I'm Alright (Loudon Wainwright III album)

Last updated
I'm Alright
ImAlrightalbumcover.jpg
Studio album by
Released1985
RecordedJune 1985
Studio Olympic Studios, London
Genre Folk
Label Rounder
Producer Richard Thompson,
Loudon Wainwright III
Loudon Wainwright III chronology
Fame and Wealth
(1983)
I'm Alright
(1985)
More Love Songs
(1986)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [1]
Robert Christgau B+ [2]

I'm Alright is a 1985 album by Loudon Wainwright III. It was his third release on Rounder Records, recorded in London. It was produced by Richard Thompson, who also played electric lead guitar on several songs. The back cover features a photo of the two together, captioned 'Loud and Rich'.

Contents

The poignant "Screaming Issue", one of Wainwright's few collaborations – this time with Terre Roche of The Roches – was never compiled, nor has it appeared on a live album. It concerned his then infant daughter Lucy Wainwright Roche, who has since played and recorded with him.

This album continued Wainwright's reinvention of himself as an acoustic-based artist, and was the first of his Richard Thompson produced collaborations, which would peak critically the following year with More Love Songs .

Richard Thompson continued to tour with Wainwright, and Danny Thompson of Pentangle into the late 1990s. His most recent appearance on a LW3 album was 2003's So Damn Happy .

The album was nominated for the "Best Contemporary Folk Recording" Grammy.

Track listing

All tracks composed by Loudon Wainwright III; except where indicated

  1. "One Man Guy" – 4:16
  2. "Lost Love" – 3:22
  3. "I'm Alright" – 2:23
  4. "Not John" – 4:25
  5. "Cardboard Boxes" – 3:15
  6. "Screaming Issue" (Wainwright III, Terre Roche) – 4:52
  7. "How Old Are You?" – 2:08
  8. "Animal Song" – 2:16
  9. "Out Of this World" – 3:17
  10. "Daddy Take a Nap" – 3:59
  11. "Ready or Not (So Ripe)" – 4:17
  12. "Career Moves" – 3:16

Personnel

Technical

Release history

Related Research Articles

The Roches Trio of American singing-songwriting sisters

The Roches were a vocal group of three songwriting American sisters from Park Ridge, New Jersey, United States. They were known for their "unusual" and "rich" harmonies, quirky lyrics, and casually comedic stage performances.

Loudon Wainwright III American musician

Loudon Snowden Wainwright III is an American singer-songwriter and occasional actor. In addition to the 1970s novelty hit "Dead Skunk ", which reached No. 16 on the Billboard Charts in 1972, he has released 24 studio albums, 4 live albums, and 6 compilations. Some of his most well-known songs include "The Swimming Song", "Motel Blues", "The Man Who Couldn't Cry", and "Lullaby". In 2007, he collaborated with musician Joe Henry to create the soundtrack for Judd Apatow's film Knocked Up. In addition to music, he has acted in small roles in at least 18 television programs and feature films, including three episodes in the third season of the series M*A*S*H.

<i>Album II</i> (Loudon Wainwright III album) 1971 studio album by Loudon Wainwright III

Album II, as its title indicates, is the second album from Loudon Wainwright III. It was released in 1971 on Atlantic Records.

<i>Album III</i> 1972 studio album by Loudon Wainwright III

Album III is the third full-length album from Loudon Wainwright III. It was originally released in 1972 on Columbia Records. Album III would spawn Loudon Wainwright's most popular hit single, "Dead Skunk", one of the many 'novelty songs' sprinkled throughout Wainwright's career. Although Wainwright has maintained an ironic, sometimes sepulchral sense of humor, "Dead Skunk", despite its commercial success, has dogged him ever since, as he comments on 1985's album I'm Alright, "Were you embarrassed about 'Dead Skunk'"?

<i>Attempted Mustache</i> 1973 studio album by Loudon Wainwright III

Attempted Mustache is the fourth album from Loudon Wainwright III. It was recorded in Nashville, Tennessee with producer Bob Johnston and was released in 1973 on Columbia Records.

<i>Fame and Wealth</i> 1983 studio album by Loudon Wainwright III

Fame and Wealth is a 1983 album by Loudon Wainwright III. It was released on Rounder Records. After a five-year hiatus since Final Exam, it eschewed the rock sound of his later 1970s albums in favour of a stripped-down, wirier folk sound which would typify his recorded output from then on.

<i>More Love Songs</i> 1986 studio album by Loudon Wainwright III

More Love Songs is a 1986 album by Loudon Wainwright III released on Rounder Records. Wainwright had moved to England, and this was the second album produced by Richard Thompson. Critically and popularly it is probably considered the peak of his 1980s renaissance. After three albums in four years, it would be another three years before he released the largely ignored Therapy. The album was nominated for the "Best Contemporary Folk Recording" Grammy.

<i>Therapy</i> (Loudon Wainwright III album) 1989 studio album by Loudon Wainwright III

Therapy is a 1989 album by Loudon Wainwright III. It followed a three-year hiatus, during which Wainwright moved from England back to the USA. Compared with those two, Therapy was not well received, but outstanding tracks have subsequently appeared on live albums.

