This Side of the Moon
This Side Of The Moon | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Studio album by | ||||
Released | August 2004 | |||
Studio | ||||
Genre | Country | |||
Length | 38:53 | |||
Label | Hog Country Production | |||
Producer | Jeff Gordon | |||
Elizabeth Cook chronology | ||||
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This Side of the Moon is the third studio album by American singer Elizabeth Cook. It had a soft release in August 2004 before Hog Country Production gave it a national release on May 27, 2005 in the US. Cook started recording This Side of the Moon after she left Warner Bros., which had released her second studio album, Hey Y'all in 2002. With her follow-up album, she used her disappointment with working in Nashville's Music Row as inspiration.
A country album, This Side of the Moon features lyrics about love and heartbreak. Before being packaged as an album, the songs were recorded independently, with the assistance of five producers in eight Tennessee recording studios. Critics likened Cook's vocals to those of other country artists, including Loretta Lynn and Dolly Parton.
Cook promoted This Side of the Moon with live performances at the Grand Ole Opry and international music festivals. It received little airplay, and following its release, Cook worked as a waitress to secure steady pay. Reviews were generally positive from music critics, some of whom singled out specific songs for praise. In retrospective articles, reviewers cited This Side of the Moon as a notable step in Cook's musical career.
Background and recording
Elizabeth Cook signed a recording contract with Atlantic after receiving positive reviews for The Blue Album, her 2000 self-released debut studio album.[1][2] The recording sessions for her second studio album Hey Y'all began in the spring of 2001, but its release would be delayed to 2002 because of record label issues.[3][4] When AOL-Time Warner—which owned Atlantic—closed its Nashville office, the company transferred Cook's contract to its parent company Warner Bros. As a result, Hey Y'all and its lead single "Stupid Things" received "little label support", and neither received any airplay.[4] Cook left Warner Bros. voluntarily to look for another record label in 2003.[5]
According to Cook's website, This Side of the Moon was constructed from separate "song experiments".[3] No Depression's Grant Alden described the album as a "collection of demos she scraped together" after her Warner Bros. deal.[6] "Funny Side of Love" was one of the first tracks recorded in this process.[7] Five producers, including Randy Scruggs and Sugar Hill's A&R director Steve Fishell, handled the songs recorded at eight recording studios throughout Tennessee.[8] Jeff Gordon is the executive producer for This Side of the Moon; along with producing a majority of the album, he mastered all of its songs.[9] Cook had met Gordon when he was looking for a "traditional girl country singer" to re-record his demos.[10]
This Side of the Moon was inspired by Cook's departure from Warner Bros., which she characterized as her "divorce from Music Row" and a "period of extreme frustration".[4] Gordon told Cook that she used songwriting to heal and joked it was because she "can't afford therapy beyond a lavender-scented candle".[7][9] In 2005, Cook told the Country Standard Time that she preferred being an independent artist, saying: "This is much more grass-roots, more real to me."[4] While reflecting on her career in 2017, Cook said that her first three albums were "tethered to Music Row", and recalled being "very conflicted with the responsibility of having mainstream radio hits". She said this changed with the 2007 release of her fourth studio album Balls, which she said allowed her to feel "very liberated as a songwriter".[11]
Cook has writing credits on the album's thirteen songs;[3] she co-wrote seven of them with songwriter Hardie McGehee[9] with whom she worked because they were signed to the same music publisher.[12] The pair had collaborated on seven songs for Hey Y'all.[13][14] After the release of This Side of the Moon, McGehee moved to Birmingham, Alabama, and Cook shifted to writing music by herself. She believed they "reached a real good stride" with the album, saying: "And I'm not sure where we would go from there."[10] Cook wrote two songs, “Ruthless" and "Heather Are You With Me Tonight", by herself and worked with her then-husband Tim Carroll on "Where the Blue Begins", which they recorded as a duet.[2][9]
Composition and lyrics
Sound
