The Caution Horses | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | March 1, 1990 [1] [2] | |||
Recorded | December 1989 | |||
Genre | Alternative country, blues rock | |||
Length | 44:32 | |||
Label | RCA | |||
Producer | Peter Moore, Michael Timmins | |||
Cowboy Junkies chronology | ||||
|
Review scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [3] |
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music | [4] |
Entertainment Weekly | B− [5] |
Rolling Stone | [6] |
The Rolling Stone Album Guide | [7] |
The Caution Horses is the third studio album by the Canadian alt-country band Cowboy Junkies, released in 1990.
The first album following their 1988 breakthrough The Trinity Session , The Caution Horses features a more conventional, polished sound than the earlier album's spare, haunting country blues. As a consequence, the album received average reviews from music critics, who said that the band had sacrificed their distinctive style.
However, the album's accessibility to mainstream pop and rock audiences also meant that it received more radio airplay and spawned bigger chart hits ("Sun Comes Up, It's Tuesday Morning" and "Rock and Bird", which featured Bruce Hornsby on the piano on the single version) than The Trinity Session had. A number of critics have also noted that while the album is undeniably a disappointment when compared to its predecessor, when taken on its own merits it is a better album than its initial reception would suggest. The album focuses on the band's slow, languorous style, a style that has been called simplistic, or narcoleptic, or uncategorizable. Margo states "It's not country, it's not blues, it's not rock, we just do what we do." [8] The album peaked at number 47 on the U.S. Billboard 200 [9] and number 33 on the UK Charts. [10]
The band decided to record in a live setting as they had on The Trinity Session. This time they chose the Sharon Temple, a National Historic Site north of Toronto, as their studio. [11] The recording proved challenging, as they had to adapt to the unique acoustics of the Sharon Temple and also the cool temperatures of a Canadian spring (they were not allowed to bring heaters into this unheated building due to its heritage designations). The cover of the album shows the band outside of this historic building. The intent of the recording was to use a single ambisonic mic like the one used for The Trinity Session, [12] but this time Peter Moore was unfamiliar with the building, and the songs the band had written were more lush, which created recording problems, such as the music spilling over into Margo's vocal mic and causing feedback. [11] Of the three days for the recording, the first two days were spent solving the musical challenges, and fighting the cold temperatures. Moore explained to the band why cold temperatures were perfect to record in, and the band explained to Moore that cold temperatures negatively affected human anatomy, and prolonged exposure caused extremities such as fingers to stop working. [13]
On the third day, the sound problems were resolved, both by configuring the band around the microphone, and also by banishing Margo to a far corner of the building in a small makeshift sound booth made of baffles and sound blankets which they named the "witches hut". For the rest of their last day there, they made and recorded their music, and when the closed up, they were happy that they had some decent recordings, if not anything special. [13] A few days later, they listened to the recordings, and decided to call it good. The band called the record company, and told them their album was finished. [14] The record company executives told the band that the results were not what they were hoping for. However the company was patient with the band, and everyone agreed to live with the material for a while before deciding anything. While the Cowboy Junkies were touring Europe, they worked the new songs into their sets. As they played the songs, the songs changed and matured. When they came back they re-listened to the Sharon tapes and agreed that the tracks were not what they wanted to release, and they decided to re-record the music. [15]
These songs were released in 2022, when Cowboy Junkies put out Sharon. [16] The recordings were mastered for the musicians' benefit, but there were no serious plans to release it until 2010, when renewed interest in The Trinity Sessions made them reconsider putting out a finalized version of these sessions. [17]
When the band returned to Toronto, they made a decision to go to Eastern Studios in downtown Toronto, and find a new way to record their sound. [14] The band really liked the one-mic sound, but wanted to take advantage of the multi-track equipment at the studio. Moore arranged the group around a mic, and spent a fair amount of time balancing the sound, but at the same time they placed individual mics on each instrument to capture each individual performance on a separate track, allowing them to augment the sound of the central mic as needed. [18] The recording arrangement allowed them to capture the intimacy of live recordings. The sessions went relatively smoothly, they just rolled tape and played over a handful of days in December. [18] Because of using multiple mics and tracks, for the first time the band had created an album which had to be mixed. The band felt they were too close to the material, so they brought in an outsider to mix the music. When they listened to the results, they trashed the mixes and decided to redo them themselves, spending a couple of weeks in the studio with Moore and their engineer, Tom Henderson. [19]
All tracks are written by Michael Timmins except where noted.
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "Sun Comes Up, It's Tuesday Morning" | 3:56 | |
2. | "Cause Cheap Is How I Feel" | 4:13 | |
3. | "Thirty Summers" | 4:15 | |
4. | "Mariner's Song" | 6:20 | |
5. | "Powderfinger" | Neil Young | 5:46 |
6. | "Rock and Bird" | 3:30 | |
7. | "Witches" | Michael Timmins, Margo Timmins | 2:44 |
8. | "Where Are You Tonight?" | 5:07 | |
9. | "Escape Is So Simple" | 5:15 | |
10. | "You Will Be Loved Again" | Mary Margaret O'Hara | 3:26 |
Total length: | 44:32 |
Cowboy Junkies
Additional Musicians
Cowboy Junkies are an alternative country and folk rock band formed in Toronto, Ontario, Canada in 1985 by Alan Anton (bassist), Michael Timmins, Peter Timmins (drummer) and Margo Timmins (vocalist). The three Timminses are siblings, and Anton worked with Michael Timmins during their first couple of bands. John Timmins was a member of the band but left the group before the recording of their debut studio album. The band line-up has never changed since, although they use several guest musicians on many of their studio albums, including multi-instrumentalist Jeff Bird who has performed on every album except the first.
