"Tear-Stained Letter" | ||||
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Single by Richard Thompson | ||||
from the album Hand of Kindness | ||||
B-side | "Where the Wind Don't Whine" | |||
Released | May 1984 | |||
Genre | Folk rock, zydeco | |||
Length | 4:40 | |||
Label | Hannibal | |||
Songwriter(s) | Richard Thompson | |||
Producer(s) | Joe Boyd | |||
Richard Thompson singles chronology | ||||
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Music video | ||||
"Tear-Stained Letter” on YouTube |
"Tear-Stained Letter" is the opening track from Richard Thompson's 1983 album Hand of Kindness . The song has been recorded by others, including a notable hit version by Jo-El Sonnier in 1988.
With a strong zydeco feel, the song's length is 4 minutes and 40 seconds. [1] The main riff is performed on saxophones by Pete Thomas and Pete Zorn, who also performs the background vocals, and on accordion by John Kirkpatrick. The coda features a duet between a sax solo, accordion solo, and guitar solo by Richard Thompson.
The song is in the key of G major, with a fast tempo in 4/4 time. It uses a chord pattern of E7-A-E7-A-D-G on the verses, and B7-C-D-G twice on the chorus. [2]
The lyrics feature a narrator who has broken up with a tumultuous romantic partner: "Just when I thought that things would get better / Right through the door come a tear-stained letter".
"Tear-Stained Letter" | ||||
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Single by Jo-El Sonnier | ||||
from the album Come On Joe | ||||
B-side | "Say You Love Me" [3] | |||
Released | July 1988 | |||
Genre | Country | |||
Length | 4:17 | |||
Label | RCA Nashville | |||
Songwriter(s) | Richard Thompson | |||
Producer(s) | Richard Bennett, Bill Halverson [4] | |||
Jo-El Sonnier singles chronology | ||||
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Music video | ||||
"Tear-Stained Letter” on YouTube |
Country music singer Jo-El Sonnier covered the song on his 1988 album Come On Joe. His version was released as a single in 1988, reaching number nine on the Hot Country Songs charts. [3] Kenny Greenberg plays lead guitar on Sonnier's version. [4] Actor Judge Reinhold appears in the music video for the song.
Chart (1988) | Peak position |
---|---|
US Hot Country Songs ( Billboard ) [5] | 9 |
Canadian RPM Country Tracks [6] | 5 |
Chart (1988) | Position |
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US Hot Country Songs (Billboard) [7] | 89 |
Patty Loveless covered the song on her 1996 album The Trouble with the Truth . [8]
Southside Johnny and The Asbury Jukes covered the song on their 2005 album Into the Harbour. [9]
John Lyon, known professionally as Southside Johnny, is an American retired singer-songwriter who fronted the band Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes.
Vincent Lopez, nicknamed Mad Dog, is an American drummer. Between 1968 and 1974 Lopez backed Bruce Springsteen in several bands, including Steel Mill and the E Street Band. He also played on Springsteen's first two albums, Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J. and The Wild, the Innocent and the E Street Shuffle. Both during and after his time with the E Street Band, Lopez played drums with numerous Jersey Shore bands.
Hand of Kindness is the third solo album by singer/songwriter/guitarist Richard Thompson. It was recorded and released in 1983, after a ten year collaboration with former wife Linda Thompson. It is his first album of original solo material since Henry the Human Fly (1972).
Sweet Talker is a soundtrack album by Richard Thompson released in 1991. It is the soundtrack for the Australian film of the same name.
Two Letter Words is a live album by Richard Thompson.
The Trouble with the Truth is the eighth studio album by American country music artist Patty Loveless, released on January 23, 1996. It peaked at number 10 on the Billboard Top Country albums charts, and number 86 on the Pop charts. It was certified Platinum for shipments of over 1,000,000 copies in the U.S. The singles "Lonely Too Long" and "You Can Feel Bad" both made number 1 on the Hot Country Songs charts; "She Drew a Broken Heart" hit number 4. "A Thousand Times a Day" and the title track both made Top 20 hitting number 13 and 15 respectively.
Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes are an American musical group from the Jersey Shore formerly led by Southside Johnny. They have been recording albums since 1976 and are closely associated with Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band. They have recorded or performed several Springsteen songs, including "The Fever" (1973) and "Fade Away" (1980). Springsteen has also performed with the band on several occasions. In 1991, Springsteen and the E Street band appeared on Southside Johnny's Better Days album.
Hearts of Stone is the third album by New Jersey rock band Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes, released in October 1978. The album peaked at number 112 on the Billboard 200 chart during the week of January 13, 1979. All of the album's songs were written by Southside Johnny, Bruce Springsteen, and E Street Band guitarist Steven Van Zandt. Van Zandt, the band's manager, also produced, arranged and played guitar.
