Sturgill Simpson released A Sailor’s Guide to Earth

A Sailor’s Guide to Earth Sturgill Simpson

Released: April 16, 2016 Peak: 3 US, 11 CW, 43 UK, 31 CN, -- AU Sales (in millions): 0.22 US Genre: country

Tracks: Song Title (date of single release, chart peaks) Click for codes to singles charts. Welcome to Earth (Pollywog) Breakers Roar Keep It Between the Lines (1/30/17, --) Sea Stories In Bloom (3/24/16, 48 CW) Brace for Impact (Live a Little) (3/3/16, 23 AA) All Around You Oh Sarah Call to Arms Total Running Time: 38:54

Rating: 4.153 out of 5.00 (average of 33 ratings) Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Album: Sturgill Simpson’s debut album, 2013’s High Top Mountain, suggested his “retro sensibilities…seemed to be rooted solely in outlaw country; he swaggered like the second coming of Waylon Jennings, a man on a mission to restore muscle and drama to country music.” AMG Metamodern Sounds in Country Music, his 2014 sophomore release, “dragged ‘outlaw country’ into modern times with acid-tongued clarity and a world-weary sense of humor.” PF It “was a curve ball revealing just how unorthodox his rulebook was. Sturgill embraced indulgence, pushing new wave, psychedelia, and digital-age saturation, all in an attempt to add the cosmic back into American music.” AMG “Its perspective was so refreshing that other like-minded albums” PF such as Chris Stapleton’s Traveller took off as well. “While Simpson could have easily milked a few records out of that glum sound and guaranteed industry adulations for decades, A Sailor’s Guide to Earth represents a startling change in tone and presents a wealth of rewards for every creative risk.” PF It “is such a rearrangement of Simpson’s sonic universe that any previous categorization now seems out of date.” PF “Instead of…finding a voice in classic country – Simpson himself smirks at the notion that he is a modern Waylon Jennings…Simpson is doing something far more difficult.” PF On the previous album, he tackled a cover of the late-‘80s new wave hit “The Promise” by When in Rome. Here he performs a similarly astonishing “countrypolitan Nirvana cover” PF of In Bloom. This is “an old-fashioned concept album, one that tells a story.” AMG “Simpson draws from his time in the Navy, where he was stationed in Japan, and the record is framed as a sailor’s letter home to his wife and newborn son” PF “telling him how to become a man.” AMG “It’s a deeply personal album” PF “loosely based on a letter his grandfather wrote his grandmother” PF which “displays an artistic growth that defies any sort of easy label” PF “while establishing Simpson as the defining songwriter of his class.” PF Musically, he crafts songs “that veer closer to soul than country.” AMG Simpson is “equally attracted to the symphonic haze of progressive folk and the boundary-blurring soul of Muscle Shoals, using its thick swathes of horns and smears of slide guitar as binding agents.” AMG “The instrumentation on songs like Keep It Between the Lines – much of it provided by Sharon Jones’ backing bad, the Dap-King – is denser, bolder, and more rhythmic than anything Simpson has steered previously.” PF He also makes “room for more contemplative moments like the tender ballad Oh Sarah. On Sea Stories, Simpson shouts “‘Get high, play a little GoldenEye / That old 64!’ like he’s fondly remembering an old Cadillac—while taking a completely different journey.” PF “The result is a beautiful and earnest record.” PF

Resources and Related Links: DMDB encyclopedia entry for Sturgill Simpson AMG All Music Guide review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine PF Pitchfork WK Wikipedia First posted 4/29/2022.

Nirvana released “In Bloom”

In Bloom Nirvana

Writer(s): Kurt Cobain (see lyrics here) Released: November 30, 1992 First Charted: December 12, 1992 Peak: 5 AR, 28 UK, 73 AU (Click for codes to singles charts.) Sales (in millions): -- US, 0.2 UK, 0.2 world (includes US + UK) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): 0.131 radio, 135.8 video, -- streaming

Awards (Nirvana): Awards (Sturgill Simpson):

About the Song: Nirvana’s Kurt Cobain wrote “In Bloom” after their debut album, Bleach, was released on Sub Pop. The song was an attack on those outside the underground music community who started showing up at Nirvana’s shows, but didn’t understand the band’s message. WK Cobain said the song was an attack on “rednecks, macho men, and abusive people.” SF He told Melody Maker magazine, “I didn’t like the cheerleader type of girl or want to hang out with the jock boys. I chose to live the life of a recluse. I didn’t hang out with anyone else because I couldn’t handle their stupidity.” SF The band first recorded the song in April 1990 for what was then intended as their second album for Sub Pop. They even recorded a video for the song. When Nirvana signed to DGC Records, they started work on Nevermind in May 1991 and “In Bloom” was one of the first songs they revisited. It ended up as the fourth single from Nevermind, released over a year after the album first dropped. A new video for the song was shot which parodied variety shows from the 1960s, like The Ed Sullivan Show. The host introduces the band as “thoroughly all right and decent fellas” and mispronounces their name. A crowd of teenagers screams throughout the song and the band destroys the set and their instruments by the song’s conclusion. Two different versions were shot, one in which the band performed in dresses and another where they play in Beach Boys-style outfits. A third version combined elements of both videos and won Best Alternative Video at the 1993 MTV Video Music Awards. It was also named top music video by critics in Village Voice. WK Sturgill Simpson, a country artist, recorded the song for his 2016 A Sailor’s Guide to Earth album. A “swirl of strings and horns” SF made the song “completely unrecognizable.” SF Simpson said he was in seventh or eight grade when the album ame out and it “was like a bomb went off.” SF He explained that “In Bloom” “summed up what it means to be a teenager, and I think it tells a young boy that he can be sensitive and compassionate – he doesn’t have to be tough or cold to be a man. So I wanted to make a very beautiful and pure homage to Kurt.” SF Resources: DMDB Encyclopedia entry for Nirvana DMDB Encyclopedia entry for Sturgill Simpson SF Songfacts WK Wikipedia Related Links: First posted 5/7/2020; last updated 9/22/2022.