Don't Know When I'll Be Back Again (2003)

About this title: What an ingenious idea. As a way of "benefiting American Veterans of the Vietnam War," D.C. label Exotic Fever paired up each of 20 artists, many out of the local scene, with a song from the Vietnam era. The resulting compilation brings the spirit and energy of the '60s into the 21st century and filters all the emotions and ideals of those times through latter-day sound, fitting (and all too relevant) in an age that experienced similar -- though, at once, entirely uncharted -- questions regarding war. Some of the new takes perhaps play it too safe, or have little chance of bettering original ... read more

Tracks:

1. Don't Let It Bring You Down [Young]
2. Fear Is a Man's Best Friend [Cale]
3. White Rabbit [Slick]
4. Immigrant Sons [Led Zeppelin]
5. They Just Can't Stop It (The Games People Play) [Hawes/Simmons/Jeffe]
6. Hello It's Me [Rundgren]
7. For What It's Worth [Stills]
8. 1969 [Stooges]
9. Come Together [Lennon/McCartney]
10. Me and Bobby McGee [Foster/Kristofferso]
11. Fortunate Son [Fogerty]
12. I Feel Like I'm Fixin' to Die Rag [McDonald]
13. Little Boxes [Reynolds]
14. Song for the Asking [Simon]
15. Happy Together [Bonner/Gordon]
16. There Is a Mountain [Donovan]
17. Everybody's Been Burned [Crosby]
18. Taps [public domain]
19. I Don't Live Today [Hendrix]
20. Many Rivers to Cross [Cliff]

Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is further described below.