The Firstborn Is Dead | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | 3 June 1985 | |||
Recorded | November–December 1984 | |||
Studio | Hansa Tonstudio (Berlin) | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 40:37 | |||
Label | Mute | |||
Producer |
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Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds chronology | ||||
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Singles from The Firstborn Is Dead | ||||
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The Firstborn Is Dead is the second studio album by the Australian rock band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, released on 3 June 1985 by Mute Records. Produced by the band and Flood, the album saw lead vocalist Nick Cave continue his fascination with the Southern United States, featuring references to Elvis Presley and bluesmen like Blind Lemon Jefferson. The album was recorded in the Hansa Studios in Berlin, Germany. Cave later said of the album, "Berlin gave us the freedom and encouragement to do whatever we wanted. We'd lived in London for three years and it seemed that if you stuck your head out of the box, people were pretty quick to knock it back in. Particularly if you were Australian. When we came to Berlin it was the opposite. People saw us as some kind of force rather than a kind of whacky novelty act." [3]
The album's name is a reference to Jesse Garon Presley, the stillborn identical twin of Elvis Presley. [4] The cover art photography was taken by Jutta Henglein-Bildau.
The album was remastered and reissued on 27 April 2009 as a collector's edition CD/DVD set. The CD features the original 7-song vinyl LP's track listing, while "The Six Strings That Drew Blood" is featured as a bonus audio track on the accompanying DVD.
Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [2] |
NME | 7/10 [5] |
Pitchfork | 7.0/10 [1] |
Q | [6] |
Record Mirror | 4/5 [7] |
The Rolling Stone Album Guide | [8] |
Select | 4/5 [9] |
Sounds | [10] |
Spin Alternative Record Guide | 6/10 [11] |
Uncut | [12] |
Spin wrote, "Mournfully authentic blue lines of harmonica and guitar, journeys through a mythical southern reality heavy on train wrecks, suicides, prison life, and big black crows. Cave's concept of America has been peeled from the grooves of old blues and Western cowboy 78s." [13]
All lyrics are written by Nick Cave, except "Wanted Man" by Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash and Cave. [14]
No. | Title | Music | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "Tupelo" | 7:17 | |
2. | "Say Goodbye to the Little Girl Tree" | Harvey | 5:10 |
3. | "Train Long-Suffering" | Nick Cave | 3:49 |
4. | "Black Crow King" |
| 5:05 |
5. | "Knockin' on Joe" | Cave | 7:38 |
6. | "Wanted Man" | Bob Dylan | 5:27 |
7. | "Blind Lemon Jefferson" |
| 6:10 |
Total length: | 40:37 |
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
Chart (1985) | Peak position |
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UK Albums Chart [15] | 53 |
UK Independent Albums Chart [16] | 2 |
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds are an Australian rock band formed in 1983 by vocalist Nick Cave, multi-instrumentalist Mick Harvey and guitarist-vocalist Blixa Bargeld. The band has featured international personnel throughout its career and presently consists of Cave, violinist and multi-instrumentalist Warren Ellis, bassist Martyn P. Casey, guitarist George Vjestica, touring keyboardist/percussionist Larry Mullins, also known as Toby Dammit, and drummers Thomas Wydler (Switzerland) and Jim Sclavunos. Described as "one of the most original and celebrated bands of the post-punk and alternative rock eras in the '80s and onward", they have released eighteen studio albums and completed numerous international tours.
Tender Prey is the fifth studio album by Australian rock band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, released on 19 September 1988 on Mute Records. Produced by Flood, the album was recorded during several sessions over the course of four months in London and West Berlin and dedicated to Fernando Ramos da Silva.
From Her to Eternity is the debut studio album by the Australian rock band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, released in May 1984 by Mute Records. Produced by Flood and the band itself, the album's title is a pun on James Jones' debut novel, From Here to Eternity (1951), and its subsequent 1953 film adaptation.
Kicking Against the Pricks is the third studio album released by the Australian rock band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. First released in 1986, the album is a collection of Cave's interpretations of songs by other artists. The title is a reference to a biblical quote from the King James Version of the Christian Bible, Acts 26, verse 14.
Your Funeral... My Trial is the fourth studio album by the Australian rock band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, released on 3 November 1986 by Mute Records. The album was originally released as a double extended play (EP), while also issued on CD with a different running order and the additional track "Scum". During this period in his life, Cave was steeped in heroin addiction, perhaps evidenced by the melancholy, desperate mood of this album. This was the final Bad Seeds album to feature Barry Adamson until he returned for Push the Sky Away (2013).
