Captain Marvel Brie Larson isn’t the only Avenger with an album to her credit. Scarlett Johansson, Black Widow herself, has nurtured a music career on the side for more than a dozen years now.
Johansson’s 2008 debut album, Anywhere I Lay My Head, was a decidedly indie affair, featuring 10 covers of Tom Waits songs plus one original track. The murky production and deadpan, smoky vocals turned off many critics, but the release garnered something of a cult following.
Ten years before she won a Best Actress Oscar for Room and 14 years before she joined the Marvel Cinematic Universe as one the most powerful Avengers, Captain Marvel, Brie Larson was a 16-year-old wannabe pop singer in the Avril Lavigne mold.
Larson’s one and only album, Finally Out of P.E., is a collection of generic pop songs about the trials of a 21st century high school student. It isn’t any good, but it’s charming in hindsight, given the trajectory Larson’s career took over the following decade.
My next movie star musician is Mr. Kevin Costner, who has fronted a band called Modern West since 2008. The country rock outfit has released five albums, the most recent in 2020.
While the band’s first three albums steer clear of their lead singer’s movie career, the next two are companion pieces to his TV work: 2012’s Famous for Killing Each Other [Music from and Inspired by Hatfields & McCoys] and last year’s Tales From Yellowstone.
This week I’m featuring songs by artists much better known for their acting. Most of these artists have released recorded material either solo or with a band, but today’s selection is decidedly more amateur.
Like so many teenagers of her generation, Florence Pugh had a YouTube channel — under the name Flossie Rose — where she recorded musical performances. Only a handful remain, or maybe she recorded only a handful to begin with. The songs include ‘Hey Ho’ by The Lumineers and ‘Make You Feel My Love’ by Bob Dylan/Adele.
Today’s random track was recorded by Bob Dylan and The Band in 1967, as part of the casual sessions that were eventually released on 1975’s The Basement Tapes. Before that release, an alternate version of the song appeared on Dylan’s second greatest hits collection in 1971.
In much different form, and titled simply ‘Down in the Flood,’ this song was recorded by both The Derek Trucks Band and Blood, Sweat and Tears.
Meet Me In Montauk 