This Side of the Moon is a thirteen-track country album.[2] Country Standard Time's Rick Bell described its style as "hard-edged country",[2] while a contributor for The Tennessean said the songs have retro influences.[15] Kelefa Sanneh, writing for The New York Times, characterized the album as "old-fashioned", likening its simple arrangements to demos.[16] In The Tampa Tribune, Stephen Thompson remarked that the songs had different styles, from a "slow ballad" to a "rollicking mid-tempo number".[17]
Music journalists likened Cook's vocals to those of Dolly Parton and Loretta Lynn.[18] Alden described Cook's voice as "high [and] clear", saying it was "reminiscent in its quiet moments of Dolly Parton, or of a more burnished Julie Miller".[3] In The Philadelphia Inquirer, Nick Cristiano said Cook demonstrates an "industrial-strength vocal twang" and "Loretta Lynn spunkiness" on "Cupid", "All We Need Is Love", and "Somebody's Gotta Do It".[19] While Thompson said Cook lacked a "knockout voice" like Patsy Cline, Kelly Willis and Iris DeMent, he identified her as having a "sincere, unfussy style of singing".[17] Characterizing her voice as "high [and] agile", Sanneh remarked that unlike other singers' approaches to ballads, Cook "chuckles where others might sob".[16]
Lyrics
Throughout This Side of the Moon, the lyrics often focus on love and heartbreak.[17] Cook warns her partner in the ballad "Before I Go That Far" about what will happen if they break up.[19] In "This Side of the Moon", she sings about the hard work required in a relationship, specifically how it involves "going through struggles and becoming disenchanted with what you started working towards in the first place".[7] The album's final track "Somebody's Gotta Do It" is about satisfying a woman's needs.[20]
"Heather Are You With Me Tonight" is a love song about a soldier's loneliness and thoughts of his girlfriend.[2][3] The lyrics describe his moral struggle over carrying out an airstrike, "Ain't it funny how winning / Feels just like sinning?", and his hope that his girlfriend will understand and be faithful, "If I'm going to make this a free land / I'm going to need me a wing man".[3] Cook wrote the song during the bombing of Baghdad in the 2003 invasion of Iraq.[7] Alden emphasized that it is a war song, not a protest song.[6] Author Alice Randall and songwriters Carter and Courtney Little compared "Heather Are You With Me Tonight" to Glen Campbell's 1969 single "Galveston", writing that Cook's song asks the listener a moral question: "Can war and love exist in the same heart?"[21]
Along with love songs, This Side of the Moon explores Cook's experience with Warner Bros., specifically on "Funny Side of Love", "Here's to You", and "Hard-Hearted".[2][4][7] She uses humor in "Funny Side of Love" to handle her feelings of "disappointment and sense of lost opportunity" after leaving Warner Bros.[7] Cook said that while "Here's to You" and "Hard-Hearted" sound like break-up songs, the lyrics are actually about her career.[4]
Release and promotion
This Side of the Moon had a "soft release" in August 2004.[4] However, in a June 2004 article, The Tennessean's Peter Cooper said the album was already available.[22] Media outlets described the release as independent.[23][24] Hog Country Production gave This Side of the Moon a larger release on May 17, 2005 as an audio CD.[4][9]
According to a 2005 press release, Cook planned to embark on a summer tour and perform at the Grand Ole Opry to support the album.[7] Prior to the release, she had performed its music as part of her live shows.[23] Cook also promoted This Side of the Moon by performing at international music festivals.[25] The album was later released on streaming services.[26]
In 2005, Cook recorded a music video for "Before I Go That Far" in New Mexico.[10] Entertainment company Thirty Tigers uploaded the video to its YouTube channel on April 10, 2007.[27] Cook was a part of Thirty Tigers when the company changed its name from Emergent Music Marketing in 2006.[28] According to the company's YouTube channel, This Side of the Moon was later licensed to the Orchard Music on behalf of Hog Country Production.[27]
This Side of the Moon received little airplay,[29] and following the album's release, Cook worked as a waitress to secure a steady salary.[25] She recounted taking that job because she was not emotionally attached to it, and felt comfortable quitting to perform at live shows.[25] In a 2007 CMT interview, Cook said she developed a fanbase from "a small handful of cult country music fans" that she thought were frustrated with her lack of commercial success. However, she described reaching a sense of peace about her experiences with different record deals.[29]
Critical reception
