Katey Sagal has quite the résumé, with both an acclaimed acting career and a memorable music pursuit under her belt. She is known best as Peggy Bundy on Married… With Children, the voice of Leela on Futurama, as well as the lead on 8 Simple Rules. Currently, she stars in Sons Of Anarchy, and has sung on the show’s soundtrack. On her previous two solo albums, Sagal has covered many classics, such as “(For The Love Of) Money,” and has included her own original songs into the mix as well. However, she has never done a full record of borrowed tracks until 2013’s Covered.
Covered includes Sagal’s versions of songs by Tom Petty, Joni Mitchell, Ryan Adams and Gillian Welch, as well as several others. As she has always wanted to cover a Petty tune, the release opens with her take on “Free Fallin’.” Her version is definitely more energetic and less melancholic, as she’s singing in the third person, unlike in the original. It also features a bouncier beat in the background and what seem to be heavily auto-tuned backing vocals. The only duet on the album is a haunting rendition of Steve Earle’s “Goodbye” with Jackson Browne. Sagal’s adaptation of Browne’s own elegiac “For A Dancer” takes an already deep song and quite possibly adds more feeling to it. The closer, “Roses And Cigarettes,” bears no resemblance to Ray LaMontagne’s, and is instead more rock-oriented.
Sometimes when an actor tries to have a singing career, it does not work out in their favor. However, Katey Sagal is an exception, as her album, Covered, is very well done. Although none of the tracks are hers, she picked the right ones to showcase her powerful yet whispery voice. The best part of the record is that Sagal makes all the songs her own, and they form a cohesive release together.
In A Word: Borrowed
