Well, two days in a row now I’ve featured a cover version but, as with yesterday’s song, what I like about this rendition is that it’s quite far removed from the original.
Today’s haunting take on Karen Dalton’s spectacular Katie Cruel was performed by Canadian singer/ songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, Ora Cogan. Born in Salt Spring Island, British Columbia and currently based in Vancouver, Ora Cogan has been releasing music for over just over 15 years. I can’t say I’m wholly into her other music, but I do like her take on this haunted melody, which Karen Dalton so wonderfully penned and released in 1971.
Cogan captures the lonesome feel of the original and as the song progresses in its moody and desolate format, the same bedeviled feel creeps over you. It breathes a sweeping landscape of abandoned souls and you can almost feel the vast void as it chases you through the song with its galloping rhythm that gains on you with every beat. Vocally, Ora also has that tortured sound in her expression and I think the essence of the original is firmly captured, but I also like how it has its own identity – after all, it took me a while to realise what this was even though I recognised the lyrics!
Ora Cogan’s cover of this track appears on her 2010 album, The Boggy Mire which, if you didn’t know, is a lyric from Katie Cruel. The record also features some other interesting covers, all of which you can find here! Enjoy!
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