This Side of the Moon was met with generally positive reviews from music critics.[30] Including the album on his list of 2005's best obscurities, Sanneh described the album as "lovable" and said Cook's vocals complimented the songs' productions.[16] Thompson felt the album was "consistently good, competently-put-together", and enjoyed the variation in its musical style.[31] Praising Cook for remaining "bracingly straight-up country", Cristiano thought This Side of the Moon was an improvement over Hey Y'all, and appreciated how "disappointment obviously didn't dull her artistry".[19] Bell commended Cook for providing a "steely conviction" to the music, and thought she deserved "a hard-earned, well-deserved second chance" to work with another major record label.[2] Alden praised the album's cohesion as well as Cook's vocals and songwriting, describing her as "an artist to whom attention must be paid".[3]
Some critics highlighted specific songs in their reviews. Cristiano said Cook proved herself to be a "thoughtful and deeply affecting balladeer", pointing to "Before I Go That Far" as an example.[19] While dismissing the notion that Cook was a guilty pleasure, Cooper singled out "Here's to You", "Where the Blue Begins", and "Somebody's Gotta Do It" as "music fit for smiling, humming and other admirable pursuits".[32] Alden highlighted "Heather Are You With Me Tonight" as "the first great song" from the Iraq War years,[3] and in his review for her fifth studio album Welder (2010), he said it was his favorite song.[6] In 2006, Randall, Carter, and Little singled out "Before I Go That Far" when praising Cook for creating "lush harmonies, traditional arrangements, and simple production".[33]
Retrospective reviews of This Side of the Moon remained positive.[15][24] In a 2006 article, a contributor for The Tennessean described it as Cook's best album.[15] Two years later, an NPR writer said Cook had achieved "some commercial and artistic potential" with the album.[24] Critics identified the album as an important part of Cook's career.[34][35] A staff writer for the River Cities' Reader attributed This Side of the Moon and Balls to helping establish Cook as a "soulful country singer and impassioned songwriter".[34] In a similar sentiment, Louisville's Brent Owen said This Side of the Moon gave Cook further exposure in the music industry.[35]
Track listing
Credits adapted from the liner notes of This Side of the Moon:[9]
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|---|
1. | "Cupid" | Scruggs | 2:50 | |
2. | "Funny Side of Love" |
| Steve Marcantonio | 2:05 |
3. | "Before I Go That Far" |
| Salley | 3:20 |
4. | "Here's to You" |
| Jeff Gordon | 2:57 |
5. | "This Side of the Moon" |
| Gordon | 3:50 |
6. | "Kiss Me Again" |
| Gordon | 2:54 |
7. | "Ruthless" |
| Gordon | 2:48 |
8. | "Alone Down Here" |
| Smith | 3:21 |
9. | "Hard-Hearted" |
| Gordon | 3:44 |
10. | "Heather Are You With Me Tonight" | Cook | Gordon | 2:29 |
11. | "All We Need Is Love" |
| Steve Fishell | 2:44 |
12. | "Where the Blue Begins" |
| Gordon | 2:39 |
13. | "Somebody's Gotta Do It" |
| Gordon | 2:59 |
Total length: | 38:53 |
Personnel
The following credits are adapted from the booklet of This Side of the Moon and AllMusic:[9][36]
- Joe Bogan – engineer, mixing
- Tom Bukovac – electric guitar
- Spencer Campbell – bass guitar
- Jimmy Capps – acoustic guitar
- T.W. Cargile – engineer, mixing
- Tim Carroll – composer, electric guitar, background vocals
- Elizabeth Cook – composer, acoustic guitar, primary vocals, background vocals
- Heather Dryden – art direction, design
- Howard Duck – keyboards
- Dan Dugmore – steel guitar
- Glen Duncan – fiddle
- Steve Fishell – steel guitar, producer
- Shannon Forrest – drums
- Dave Francis – bass guitar, acoustic guitar
- John Gardner – drums
- Jeff Gordon – engineer, executive producer, mastering, mixing, producer
- Kevin Grantt – bass guitar
- Owen Hale – drums
- Tony Harrell – keyboards
- David Jacques – bass
- Fats Kaplin – accordion, fiddle
- Suzy Kipp – stylist
- Sean Locke – background vocals
- Mills Logan – mixing
- Steve Marcantonio – engineer, mixing
- Jim McBride – composer
- Rusty McFarland – engineer
- Hardie McGehee – acoustic guitar, keyboards, background vocals
- Jim McKell – mixing
- Greg Morrow – drums
- Duncan Mullins – bass guitar
- Billy Panda – acoustic guitar, mandolin
- Mike Poole – engineer, mixing
- Alison Prestwood – bass guitar
- Ron Reynolds – engineer, mixing
- Tammy Rogers – fiddle, mandolin
- Jerry Salley – composer, producer, background vocals
- Rick Schell – drums
- Randy Scruggs – composer, acoustic guitar, producer
- Michael Severs – electric guitar
- Paul Slivka – bass
- Stephony Smith – composer, producer, background vocals
- Kenny Vaughan – electric guitar
- Wanda Vick – fiddle, acoustic guitar
References
Footnotes
- ^ Hage.
