I’ve long been a fan of Bill Callahan’s (smog), particularly 2005’s A River Aint Too Much To Love & 97’s Red Apple Falls. I was a bit fearful when he broke away from his moniker in 2007, but thankfully his ‘07 record, Woke on a Whaleheart proved itself resilient.

That all being said, “The Breeze/My Baby Cries” is a perfect song for Callahan to cover. Callahan’s main appeal is his ability to, at once, be bold, accepting of defeat, understanding of destiny, all while hopefully persevering.

I also like this song because it’s fairly circular in it’s story. Callahan uses this technique in his own songwriting & if I had to guess it would be one of the aspects of Bloom’s original that appealed to him.

Credit where credit is due: Below is Bloom & Conners’ original version as heard from their 1982 Sing The Children Over.

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Kath Bloom & Loren Conners – The Breeze/My Baby Cries (Sing The Children Over, 1982)

And since we are on the topic of covers, did you know that Cat Power’s first covers record includes one of Smog’s songs? Track #9, Red Apple Falls, is off Callahan’s 1997 LP bearing the same name. Sorry, it’s actually just called ‘Red Apples’. Hear it below.

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Cat Power – Red Apple Falls (The Covers Record, 2000)

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Smog – Red Apples Falls (Red Apple Falls, 1997)

That’s all for now, folks.