The Black Rider (album)
The Black Rider is the twelfth studio album by Tom Waits, released in 1993 on Island Records, featuring studio versions of songs Waits wrote for the play The Black Rider, directed by Robert Wilson and co-written by William S. Burroughs. The play is based on the German folktale Der Freischütz, which had previously been made into an opera by Carl Maria von Weber. The play premiered on March 31, 1990, at the Thalia Theater in Hamburg, Germany. Its world English-language premiere occurred in 1998 at the Edmonton International Fringe Festival.
The Black Rider | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | September 1993 | |||
Recorded | 1989, 1993 | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 56:08 | |||
Label | Island | |||
Producer | Tom Waits | |||
Tom Waits chronology | ||||
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Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [1] |
Chicago Tribune | [2] |
Entertainment Weekly | B[3] |
Los Angeles Times | [4] |
Mojo | [5] |
NME | 8/10[6] |
Q | [7] |
Rolling Stone | [8] |
The Rolling Stone Album Guide | [9] |
Select | 4/5[10] |
Waits would later collaborate with Wilson on the plays Alice (1992) and Woyzeck (2000), the music to which were released on the albums Alice and Blood Money, respectively.
Track listing
All songs written by Tom Waits, except where noted. Recorded in 1989 by Gerd Bessler at his Music Factory in Hamburg, Germany (2, 3, 6–9, 14–16, 19, 20), and in 1993 by Tchad Blake and assisted by Joe Marquez at the Prairie Sun Recording Studios in Cotati, California (1, 4, 5, 10–13, 17, 18). Musical Director Greg Cohen. All songs mixed by Biff Dawes At Sunset Sound Factory, Hollywood, CA.
- "Lucky Day Overture" – 2:27
- "The Black Rider" – 3:21
- "November" – 2:53
- "Just the Right Bullets" – 3:35
- "Black Box Theme" (instrumental) – 2:42
- "'T' Ain't No Sin" (Walter Donaldson, Edgar Leslie) – 2:25
- "Flash Pan Hunter/Intro" (instrumental) – 1:10
- "That's the Way" (music: Waits; lyrics: Burroughs) – 1:07
- "The Briar and the Rose" – 3:50
- "Russian Dance" (instrumental) – 3:12
- "Gospel Train/Orchestra" (instrumental) – 2:33
- "I'll Shoot the Moon" – 3:51
- "Flash Pan Hunter" (music: Waits; lyrics: Burroughs) – 3:10
- "Crossroads" (music: Waits; lyrics: Burroughs) – 2:43
- "Gospel Train" - 4:43
- "Interlude" (Greg Cohen) (instrumental) – 0:18
- "Oily Night" - 4:23
- "Lucky Day" – 3:42
- "The Last Rose of Summer" – 2:07
- "Carnival" (instrumental) - 1:15
Hans-Jörn Brandenburg, Volker Hemken, Henning Stoll, Christoph Moinian, Dieter Fischer, Jo Bauer, Frank Wulff, and Stefan Schäfer were The Devil's Rhubato Band (Hamburg); Ralph Carney, Bill Douglas, Kenny Wollesen, Matt Brubeck, Joe Gore, Nick Phelps, Kevin Porter, Lawrence "Larry" Rhodes, Francis Thumm, Don Neely, Linda Deluca were The Rhubato West Group (San Francisco).
Songs performed in the play, but not included on the album: "Chase the Clouds Away" and "In the Morning".
References
- Ruhlmann, William. "The Black Rider – Tom Waits". AllMusic. Retrieved February 14, 2016.
- Caro, Mark (March 3, 1994). "Tom Waits: The Black Rider (Island)". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved February 14, 2016.
- "Tom Waits: The Black Rider". Entertainment Weekly: 64. November 12, 1993.
- Willman, Chris (November 14, 1993). "Tom Waits: 'The Black Rider' (Island)". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved February 14, 2016.
- "Tom Waits: The Black Rider". Mojo (200): 77. July 2010.
- "Tom Waits: The Black Rider". NME: 29. November 13, 1993.
- "Tom Waits: The Black Rider". Q (87): 116. December 1993.
- Ali, Lorraine (July 31, 1997). "The Black Rider". Rolling Stone. Retrieved February 14, 2016.
- Coleman, Mark; Scoppa, Bud (2004). "Tom Waits". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Simon & Schuster. pp. 854–55. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
- Perry, Andrew (December 1993). "Tom Waits: The Black Rider". Select (42): 88.