The Trinity Session is the second studio album by Canadian alternative country band Cowboy Junkies, released in early 1988 by Latent Recordings in Canada, and re-released worldwide later in the year on RCA Records. "Working on a Building" and "Blue Moon Revisited " did not appear on the Latent Records release. "Blue Moon Revisited" was originally released on It Came from Canada, Vol. 4 (1988), a compilation of Canadian independent bands.
Black Eyed Man is the fourth studio album by Cowboy Junkies, released in 1992. The album continues the band's evolution from a spare country blues style to a more mainstream country rock style.
Pale Sun, Crescent Moon is the fifth studio album by Canadian country rock band Cowboy Junkies, released in 1993. It was the band's last album of new material for RCA Records, although a live album and a greatest hits compilation were subsequently released on the label. Canadian guitarist Ken Myhr appears on every track on this album.
Whites Off Earth Now!! is a 1986 studio album by Cowboy Junkies. It was the band's debut album, and is composed almost entirely of rock and blues covers. Only one song, "Take Me", is an original song by the band.
Lay It Down is the sixth studio album by the Canadian alt-country band Cowboy Junkies. Released on February 27, 1996, it was the group's first album for Geffen Records after the end of their contract with RCA Records. It was the band's first album that could be described as straight-ahead rock, rather than country rock, country or blues. It was also their first album consisting entirely of original material, with no covers. "A Common Disaster" and "Speaking Confidentially" were notable hits for the band on Canadian radio.
Miles from Our Home is the seventh studio album by Canadian alt-country band Cowboy Junkies, which was released in 1998. It was their second and final album for Geffen Records. The title track was a significant hit in their native Canada. Following this album, the Junkies were dropped from the Geffen record label. The Junkies moved to an independent label, Latent Recordings, for their subsequent albums.
Rarities, B-Sides and Slow, Sad Waltzes is an album by the Canadian alt-country band Cowboy Junkies, released in 1999. It was the band's first independent release after the end of their contract with Geffen Records. The album is a compendium of tracks that the band had recorded but not previously released on an album. Two tracks have been released earlier as B-sides on Cowboy Junkies' singles, "If You Gotta Go, Go Now" on "Southern Rain" and "Leaving Normal" on "Anniversary Song". It was released on both True North Records and Latent Recordings in Canada, and on Valley Records in the United States.
Waltz Across America is a 2000 album by the Canadian alt-country band Cowboy Junkies.
Open is an album by the Canadian band Cowboy Junkies, released in 2001. It was the band's third independent release after the end of their contract with Geffen Records, and the first of those to feature new material. The album was released on Latent Recordings in Canada, and on Zoë Records internationally.
The Radio One Sessions is a 2002 album by the Canadian alt-country band Cowboy Junkies. The compilation album was released only in Canada and the United Kingdom, and compiles tracks that the band recorded for BBC Radio One in the UK. The Radio One Sessions was released on Strange Fruit Records in the UK, and Latent Recordings in Canada.
One Soul Now is a 2004 album by the Canadian alt-country band Cowboy Junkies. It is their first album of new material since Open in 2001. It was released on Latent Recordings in Canada, and Zoë Records internationally.
Best of the Cowboy Junkies is a 2001 greatest hits compilation of Cowboy Junkies' songs recorded for RCA Records. All songs are drawn from the band's RCA Records albums: The Trinity Session, The Caution Horses, Black Eyed Man and Pale Sun, Crescent Moon.
Latent Recordings is a Canadian independent record label founded in 1981. It was dormant in the 1990s while the Cowboy Junkies were signed to American labels, but began to release independently produced albums in the 2000s. By the late 2000s, it sold downloads and CDs online.
Early 21st Century Blues is an album by the Canadian alt-country band Cowboy Junkies, released in 2005. The album features two original songs and covers of material by Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, John Lennon, George Harrison and Richie Havens. The record has a very strong anti-war message, while also protesting public apathy towards the political process.
At the End of Paths Taken is the tenth studio album by the Canadian alt-country band Cowboy Junkies, released in 2007.
Trinity Revisited is an album and a film by the Cowboy Junkies, released on October 8, 2007. It is a remake of the Junkies' most famous album, The Trinity Session. The new album was recorded in the fall of 2006 at Toronto's Church of the Holy Trinity, the same venue where the original album was recorded.
Renmin Park is an album by the Canadian alt-country band Cowboy Junkies, released in 2010. It is Volume One of the Nomad Series. The album's name translates in Chinese as "People's Park".
Demons is an album by the Canadian alt-country band Cowboy Junkies, released in 2011. It contains eleven Vic Chesnutt covers. It is Volume Two of the Nomad Series.
Sing in My Meadow is an album by the Canadian alt-country band Cowboy Junkies, released in 2011. It is Volume Three of the Nomad Series. The album was recorded at The Clubhouse in Toronto, Ontario. This volume of the Nomad Series brings the band's live shows into the studio, employing their touring musicians as the only recording musicians for the sessions.
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