"Long Black Veil" is a 1959 country ballad, written by Danny Dill and Marijohn Wilkin and originally recorded by Lefty Frizzell.
Anita Louise Lane was an Australian singer-songwriter who was briefly a member of the Bad Seeds with Nick Cave and Mick Harvey and collaborated with both bandmates. Lane released two solo albums, Dirty Pearl (1993) and Sex O'Clock (2001).
The Best of Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds is a compilation album by Australian rock band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, released on 11 May 1998.
B-Sides & Rarities is a compilation album by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, released in March 2005. It features over 20 years of the band's B-sides and previously unreleased tracks. It is also the first recording to include all members of the Bad Seeds, past and present up to the time of its release: current members Mick Harvey, Blixa Bargeld, Thomas Wydler, Martyn P. Casey, Conway Savage, Jim Sclavunos, and Warren Ellis, and former members Barry Adamson, Hugo Race, Kid Congo Powers, Roland Wolf, and James Johnston. A second volume, B-Sides & Rarities Part II, was released in October 2021.
The Fabulous Johnny Cash is the second studio album by American country singer Johnny Cash and his first to be released by Columbia Records. The album was released on November 3, 1958, not long after Cash's departure from Sun Records.
Hugo Justin Race is an Australian rock musician and record producer who had been based in Europe from 1989 to 2011. He was a member of Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds (1983–85), and The Wreckery (1984–89) with Nick Barker and Robin Casinader. As from October 2013 he was simultaneously a member of Hugo Race and the True Spirit, Hugo Race Fatalists, and Dirtmusic. True Spirit have released 12 albums. Race returned to live in Australia in 2011.
Boom Chicka Boom is the 76th album by American country music singer Johnny Cash, released in 1990 on Mercury Records. The title refers to the sound that Cash's backing band, the Tennessee Three, were said to produce. It includes a cover of Harry Chapin's "Cat's in the Cradle", and a song written by Elvis Costello for Cash, "Hidden Shame". "Don't Go Near the Water" is a re-recorded version and its original had been recorded for Ragged Old Flag. It discusses the issue of pollution of the environment. In 2003, Mercury released Boom Chicka Boom paired with Johnny Cash is Coming to Town on a single compact disc, though the bonus track "Veteran's Day" was left off. "Farmer's Almanac" and "Cat's in the Cradle" were released as singles, but failed to chart; the album itself, however, reached No. 48 on the country charts. The album has backing vocals by Elvis Presley's old backing group The Jordanaires, and Cash's mother.
"The Mercy Seat" is a song written by Nick Cave and Mick Harvey (music), originally performed by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds on the 1988 album Tender Prey. The song has been covered by others, including Johnny Cash, Camille O'Sullivan and Unter Null. Rolling Stone editor Toby Creswell lists it as one of the 1001 greatest songs.
Mutiny/The Bad Seed is a compilation album by the Birthday Party. It is compiled from 2 EPs, The Bad Seed recorded in October 1982, and Mutiny! recorded in April and August 1983, and both were released in 1983. The Bad Seed and Mutiny! were released as a compilation in 1989. It is written by Nick Cave, Mick Harvey, Rowland S. Howard, and Tracy Pew.
"Tupelo" is the second single by Australian post-punk band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds and the only single from the band's second album The Firstborn Is Dead.
Frankie and Johnny is the twelfth soundtrack album by American singer and musician Elvis Presley, released on RCA Victor Records in mono and stereo, LPM/LSP 3553, in April 1966. An excursion into Dixieland and ragtime music, it is the soundtrack to the 1966 film of the same name starring Presley. Recording sessions took place at Radio Recorders in Hollywood, California, on May 12, 13, and 14, 1965. It peaked at number 20 on the Top LP's chart. It was certified Gold and Platinum on January 6, 2004, by the Recording Industry Association of America.
"The Folk Singer" is a folk song, written by Charles E. Daniels and American musician Johnny Cash and first recorded by Cash in 1968. It is also known as "Folk Singer" or, less often, "The Singer".
"Mama Liked the Roses" is a song by Elvis Presley released in 1970. The song was released as the B-side to "The Wonder of You" 45 single on April 20, 1970, and on the 1970 RCA Camden reissue of Elvis' Christmas Album, though the song is not specifically about Christmas.