| Rainy Day Music | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | April 8, 2003 | |||
| Recorded | Sunset Sound (Hollywood, California) | |||
| Genre | Alternative rock, alternative country | |||
| Length | 50:51 | |||
| Label | American, Lost Highway | |||
| Producer | Rick Rubin (exec.), Ethan Johns | |||
| The Jayhawks chronology | ||||
| ||||
Rainy Day Music is the seventh studio album by American rock band The Jayhawks, released on April 8, 2003. It debuted on the Billboard 200 at number 51, selling 19,000 copies that week. [1]
At the time of the recording, The Jayhawks consisted of the trio of Gary Louris and long-time members Marc Perlman and Tim O'Reagan. New guitarist Stephen McCarthy replaced guitarist Kraig Johnson. The initial release included a bonus CD of six songs, including a solo live performance by Louris of "Waiting For the Sun", the lead-off track of the group's 1992 album Hollywood Town Hall , on April 26, 2002 at The Woman's Club, Minneapolis, MN.
Guests on the album included Bernie Leadon, Jakob Dylan and Matthew Sweet.
Rainy Day Music received generally positive reviews from critics. [2] Dirty Linen described the album as "a low-key effort that features delicate harmonies, recalling California relatives such as Poco and the post-Gram Parsons Burrito Brothers". [3] Uncut called the album "all acoustic guitars, rich jangling melodies and heavenly harmonies" and wrote that Gary Louris "has come up with some of his most memorable compositions." [4] Will Hermes of Entertainment Weekly described it as "folk-rock laced with banjos, accordions, and pedal steel" and "the roots move one suspects fans have wanted for years, its classic rock flavor echoing the Byrds, CSNY, and Poco". [5] Mojo wrote that "their new-found economy makes for some pretty lovely highpoints" and that "Louris is unquestionably a virtuoso, playing his parts with a decorous restraint, and contributing cooing, affectingly human vocals." [6]
In his review for AllMusic, Zac Johnson, noting the return to roots music versus the band's more pop-oriented previous albums, praised the first six songs but felt that "the second half stumbles", concluding that "it's certainly an album that gets better with each listen, so it may yet prove to be worth its weight in acoustic gold." [7] Pitchfork reviewer Andrew Bryant agreed that the first half surpasses the second, stating that the latter songs "simply sound forced, pushing the combination of what constitutes alt-country and folk-rock to its limit of self-parody, and at times irreversibly crossing that line", calling the album "the sound of a dog (or more appropriately a bird) chasing its own tail, content with plugging away at the same formula as long as there's still precedence for satisfying their musical niche." [8]
In 2009, Paste Magazine placed the album #44 on their "The 50 Best Albums of the Decade" list. [9]
| Aggregate scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Metacritic | 73/100 [2] |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [7] |
| American Songwriter | [10] |
| Entertainment Weekly | B+ [5] |
| The Guardian | [11] |
| Mojo | [6] |
| Pitchfork | 6.1/10 [8] |
| Rolling Stone | [12] |
| The Rolling Stone Album Guide | [13] |
| Spin | B [14] |
| Uncut | [4] |
All songs by Gary Louris unless otherwise noted.
The initial CD release of Rainy Day Music included a bonus CD, titled More Rain, which included:
The 2003 2 LP release of Rainy Day Music also included the More Rain tracks.
All songs by Gary Louris unless otherwise noted.
The Jayhawks are an American alternative country and country rock band that emerged from the Twin Cities music scene in the mid-1980s. Led by vocalists/guitarists/songwriters Gary Louris and Mark Olson, their country rock sound was influential on many bands who played the Twin Cities circuit during the 1980s and 1990s, such as Uncle Tupelo, the Gear Daddies and the Honeydogs. They have released eleven studio albums, with and without Olson, including five on the American Recordings label. After going on hiatus from 2005 to 2009, the 1995 lineup of the band reunited and released the album Mockingbird Time in September 2011; Olson left the band for the second time after the tour to promote the album. After another hiatus in 2013, the 1997 lineup led by Louris reunited to play shows in 2014 to support the reissue of three albums originally released between 1997 and 2003. Since then, the band has continued to tour and record, releasing the albums Live at The Belly Up in 2015; Paging Mr. Proust, co-produced by Peter Buck, in 2016; Back Roads and Abandoned Motels in 2018; and XOXO in 2020.
