Revival [Original recording reissued]

Gillian Welch | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 12, 2001)
• Original Release Date: 1996
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Original recording reissued
• Label: Acony Records
• ASIN: B00005KHE3
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (92 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #763 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #1 in Music > Indie Music > Country > Alt-Country & Americana
  • #2 in Music > Country > Americana
  • #2 in Music > Folk > Contemporary Folk > Alternative Folk

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Gillian Welch has captured the ethos of mountain music in a way that few lowlanders have managed, and that's just a little disconcerting. Outsiders aren't supposed to be able to infiltrate tight-knit clans. Producer T-Bone Burnett creates intimacy by recording Welch live with a small cast of supporting players, including Welch's partner, David Rawlings. While many of the songs are built around duo acoustic guitars and two-part harmonies, Burnett spices up a few of them up with some neat tricks, mixing an upright bass above the vocals on "Pass You By" and getting a fat, dirty sound out of three instruments. Welch's vocals, meanwhile, are stoical and matter-of-fact as her songs, which are infused with a repressed dread and contrition that's utterly convincing. White gospel tunes like "Orphan Girl" and "By the Mark" feel as if they were culled from hymnals, yet they were written when Clinton, not Coolidge, was president. --Steven Stolder

Product Description

Welch and Rawlings (aided by T-Bone and a crack band on several tracks) made a stunner of a debut with this 1996 album. Beautiful and timeless sounding, it includes Orphan Girl; Tear My Stillhouse Down; Barroom Girls; One More Dollar; Paper Wings , and more!

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

151 of 153 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars SIMPLY A STUNNING DEBUT, June 26, 2001

By 

Larry L. Looney (Austin, Texas USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Revival (Audio CD)

I first saw this cd just a few days after it was released in 1996 -- the cover caught my eye and I took it into a listening booth to give it some attention, away from the cacaphony of the store sound system, which at the moment, I think, was churning out Nirvana. When I closed the door and started the disc, everything outside went away -- it had been a long time since I had discovered someone who was as talented and captivating in style as the music on this cd revealed.

Gillian Welch is not from Appalachia -- but you couldn't prove it by me that day. It was only later that I discovered this fact. Her style of songwriting, singing and playing never EVER comes across as false or contrived -- her heartfelt love of this music brings an honesty to it that is rare and refreshing in these times.

The combination of her songs and voice with the stunning abilities and sensitivity of David Rawlings (who co-wrote many of these songs) makes listening to this music a powerful, transporting experience. His guitar work is simply (and I mean 'simply') exquisite -- I can't find a song on this disc where his accompaniment isn't perfect. The lines he plays provide just the right background and fill, targeting the mood dead-on. I never get the feeling that he's showing off or posing -- he's simply trying to do everything in his power to frame these songs and Welch's voice for the audience to enjoy and appreciate. On the tracks where he sings as well, their voices blend as if they were destined to do so.

There are several standouts in this set, but every single track here is a 'keeper'. 'Orphan girl' is proably the best-known tune, being covered early on by no less an established performer than Emmylou Harris. 'Annabelle' is heartbreakingly beautiful, a mother relating the story of a child's death in the midst of an unimaginably hard life, trying to remain philosophical in the face of such tragedy: 'We cannot have all things to please us, no matter how we try -- until we've all gone to Jesus, we can only wonder why'.

The third track, 'Pass you by', simply roars with power, underscoring the story of a desperate individual entering into a life of crime, finding herself enjoying the 'rush' of taking her share from the rich man. 'Barroom girls' paints a picture of one-night stands with incredible imagery: 'Oh the night came undone like a party dress, and fell at her feet in a beautiful mess'. 'By the mark' sounds for all intents and purposes like a well-travelled traditional gospel song -- but it's another fine Welch/Rawlings composition. Their vocal blend on this song is particularly effective.

Welch sends chills up our collective spine on 'Paper wings' by channeling Patsy Cline, without for one instant sounding derivative, with another set of evocative lyrics: 'Angels were singing -- didn't you hear? If only I'd listened close when they whispered in my ear -- paper wings, paper wings, oh how could I expect to fly with only paper wings?' Welch stands in the shoes of a repentent moonshiner, advising those witnessing her final moments to 'Tear my stillhouse down', '...cause Satan he lives in my whiskey machine, and in my time of dying I know where I'm bound -- so when I die, tear my stillhouse down'.

The album ends with two of my three favorite cuts ('Paper wings' being the third). 'Acony bell' is a gorgeous paean to '...a simple flower so small and plain' that heralds the springtime in the mountains -- a symbol of hope and new life after a hard winter. 'Only one and only' speaks of that one person in the singer's life who would leave the biggest hole if they left -- and we all have one of those.

Special mention should also be made of the impressive and tasteful production talents of T-Bone Burnett. He provides just the right touch from where he sits in the recording process -- both on this release and Welch's sophomore effort HELL AMONG THE YEARLINGS (also an excellent cd).

The impressive songwriting of Gillian Welch and David Rawlings is, over time, building into a treasure-house of contemporary American acoustic music -- and if she's not from the hills of Arkansas or Kentucky or Tennesse, yet can write and sing these songs like this, more power to her. She and David have a true sense of honesty and a genuine talent for this music -- and they obviously love what they're doing.

Welch and Rawlings also put on a terrific live show -- if they come anywhere near your area, you owe it to yourself to see them. They are unpretentiously absorbed in this music, and it's a joy to behold.

44 of 44 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The more you listen the more you'll like, February 17, 2002

By 

Robert J. Morris (Macungie, PA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Revival (Audio CD)

Simply put: You will not tire of this album. The music is anything but repetitive, and each song touches the listener in a different way. The more you hear of Welch and David Rawlings the more you appreciate their fine and carefully crafted work.

Much is made about the fact that a girl from Los Angeles has such a feel for this type of music. I believe Welch's background actually gives her music an appeal beyond bluegrass and country. Yes, it's true that you can't get any more mountain-like than "Tear my Stillhouse Down", and the beautiful "By the Mark" is too deeply religious to make any big city album. But Welch's very best on this album appeals to the sensibilities of both city and country folk: The opening track "Orphan Girl" touches the loneliness in all of us and the hope of reunion; and the painfully sad "Barroom Girls" probably fits better in L.A. than Knoxville.

I'm hoping that Welch stays true to this type of music. Her popularity is exploding as a result of "O Brother, Where Art Thou" and she's getting air time on VH-1 Country with her incredible Elvis song. Please don't let us down Gillian.

24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A gem buried in coal dust, June 12, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Revival (Audio CD)

Gillian Welch's "Revival" is the sort of album that you wish everyone--and no one--knew about. With songs of poignant clarity, vignettes that reveal neither too little nor too much, and a voice that knows how much each song needs and stops there, rather than pushing too far and spoiling the lyrics to showcase the artist, this is an album that deserves more attention than it has received--and yet, it is one where you can revel in its relative obscurity, as if you and Gillian were sharing an intimate secret, telling tales on the porch in old rocking chairs. "Revival" puts Gillian Welch in the class of such artists as Emmylou Harris and Over the Rhine's Karin Bergquist--singers who have, not coincidentally, both covered the opening track, "Orphan Girl." This is an album that should claim a special nook in your CD collection.