In addition to recording and releasing her own music at an impressive rate, the incomparable Abby Jeanne occasionally reaches back to treat listeners to well-crafted covers of other artists. After putting out her excellent Music Box Dancer—which featured a great new take on Devil Met Contention’s “Die Easy” amid outstanding originals—early last year, Abby Jeanne followed that album by putting out a 7-inch in late 2019 that combined new material with a cover of the 1981 Siouxsie And The Banshees hit, “Spellbound.”
While the ongoing COVID-19 crisis has forced the driven artist to shelve her plans for world domination…at least for the time being, Abby Jeanne is keeping busy while staying quarantined in New York City. Back in May, the singer and her band (whose members are stationed in Milwaukee and Los Angles right now) remotely recorded a song that many Milwaukee music aficionados are sure to recognize.
“Stop And Listen” is a song Milwaukee rockers The Shag released via Capitol Records in 1967. Though the band didn’t endure too long after the release of this single, the song has stood the test of time, and earned a place in a Milwaukee jukebox, where Abby Jeanne first heard it when she was 14 years old.
“I always felt like this tune follows me around throughout my life. Even the first time I heard it, I got that special feeling like I was supposed to hear it. It never gets old,” Abby Jeanne says. “Sometimes everything is so crazy that it all feels like a dream, but then again perhaps it all is. In those times of madness, it seems the best thing we can do is to ‘stop and listen,’ take a breath, see how it’s all connected, and move forward.”
This wonderful cover of “Stop And Listen” was produced by Abby Jeanne, mixed by Glenn Brigman (singer for Los Angeles psych rock band Triptides), and mastered by Justin Perkins at Mystery Room Mastering. The song will be available on all streaming platforms on Tuesday, July 28. Before you can hear it anywhere else, stop and listen to Abby Jeanne’s tribute to The Shag below.