David Johansen and the Harry Smiths
Studio album by
David Johansen
Released2000
RecordedNovember 29 - December 2, 1999
StudioSt. Peter's Episcopal Church, New York, NY
Genre
Length50:28
LabelChesky Records[2]
ProducerDavid Chesky, Brian Koonin
David Johansen chronology
Buster's Spanish Rocketship
(1997)		 David Johansen and the Harry Smiths
(2000)		 Shaker
(2002)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
Robert Christgau(1-star Honorable Mention)[3]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music[2]
Rolling Stone[4]
The Penguin Guide to Blues Recordings[5]

David Johansen and the Harry Smiths is a 2000 album that David Johansen released with the "Harry Smiths".[6][7] Johansen created the album following a folk scene that was taking place in the late 1990s in New York City clubs. Inspired by the 1997 reissue of musicologist Harry Everett Smith's Anthology of American Folk Music (a compilation of 1920s and 1930s country and blues recordings), Johansen named his band "the Harry Smiths" and recorded and performed songs from, or inspired by, the Anthology.[8] The Harry Smiths band included long-time Johansen associate Brian Koonin on guitar and mandolin, with Larry Saltzman also playing guitar and playing banjo. The rhythm section of Kermit Driscoll and Joey Baron played for many years with jazz guitarist Bill Frisell, and both have worked extensively with other jazz artists.

The album was his first since 1984 that is credited to him and not his musical alter ego Buster Poindexter.

Production

The album was recorded at St. Peter's Episcopal Church, in New York City, and was produced by Brian Koonin and Norman Chesky.[9]

Critical reception

Exclaim! though that Johansen's "half-spoken, half-sung style marries beautifully to the front-porch demeanour of these rich samples of the music harvested by the late musicologist."[10] The Chicago Reader wrote that "Johansen delivers even the most morbid lyrics with an offhand ease that gives them the immediacy of nightmares."[11] The Guardian wrote that Johansen's "gruff bellow fits this material like a glove, nowhere better than on the bittersweet 'Delia'."[12]

Track listing

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."James Alley Blues"Richard "Rabbit" Brown3:33
2."Darling, Do You Remember Me?"Lightnin Hopkins4:31
3."Delia"Traditional; arranged by Bob Dylan6:38
4."Little Geneva"McKinley Morganfield3:29
5."Well, I've Been to Memphis"Unknown3:58
6."Katie Mae"Lightnin Hopkins4:19
7."Old Dog Blue"Unknown3:24
8."Somebody Buy Me a Drink"Oscar Brown, Jr.4:10
9."Poor Boy Blues"Unknown3:18
10."On the Wall"Unknown2:56
11."Don't Start Me Talking"Sonny Boy Williamson2:32
12."Oh Death"Unknown4:01
13."Richland Woman"Mississippi John Hurt3:39

Personnel

Additional personnel
  • David Chesky - producer
  • Brian Koonin - producer
  • Norman Chesky - executive producer
  • Hank Medress - executive producer
  • Barry Wolifson - recording engineer
  • Sandy Palmer Grassi - second engineer/production coordinator
  • Nicholas Prout - editing and mastering engineer
  • Rick Eckerle - recording assistant
  • Peter Volpe - recording assistant
  • Lisa J. Marks - director of legal affairs
  • Catherine Kernen - production manager
  • Lisa Hershfield - artist development
  • Slow Hearth Studio - art direction

References

  1. 1 2 "David Johansen & the Harry Smiths - David Johansen & the Harry Smiths | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic" – via www.allmusic.com.
  2. 1 2 Larkin, Colin (2006). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Vol. 4. MUZE. p. 636.
  3. ↑ "Robert Christgau: CG: David Johansen and the Harry Smiths". www.robertchristgau.com.
  4. ↑ Fricke, David (Aug 31, 2000). "David Johansen and the Harry Smiths". Rolling Stone (848): 69–73.
  5. ↑ Russell, Tony; Smith, Chris (2006). The Penguin Guide to Blues Recordings. Penguin. p. 314. ISBN 978-0-140-51384-4.
  6. ↑ "David Johansen | Biography & History". AllMusic.
  7. ↑ Lewis, Randy (16 Sep 2003). "Looking back beyond punk and pompadours". Los Angeles Times: E2.
  8. ↑ "David Johansen and the Harry Smiths by Glenn O'Brien - BOMB Magazine". bombmagazine.org.
  9. ↑ Bessman, Jim (Apr 8, 2000). "Johansen explores Smith's folk on Chesky". Billboard. 112 (15): 11.
  10. ↑ "David Johansen and the Harry Smiths David Johansen and the Harry Smiths". exclaim.ca.
  11. ↑ Whiteis, David. "David Johansen & the Harry Smiths". Chicago Reader.
  12. ↑ "Music: Pop CD releases". The Guardian: 16. 21 Apr 2000.
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