- ^ a b c d e f g Bell 2005a.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Alden 2004.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Bell 2005b.
- ^ Schmitt 2003, p. 3A.
- ^ a b c Alden 2010.
- ^ a b c d e f g Brodginski & Nelson 2005.
- ^ Alden 2004; AllMusic C; This Side of the Moon 2004
- ^ a b c d e f g This Side of the Moon 2004.
- ^ a b c Goodman 2005.
- ^ Keefer 2017.
- ^ CMT 2011.
- ^ Stark 2002, p. 28.
- ^ Hey Y'all 2002.
- ^ a b c The Tennessean 2006a, p. 21.
- ^ a b c Sanneh 2005.
- ^ a b c Thompson 2005.
- ^ Alden 2004 ; Cristiano 2005, p. H9; Sanneh 2005; The Tennessean 2006a, p. 21
- ^ a b c d Cristiano 2005, p. H9.
- ^ Randall, Little & Little 2006, p. 120.
- ^ Randall, Little & Little 2006, p. 52.
- ^ Cooper 2004b, p. 3F.
- ^ a b Cooper 2004a, p. D3.
- ^ a b c NPR 2008.
- ^ a b c Rogers 2008.
- ^ AllMusic C.
- ^ a b YouTube 2007.
- ^ Waddell 2006.
- ^ a b Self 2007.
- ^ Rogers 2008; The Tennessean 2006b, p. 13F; Wildsmith 2011
- ^ Thompson 2005, p. 19.
- ^ Cooper 2005, p. 3D.
- ^ Randall, Little & Little 2006, p. 231.
- ^ a b River Cities' Reader 2018.
- ^ a b Owen 2015.
- ^ AllMusic A.
Citations
- Alden, Grant (November 1, 2004). "Elizabeth Cook – This Side Of The Moon". No Depression. Archived from the original on August 28, 2020.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: ref duplicates default (link) - Alden, Grant (May 23, 2010). "An appreciation of Elizabeth Cook, and her album Welder". No Depression. Archived from the original on August 28, 2020.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: ref duplicates default (link) - "August 5". All the Rage. The Tennessean. June 8, 2006. p. 21. Retrieved August 28, 2020 – via Newspapers.com. (subscription required)
- Bell, Rick (2005). "Elizabeth Cook: This Side of the Moon". Country Standard Time. Archived from the original on July 2, 2020.
- Bell, Rick (June 2005). "Elizabeth Cook lands on this side of the moon". Country Standard Time. Archived from the original on December 13, 2020.
{{cite web}}
:|archive-date=
/|archive-url=
timestamp mismatch; December 13, 2010 suggested (help) - Brodginski, Todd; Nelson, Lathum (March 31, 2005). "Country Singer/Songwriter Elizabeth Cook to Release This Side of the Moon May 17 on Emergent/Hog County Records". Mitch Schneider Organization. Archived from the original on August 28, 2020.
- Cooper, Peter (June 1, 2004). "Hey, y'all!: Cook does the Wash". Entertainment. The Tennessean. p. D3. Retrieved June 21, 2020 – via Newspapers.com. (subscription required)
- Cooper, Peter (June 25, 2004). "Hot Country in the Plaza". Weekend. The Tennessean. p. 3F. Retrieved August 30, 2020 – via Newspapers.com. (subscription required)
- Cooper, Peter (June 9, 2005). "An 'Opry' Darling". Entertainment. The Tennessean. p. 3D. Retrieved August 28, 2020 – via Newspapers.com. (subscription required)
- Cristiano, Nick (May 29, 2005). "Elizabeth Cook: This Side of the Moon". Arts & Entertainment. The Philadelphia Inquirer. p. H9. Retrieved June 24, 2020 – via Newspapers.com. (subscription required)
- "Credits". AllMusic. Archived from the original on July 2, 2020.
