On September 17th, Lanegan will release his first effort through Vagrant, a covers album entitled Imitations. Among the 12 tracks, Lanegan tackles Vern Gosdin’s “She’s Gone”, Nancy Sinatra’s “You Only Live Twice”, Nick Cave’s “Brompton Oratory”, and Bobby Darin’s “Mack the Knife”.When I was a kid in the late sixties and early seventies, my parents and their friends would play the records of Andy Williams, Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra and Perry Como, music with string arrangements and men singing songs that sounded sad whether they were or not. At home my folks were also listening to country music, Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash, George Jones and Vern Gosdin were some of our favorites. For a long time I’ve wanted to make a record that gave me the same feeling those old records did, using some of the same tunes I loved as a kid and some that I’ve loved as I have gotten older. This record is it. Imitations.