Jo-El Sonnier was an American singer-songwriter and accordionist who performed country music and Cajun music. Originally signed to Mercury Nashville Records, Sonnier charted several minor singles on the Billboard country charts in the late 1970s. By the late 1980s, he had signed to RCA Records, breaking through with the Top Ten hits "No More One More Time" and a cover of Richard Thompson's "Tear-Stained Letter". Although his chart success waned at the beginning of the 1990s, he continued recording music, releasing more than thirty albums primarily on independent labels.
Joey Stann is an accomplished saxophonist who has worked as a sideman and has recorded with a long list of rock and roll luminaries. Stann performs primarily on the tenor, Alto saxophone and baritone saxophone and has contributed vocals and has played and recorded the Hammond organ and piano on stage and in studios. A New York native, he is recognized for his lifelong association with Southside Johnny & The Asbury Jukes. Stann originally joined the band in 1980. He left to play with Gary U.S. Bonds from 1981 to 1985 before rejoining Southside Johnny. He currently freelances with other bands.
Jeff Kazee is an American pianist, vocalist, songwriter and Hammond B3 organist for the Rock/Soul band Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes. He has also worked with Bon Jovi and with Jon Bon Jovi in his solo career.
Reach Up and Touch the Sky, sometimes called Reach Out and Touch the Sky, is a 1981 double live album by Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes. Released on Mercury Records in 1981 to satisfy the contract of the band, which had recently broken up, it was a moderate commercial success, charting in the United States and reviving the band's flagging sales. It was also critically well received. In 2003, the Rough Guide to Rock indicated that the album was the band's "defining moment".
I Don't Want to Go Home was the first album by New Jersey rock/R&B band Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes. The work helped establish the basis of the Jersey Shore sound. It was produced and arranged by manager Steven Van Zandt, who also sang, played guitar, wrote the title song, and elicited the contribution of two compositions by Bruce Springsteen, who also wrote the liner notes.
This Time It's for Real is the second album by New Jersey band Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes, featuring three compositions by Bruce Springsteen and Steven Van Zandt, as well as an additional five by the latter. Like their first album, I Don't Want To Go Home, there are a number of guest artists and duets, a trend that would be dropped for their next album, Hearts of Stone. "Check Mr. Popeye" features Kenny "Popeye" Pentifallo on vocals with The Coasters on background vocals. The track "First Night" features the Satins on background vocals and Steven Van Zandt on duet vocals. "Little Girl So Fine" features background vocals by the Drifters.
Better Days is an album by Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes, released in 1991. It yielded minor hits "It's Been a Long Time" and "I've Been Workin' Too Hard". The song "It's Been a Long Time" features shared lead vocals by Southside Johnny, Steven Van Zandt, and Bruce Springsteen and is a reflection back on their early years together in the music business. "I've Been Working Too Hard" features a duet with Jon Bon Jovi. Eight of the eleven songs were written by Van Zandt, harkening back to the Jukes' first three albums which also featured Van Zandt writing, playing guitar, and singing harmony and sometimes duet vocals. One track, "All the Way Home", was written by Bruce Springsteen who later recorded his own version of it for his 2005 solo album Devils and Dust.
High Notes is the thirty-fourth studio album by American musician Hank Williams Jr. It was released by Elektra/Curb Records in April 1982, making it Williams' eighth studio album for Elektra/Curb and his ninth overall for the label. While not as successful or acclaimed as some of Williams' more recent recordings, High Notes was still a commercial success. It peaked at number 3 on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart and was certified Gold by the RIAA, becoming Williams' seventh album to do so. The album also generated two hit singles, "If Heaven Ain't a Lot Like Dixie" and "Honky Tonkin'". "If Heaven Ain't a Lot Like Dixie" peaked at number 5 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart while "Honky Tonkin'", a song that was originally a number 14 hit written and performed by his father, Hank, Sr., became Hank, Jr.'s sixth Number One hit on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart.
Lone Wolf is the forty-second studio album by American musician Hank Williams Jr. It was released by Warner Bros./Curb Records in January 1990. "Ain't Nobody's Business," "Good Friends, Good Whiskey, Good Lovin'" and "Man to Man" were released as singles. The album peaked at number 2 on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart and has been certified Gold by the RIAA.
Screaming Targets is the fourth studio album by Australian pop rock band Jo Jo Zep & the Falcons. The album was the band's first via Mushroom Records. Released in July 1979, the album peaked at number 13 on the Australian Kent Music Report, becoming the band's first top twenty album. The album was released with a limited edition bonus record featuring songs recorded live at Sentimental Bloke Hotel, Bombay Rock, Melbourne, April 1979.
Slow Dance is an album by the American musician Southside Johnny, released in 1988. It was marketed as a solo endeavor, although a few Asbury Jukes played on the album.
Come On Joe is a 1987 album by American country music singer Jo-El Sonnier. It was released in 1987 via RCA Records.
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