<i>History</i> (Loudon Wainwright III album) 1992 studio album by Loudon Wainwright III

History is the twelfth studio album by American singer-songwriter Loudon Wainwright III, released on September 21, 1992 on Charisma Records. The album was recorded following the death of Wainwright's father, Loudon Wainwright Jr. Regarding his father's death and its influence on History, Wainwright stated that:

[the] whole record is about him and me, and his death, and the struggle with my own son - and so as far as reconciliation goes, I think when one or both of your parents dies, you realize you're in the batter's box. That's it: You're going to die. You get a taste of your own mortality, and you also are not as angry at them, at least after a while, and so maybe you do try to start to reconcile some things.

<i>Social Studies</i> (Loudon Wainwright III album) 1999 studio album by Loudon Wainwright III

Social Studies is a studio album by Loudon Wainwright III, released in 1999. The album comprises various topical and satirical songs, originally produced for National Public Radio and based upon then-current issues and events, such as the Tonya Harding scandal, the O. J. Simpson murder trial, the lead-up to Y2K, and controversies surrounding comments made by former Republican U.S. Senator Jesse Helms.

<i>Last Man on Earth</i> (album) 2001 studio album by Loudon Wainwright III

Last Man on Earth is the sixteenth studio album by American singer-songwriter Loudon Wainwright III, released on September 24, 2001 on Red House Records. Recorded in the wake of Wainwright's mother's death and the collapse of a romantic relationship, the album thematically addresses feelings of grief and loneliness. In 2012, Wainwright noted, "Last Man on Earth was written right after my mother died, so a lot of the material on that record has to do with that momentous event. The life circle was present on a lot of those songs."

<i>T Shirt</i> (album) 1976 studio album by Loudon Wainwright III

T Shirt is a 1976 album by Loudon Wainwright III. Unlike his earlier records, this saw Wainwright adopt a full blown rock band (Slowtrain) - though there are acoustic songs on T Shirt, including a talking blues. According to Wainwright on the 2006 CD liner notes, it received a scathing review from Rolling Stone which depressed him so much he stayed in bed for five days. By the early 1990s, he disowned the album in a radio interview broadcast in Australia. However, by the time of the CD remaster he admitted to a much more sympathetic view of the album(s), which he referred to as his 'puppies'.

<i>Final Exam</i> (album) 1978 studio album by Loudon Wainwright III

Final Exam is a 1978 album by Loudon Wainwright III. It was re-released on Telarc in 2006 at the time of his European tour as a double-disk album, coupled with his 1976 album T Shirt.

<i>Keep On Doing</i> 1982 studio album by The Roches

Keep On Doing is the third studio album by the folk trio the Roches, released in 1982 on Warner Bros. Records. It is their second collaboration with Robert Fripp, following their 1979 debut album.

<i>Old New Borrowed Blue</i> 1996 studio album by Fairport Convention

Old New Borrowed Blue is the nineteenth studio album by folk rock band Fairport Convention, although for this release, they were billed as "Fairport Acoustic Convention" as it was the band's first all-acoustic album in 29 years. Part studio, part live, it was recorded to publicise a tour of the United States and consisted of cover versions, new songs and classic tracks dating back to the band's early career. Dave Mattacks, who had provided drums and electronic instrumentation for previous albums, was absent.

<i>40 Odd Years</i> 2011 box set by Loudon Wainwright III

40 Odd Years is a compilation box set by American singer-songwriter Loudon Wainwright III, released on May 3, 2011 on Shout! Factory. The set contains music from throughout Wainwright's career, alongside a DVD of live performances and documentary pieces. The collection is co-produced and curated by filmmaker Judd Apatow, who also writes an introduction in the liner notes.

<i>Places I Have Never Been</i> 1991 studio album by Willie Nile

Places I Have Never Been is the third studio album, and first in ten years, by singer/songwriter Willie Nile.

<i>Rufus Wainwright: Live from the Artists Den</i> 2014 live album by Rufus Wainwright

Rufus Wainwright: Live from the Artists Den is a live album by American-Canadian singer-songwriter Rufus Wainwright, released by Artists Den Records and Universal Music Enterprises on March 3, 2014. The album was recorded at a concert on May 17, 2012 at the Church of the Ascension in Greenwich Village, New York City, which was originally filmed for the PBS program Live from the Artists Den.

<i>Songs in the Dark</i> (album) 2015 studio album by The Wainwright Sisters

Songs in the Dark is the debut album by the Wainwright Sisters, a singer-songwriter duo featuring the Canadian-American Martha Wainwright and her American half-sister Lucy Wainwright Roche. The album, released on November 13, 2015, includes lullabies that their mothers Kate McGarrigle and Suzzy Roche sang to them as children, plus songs by Woody Guthrie, Jimmie Rogers, and their father Loudon Wainwright III.

"One Man Guy" is a song written by American singer-songwriter Loudon Wainwright III. It originally appeared on his 1985 studio album I'm Alright, and was included on his 2009 compilation album Essential Recordings: One Man Guy.

References

  1. "I'm Alright - Loudon Wainwright III | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic.
  2. "Robert Christgau: CG: Loudon Wainwright III". www.robertchristgau.com.