Paul Weller has released a new version of the Bee Gees‘ 1968 track, I Started A Joke, from his forthcoming covers album.
Due July 25, ‘Find El Dorado’ features 14 reworkings of classic songs, with its latest release said to be “a centrepiece” of the collection, according to a press release.
“It’s one of those tracks that almost makes you rethink your own writing,” Weller says. “It reinforces the value of a great melody. And perhaps with someone like Robin Gibb [on lead vocals], who didn’t play any instruments, that’s doubly important.”
“Because that – along with the words you’ve written for it – is all you can really communicate to the musicians and the arranger. So everything is hanging off that.”
Listen to I Started A Joke below.
‘Find El Dorado’ is billed as “a map of [Weller’s] emotional and musical DNA” and sees the singer-songwriter “revisit songs that have long lived in the back of his mind – now reimagined with fresh meaning and a sense of reverence”.
In a previous statement, he explained: “These are songs I’ve carried with me for years. They’ve taken on new shapes over time. And now felt like the moment to share them.”
An official description adds: “These are songs that shaped his inner world – and now, through a mix of intimate arrangements and standout collaborations with the likes of Hannah Peel, Declan O’Rourke, Robert Plant, Seckou Keita, Amelia Coburn and Noel Gallagher, he’s passing them on.
“This is Weller at his most reflective, offering listeners a rare glimpse into the music that made him, and a reminder that great songs never age, they just evolve.”
‘Find El Dorado’ is out July 25 and is available to pre-order from Amazon, HMV, Rough Trade, Townsend and more.
Tracklist: Paul Weller – Find El Dorado
1. Handouts in the Rain (Richie Havens)
2. Small Town Talk (Bobby Charles)
3. El Dorado (Eamon Friel)
4. White Line Fever (The Flying Burrito Brothers)
5. One Last Cold Kiss (Christy Moore)
6. When you are a King (White Plains)
7. Pinball (Brian Protheroe)
8. Where There’s Smoke, There’s Fire (Willie Griffin)
9. I Started a Joke (Bee Gees)
10. Never the Same (Lal and Mike Waterson)
11. Lawdy Rolla (The Guerrillas)
12. Nobody’s Fool (The Kinks)
13. Journey (Duncan Browne)
14. Daltry Street (Jake Fletcher / PP Arnold)
15. Clive’s Song (Hamish Imlach)