Gary Michael Louris is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter of alternative country and pop music. He was a founding member of the Minneapolis-based band the Jayhawks and their principal songwriter and vocalist after the departure of Mark Olson. Louris is often credited with the band's subsequent move from folk-country toward a more progressive, pop sound.
On Golden Smog is the debut EP from American band Golden Smog, released in 1992.
Weird Tales is American band Golden Smog's second album, released in 1998. The title comes from the pulp magazine Weird Tales; the cover art, by Margaret Brundage, is from the October 1933 issue.
Tomorrow the Green Grass is the fourth studio album by American rock band The Jayhawks, released on February 14, 1995. It peaked at number 92 on the Billboard 200 chart.
Hollywood Town Hall is the third studio album by American rock band The Jayhawks. It peaked at number 11 on the Billboard Heatseekers chart and number 192 on the Billboard 200. The cover art for the album was shot in Hollywood Township, Carver County, Minnesota by British photographer Andrew Catlin.
Another Fine Day is Golden Smog's third full-length album. It was released on July 18, 2006. It reached number 95 on the Billboard 200 chart.
Sound of Lies is the fifth studio album by American rock band The Jayhawks. It peaked at number 112 on the Billboard 200.
Smile is the sixth studio album by American rock band The Jayhawks. Released on May 9, 2000, it reached number 129 on the Billboard 200 and number 14 on Billboard's Top Internet Albums chart.
Blue Earth is a studio album by American alt country and alt rock band the Jayhawks, released in 1989.
The Jayhawks is the debut album by the Jayhawks, released in 1986. It is also known as the Bunkhouse Tapes. The 1986 pressing was limited to 2,000 copies.
Vagabonds is the debut solo album by American singer-songwriter and Jayhawks member Gary Louris, released in 2008.
Ready for the Flood is an album by former Jayhawks bandmates Mark Olson and Gary Louris, released in Europe on December 1, 2008, and in the US on January 29, 2009. It was their first collaboration since Olson had left the band in 1995.
Music From The North Country – The Jayhawks Anthology is a compilation album by The Jayhawks, released in 2009.
Mockingbird Time is the eighth studio album by the alt country band The Jayhawks, released on September 20, 2011. The album marked the returns of the original front man Mark Olson, who had left the group in 1995 after the release of Tomorrow the Green Grass, and long-time keyboard player Karen Grotberg. Mockingbird Time was the first new studio album by The Jayhawks since 2003's Rainy Day Music. The album entered the Billboard 200 album chart at #38, becoming the highest-charting release of their career to date. It also charted at #2 on Billboard's Folk Albums chart, #6 on the Tastemaker Albums chart, and #11 on the Rock Albums chart.
Live at the Belly Up is a digital-only live album recorded in January 2015 by The Jayhawks live in Solana Beach, released on February 10, 2015 as an exclusive download from the Belly Up Live website. The album went into wider digital release in April 2015 including a high-resolution audio version.
Paging Mr. Proust is the ninth studio album by the alt country band The Jayhawks, released in 2016.
Back Roads and Abandoned Motels is the tenth studio album by the alt country band the Jayhawks, released on July 13, 2018.
Our Country: Americana Act II is an album by English rock musician Ray Davies, released by Legacy Recordings in June 2018. Serving as a follow-up and sequel to Davies' 2017 album Americana, the album is made up of material recorded during the sessions for its predecessor, with American country rock band the Jayhawks once again contributing. As with the previous album, Americana Act II explores the themes relating to Davies' experiences of American culture and of living and touring in the United States.
XOXO is the eleventh studio album by the alt country band the Jayhawks, released on July 10, 2020. The album is dedicated to Ed Ackerson.