- "Elizabeth Cook: 'Before I Go That Far' Music Video". YouTube. April 10, 2007. Archived from the original on September 24, 2020.
- "Elizabeth Cook Explores Music Roots in New Book, Right By Her Roots". CMT. March 21, 2011. Archived from the original on July 11, 2017.
- "Elizabeth Cook, May 23". River Cities' Reader. May 9, 2018. Archived from the original on August 28, 2020.
- "Elizabeth Cook On Mountain Stage". NPR. September 3, 2008. Archived from the original on July 2, 2020.
{{cite web}}
:|archive-date=
/|archive-url=
timestamp mismatch; August 28, 2020 suggested (help) - Goodman, Frank (July 2005). "A Conversation with Elizabeth Cook" (PDF). Puremusic.com. Archived (PDF) from the original on September 9, 2016.
- Hage, Erik. "Artist Biography by Erik Hage". AllMusic. Archived from the original on September 10, 2016.
- Hey Y'all (Inlay cover). Elizabeth Cook. Warner Bros. August 27, 2002.
{{cite AV media notes}}
: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link) - Keefer, Tony (October 24, 2017). "Elizabeth Cook: Freedom Never Sounded So Good". The Music Room. Archived from the original on August 28, 2020.
- Owen, Brent (June 3, 2015). "Zanzabar Welcomes Elizabeth Cook". Louisville. Archived from the original on August 28, 2020.
- Randall, Alice; Little, Carter; Little, Courtney (2006). My Country Roots: The Ultimate MP3 Guide to America's Original Outsider Music. Thomas Nelson. ISBN 978-1-59555-860-2.
- "Releases". AllMusic. Archived from the original on July 3, 2020.
- Rogers, Nick (June 12, 2008). "Not your ordinary balladeer". The State Journal-Register. Archived from the original on August 28, 2020.
- Sanneh, Kelefa (December 22, 2005). "Stealth Sounds That Missed the Charts but Merit a Hearing". The New York Times. Archived from the original on August 28, 2020.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: ref duplicates default (link) - Schmitt, Brad (January 14, 2003). "Elizabeth Cook looks into other label options". Brad About You. The Tennessean. p. 3A. Retrieved June 27, 2020 – via Newspapers.com. (subscription required)
- "See what's cooking on the grand stage". Opry Spotlight. The Tennessean. January 13, 2006. p. 13F. Retrieved August 28, 2020 – via Newspapers.com. (subscription required)
- Self, Whitney (May 9, 2007). "Elizabeth Cook Proves She's Got Balls". CMT. Archived from the original on August 28, 2020.
- This Side of the Moon (Inlay cover). Elizabeth Cook. Hog Country Production. August 2004.
{{cite AV media notes}}
: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link) - "This Side of the Moon". AllMusic. Archived from the original on July 3, 2020.
{{cite web}}
:|archive-date=
/|archive-url=
timestamp mismatch; August 28, 2020 suggested (help) - Stark, Phyllis (June 29, 2002). "Cook Aims for Attention with 'Hey Y'all' on Warner Bros". Billboard. 114 (30): 28. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved June 27, 2018.
- Thompson, Steven (August 5, 2005). "Elizabeth Cook: This Side of the Moon (Hog County Production)". Music. The Tampa Tribune. p. 19. Retrieved August 28, 2020 – via Newspapers.com. (subscription required)
- Waddell, Ray (August 17, 2006). "Emergent Music Marketing Flips To Thirty Tigers". Billboard. Archived from the original on September 18, 2020.
- Wildsmith, Steve (April 27, 2011). "Elizabeth Cook takes an intensely personal journey on Welder". The Daily Times. Archived from the original on July 2, 2020.
{{cite web}}
:|archive-date=
/|archive-url=
timestamp mismatch; August 28, 2020 suggested (help)