This article needs additional citations for verification .(July 2014) |
I Was Born a Man | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Studio album by | ||||
Released | July 1995 (UK) | |||
Recorded | 1990s | |||
Genre | Lo-fi, Indie | |||
Length | 46:26 | |||
Label | Baby Bird Recordings | |||
Producer | Stephen Jones | |||
Baby Bird chronology | ||||
|
I Was Born a Man was the first of five albums of home-made recordings, released by Stephen Jones under the name Baby Bird in 1995. The album was originally a limited edition release, but is now available as part of the 2002 CD box set The Original Lo-Fi .
The album includes a version of the song "Cornershop", which was subsequently a hit single for Jones' band Babybird (written as one word).
Review scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
Allmusic | [1] |
"I'll just say that I Was Born A Man is the only record I've heard this year with lyrics worth remembering and music that's impossible to forget, because I'd rather you listen to it than me talking about it." - Melody Maker.
"...whatever ultra-naff low-fidelity keyboard tinklings he undertakes; he carries with him incredibly touching pieces like Dead Bird Sings that create, in the middle of this tank top of a record, an altogether different kind of sadness." - NME
All tracks written and composed by Stephen Jones.
Barry Eugene Carter, better known by his stage name Barry White, was an American singer-songwriter, musician, record producer and composer. A two-time Grammy Award–winner known for his bass-baritone voice and romantic image, his greatest success came in the 1970s as a solo singer and with The Love Unlimited Orchestra, crafting many enduring soul, funk, and disco songs such as his two biggest hits: "You're the First, the Last, My Everything" and "Can't Get Enough of Your Love, Babe".
The Dixie Cups are an American pop music girl group of the 1960s. They are best known for a string of hits including their 1964 million-selling record "Chapel of Love", "People Say", and "Iko Iko".
Acid Eaters is the thirteenth studio album by American punk band Ramones.
Stephen Jones is an English musician and novelist.
Babybird is a musical project centred around songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Stephen Jones, who has been releasing music since 1995. While Jones' early solo work was released under the "Baby Bird" name, the altered "Babybird" was first used to distinguish the full band line-up that has changed often over the years. However, in recent years, Jones has recorded many of the Babybird albums himself, in addition to recording as a solo artist, and under various aliases including Death Of The Neighbourhood, Trucker, Black Reindeer, Deluder, Arthritis Kid and others.
The Birds, The Bees & The Monkees is the fifth studio album by the Monkees. Released in April 1968, it was the first Monkees album not to reach Billboard's number one, peaking at No. 3 on the U.S. charts. It was also their first album to miss the UK charts altogether, with their four previous efforts all having reached the top ten. The album has sold over a million copies.
Stephen Patrick Mackey is an English musician and record producer best known as the bass guitarist for the alternative rock band Pulp, which he joined in 1989. As a record producer, he has produced songs and albums by M.I.A., Florence + the Machine, The Long Blondes and Arcade Fire.
The Original Lo-Fi is a CD box set compiling five albums of home-made recordings released by Stephen Jones under the name Baby Bird between 1995 and 1997, plus a sixth CD, consisting of additional material recorded during the 1990s.
The Happiest Man Alive was the fourth of five albums of home-made recordings, released by Stephen Jones under the name Baby Bird in 1996.
Fatherhood was the third of five albums of home-made recordings, released by Stephen Jones under the name Baby Bird in 1995. The album includes a version of the song "Goodnight", which was subsequently released as the first single by Jones' band Babybird.
Portfolio is the debut studio album by Grace Jones, released in 1977 by Island Records. It spawned her first big hit, "La Vie en rose".
George Jones Sings the Great Songs of Leon Payne is an album by American country music artist George Jones, released in 1971 on the Musicor Records label containing nine Leon Payne covers and one Jones co-write with Payne, "Take Me". Eight of the ten songs on this album had been released on earlier Jones albums. Of those eight, three were re-recorded in 1970 and included here, and the other five are just re-releases of the original 1960s recordings. The two previously unreleased songs, "Brothers of a Bottle" and "Lifetime to Regret", were also recorded in 1970. This was the last Jones "studio" album that was released by Musicor as he had already signed with Epic Records.
Country Church Time is the sixth studio album released by George Jones on January 20, 1959. The LP includes multiple early gospel recordings by Jones on Starday.
Queen of Soul: The Atlantic Recordings is an 86-track, four-disc box set detailing Aretha Franklin's Atlantic career, starting in 1967 with the landmark single "I Never Loved a Man " and ending with 1976's "Something He Can Feel".
Ugly Beautiful is a 1996 album by Babybird, the band's sixth, though their first for Echo Records. Released on 21 October, the album includes the singles "Goodnight", "Candy Girl", "You're Gorgeous" and "Cornershop". "You're Gorgeous" was a surprise top-three UK and international hit for the group. The album was written entirely by band-leader Stephen Jones. Many of the songs were written and recorded by Jones alone between 1988 and 1994. Several of the songs had been released in these demo incarnations on Jones' solo lo-fi work as Baby Bird that he did prior to forming the band with John Pedder, Robert Gregory, Luke Scott and Huw Chadbourn. The majority of the album was produced by Jones with Steve Power. Darren Allison and Ian Caple each produced a song.
Gail Zeiler, known professionally as Kacey Jones, was an American singer-songwriter, producer and humorist. After co-writing the Mickey Gilley hit "I'm the One Mama Warned You About", she found success as a performer through the band Ethel & The Shameless Hussies, with whom she released her first album. Later, in 1997, she released her first solo album, Men Are Some of My Favorite People, through Curb Records, before founding her own label, IGO Records, co-founding the Kinkajou Records label with Kinky Friedman and creating two publishing houses—Zamalama Music and Mamalama Music. Since her first solo album, Jones released eight CDs and produced music for both the theatrical comedy Nipples to the Wind and the movie Sordid Lives.
Sonny & Cher's Greatest Hits is the second compilation album by American pop duo Sonny & Cher, released in 1968 by Atlantic/Atco Records.
Cornershop and the Double 'O' Groove Of... is a 2011 studio album by the British band Cornershop. It follows their 2009 album Judy Sucks a Lemon for Breakfast. The album had been six years in the making and is a collaboration album with Bubbley Kaur, a previously unrecorded Punjabi singer. The funds for its release were raised via Pledgemusic.
The Greatest Hits was a compilation album self-released by Babybird in 1997. When it was released, Atlantic Records helped market a release of the album distributed by the Alternative Distribution Alliance. It consists of 20 songs, chosen by a vote of British consumers, each taken from one of Babybird's five previous indie albums. Atlantic's goal in marketing the album was to introduce Americans to Jones' numerous songs, none of which had previously been widely available in the United States.
Jack K. Pleis was an American jazz pianist, arranger, conductor, composer and producer. He recorded on London and Decca Records in the 1950s, and Columbia Records in the 1960s. During the course of his career, Pleis worked with many artists, including Louis Armstrong, Harry Belafonte, Bing Crosby, Sammy Davis Jr., Benny Goodman, Earl Grant, Brenda Lee, and Joe Williams. Between 1950 and 1976, over 150 songs were arranged by Pleis. His surname is pronounced "Pleece".