Honeycomb (album)
| Untitled | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |    [1] |
| Entertainment Weekly | (A)[2] |
| Filter | (86/100)[3] |
| NME |   [4] |
| The Guardian | [5] |
| NME | [6] |
| Pitchfork Media | (6.0/10)[7] |
| Spin | [8] |
| Stylus Magazine | C−[9] |
| Uncut | [10] |
Honeycomb is the tenth studio album by American alternative rock musician Frank Black, released in July 2005 on Back Porch Records. His first original solo work since 1996's The Cult of Ray, Honeycomb was recorded in Nashville, and features notable local session musicians, such as Steve Cropper and ex-Presley guitarist Reggie Young.
Background
Frank Black had discussed making a Black on Blonde record for about ten years with producer Jon Tiven, where he would travel to Nashville (like Dylan with Blonde on Blonde) and record with local musicians. In 2005, Black eventually found the time to record such an album. He went to Nashville and met with musicians whom Tiven had selected for the record.[11]
Covers
Unusually for a Frank Black album, it has 3 cover songs: "Song of the Shrimp," "Sunday Sunny Mill Valley Groove Day" (by Doug Sahm) and "Dark End of the Street". Black said that, for the cover of "Song of the Shrimp," he took his cue from the version by Townes Van Zandt, adding that he had never heard Elvis Presley's version.[12]
Track listing
All songs written by Frank Black except where noted.
- "Selkie Bride" – 3:08
- "I Burn Today" – 4:09
- "Lone Child" – 3:14
- "Another Velvet Nightmare" (Black, Reid Paley) – 4:36
- "Dark End of the Street" (Dan Penn, Chips Moman) – 3:56
- "Go Find Your Saint" – 2:05
- "Song of the Shrimp" (Roy C. Bennett, Sid Tepper) – 3:10
- "Strange Goodbye" – 2:12
- "Sunday Sunny Mill Valley Groove Day" (Doug Sahm) – 4:07
- "Honeycomb" – 3:57
- "My Life Is in Storage" – 5:41
- "Atom in My Heart" – 2:46
- "Violet" – 2:14
- "Sing For Joy" – 5:04
Personnel
- Frank Black – vocals, guitar
- Steve Cropper - lead guitar
- Buddy Miller - guitar
- Reggie Young - guitar
- Spooner Oldham - keyboards, bells, vocals
- David Hood - bass guitar
- Billy Block - drums
- Anton Fig - drums
- Akil Thompson - drums
- Chester Thompson - drums
- Jean Black - duet vocal (8)
- James Griffin - vocals
- Ellis Hooks - vocals
- Dan Penn - vocals, tracking engineer
- Jon Tiven - harmonica, producer
- Earl Drake - Mixing
Notes and references
- ^ Allmusic review
- ^ Entertainment Weekly review
- ^ Filter review
- ^ NME review
- ^ The Guardian review
- ^ NME review
- ^ Pitchfork Media review
- ^ Spin review
- ^ Stylus Magazine review
- ^ Uncut review
- ^ Ascott, Phil. "Frank Black". Total Guitar. #140. September 2005
- ^ Interview: Frank Black - Uncut.co.uk at the Wayback Machine (archived October 28, 2005)