| Little Songs | ||||
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | July 14, 2023 | |||
| Recorded | 2020–2023 | |||
| Studio | Yellowdog Studios (Wimberley, Texas) | |||
| Length | 32:33 | |||
| Label |
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| Producer |
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| Colter Wall chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Little Songs | ||||
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Little Songs is the fourth studio album by Canadian country and western artist Colter Wall. It was released on July 14, 2023, through La Honda Records and RCA.
The album was recorded at Yellowdog Studios in Wimberley, Texas and produced by Patrick Lyons. [1] Wall revealed that majority of the songs were created in the "last three years". He also stated that he "penned most of them from home" and believes that the songs reflect that. [2]
On September 21, 2022, over two years after the release of his third studio album Western Swing & Waltzes and Other Punchy Songs (2020), Wall released two songs titled "Cypress Hills and the Big Country" featuring Lyons and a cover version of "Let's All Help the Cowboys (Sing the Blues)". [3] However, both songs would not appear on the tracklist for the album. Wall continued to tease the record through snippets and previews over the following eight months. [4]
Wall announced the album on April 27, 2023, and shared a cover of Hoyt Axton's "Evangelina". [5] He had previously performed the song during several of his live sets. [6] The album is set to feature eight original and two cover songs. [7] On June 2, Wall shared a new original song titled "Coralling the Blues", described as a "sad, slow sway full of harmonica and dobro". [8]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Paste | 7.7/10 [9] |
| Pitchfork | 7.1/10 [10] |
| Slant Magazine |   [11] |
Jeremy Winograd of Slant Magazine stated that only when somebody learns Wall works as a rancher can the album "be fully appreciated as not just a charming batch of old-fashioned country-western tunes, but as something more personal and carefully considered". Winograd also felt that it "eschews familiar folk-based influences like Bob Dylan and Townes Van Zandt in pursuit of capturing a more novel and idiosyncratic style". [11] Ben Salmon of Paste found Wall's voice to be "as rugged and resonant as ever", also calling the cover of "The Coyote & the Cowboy" by Ian Tyson "a passing of the torch", with the album "prov[ing] he's ready to grab that torch and run". [10] Pitchfork 's Amanda Wicks wrote that listening to Little Songs "can feel like dropping a coin into the local nickelodeon and watching the past flicker to life, and much of that movement comes from Wall's band", who she said gave "radiant performances". [10]
All tracks are written by Colter Wall, except where noted.
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Prairie Evening/Sagebrush Waltz" | 3:35 | |
| 2. | "Standing Here" | 2:42 | |
| 3. | "Corralling the Blues" | 2:27 | |
| 4. | "The Coyote & the Cowboy" | Ian Tyson | 3:20 |
| 5. | "Honky Tonk Nighthawk" | 4:32 | |
| 6. | "For a Long While" | 3:19 | |
| 7. | "Cow/Calf Blue Yodel" | 2:53 | |
| 8. | "Little Songs" | 2:25 | |
| 9. | "Evangelina" |
| 3:47 |
| 10. | "The Last Loving Words" | 3:33 | |
| Total length: | 32:33 | ||
| Chart (2023) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian Country Albums (ARIA) [12] | 25 |
| Canadian Albums ( Billboard ) [13] | 82 |
| UK Album Downloads (OCC) [14] | 84 |
| UK Country Albums (OCC) [15] | 9 |
| US Billboard 200 [16] | 75 |
| US Americana/Folk Albums ( Billboard ) [17] | 4 |
| US Top Country Albums ( Billboard ) [18] | 17 |
Hoyt Wayne Axton was an American singer-songwriter, guitarist and actor. He became prominent in the early 1960s, establishing himself on the West Coast as a folk singer with an earthy style and powerful voice. Among his best-known songs are "Joy to the World", "The Pusher", "No No Song", "Greenback Dollar", "Della and the Dealer" and "Never Been to Spain".
Western music is a form of country music composed by and about the people who settled and worked throughout the Western United States and Western Canada. Western music celebrates the lifestyle of the cowboy on the open ranges, Rocky Mountains, and prairies of Western North America. Directly related musically to old English, Irish, Scottish, and folk ballads, also the Mexican folk music of Northern Mexico and Southwestern United States influenced the development of this genre, particularly corrido, ranchera, New Mexico and Tejano. Western music shares similar roots with Appalachian music, which developed around the same time throughout Appalachia and the Appalachian Mountains. The music industry of the mid-20th century grouped the two genres together under the banner of country and western music, later amalgamated into the modern name, country music.
"Joy to the World" is a song written by Hoyt Axton and made famous by the band Three Dog Night. The song is also popularly known by its opening lyric, "Jeremiah was a bullfrog". Three Dog Night originally released the song on their fourth studio album, Naturally, in November 1970, and subsequently released an edited version of the song as a single in February 1971.
Mirriam Rebecca Joan Johnson, known professionally as Jessi Colter, is an American country singer who is best known for her collaborations with her husband, country musician Waylon Jennings, and for her 1975 crossover hit "I'm Not Lisa".
