Sub Pop
1999
I'll Take Care Of You
About This Album
By now, anyone who has heard one of Mark Lanegan's solo albums knows exactly what the others will sound like -- Lanegan's weathered, smoky voice intones tales of quiet desperation over echoing electric guitar arpeggios, folky acoustic guitar work, and the occasional piano, organ, or violin embellishment. This approach has resulted in a compelling body of work, often possessed of remarkable depth, but it's also become something of a stylistic straitjacket over the course of several albums. And that's the only major knock against the otherwise brilliant I'll Take Care of You, Lanegan's fourth solo album, which marks the first time it hasn't taken him four years to deliver a follow-up. Perhaps that's because there's no original material here -- I'll Take Care of You applies the drifting, elegiac qualities of its predecessors to a selection of well-chosen, mostly underexposed folk, country, and blues covers. It's a testament to Lanegan's interpretive skill that he's able to use his already well-established style so effectively yet again, as most of these versions range from stunning to merely excellent. His sources are widely varied: acclaimed but undervalued folk artists like Tim Hardin and Fred Neil, soul-blues singer Bobby Bland (the Brook Benton-penned title track), cult indie bands the Gun Club and the Leaving Trains, country superstar Buck Owens, and traditional folk songs best known through Dave Van Ronk and Doc Watson.
Track List (try tracks 1,2,3,7,9 and 10)

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