by Michael D. Ayers, N.Y. |
June 25, 2009 11:07 EDT
Jim James of My Morning Jacket is releasing his first solo record, a collection of George Harrison covers.
As reported yesterday, My Morning Jacket's Jim James (under the name Yim Yames) is slated to release his first solo offering on August 4 - a tribute to the late Beatle George Harrison. Fans will be able to get a taste of the entire EP starting on July 7 when the set becomes available via Yimyames.com for purchase. One track, "Behind That Locked Door," is available now as a free download on the website. Pre-orders for CD and vinyl versions will start on July 7 and a portion of the proceeds will be donated to the Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary.
"I felt like I was in the weirdest head space when I did that EP," James tells Billboard.com of the 2001 recording session that took place just days after Harrison's death. "I felt really confused a lot of the time. I wanted to just do it and let it come out even if I messed stuff up. It's definitely not the tightest or most professional recording you're ever going to hear in your life but I like that. I think it lends it a more childish atmosphere."
"I wanted it to exist as a version of me back then, a person who is in love with George Harrison's music," he adds.
While fans can expect to hear James in a more raw, minimalist way he says that it's not just his voice and an acoustic guitar. "Love You To" is augmented with a banjo and "Ballad of Sir Frankie Crisp (Let It Roll)" has James on piano. He also describes the arrangements of "My Sweet Lord" as "pretty faithful to the original version."
"It doesn't have any drums or anything like that, but it's a bit slower," he says. "I'm just playing the acoustic and singing; I just went in to overdub some backing vocals to create the all important backing vocals within that song."
Although James has been sitting on these recordings for quite awhile, he says the time "never felt right until now" to release them - and his participation in David Lynch's "Change Begins Within" concert provided a small catalyst in renewing his interest. "That was one of the things that made me want to release it again," he says. "Being at that benefit, George's name came up a lot. Talking with people who had known him, his spirit was very big at that event."
James also revealed that he's in the beginning stages of working on a full length solo record, but it's still coming to fruition. "It's not planned or mapped out; I'm just kind of setting up a home studio and star ting to get into that again. Sit around by myself and play stuff. I think that's in the works but it's hard to say when."
"I felt like I was in the weirdest head space when I did that EP," James tells Billboard.com of the 2001 recording session that took place just days after Harrison's death. "I felt really confused a lot of the time. I wanted to just do it and let it come out even if I messed stuff up. It's definitely not the tightest or most professional recording you're ever going to hear in your life but I like that. I think it lends it a more childish atmosphere."
"I wanted it to exist as a version of me back then, a person who is in love with George Harrison's music," he adds.
While fans can expect to hear James in a more raw, minimalist way he says that it's not just his voice and an acoustic guitar. "Love You To" is augmented with a banjo and "Ballad of Sir Frankie Crisp (Let It Roll)" has James on piano. He also describes the arrangements of "My Sweet Lord" as "pretty faithful to the original version."
"It doesn't have any drums or anything like that, but it's a bit slower," he says. "I'm just playing the acoustic and singing; I just went in to overdub some backing vocals to create the all important backing vocals within that song."
Although James has been sitting on these recordings for quite awhile, he says the time "never felt right until now" to release them - and his participation in David Lynch's "Change Begins Within" concert provided a small catalyst in renewing his interest. "That was one of the things that made me want to release it again," he says. "Being at that benefit, George's name came up a lot. Talking with people who had known him, his spirit was very big at that event."
James also revealed that he's in the beginning stages of working on a full length solo record, but it's still coming to fruition. "It's not planned or mapped out; I'm just kind of setting up a home studio and star ting to get into that again. Sit around by myself and play stuff. I think that's in the works but it's hard to say when."
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