"The Pusher" is a rock song written by Hoyt Axton, made popular by the 1969 movie Easy Rider which used Steppenwolf's version to accompany the opening scenes showing drug trafficking.
Washington County is a 1970 album by the American folk singer Arlo Guthrie. It peaked at #33 on the Billboard charts on December 4, 1970, and number 28 in Australia.
Never Say Die: Live is a live album by Waylon & The Waymore Blues Band, released on Sony Records through the Lucky Dog imprint in 2000. Jennings' third live album – after Waylon Live (1976) – and his last record of original material to be released during his lifetime, it was recorded at Nashville's historic Ryman Auditorium on January 5 and 6, 2000. At that time, Jennings was battling both emphysema and severe diabetes that had forced him to give up the sort of long tours he had always done. The album is credited to "Waylon & The Waymore Blues Band", referring to the singer's backing band, actually a mix of many of his original road band, the Waylors, and additional musicians. The album features a host of guests, including Waylon's wife Jessi Colter and three artists then on Sony: Montgomery Gentry, John Anderson and Travis Tritt. The songs themselves are a mix of original Jennings hits, tracks from his more recent albums and compositions he had never covered. Like 1998's Closing in on the Fire, Never Say Die: Live reached #71 on the country charts. The original 2000 release did not by any means constitute the complete concert, which ran an hour and forty minutes and was recorded by Sony in video. On July 24, 2007, Legacy Recordings, the Sony BMG reissue specialists, released the complete concert including all twenty-two tracks on two CDs and on DVD as well.
The discography of American country singer Jessi Colter consists of 13 studio albums, three compilation albums, 27 singles, 17 other album appearances, and one other charted song. Under her birth name Mirriam Johnson, she recorded two singles in 1961. Her first releases under the name Jessi Colter were issued by RCA Victor in 1969, beginning with A Country Star Is Born. The label also released several singles through 1972. Colter first had commercial success with the 1975 single "I'm Not Lisa". It topped the US country chart, reached number four on the US Hot 100 and number 16 on the US adult contemporary chart. It made similar positions in Canada, while also making multiple charts internationally. It was featured on the studio album I'm Jessi Colter. Released by Capitol Records, the album reached number four on the US country albums chart and number 50 on the US Billboard 200. The disc spawned the top five US country single "What's Happened to Blue Eyes".
"Please Mr. Please" is a song written by Bruce Welch and John Rostill, both members of British pop singer Cliff Richard's backing band, The Shadows. Welch had originally recorded the song himself in 1974 with no commercial success.
Never Say Die: The Final Concert is a 2000 concert film featuring Waylon Jennings. Jennings, his health failing, played his last major concert at Nashville's historic Ryman Auditorium in January 2000. He was backed by the all-star Waymore Blues Band, whom Jennings called "the band I always wanted," and joined onstage by his wife Jessi Colter, and by guests John Anderson, Travis Tritt and Montgomery Gentry.
That's the Way a Cowboy Rocks and Rolls is the fifth studio album by American country artist, Jessi Colter. The album was released in November 1978 on Capitol Records and was produced by Richie Albright and Waylon Jennings.
"Never Been to Spain" is a song written by Hoyt Axton, originally released on his 1971 LP Joy to the World and later that year performed by Three Dog Night, with Cory Wells on lead vocal. It was featured on their 1971 album Harmony. The recording was produced by Richard Podolor.
"There Stands the Glass" is a country song written by Russ Hull, Mary Jean Shurtz, and Autry Greisham. Originally recorded by Blaine Smith in 1952, it was a hit for Webb Pierce in 1953. It was Pierce's fifth release to hit number one on the country chart. It spent 27 weeks on the chart and was at the top for 12 weeks.
"Geronimo's Cadillac" is the debut single by American country folk singer-songwriter Michael Martin Murphey, then billed as Michael Murphey. It was the title cut of his 1972 debut album which was an A&M Records release.
Southbound is an album by folk-rock writer & country singer Hoyt Axton, released in 1975. It reached #27 on the US country charts and #188 on the Billboard 200.
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Colter Wall is a Canadian singer, songwriter, and musician. Known for his deep, gruff baritone and narrative songwriting, Wall's music encompasses country, folk, and western styles. In June 2015 he released an EP "Imaginary Appalachia". His self-titled debut album was released in May 2017, and his second album Songs of the Plains in October 2018. His third album, Western Swing & Waltzes and Other Punchy Songs, was released in August 2020. His fourth album Little Songs was released on July 14, 2023.
Songs of the Plains is the second studio album by Canadian singer-songwriter Colter Wall. It was released on October 12, 2018 under Thirty Tigers.
Tales from the Ozone is an album by American rock band Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen. Their sixth album, it was produced by the musician Hoyt Axton, and recorded at the Record Plant in Sausalito, California. The last studio album to feature most of the band's original lineup, it was released in 1975. It reached #168 on the Billboard 200.
Western Swing & Waltzes and Other Punchy Songs is the third album by Canadian country and western artist Colter Wall. It was released on August 28, 2020 through La Honda Records and Thirty Tigers.