JASON ISBELL AND THE 400 UNIT - Georgia Blue (Repress) - 2LP - Black Vinyl

2LP - Black Vinyl

Back in November of 2021, Jason Isbell tweeted, “If Biden wins Georgia I’m gonna make a charity covers album of my favourite Georgia songs…. And damn is that gonna be fun.” Isbell and his band the 400 Unit have now made good on the promise, revealing Georgia Blue. The album includes covers of songs by Cat Power, Otis Redding, Indigo Girls, the Allman Brothers Band, Gladys Knight and The Pips, and more.

“Georgia Blue is a labor of love. On election day 2020, when I saw that there was a good chance the state of Georgia might go blue, I came up with an idea: to record an album of Georgia- related songs as a thank you to the state and donate the money to a Georgia based non-profit organization. I will admit my motivations were a bit selfish. For years, I’ve been looking for an excuse to record these songs with my band and some friends. The songs on this album are some of my favorite Georgia-related songs, but the tracklist is not meant to be comprehensive. I would love to cover Outkast and 2 Chainz, but I don’t think the finished product would be very good. We’re a rock band, so we covered rock songs. We have roots in blues and R&B, so we enlisted some brilliant artists to help us pull off songs by Precious Bryant, James Brown, and Gladys Knight. My favorite part of the Georgia Blue recording process was having the opportunity to work with these very special artists, and I thank them: Amanda Shires, Brittney Spencer, Adia Victoria, Brandi Carlile, Julien Baker, Bèla Fleck, Chris Thile, Steve Gorman, Peter Levin, and John Paul White. I hope you enjoy listening to these recordings as much as we enjoyed making them. Keep listening to good music and fighting the good fight.”

Tracklist:

A1. “Nightswimming” featuring Béla Fleck, Chris Thile [originally by R.E.M.]
A2. “Honeysuckle Blue” featuring Sadler Vaden [originally by Drivin N’ Cryin]
A3. “It’s a Man’s World” featuring Brittney Spencer [originally by James Brown]
A4. “Cross Bones Style” featuring Amanda Shires [originally by Cat Power]

B1. “The Truth” featuring Adia Victoria [originally by Precious Bryant]
B2. “I’ve Been Loving You Too Long” [originally by Otis Redding]
B3. “Sometimes Salvation” featuring Steve Gorman [originally by The Black Crowes]
B4. “Kid Fears” featuring Julien Baker, Brandi Carlile [originally by Indigo Girls]
B5. “Reverse” [originally by Now It’s Overhead]

C1. “Midnight Train to Georgia” featuring Brittney Spencer, John Paul White [originally by Gladys Knight & the Pips]
C2. “In Memory of Elizabeth Reed” featuring Peter Levin [originally by the Allman Brothers Band]

D1. “I’m Through” [originally by Vic Chesnutt]
D2. “Driver 8” featuring John Paul White [originally by R.E.M.]