Wander This World

Last updated
Wander This World
Jonny Lang Wander this World.jpg
Studio album by
ReleasedOctober 20, 1998
Recorded1998
StudioSeedy Underbelly Studios and Oarfin Studios, Minneapolis, MN; Sound Kitchen, Nashville, TN
Genre Blues, blue-eyed soul, blues-rock, funk
Length52:52
Label A&M
Producer David Z
Jonny Lang chronology
Lie To Me
(1997)
Wander This World
(1998)
Long Time Coming
(2003)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [1]
Artistdirect.comStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [2]
Rolling Stone [3] Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg
The Penguin Guide to Blues Recordings Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svg [4]

Wander This World is the third studio album by American blues guitarist Jonny Lang, released in 1998, when he was 17. The album was recorded at Seedy Underbelly Studios, Oarfin Studios in Minneapolis, and the Sound Kitchen in Nashville. This album produced Lang's first Grammy nomination.

Contents

The album contains a mix of genres; some tracks are blues, while others are Southern-style soul, funk, or rock with a blues feel. "Angel of Mercy" and Luther Allison's "Cherry Red Wine" are twelve-bar blues; "Walking Away" and "Second Guessing" are similar to 1960s Memphis soul; and "The Levee" and "Still Rainin'" are more rock-orientated. [1]

Reviewer Alex Henderson commented on how mature the 17-year-old Lang sounded, saying the album often sounded like it could be the work of a 30-year-old. [1]

Track listing

  1. "Still Rainin'" (Bruce McCabe) – 4:49
  2. "Second Guessing" (David Z/McCabe) – 5:10
  3. "I Am" (Prince/Z/Levi Seacer, Jr.) – 5:04
  4. "Breakin' Me" (Lang/Kevin Bowe) – 4:32
  5. "Wander This World" (Paul Diethelm/McCabe) – 4:49
  6. "Walking Away" (Lang/Jerry Lynn Williams) – 4:14
  7. "The Levee" (Bowe/Lang) – 3:41
  8. "Angel of Mercy" (McCabe/Mike Henderson) – 4:30
  9. "Right Back" (Williams/Danny Kortchmar) – 3:59
  10. "Leaving to Stay" (Bowe) – 4:35
  11. "Before You Hit the Ground" (Bowe/Lang) – 3:55
  12. "Cherry Red Wine" (Luther Allison) – 3:31
  13. "If This is Love" (Joe Louis Walker) – 3:01

Personnel

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jonny Lang</span> American singer, songwriter (born 1981)

Jon Gordon Langseth Jr., known as Jonny Lang, is an American blues, gospel, rock singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He has made five albums that have charted on the top 50 of the Billboard 200 chart and won a Grammy Award for Turn Around.

<i>Loud Guitars, Big Suspicions</i> 1999 studio album by Shannon Curfman

Loud Guitars, Big Suspicions is the debut album by American blues-rock artist Shannon Curfman, released in 1999, for Arista Records when she was 14 years old.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Luther Allison</span> American blues guitarist

Luther Sylvester Allison was an American blues singer-songwriter and guitarist. He was born in Widener, Arkansas, although some accounts suggest his actual place of birth was Mayflower, Arkansas. Allison was interested in music as a child and during the late 1940s he toured in a family gospel group called The Southern Travellers. He moved with his family to Chicago in 1951 and attended Farragut High School where he was classmates with Muddy Waters' son. He taught himself guitar and began listening to blues extensively. Three years later he dropped out of school and began hanging around outside blues nightclubs with the hopes of being invited to perform. Allison played with the bands of Howlin' Wolf and Freddie King, taking over King's band when King toured nationally. He worked with Jimmy Dawkins, Magic Sam and Otis Rush, and also backed James Cotton. Chicago Reader has called him "the Jimi Hendrix of blues guitar".

<i>Playback</i> (Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers album) 1995 box set by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers

Playback is a box set compilation by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, released in 1995. It contains popular album tracks, B-sides, previously unreleased outtakes, and early songs by Petty's previous band Mudcrutch.

<i>When Fallen Angels Fly</i> 1994 studio album by Patty Loveless

When Fallen Angels Fly is the seventh studio album by American country music artist Patty Loveless, released on August 23, 1994. It reached #8 on the Top Country Albums charts and was certified Platinum for shipments of over 1,000,000 copies in the U.S. All four of its singles — "I Try to Think About Elvis," "You Don't Even Know Who I Am," "Here I Am," and "Halfway Down" — reached the Top Ten on the Hot Country Songs charts. "Old Weakness " was also recorded by Greg Holland on his 1997 album Exception to the Rule and Delbert McClinton on his 1997 album One of the Fortunate Few. Both "Old Weakness" and "Over My Shoulder" were also recorded in 2002 by Tanya Tucker on her album Tanya.

<i>Lie to Me</i> (album) 1997 studio album by Jonny Lang

Lie to Me is the second studio album by the American blues guitarist Jonny Lang, released on January 28, 1997. It is Lang's big-label debut, released a day before he turned 16.

