| World Wide Rebel Songs | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | August 29, 2011 | |||
| Recorded | May–June 2011 at Veritas Studios, Los Angeles, CA | |||
| Genre | Folk rock, anti-folk, protest music, folk punk | |||
| Length | 49:54 | |||
| Label | New West | |||
| Producer | Tom Morello | |||
| Tom Morello chronology | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Rolling Stone |    |
| Slant Magazine | |
| Spin | (5/10) [3] |
World Wide Rebel Songs is the third full-length studio album by The Nightwatchman, the alter ego of Tom Morello. It was released on August 29, 2011, through Morello's new label New West Records, and like his previous release Union Town , was self-produced.
The Nightwatchman is the solo project of American musician Tom Morello. Morello began performing as the Nightwatchman in 2003 as an outlet for his political views while he was playing apolitical music with Audioslave.
Thomas Baptiste Morello is an American musician, singer, songwriter, actor and political activist. He is best known for his tenure with the band Rage Against the Machine and then with Audioslave. As of 2016, Morello is a member of the supergroup Prophets of Rage. Morello was also a touring musician with Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band. He is also known for his acoustic solo act, the Nightwatchman, and Street Sweeper Social Club. Morello also co-founded Axis of Justice, which airs a monthly program on Pacifica Radio station KPFK in Los Angeles.
New West Records is a record label based in Nashville, Tennessee, and Athens, Georgia. It had offices in Burbank, California, and Beverly Hills, California. The label was established in 1998 by Cameron Strang "for artists who perform real music for real people" and has been home to indie rock, alternative country, and Americana bands. The label's records in the US were previously distributed by Alternative Distribution Alliance beginning in 2013 through to 2018 when Redeye Distribution assumed distribution in 2018. The PIAS Group handles the distribution in Europe.
Contents
The album features fellow Street Sweeper Social Club members Carl Restivo and Eric Gardner on guitar and drums, respectively, as well as SSSC bassist Dave Gibbs on backing vocals.
Street Sweeper Social Club is an American rap rock supergroup, formed in Los Angeles, California in 2006. The band primarily consists of guitarist Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine and vocalist and emcee Boots Riley of The Coup. The band had been testing songs out during Tom Morello's Nightwatchman tour and released an album on June 16, 2009. Stanton Moore drummed for the group for the recording of the album although he did not join the band for the following tour. Street Sweeper Social Club opened for Nine Inch Nails and Jane's Addiction in May 2009. Street Sweeper Social Club describes itself as "more than a band, it's a social club." Their 2010 EP The Ghetto Blaster EP includes covers of M.I.A. "Paper Planes" and LL Cool J's "Mama Said Knock You Out".
Carl Restivo is an American multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, record producer, and audio engineer. He has toured with Rihanna, Tom Morello's Freedom Fighter Orchestra supporting The Nightwatchman, Perry Farrell's Satellite Party, and Street Sweeper Social Club, who toured with Nine Inch Nails and Jane's Addiction.
Dave Gibbs, born August 22, 1965, is an American singer-songwriter, best known for his work in the Boston-based power-pop band, Gigolo Aunts. Born and raised in Potsdam, New York, Gibbs co-founded the Gigolo Aunts with brothers Steve and Phil Hurley, and drummer Paul Brower in 1986. Relocating to Boston, the group gained a following after a string of self-released tapes and singles, finally catching the attention of English label, Fire Records, which released their 1993 album, Flippin' Out. The band was signed in the US to RCA Records, who re-released the album in 1994. Gibbs also contributed backing vocals to albums by Providence, Rhode Island pop-rockers Velvet Crush, with whom he toured as lead guitarist on and off through the early 1990s.
The album's cover is an homage to the cover image on protest singer Phil Ochs' Gunfight at Carnegie Hall . [4]
Philip David Ochs was an American protest singer and songwriter who was known for his sharp wit, sardonic humor, earnest humanism, political activism, insightful and alliterative lyrics, and distinctive voice. He wrote hundreds of songs in the 1960s and 1970s and released eight albums.
Gunfight At Carnegie Hall is the final album by Phil Ochs released during his lifetime, comprising songs recorded at the infamous, gold-suited, bomb-threat shortened first show at Carnegie Hall in New York City on March 27, 1970, though it contains less than half of the actual concert. The shows recorded that day served to surprise Ochs' fans, from his gold lamé Nudie suit, modeled after Elvis Presley's, to his covers of Presley, Conway Twitty, Buddy Holly and Merle Haggard songs, to his own re-arranged songs. Some fans loved it, but some attendees at the show were unhappy with the music he was playing, wanting only to hear "old" Ochs. Before he had a chance to convince them, the concert was cut short by a telephoned bomb threat. Some angry fans who had paid for a full concert confronted Phil at dinner between shows. He took their names, promising to get them into the second show for free, but the box office was locked and Ochs smashed the glass, severely cutting his thumb. He appeared onstage at the second show with a bandaged hand, telling the audience the story. Breaking into the lockbox was the last straw. While they let Ochs perform the second show, he was banned immediately afterwards from performing again at the venue.
