Jesse did a decent job with the Rodgers and Hammerstein song, Some Enchanted Evening.

Jesse takes on the Bob Dylan song My Back Pages. His rendition has a slightly faster pace than the original but is nicely done. The harmonies are really good, and the breaks have some fine guitar.

Jesse did one of Craig Bickhardt's songs, Crazy Nightingale. This is the song that Bickhardt provided harmonies on and Alan Fish played guitar for. It was a nice touch to add both the song and vocals by the original artist.

One of the newer songs that Jesse does on the collection is Don't Dream It's Over. It has a bit subtler and gentler sound than the original by Crowded House. There is also some interesting steel pedal and other guitar music in the song.

There are mellow, gentle, harmonies in the rendition of the BeeGees song Immortality.

I found it very interesting that Jesse included the Coldplay song Don't Panic. His rendition has a more of a folk sound with mandolin and steel guitar backing Jesse's subtle vocals.

Another interesting selection was Goodbye Yellow Brick Road. I've never heard a cover of the Elton John song before. Jesse gives the song a soft and gentle touch.

I have heard a couple of different people cover Will You Love Me Tomorrow? Even though Jesse put a bit of Americana sound behind the vocals, he stayed pretty true to the essence of the Carole King song.

Andy Williams and Willie Nelson have both recorded Twilight Time. Perhaps the most well-known rendition of the song is from The Platters. It is well done by Jesse here. There is also a pretty good rendition of the Townes Van Zandt song, No Place to Fall.

Seven Bridges Road is a top pick by many for The Eagles songs. Jesse gives this Steve Young penned song his own gentle touch.

Adios was sung by Linda Ronstadt and then by Glen Campbell on his final album. It was written by Jimmy Webb, who wrote songs such as Wichita Lineman and By The Time I Get To Phoenix. Jesse chose this song to close out the collection. It is a sad, yet beautiful song and Jesse does it very well.

Cover albums have been done by anyone from lesser-known artists to Paul McCartney to James Taylor to even Scarlett Johannsen. Some cover albums are well done and have great songs, while others aren't so great. As for Jesse Terry's collection of covers, there a great selection of songs that cross several genres. Jesse added his own touch to most of the songs, some gentler, some more upbeat. The vocals on all the songs were fluid interpretations of the lyrics. The harmonies were terrific and the backing music for each song was great.

Forget-Me-Nots Volumes 1 & 2 is now out. You can check your favorite music outlet for availability.

To learn more about the collection and Jesse Terry, visit his official website at https://www.jesseterrymusic.com/

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