Painted Desert Serenade

Untitled

Painted Desert Serenade is the debut studio release from American pianist/singer-songwriter Joshua Kadison, released in 1993 on SBK (a subsidiary of Capitol Records). It featured two singles, both of which reached the top 30 on the Billboard Hot 100: "Jessie" peaked at number 26 in the US (while placing three spots in Sweden a year after its release), while the track "Beautiful in My Eyes" managed a chart placing of 19 in 1994.

Track listing

All songs written by Joshua Kadison.

1. "Jessie" 5:18
2. "Painted Desert Serenade" 2:56
3. "Beau's All Night Radio Love Line" 4:26
4. "Invisible Man" 4:57
5. "Mama's Arms" 3:00
6. "Beautiful in My Eyes" 4:07
7. "Picture Postcards from LA" 4:33
8. "When A Woman Cries" 3:31
9. "Georgia Rain" 4:03

Personnel

• Joshua Kadison: piano, lead vocals
• Sherwood Ball, Adele Bertei, Carmen Carter, Lance Ellington, Kathy Hazzard, David Lasley, Valerie Mayo, Arnold McCuller, Joseph Powell, Ian Shaw, Helen Terry, Ruby Turner, Carmen Twillie, Fred White: choir & chorus vocals
• Rosemary Butler, Gene Miller, Tessa Niles: backing vocals
• Mark Cresswell, Tim Pierce, Tim Renwick: guitars
• Dave "Clem" Clempson: acoustic, electric & twelve-string guitars; mandolin
• Paul Jones: harmonica
• Phil Parlapiano: accordion
• Rod Argent: keyboards & Hammond organ, backing vocals
• Jeffrey "CJ" Vanston: Hammond organ
• John Giblin, Chris Laurence, John Pierce: bass guitar
• Denny Fongheiser, Ian Thomas, Neal Wilkinson: drums
• Martin Ditcham: percussion
• Frank Ricotti: congas & percussion
• Peter Van Hooke: piano, drums, percussion
• Strings arranged by Rod Argent; conducted by Gavyn Wright
  • Violins: Mark Berrow, Ben Cruft, Roger Garland, Wilfred Gibson, Roy Gillard, Tim Good, Rita Manning, Peter Oxer, Bill Penham, Barry Wilde, David Woodcock, Gavyn Wright
  • Viola: Stephen Tees, Robert Smissen, George Robertson, Andrew Parker, Susie Hansen
  • Celli: Paul Kegg, Ben Kennard, Helen Liebmann, Roger Smith
  • Frank Morgan, Richard Morgan: oboe

Production

• Produced by Rod Argent, David Kershenbaum & Peter Van Hooke
• Recording Engineers: John Kurlander, Simon Smart, Kevin Smith
• Mixed by Rob Eaton, David Kershenbaum & Kevin Smith
• Mastered by Bob Ludwig

Reception

Reviewing the album for Allmusic, Bryan Buss called it "chock full of odes to finding romance, longing for romance and losing romance".

References

• Buss, Bryan. Joshua Kadison: Painted Desert Serenade at AllMusic. Retrieved 14 June 2011.