Welder (album)

Last updated
Welder
Welder (Elizabeth Cook album).jpg
Studio album by
ReleasedMay 11, 2010 (2010-05-11)
Genre Americana, Country
Length43:12
Label 31 Tigers
Producer Don Was
Elizabeth Cook chronology
Balls
(2007)
Welder
(2010)
Gospel Plow
(2012)

Welder is the fifth studio album by American country musician Elizabeth Cook. It was produced by Don Was and released on May 11, 2010 on 31 Tigers Records. The album's title is a reference to Cook's father's former occupation as a welder. [1] Artists performing on the album include Dwight Yoakam, Rodney Crowell, Bones Hillman, and Cook's husband Tim Carroll. [2] Welder was Cook's final album before she was forced to attend rehab for drug addiction and an eating disorder following the collapse of her marriage and death of six family members. Cook would not release another studio album until 2017. [3]

Elizabeth Cook American singer

Elizabeth Cook is an American country music singer. She made her debut on the Grand Ole Opry on March 17, 2000. Cook, "the daughter of a hillbilly singer married to a moonshiner who played his upright bass while in a prison band", was "virtually unknown to the pop masses" before she made a debut appearance on the Late Show with David Letterman in June 2012. The New York Times called her "a sharp and surprising country singer" and an "idiosyncratic traditionalist".

Don Was American musician

Don Edward Fagenson, known as Don Was, is an American musician, record producer and record executive. Primarily a bass player, Was co-founded the funk-rock band Was. In later years he produced songs and albums for a large number of popular recording artists. In 2012, he became president of jazz music label Blue Note Records.

Dwight Yoakam American singer

Dwight David Yoakam is an American singer-songwriter, musician, and actor, known for his pioneering style of country music. First becoming popular in the mid-1980s, Yoakam has recorded more than twenty albums and compilations, charted more than thirty singles on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts, and sold more than 25 million records. He has recorded five Billboard #1 albums, twelve gold albums, and nine platinum albums, including the triple-platinum This Time.

Contents

Critical reception

Welder received mainly favorable reviews from critics, and was ranked the 23rd best album of 2010 (out of 30) by Rolling Stone . [4]

<i>Rolling Stone</i> American magazine focusing on popular culture, based in New York City

Rolling Stone is an American monthly magazine that focuses on popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California in 1967 by Jann Wenner, who is still the magazine's publisher, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its musical coverage and for political reporting by Hunter S. Thompson. In the 1990s, the magazine shifted focus to a younger readership interested in youth-oriented television shows, film actors, and popular music. In recent years, it has resumed its traditional mix of content.

Welder was nominated for the Album of the Year award and Song of the Year (for El Camino) at the 2011 Americana Awards and Elizabeth Cook was also nominated for Artist of the Year because of the album.

The Americana Music Honors & Awards is the marquee event for the Americana Music Association. Beginning in 2002, the Americana Music Association honors distinguished members of the music community. Six member-voted awards and several Lifetime Achievement Awards are handed out while over 2000 artists, music-loving fans and entertainment industry executives look on.

The Washington Post described the album as Cook's best yet, because it was "rawer [than her previous four albums] in all the best senses of that word." [5]

<i>The Washington Post</i> Daily broadsheet newspaper published in Washington, D.C.

The Washington Post is a major American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., with a particular emphasis on national politics and the federal government. It has the largest circulation in the Washington metropolitan area. Its slogan "Democracy Dies in Darkness" began appearing on its masthead in 2017. Daily broadsheet editions are printed for the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia.

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svg [6]
The Guardian Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [7]
Paste 8.4/10 [8]
PopMatters Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [9]
Robert Christgau A [10]

Track listing

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."All the Time"Elizabeth Cook2:53
2."El Camino"E. Cook2:43
3."Not California"Gary Maurer, Dan Messe3:52
4."Heroin Addict Sister"E. Cook4:01
5."Yes to Booty"E. Cook2:04
6."Blackland Farmer" Frankie Miller 2:35
7."Girlfriend Tonight"E. Cook3:09
8."Rock N Roll Man"E. Cook3:11
9."Mama's Funeral"E. Cook4:00
10."I'm Beginning to Forget"Joyce Cook3:08
11."Snake in the Bed"E. Cook2:05
12."Follow You Like Smoke"Tim Carroll3:35
13."I'll Never Know"E. Cook, Jim McBride, Jerry Salley 2:51
14."'Til Then"Carroll3:05

Personnel

Keyboard instrument class of musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard

A keyboard instrument is a musical instrument played using a keyboard, a row of levers which are pressed by the fingers. The most common of these are the piano, organ, and various electronic keyboards, including synthesizers and digital pianos. Other keyboard instruments include celestas, which are struck idiophones operated by a keyboard, and carillons, which are usually housed in bell towers or belfries of churches or municipal buildings.

Banjo musical instrument

The banjo is a four-, five-, or six-stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity as a resonator, called the head, which is typically circular. The membrane is typically made of plastic, although animal skin is still occasionally used. Early forms of the instrument were fashioned by Africans in the United States, adapted from African instruments of similar design. The banjo is frequently associated with folk, Irish traditional, and country music. Banjo can also be used in some rock songs. Many rock bands, such as The Eagles, Led Zeppelin, and The Allman Brothers, have used the five-string banjo in some of their songs. Historically, the banjo occupied a central place in African-American traditional music and the folk culture of rural whites before entering the mainstream via the minstrel shows of the 19th century. The banjo, along with the fiddle, is a mainstay of American old-time music. It is also very frequently used in traditional ("trad") jazz.

Electric guitar electrified guitar; fretted stringed instrument with a neck and body that uses a pickup to convert the vibration of its strings into electrical signals

An electric guitar is a guitar that uses one or more pickups to convert the vibration of its strings into electrical signals. The vibration occurs when a guitar player strums, plucks, fingerpicks, slaps or taps the strings. The pickup generally uses electromagnetic induction to create this signal, which being relatively weak is fed into a guitar amplifier before being sent to the speaker(s), which converts it into audible sound.

Chart performance

Chart (2010)Peak
position
US Top Country Albums (Billboard) [11] 43
US Heatseekers Albums (Billboard) [12] 23

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References

  1. Tucker, Ken (3 June 2010). "Elizabeth Cook: Transcending A Cult Career". NPR . Retrieved 23 June 2014.
  2. Mueller, Andrew (2010). "Elizabeth Cook Welder Review". BBC . Retrieved 23 June 2014.
  3. "Elizabeth Cook on Rehab, David Letterman and New Album".
  4. "30 Best Albums of 2010: Elizabeth Cook, Welder". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 23 June 2014.
  5. Himes, Geoffrey (7 May 2010). "CD review: Elizabeth Cook's 'Welder'". Washington Post . Retrieved 23 June 2014.
  6. Allen, James. "Welder Review". Allmusic. Retrieved 23 June 2014.
  7. Denselow, Robin (6 May 2010). "Elizabeth Cook: Welder". The Guardian. Retrieved 23 June 2014.
  8. Dovey, Rachel (13 May 2010). "Elizabeth Cook: Welder". Paste. Retrieved 23 June 2014.
  9. Leftridge, Steve (12 May 2010). "Elizabeth Cook: Welder". PopMatters. Retrieved 23 June 2014.
  10. Christgau, Robert (2010-06-01). "Consumer Guide: June 2010". MSN Music. Retrieved 2017-10-25.
  11. "Elizabeth Cook Chart History (Top Country Albums)". Billboard.
  12. "Elizabeth Cook Chart History (Heatseekers Albums)". Billboard.