Tribute album
A tribute album is a recorded collection of cover versions of songs or instrumental compositions. Its concept may be either various artists making a tribute to a single artist, a single artist making a tribute to various artists, or a single artist making a tribute to another single artist.
There have been tributes or covers recorded since before the first albums became technically feasible; Enrico Caruso's 1907 recordings of Ruggero Leoncavallo's opera Pagliacci are one early example. The birth of the 'modern' tribute album is often credited to record producer Hal Willner with the Amarcord Nino Rota LP in 1981. He followed up with tributes to Thelonious Monk, Disney cartoons, Kurt Weill, Charles Mingus and Harold Arlen.
Some tribute albums are created with a further conceptual twist than a simple collection of covers. These include:
- Albums which aid the artist whose work is being covered. These include Where The Pyramid Meets The Eye: A Tribute to Roky Erickson, whose cult fame has not led to financial success, as well as the 2CD Orphans of God, a tribute to Mark Heard, a singer/songwriter whose work has been praised by fellow artists such as Bruce Cockburn, Victoria Williams, Sam Phillips and T-Bone Burnett. Victoria Williams is also the subject of such a tribute CD, titled Sweet Relief: A Benefit for Victoria Williams.
- Albums consisting of one artist performing only songs by another artist, such as Great Zeppelin, a tribute album for Led Zeppelin, performed solely by Great White or Wicked Grin, a collection of Tom Waits songs performed by John Hammond Jr.. The Persuasions, The Inmates, Les Fradkin, The Smithereens, Laibach and Overboard have each recorded tribute CDs entirely consisting of songs by The Beatles.
- Albums consisting of cover songs performed in a different style of music than that of their original performers. These include Is It Rolling Bob?: A Reggae Tribute to Bob Dylan and Goth Oddity 2000: A Tribute to David Bowie, as well as the Pickin' On... and String Quartet series of instrumental artist tributes done bluegrass and classical style, respectively. Other examples include reggae, Cuban and ambient lounge compilations consisting solely of songs by The Beatles, such as the a cappella album Help! by the group Overboard. Another good example is The Songs of West Side Story, a compilation of 1990s style covers of songs from Leonard Bernstein's musical West Side Story that was released by RCA Victor and features prominent artists of the time, such as Salt-n-Pepa, Michael McDonald, Chick Corea, and even non-musical guests such as The Jerky Boys.
- Albums which recreate a specific album with cover versions of songs from that album. These include Legacy: A Tribute to Fleetwood Mac's Rumours, Booker T. & the M.G.'s' McLemore Avenue, which covers all the songs from The Beatles' Abbey Road, Les Fradkin "Pepper Front To Back" which covers the entire "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" album as a CD of guitar instrumental rock and More Oar: A Tribute to Alexander "Skip" Spence, which recreates Spence's only album Oar.
- Albums consisting of cover songs sung in another language. These include Tributo a the Cure - Porque No Puedo Ser Tu (1999) and Tributo a Queen: Los Grandes del Rock en Español (1997).
- Albums consisting of cover songs performed by artists who influenced the band being covered, rather than those influenced by that band. These include Sharin' in the Groove: Celebrating the Music of Phish.
- Albums made to commemorate the loss of a cherished artist. These include So Amazing: A Tribute to Luther Vandross, recorded shortly after his death.
Some albums titled and marketed as "tributes" to well-known musical figures are effectively sound-alikes or knock-offs, recorded by anonymous session musicians or performers of no distinction.
Selective chronological list
1900-1949
1950-1969
- 1951 Fats Waller Memorial Set, Earl Hines
- 1953 The Fats Waller Songbook, Andre Previn
- 1954 Louis Armstrong Plays W. C. Handy
- 1955 Woody Guthrie's Blues, Ramblin' Jack Elliott
- 1955 Thelonious Monk plays the Music of Duke Ellington
- 1955 Satch Plays Fats, Louis Armstrong
- 1956 Shades of Bix, Jimmy McPartland
- 1959 Songs of Hank Williams, Joni James
- 1960 Mario Lanza Sings Caruso Favorites, Mario Lanza
- 1960 George Jones Salutes Hank Williams
- 1961 I Remember Tommy, Frank Sinatra
- 1961 Trav'lin' Light, Anita O'Day
- 1962 George Jones Sings Bob Wills
- 1962 Nina Simone Sings Ellington
- 1965 Frankly Basie: Count Basie Plays the Hits of Frank Sinatra, Count Basie
1970-1979
1980-1989
- 1980 Jerry Reed Sings Jim Croce, Jerry Reed
- 1981 Amarcord Nino Rota, various artists, producer Hal Willner
- 1985 The Big Gundown, John Zorn
- 1989 Spy vs Spy: The Music of Ornette Coleman, John Zorn
- 1984 That's The Way I Feel Now: A Tribute to Thelonious Monk, various artists, producer Hal Willner
- 1985 Lost in the Stars: The Music of Kurt Weill, various artists, producer Hal Willner
- 1988 Stay Awake: Various Interpretations of Music from Vintage Disney Films, various artists, producer Hal Willner
1990-1999
- 1990 Where The Pyramid Meets The Eye: A Tribute to Roky Erickson, various artists
- 1992 Weird Nightmare: Meditations on Mingus, various artists, producer Hal Willner
- 1992 Red Hot + Dance, various artists
- 1993 Sweet Relief: A Benefit for Victoria Williams, various artists
- 1993 Red Hot + Blue, various artists
- 1994 Red Hot + Country, various artists
- 1995 Intoxicated Man, Mick Harvey
- 1995 September Songs: The Music of Kurt Weill, various artists, producer Hal Willner
- 1996 Red Hot + Rio, various artists
- 1997 Black Night - Deep Purple According To New York, various artists
- 1999 Burning London: The Clash Tribute, various artists
- 1999 More Oar: A Tribute to the Skip Spence Album, various artists
2000-current
Selective list by artist
go to List of tribute albums