Years of Tears
Studio album by
Bobby "Blue" Bland
Released1993
StudioMuscle Shoals Sound Studios
GenreBlues, R&B
LabelMalaco
ProducerWolf Stephenson, Tommy Couch
Bobby "Blue" Bland chronology
I Pity the Fool: The Duke Recordings
(1992)		 Years of Tears
(1993)		 Turn on Your Love Light: The Duke Recordings
(1994)

Years of Tears is an album by the American musician Bobby "Blue" Bland, released in 1993.[1][2] Bland supported the album with a North American tour.[3] The album peaked at No. 80 on Billboard's Top R&B Albums chart.[4] It won a W. C. Handy Award, in the Soul/Blues category.[5]

Production

Produced by Wolf Stephenson and Tommy Couch, Years of Tears was recorded in Muscle Shoals, Alabama.[6][7] Bland worked on the album for more than a year.[8] Frederick Knight wrote three of the album's songs; including Knight's songs, the majority were written by Malaco Records songwriters.[4][9]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[10]
(The New) Rolling Stone Album Guide[11]

The San Antonio Express-News considered Years of Tears to be among Bland's best albums.[12] The Los Angeles Times wrote that the album "plays to his key strength, which is an ability to bring you into the bleak, dark, anxious and solitary places inhabited by troubled minds."[13] The Denver Post noted that "the Muscle Shoals, Ala., session players provide him with gritty, introspective deep-soul instrumental support that seems relevant and vital for the 1990s."[14] The Commercial Appeal concluded that Bland "is in excellent voice throughout."[7] Texas Monthly determined that "the label's synthesizer-and-strings approach has kept him contemporary without making him sound foolish."[15]

AllMusic wrote: "Bland's animated, raw voice, though not as wide-ranging, still has a character and quality unmatched in blues, soul or vintage R&B."[10]

Track listing

No.TitleLength
1."Somewhere Between Right & Wrong" 
2."There's a Stranger in My House" 
3."Hole in the Wall" 
4."Years of Tears to Go" 
5."Hurtin' Time Again" 
6."I Just Tripped on a Piece of Your Broken Heart" 
7."Sweet Lady Love" 
8."Love of Mine" 
9."I've Got to Have Your Love Tonight" 
10."You Put the Hurt on a Hurtin' Man" 

References

  1. ↑ Penn, Roberta (10 Sep 1993). "Bobby's Blues Anything but Bland". What's Happening. Seattle Post-Intelligencer. p. 8.
  2. ↑ "Discs". Boston Herald. 29 Oct 1993. p. S16.
  3. ↑ "Critics' picks". Houston. Houston Chronicle. 18 Nov 1993. p. 3.
  4. 1 2 Farley, Charles (2011). Soul of the Man: Bobby "Blue" Bland. University Press of Mississippi. p. 230.
  5. ↑ Morris, Chris (May 21, 1994). "Other Handy winners included...". Billboard. Vol. 106, no. 21. p. 67.
  6. ↑ The Penguin Guide to Blues Recordings. Penguin Books. 2006. p. 48.
  7. 1 2 Nager, Larry (4 Sep 1993). "Recordings". The Commercial Appeal. p. C5.
  8. ↑ Hardy, Phil; Laing, Dave (1995). The Da Capo Companion to 20th-Century Popular Music. Da Capo Press. p. 86.
  9. ↑ Seigal, Buddy (26 May 1995). "Bluesman Bland Proves His Voice Is Anything but Pop". Los Angeles Times. p. F31.
  10. 1 2 "Years of Tears Review by Ron Wynn". AllMusic. Retrieved 31 August 2023.
  11. ↑ (The New) Rolling Stone Album Guide. Simon & Schuster. 2004. p. 82.
  12. ↑ Young, Ron (14 Jan 1994). "Born to be blue". Business. San Antonio Express-News.
  13. ↑ Boehm, Mike (16 Sep 1993). "Bobby Bland 'Years of Tears' Malaco". OC Live. Los Angeles Times. p. 5.
  14. ↑ Rosen, Steven (20 Oct 1993). "What's Up". The Denver Post. p. 1F.
  15. ↑ Morthland, John (Aug 1997). "Royal Blue". Texas Monthly. Vol. 25, no. 8. p. 58.
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