Greatest Other People's Hits

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Originally released on vinyl as a ten-track collectible for 2018's Record Store Day, the expanded version of Greatest Other People's Hits adds seven more songs to the England-born/American-based singer/songwriter's covers' overview. Since adopting the nom de plume John Wesley Harding ("Bob Dylan was my father, Joan Baez was my mother, and I'm their bastard son") in the '80s (he also writes, records, and performs under his birth name, Wesley Stace), Harding has carved out a unique and creatively robust career that, in addition to his over 20 LPs, includes multiple novels and stints as a festival curator, University teacher, and variety show host. Opening with a spirited romp through Roky Erickson's "If You Have Ghosts," which was released in 1981 by Roky Erickson & the Aliens and covered by Harding on a 1990 tribute compilation, most of the material on Greatest Other People's Hits has seen the light of day in one iteration or another -- his stripped-down version of Madonna's "Like a Prayer, originally issued in 1989, closes the set. Particularly interesting is the inclusion of a string of previously unreleased tracks, including such diverse choices as Alun Davies' "Old Bourbon" (with Rick Moody), the Strawbs' "Benedictine" (with the Hooters' Eric Bazilian), Lou Reed's "Think It Over," and George Harrison's "Wah Wah," all of which are newer endeavors. Those songs, along with antecedents (although sometimes difficult to track down), performances, and collaborations with the Minus 5, Fastball, and Bruce Springsteen, deliver more than enough reasons to give this collection a spin, especially for longtime fans. ~ James Christopher Monger