''Cannot Buy My Soul: The Songs of Kev Carmody'', or more simply ''Cannot Buy My Soul'', is a 2007 double-CD compilation

tribute album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records coll ...

featuring various artists performing tracks by Australian singer-songwriter

Kev Carmody Kevin Daniel Carmody (born 1946), better known by his stage name Kev Carmody, is an Aboriginal Australian singer-songwriter and musician, a Murri man from northern Queensland. He is best known for the song "From Little Things Big Things Grow", ...

. They were brought together by rock musician, Paul Kelly, who also performs on a track. Artists include Dan Kelly (Paul's nephew), the

John Butler Trio The John Butler Trio are an Australian roots/rock band led by guitarist and vocalist John Butler, an APRA and ARIA-award-winning musician. They formed in Fremantle in 1998 with Jason McGann on drums, Gavin Shoesmith on bass and John Butler on vo ...

the Waifs The Waifs (originally styled as The WAiFS) are an Australian folk rock band formed in 1992 by sisters Vikki Thorn (harmonica, guitar, vocals) and Donna Simpson (musician), Donna Simpson (guitar, vocals) as well as Josh Cunningham (guitar, vocal ...

and

Clare Bowditch Clare Bowditch (born 1975) is an Australian musician, actress, radio presenter and business entrepreneur. At the ARIA Music Awards of 2006, Bowditch won the ARIA Award for Best Female Artist and was nominated for a Logie Award for her work on ...

. The first disc is sub-titled, ''The Songs of Kev Carmody'' while the second disc, sub-titled, ''Originals'', is a compilation of Carmody's original versions of the same tracks presented in the same order. It entered the

Australian Recording Industry Association The Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) is a trade association representing the Australian recording industry which was established in the 1970s by six major record companies, EMI, Festival, CBS, RCA, WEA and Universal replacing th ...

(ARIA)

albums chart A record chart, in the music industry, also called a music chart, is a ranking of recorded music according to certain criteria during a given period. Many different criteria are used in worldwide charts, often in combination. These include rec ...

at No. 31 and stayed in the top 50 for three weeks. It won Album of the Year at Deadly Awards 2007. On 9 July 2020, EMI Music Australia announced a re-release of Cannot Buy My Soul with six new recordings, to be released on August 21. The 2020 edition will feature new recordings of Kev Carmody songs from

Courtney Barnett Courtney Melba Barnett (born 3 November 1987) is an Australian singer, songwriter, and musician. Known for her deadpan singing style and witty, rambling lyrics, she attracted attention with the release of her debut EP ''I've Got a Friend Calle ...

Kasey Chambers Kasey Chambers (born 4 June 1976) is an Australian country singer-songwriter and musician born in Mount Gambier. She is the daughter of fellow musicians, Diane and Bill Chambers, and the younger sister of musician and producer, Nash Chambers. ...

Jimmy Barnes James Dixon "Jimmy" Barnes (née Swan; born 28 April 1956) is a Scottish-born Australian rock singer. His career, both as a solo performer and as the lead vocalist with the rock band Cold Chisel, has made him one of the most popular and best-s ...

, Mo’Ju & Birdz (produced by

Trials In law, a trial is a coming together of parties to a dispute, to present information (in the form of evidence) in a tribunal, a formal setting with the authority to adjudicate claims or disputes. One form of tribunal is a court. The tribunal, w ...

Kate Miller-Heidke Kate Melina Miller-Heidke (; born 16 November 1981) is an Australian singer and songwriter. Although classically trained, she has generally followed a career in alternative pop music. She signed to Sony Australia, Epic in the US and RCA in the ...

Alice Skye Alice Skye is an Australian singer and songwriter. She is a Wergaia woman from Horsham. In 2017, she was the Triple J Unearthed National Indigenous Winner. She released her debut album ''Friends with Feelings'' in 2018 and toured nationally wi ...

and

Electric Fields Electric Fields are an Aboriginal Australian electronic music duo made up of vocalist Zaachariaha Fielding and keyboard player and producer Michael Ross. Electric Fields combine modern electric-soul music with Aboriginal culture and sing in Pi ...

. This will be the first time the album will be available on vinyl.

Release and reception

Paul Kelly met

in the 1980s. They co-wrote a track, "

From Little Things Big Things Grow "From Little Things Big Things Grow" is a protest song recorded by Australian artists Paul Kelly & The Messengers on their 1991 album ''Comedy'', and by Kev Carmody (with Kelly) on his 1993 album ''Bloodlines''. It was released as a CD single ...

", which was first recorded in 1991 by Kelly and his group, Carmody and Kelly released a version as a single in 1993. Kelly decided to bring together fellow Australian artists to record a

of Carmody's songs, with the intention of bringing Carmody's music to a wider audience. The album, named after Carmody's song, "Cannot Buy My Soul", was released on 17 February 2007 on

EMI Music Australia EMI Recorded Music Australia Pty Ltd (called EMI Music Australia until May 2013) is an Australian imprint of Universal Music Australia, formerly a subsidiary label of EMI Recordings Ltd and, between 1979 and 1996, that of Thorn EMI. It is Austral ...

Virgin Records Virgin Records is a record label owned by Universal Music Group. It originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman. It grew to be a worldwid ...

. Writing for ''

The Courier-Mail ''The Courier-Mail'' is an Australian newspaper published in Brisbane. Owned by News Corp Australia, it is published daily from Monday to Saturday in Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid format. Its editorial offices are located at Bowen Hills, ...

'', Noel Mengel praised the album and said that it was "more than just another tribute album ..a powerful album in its own right as well as an introduction to a diverse body of work." He noted the diversity of styles of the cover versions and called Paul Kelly,

Augie March Augie (sometimes spelled Auggie) is a nickname for variations of the name August, which derives from the Latin name Augustus. It may refer to: People *Augie Auer (1940–2007), meteorologist *Augie Galan (1912–1993), Major League Baseball play ...

and

Missy Higgins Melissa Morrison Higgins (born 19 August 1983), known professionally as Missy Higgins, is an Australian singer-songwriter and musician. Her Australian number-one albums are ''The Sound of White'' (2004), ''On a Clear Night'' (2007) and ''The Ol ...

' version of "Droving Woman", "stunning". Patrick Donovan from ''

The Age ''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria (Australia), Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Austral ...

'' said that it contained a well-chosen selection of tracks. He felt

's version of "Blood Red Rose", was "stunning" and said that "This Land Is Mine", sung by Scott Wilson and

Dan Sultan Daniel Leo Sultan (born 1983) is an Australian alternative rock singer-songwriter and guitarist, actor and author. At the ARIA Music Awards of 2010 he won ARIA Award for Best Male Artist, Best Male Artist and ARIA Award for Best Blues and Root ...

, was "evocative". In October 2010 the tribute album was listed in the top 40 in the book, ''

100 Best Australian Albums 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1 ...

''.

Track listing

2007 release

2020 Edition

*Note: The 2020 digital edition lists the 22 cover versions first, with the 2020 tracks listed before the 2007 tracks. These are followed by the 20 Kev Carmody songs, again, with the 2020 tracks listed before the 2007 tracks. *Note: The 2xLP edition features 19 cover versions only. It excludes the tracks "From Little Things Big Things Grow" by The Waifs, "Blood Red Rose" by Claire Bowdich and "Images of London" by Steve Kilbey.

Charts

Release history

References

{{Reflist 2007 compilation albums Compilation albums by Australian artists Kev Carmody tribute albums