<i>The Legend</i> (Johnny Cash box set) 2005 box set by Johnny Cash

The Legend is a box set by country singer Johnny Cash, released in 2005 on Columbia Records and Legacy Recordings. It is one of the few multi-disc sets that contain songs recorded throughout Cash's entire career, from 1955 to 2003. Over four CDs, most of Cash's biggest hits are covered, in addition to numerous traditional compositions Cash recorded versions of, and several collaborations with other known artists, including Rosanne Cash, U2 and Bob Dylan. In keeping with Cash's persona as the Man in Black, the data surface of the discs is black. In 2006, the set won the Grammy Award for Best Boxed or Special Limited Edition Package. It was certified Gold on January 11, 2006, by the RIAA.

<i>Smokin</i> (Jonny Lang album) 1995 studio album by Jonny Lang

Smokin is the debut album by American blues guitarist Jonny Lang, independently released in 1995 under the name "Kid Jonny Lang" with his then-band "The Big Bang", together as Kid Jonny Lang & The Big Bang. The album was later remastered and reissued in 2002 by Eagle Records with an altrernative album cover.

<i>Long Time Coming</i> (Jonny Lang album) 2003 studio album by Jonny Lang

Long Time Coming is a studio album by Jonny Lang. It was recorded at MF Studio and The Attic, Monrovia, California, and released on October 14, 2003. The album had been a "long time coming," with five years passing since the release of Wander This World.

<i>Blue Streak</i> (album) 1995 studio album by Luther Allison

Blue Streak is an album by American blues guitarist Luther Allison, released in 1995 by Alligator Records. Guitar World magazine named it one of the top guitar records of 1995. The album enabled Allison to win five W. C. Handy Awards in 1996, including Contemporary Blues Album for Blue Streak and Blues Song for "Cherry Red Wine".

<i>Soul Fixin Man</i> 1994 studio album by Luther Allison

Soul Fixin' Man is an album by American blues guitarist Luther Allison, released in 1994 by Alligator Records. It is also known as Bad Love. Some editions have a different track listing.

<i>Love Without Mercy</i> 1992 studio album by Lee Roy Parnell

Love Without Mercy is the second studio album by American country music singer Lee Roy Parnell. It was released in 1992 on Arista Records. The album includes the singles "The Rock", "What Kind of Fool Do You Think I Am", "Tender Moment" and "Love Without Mercy". The latter three all reached Top Ten on the Billboard country charts. "Back in My Arms Again" was also recorded & released as a single by Kenny Chesney in 1996 off of Me and You.

<i>Ill Be Thinking of You</i> 1979 studio album by Andraé Crouch

I'll Be Thinking of You is a 1979 album by Andraé Crouch, released on the Elektra and Light record labels. The album won a Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Soul Gospel Album.

<i>A Dream Is a Question You Dont Know How to Answer</i> 2009 studio album by Jonny Craig

A Dream is a Question You Don't Know How to Answer is the debut studio album by Canadian recording artist Jonny Craig, released on August 18, 2009, via Rise Records.

<i>Survivor</i> (Randy Bachman album) 1978 studio album by Randy Bachman

Survivor is the second solo album by the Guess Who and Bachman–Turner Overdrive's guitarist and singer Randy Bachman, released in 1978 on Polydor. It is a concept album about the rock and roll stars who have come and gone.

<i>Levee Blues</i> 1971 studio album by Potliquor

Levee Blues is the second album from American band Potliquor released in 1971.

<i>Signs</i> (Jonny Lang album) 2017 studio album by Jonny Lang

Signs is the seventh studio album by American musician Jonny Lang. It was released on September 1, 2017 via Provogue Records in Europe and on September 8, 2017 via Concord Records in North America. Recording sessions took place at Stagg Street Studio in Los Angeles, The VooDrew Room in Nashville and Upstream in Utah. Production was handled by Lang himself together with Drew and Shannon.

Kevin Bowe is an American songwriter, record producer and musician from Minneapolis. He is best known for his work with prominent rock and blues artists including Paul Westerberg and the Replacements; writing songs for hit albums by Jonny Lang and Kenny Wayne Shepherd; as well as Etta James' Grammy-winning Let's Roll. He has contributed to dozens of albums over his career, including several of his own as a bandleader; he has appeared on many film and television soundtracks including ESPN and The Sopranos. His songs have been covered by many prominent rock and blues artists, including Joe Cocker, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Robben Ford, and John Mayall.

<i>Live in Chicago</i> (Luther Allison album) 1999 studio album by Luther Allison

Live in Chicago is a live album by the American blues musician Luther Allison, recorded in Chicago in 1995 and Nebraska in 1997 and released by the Alligator label in 1999.

<i>Friends</i> (B. B. King album) 1974 studio album by B. B. King

Friends is a studio album by B. B. King, released by ABC Records in 1974. It was available in stereo under the reference ABCD-825 and in quadraphonic sound under the reference CQD-40022. This album maintains the sentimental mood initiated in the previous album To Know You Is to Love You recorded in the same studio by the same producer.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Henderson, Alex. "Wander This World – Jonny Lang". Allmusic. Retrieved 24 March 2012.
  2. "Wander This World". Artistdirect.com. Retrieved 24 March 2012.
  3. DeCurtis, Anthony; Sheffield, Rob (November 26, 1998). "Recordings". Rolling Stone. No. 800. p. 124.
  4. Russell, Tony; Smith, Chris (2006). The Penguin Guide to Blues Recordings . Penguin. p. 375. ISBN   978-0-140-51384-4.