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Scarlett Johannson Covers Waits

MONDAY OCTOBER 16 2006 2:00 PM

Submitted by Colin_ORegan. Edited By Colin_ORegan.

TAGS: Scarlett, Johannson, Tom Waits, Covers

Scarlett Johansson is ready to start a singing career - because having only one mulit-million dollar career in Hollywood is for the weak. Fox News reported this morning that Scarlett was hard at work on her debut Scarlett Sings Tom Waits. As the title suggests, Scarlett will be tackling the standards penned by the inimitable Tom Waits. The album is already in production with recording continuing through winter with a goal of a spring release via Atco, Rhino Record's recently defibrillated subsidiary.

Fox attempts to assuage our fears:

Fear not, though. Unlike some other recent pop tarts, Scarlett � who turns 22 next month � can actually sing; she is no Paris Hilton. Also, her choice of material is a tad more sophisticated. She's making a whole album of songs by Tom Waits, one of the premier singer-songwriters in the business.

166 Comments

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lothar33

Faroe Islands

January 2006

OCT 16, 2006 08:48 PM

let's wait and see.
give her a chance.
i used to think no one could a better version of cohen's 'hallelujah' until jeff buckley opened his golden throat

Dr_U

Cincinnati, OH

November 2004

OCT 16, 2006 09:07 PM

actors.

Cigarette

Cleveland, OH

April 2004

OCT 16, 2006 09:19 PM

Dr_U said:
actors.

What's that supposed to mean?

Subrosa

San Francisco, CA

July 2004

OCT 16, 2006 09:23 PM

Cigarette said:

Dr_U said:
actors.

What's that supposed to mean?

You're all kinda fruity, right?

photoline

Edmonton, AB

January 2005

OCT 16, 2006 09:35 PM

Can't wait for the video.......

eyerush

Hayward, CA

October 2005

OCT 16, 2006 09:41 PM

The worst part is that I fear a Janis Joplin imitation. She's hot but I hardly think that makes her worthy. Will I buy it and listen to it? Yes. It's still the hottest girl singing the coolest singers songs.

Wheezy_E

Boulder City, NV

April 2004

OCT 16, 2006 09:42 PM

I don't really have an opinion on the singing idea per se, but Scarlet with a decent whiskey and cigarrette habit, that's something I could get into.

otaku

I'm lost

January 2004

OCT 16, 2006 09:42 PM

Cigarette said:

No rights have to be acquired to publish a cover of a song. It's called a "compulsory license" and all you have to do is pay the Harry Fox agency.

I dunno...didn't Michael Jackson stop the Beastie Boys from including their cover of "I'm Down" on their first album (no Jacko didn't write it, but sadly he owns the rights to the Beatles' catalogue, or at least he did at the time).

Ziltoid

Australia

April 2006

OCT 16, 2006 09:47 PM

TheFuckOffKid said:

Juggernautchild said:
This is conceivably the best or worst idea ever. It's hard to say.

Nooooooooooo kidding.

Fuck oath.

eyerush

Hayward, CA

October 2005

OCT 16, 2006 10:01 PM

Wheezy_E said:
I don't really have an opinion on the singing idea per se, but Scarlet with a decent whiskey and cigarrette habit, that's something I could get into.

Agreed

waxangel

Baltimore, MD

May 2003

OCT 16, 2006 10:58 PM

Juggernautchild said:
This is conceivably the best or worst idea ever. It's hard to say.

Fuckin' nailed it with the first comment.

Burtons_Ghost

I'm lost

October 2003

OCT 17, 2006 04:46 AM

Maybe she can pull it off. Maybe not. But I think the thing that really twists my wig about it is the sheer presumptuousness of the idea. It just sounds so much like the vanity project of a rich bored little twit. Do you think an unknown 23 year old singer could get a record deal on the premise of doing a Tom Waits cover album?

Minnie Driver did a folk album a while back that was actually pretty good. I was really quite surprised. But it was a quiet, tasteful collection of her own stuff and it didn't come off as some "look at me" sort of thing.

I'm trying the keep an open mind about this but I have visions of William Shatner singing "Rocket Man"......

Cigarette

Cleveland, OH

April 2004

OCT 17, 2006 04:53 AM

otaku said:

Cigarette said:

No rights have to be acquired to publish a cover of a song. It's called a "compulsory license" and all you have to do is pay the Harry Fox agency.

It didn't go unreleased because it was a cover version; that song included a sample of "I'm Down" as well, and samples must be cleared by the copyright holder. The Beastie Boys had other songs blocked, like "Rock Hard" which was blocked for an AC/DC sample (the band wouldn't even give them permission to release it on Sounds of Science, Mike D even talked to them personally). Same with Public Enemy's "Psycho of Greed", which samples "Tomorrow Never Knows" (and is one of my fave PE songs). The Beatles wouldn't get behind it at all. So punks can continue churning out ironic covers albums and answer to no one, but rappers can't sample without shelling out $100,000 per.

From the Harry Fox web site:

Under the United States Copyright Act, the right to use copyrighted, non-dramatic musical works in the making of phonorecords for distribution to the public for private use is the exclusive right of the copyright owner. However, the Act provides that once a copyright owner has recorded and distributed such a work to the U.S. public or permitted another to do so, a compulsory mechanical license is available to anyone else who wants to record and distribute the work in the U.S. upon the payment of license fees at the statutory "compulsory" rate as set forth in Section 115 of the Act.

Here's a fun website with some history on it.

Cigarette

Cleveland, OH

April 2004

OCT 17, 2006 04:57 AM

Subrosa said:

Cigarette said:

Dr_U said:
actors.

What's that supposed to mean?

You're all kinda fruity, right?

Absolutely. We're all egomaniacs bent on nothing more than absolute fame and fortune. We're not real artists like painters or doom metal singers.

Though I suppose comments like that shouldn't surprise me. It's been over 2,000 years since all the narrow-minded assholes considered actors anything else than whores and immoral glory-hounds.

Though what do I know? I only spend all day every day with them.

Though to be fair, film work is prostituting one's self. Film and commercials are for actors who can't hack it on stage.

creativename

HOPEFUL

San Francisco, CA

OCT 17, 2006 05:04 AM

Cigarette said:

aegiswings said:
Actors should not sing. Has there ever been a decent crossover? Besides Barbra Streisand, and she went the other way.

Does the entirety of the golden age of film count? A lot of actors get their start in theatre, and you know what pays the bills in theatre? Ding ding ding! Musicals! Being able to sing is damn near the most valuable secondary skill for a young actor. Bette Midler, Meat Loaf, Liza Minelli, and Tracey Ullman all started as actors before becoming recording artists.

How about Anthony Rapp, or Jesse L. Martin, or Even Taye Diggs (he's semi decent sometimes), Nathan Lane, and Matthew Broderick?

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