Collector's Edition Double 180 Gram LP Set includes Previous Unreleased Rare "Play Me Backwards" Demos!
First released in 1992, "Play Me Backwards" holds a very special place in the rich recording history of Joan Baez. The albums sessions brought her back to Nashville for the first time since the series of four albums she had recorded in Music City between 1968 and 1971. Returning to Nashvilles familiar environment two decades later and collaborating with producers Wally Wilson and Kenny Greenberg proved to be a perfect fit. Joan reaffirmed her unique ability to identify and interpret successive generations of songwriters whose music had the ability to speak to her: Mary Chapin Carpenter (Stones In the Road), John Stewart (Strange Rivers), John Hiatt (Through Your Hands), the duo of Janis Ian and Buddy Mondlock (Amsterdam), and Ron Davies (Steal Across the Border and The Dream Song, co-written with Joan). "Play Me Backwards" also contains four songs that Joan co-wrote with her two producers (Play Me Backwards, Isaac and Abraham, Im With You, and Edge Of Glory, one of the last occasions on which she has contributed to an album as a songwriter.
Adding historic provenance to this reissue is a second disc containing previously unreleased demos of 10 songs which were contemplated by Joan and her producers, heard here for the first time. Some of the songwriters are not widely known, such as the late Mark Heard (Rise From the Ruins, Lonely Moon), John Hadley (The Last Day) or Gary Nicholson (Trouble With the Truth); and one writer is not known at all (Medicine Wheel). On the other hand, there are additional songs from Janis Ian (We Endure) and Ron Davies (Dark Eyed Man, originally recorded by Kevin Welch as Dark Eyed Gal); and one that Joan wrote with Greenbergs wife, the respected Christian artist Ashley Cleveland (In My Day). Fans will be immediately drawn to Joans version of Bob Dylans Seven Curses (his adaptation of the traditional Child ballad The Maid Freed From the Gallows aka Anathea), the only one of these songs previously recorded by Joan (on the live album Bowery Songs in 2005).
By all accounts, "Play Me Backwards" is said to be the album that began the renaissance of Joan Baezs career that has continued through 2008s Grammy-nominated "Day After Tomorrow". "Play Me Backwards" is an album whose impact will continue to reverberate for decades to come.
Features:
180g Vinyl
Double LP
Gatefold Jacket
Collector's Edition featuring Previous Unreleased Rare "Play Me Backwards" Demos!
Musicians:
Joan Baez, guitar, vocals
Wally Wilson, synthesizer, piano
Steve Nathan, organ
Jerry Douglas, guitar, dobro
Kenny Greenberg, guitar
Pamela Sixfin, violin
Edgar Meyer, bass
Marcos Suzano, percussion
Chad Cromwell, drums
Selections:
LP1 - Side A:
1. Play Me Backwards
2. Amsterdam
3. Isaac & Abraham
4. Stones in the Road
5. Steal Across the Border
6. I'm With You
7. I'm With You (reprise)
LP1 - Side B:
1. Strange Rivers
2. Through Your Hands
3. The Dream Song
4. Edge of Glory
The Play Me Backwards Demos:
LP2 - Side A:
1. Medicine Well
2. Rise From The Ruins
3. Trouble With The Truth
4. Much Better View Of The Moon
5. Seven Courses
LP2 - Side B:
1. Lonely Moon
2. We Endure
3. The Last Day
4. In My Day
5. Dark Eyed Man
Recording: 1992 in Nashville, TN
Production: Wally Wilson and Kenny Greenberg
First released in 1992, "Play Me Backwards" holds a very special place in the rich recording history of Joan Baez. The albums sessions brought her back to Nashville for the first time since the series of four albums she had recorded in Music City between 1968 and 1971. Returning to Nashvilles familiar environment two decades later and collaborating with producers Wally Wilson and Kenny Greenberg proved to be a perfect fit. Joan reaffirmed her unique ability to identify and interpret successive generations of songwriters whose music had the ability to speak to her: Mary Chapin Carpenter (Stones In the Road), John Stewart (Strange Rivers), John Hiatt (Through Your Hands), the duo of Janis Ian and Buddy Mondlock (Amsterdam), and Ron Davies (Steal Across the Border and The Dream Song, co-written with Joan). "Play Me Backwards" also contains four songs that Joan co-wrote with her two producers (Play Me Backwards, Isaac and Abraham, Im With You, and Edge Of Glory, one of the last occasions on which she has contributed to an album as a songwriter.
Adding historic provenance to this reissue is a second disc containing previously unreleased demos of 10 songs which were contemplated by Joan and her producers, heard here for the first time. Some of the songwriters are not widely known, such as the late Mark Heard (Rise From the Ruins, Lonely Moon), John Hadley (The Last Day) or Gary Nicholson (Trouble With the Truth); and one writer is not known at all (Medicine Wheel). On the other hand, there are additional songs from Janis Ian (We Endure) and Ron Davies (Dark Eyed Man, originally recorded by Kevin Welch as Dark Eyed Gal); and one that Joan wrote with Greenbergs wife, the respected Christian artist Ashley Cleveland (In My Day). Fans will be immediately drawn to Joans version of Bob Dylans Seven Curses (his adaptation of the traditional Child ballad The Maid Freed From the Gallows aka Anathea), the only one of these songs previously recorded by Joan (on the live album Bowery Songs in 2005).
By all accounts, "Play Me Backwards" is said to be the album that began the renaissance of Joan Baezs career that has continued through 2008s Grammy-nominated "Day After Tomorrow". "Play Me Backwards" is an album whose impact will continue to reverberate for decades to come.
Features:
180g Vinyl
Double LP
Gatefold Jacket
Collector's Edition featuring Previous Unreleased Rare "Play Me Backwards" Demos!
Musicians:
Joan Baez, guitar, vocals
Wally Wilson, synthesizer, piano
Steve Nathan, organ
Jerry Douglas, guitar, dobro
Kenny Greenberg, guitar
Pamela Sixfin, violin
Edgar Meyer, bass
Marcos Suzano, percussion
Chad Cromwell, drums
Selections:
LP1 - Side A:
1. Play Me Backwards
2. Amsterdam
3. Isaac & Abraham
4. Stones in the Road
5. Steal Across the Border
6. I'm With You
7. I'm With You (reprise)
LP1 - Side B:
1. Strange Rivers
2. Through Your Hands
3. The Dream Song
4. Edge of Glory
The Play Me Backwards Demos:
LP2 - Side A:
1. Medicine Well
2. Rise From The Ruins
3. Trouble With The Truth
4. Much Better View Of The Moon
5. Seven Courses
LP2 - Side B:
1. Lonely Moon
2. We Endure
3. The Last Day
4. In My Day
5. Dark Eyed Man
Recording: 1992 in Nashville, TN
Production: Wally Wilson and Kenny Greenberg
