Indigo Girls released self-titled album

Indigo Girls Indigo Girls

Released: February 28, 1989 Peak: 22 US, -- UK, -- CN, 64 AU, 17 DF Sales (in millions): 2.0 US, -- UK, 2.0 world (includes US and UK) Genre: folk rock

Tracks: Song Title (Writers) [time] (date of single release, chart peaks) Click for codes to charts. Closer to Fine (Saliers) [4:02] (6/17/89, 52 BB, 48 AR, 26 MR, 1 DF) Secure Yourself (Ray) [3:35] (4 DF) Kid Fears (Ray) [4:34] (6 DF) Prince of Darkness (Saliers) [5:21] (2 DF) Blood and Fire (Ray) [4:38] (10 DF) Tried to Be True (Ray) [2:59] (5 DF) Love’s Recovery (Saliers) [4:23] (7 DF) Land of Canaan (Ray) [3:57] (9 DF) Center Stage (Ray) [4:46] (10 DF) History of Us (Saliers) [5:27] (7 DF) Total Running Time: 44:36 The Players: Amy Ray (vocals, guitar) Emily Saliers (vocals, guitar)

Rating: 4.125 out of 5.00 (average of 26 ratings) Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About Indigo Girls Indigo Girls are a folk-rock duo comprised of Amy Ray (born 1964) and Emily Saliers (born 1963). They met in elementary school and started performing together when they were high school students in Decatur, Georgia. W-I They took on the name Indigo Girls when performing at a bar called The Dugout while they attended Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. W-I In 1987, they independently released the album Strange Fire. They signed a deal with Epic Records the following year and released their major-label debut, Indigo Girls, in 1989. About the Album “The Indigo Girls come on strong with an outstanding batch of tunes, watertight harmonies, impeccable musicianship, and flawless production.” AM “Crisp guitar work and haunting harmonies became the stock-in-trade of this powerful duo of ‘girls with guitars.’” AZ It “captures the passion of their youth with voices that are a little cloudy, untamed, and raw, but the power that surges through them suggests a maturity far beyond their years.” AM The songs “resound with a profound sense of honesty and raw emotion.” AZ “The same can be said of the songwriting – sheer poetry. To attempt examinations of these songs would not do them justice, for the layers of meaning and emotion unfold best upon repeated listening.” AM The album went platinum and won a Grammy for Best Folk Recording. The duo also nabbed a Grammy nomination for Best New Aritst. Their Influences and Impact The duo “followed the lead of such greats as Laura Nyro and Joni Mitchell…[and] pumped social conscience and self-esteem into ringing acoustic anthems.” AZ “Entering the folk-rock music scene on the successful heels of R.E.M., Tracy Chapman, and 10,000 Maniacs,” AM the pair’s music was perfectly timed to “catch the rising tide of feminist rock.” AZ They would set the stage for even more confessional singer/songwriters who treaded ground between folk-rock and alternative rock, helping pave the way for artists like Tori Amos, Sheryl Crow, and Alanis Morissette. The Songs Here are thoughts on individual songs. “Closer to Fine” “The eponymous release kicks off with the upbeat jangle bounce of Closer to Fine, a modest hit, all-time fan favorite written by Emily Saliers, and a tune the Girls still play at every concert. A particularly fascinating point is that the Indigo Girls never write songs together, but they compliment each other perfectly.” AM Amy Ray Songs “The difference in styles becomes immediately apparent when the more dark and brooding Amy Ray steps up. Her remarkable contributions include Secure Yourself, Kid Fears, and Blood and Fire, spiritual ruminations of life, love, pain, and faith which bury themselves deep inside your core whether invited or not.” AM Emily Saliers Songs “Weighting the opposite scales, Saliers offers a tender balance to Ray with two beautiful ballads, Love's Recovery and History of Us. (Ray's Land of Canaan was once a ballad, but then she heard the Replacements and it became a bit of a rocker.) Chiming in with musical support are Hothouse Flowers, Luka Bloom, and fellow Georgians R.E.M.” AM Notes: A 2000 reissue added live versions of “Land of Canaan” and “Center Stage.”

Resources: DMDB Encyclopedia entry for Indigo Girls AM AllMusic.com review by Kelly McCartney AZ Amazon.com review by L.A. Smith WK Wikipedia page on Indigo Girls album W-I Wikipedia page on Indigo Girls Related DMDB Pages: First posted 3/24/2008; last updated 12/3/2024.

Gram Parsons’ Grievous Angel charted

Grievous Angel Gram Parsons

Charted: February 16, 1974 Peak: 195 US, -- UK, -- CN, -- AU Sales (in millions): 0.14 US, -- UK, 0.14 world (includes US and UK) Genre: country rock

Tracks: Song Title (Writers) [time] Click for codes to charts. Return of the Grievous Angel (Gram Parsons, Tom Brown) [4:19] Hearts on Fire (Walter Egan, Tom Guidera) [3:50] I Can’t Dance (Tom T. Hall) [2:20] Brass Buttons (Parsons) [3:27] $1000 Wedding (Parsons) [5:00] Cash on the Barrelhead (Charlie Louvin, Ira Louvin) [2:12] Hickory Wind (Parsons, Rob Buchanan) [4:15] Love Hurts (Boudleaux Bryant) [3:40] Ooh Las Vegas (Parsons, Ric Grech) [3:29] In My Hour of Darkness (Parsons, Emmylou Harris) [3:42] Total Running Time: 36:14

Rating: 4.379 out of 5.00 (average of 15 ratings) Quotable: Established Parsons as “the patron saint of alt-country.” – Mark Deming, All Music Guide Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Album: “Gram Parsons fondness for drugs and high living are said to have been catching up with him while he was recording Grievous Angel, and sadly he wouldn’t live long enough to see it reach record stores, dying from a drug overdose in the fall of 1973.” MD “Released four months after Parsons went to that great nightclub in the sky, Grievous Angel was more than a final bow. It infused the ex Byrd and Flying Burrito Brothers cosmic tang with melancholy soul, breathing new life into both country and rock & roll” BL and establishing Parsons as “the patron saint of alt-country.” MD “This album is a less ambitious and unified set than his solo debut, but that’s to say that G.P. was a great album while Grievous Angel was instead a very, very good one. Much of the same band that played on his solo debut were brought back for this set, and they perform with the same effortless grace and authority (especially guitarist James Burton and fiddler Byron Berline).” MD “If Parsons was slowing down a bit as a songwriter, he still had plenty of gems on hand from more productive days, such as Brass Buttons and Hickory Wind (which wasn't really recorded live in Northern Quebec; that’s just Gram and the band ripping it up live in the studio, with a handful of friends whooping it up to create honky-tonk atmosphere). He also proved to be a shrewd judge of other folks material as always; Tom T. Hall’s I Can’t Dance is a strong barroom rocker, and everyone seems to be having a great time on The Louvin Brothers’ Cash on the Barrelhead.” MD “As a vocal duo, Parsons and Emmylou Harris only improved on this set, turning in a version of Love Hurts so quietly impassioned and delicately beautiful that it’s enough to make you forget Roy Orbison ever recorded it. And while he didn’t plan on it, Parsons could hardly have picked a better closing gesture than In My Hour of Darkness. Grievous Angel may not have been the finest work of his career, but one would be hard pressed to name an artist who made an album this strong only a few weeks before their death – or at any time of their life, for that matter.” MD Notes: The CD reissue combined this album with Parsons’ debut G.P.

Resources and Related Links: BL Blender (10/08). “100 Greatest American Albums” MD Mark Deming, All Music Guide Other Related DMDB Pages: First posted 2/24/2008; last updated 3/21/2024.