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Into the Blues

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Into The Blues is the sixteenth studio album by British singer-songwriter Joan Armatrading, and was released on 1st May 2007. The album was recorded by Armatrading at Bumpkin Studios, her own purpose built studios. It was released on the 429 label (17625) and on the Hypertension label (HYP 7255). The album was released in 2008 as a deluxe edition, with a DVD.[1]

Background

Into the Blues was the first of a trilogy of albums by Armatrading each concerned with a specific genre of music. She planned to write and produce three albums focused on blues, rock and jazz music, and Into The Blues is the first of these. She described Into The Blues as “the CD I’ve been promising myself to write for a long time”.[2] Writing a whole album in one genre was a departure for Armatrading, as all her previous albums had an eclectic mix of influences from many different genres. Blues inspired music features on many Armatrading albums, as far back as her 1976 album Joan Armatrading, though Into The Blues is her first album to concentrate solely on the blues genre. Armatrading wrote and arranged all the songs on the album and plays all the instruments except for drums and percussion. She also produced and co-engineered the album.

Reception

Into The Blues debuted at Number 1 on the Billboard Blues chart, remaining at Number 1 for 12 consecutive weeks [3] [4] and was nominated for a Grammy award in 2007 for Best Contemporary Blues Album. The album also reached number 2 on the iTunes Blues Chart.

Armatrading is the first female UK artist to debut at number 1 on the Billboards Blues chart and the first female UK artist to be nominated for a Grammy in the Blues category.

Record Collector magazine called the album “the most complete portrait yet of an often underrated singer-songwriter”, noted that “half the album drips with barroom sleaze and blistering guitar breaks” and praised the album’s “subtlety”.[5]

Gary Graff, writing in Billboard magazine, said: “Armatrading's take is wide and distinctive and stretches the parameters of what we consider the blues”.[6]

David Bauder of Associated Press said that Armatrading “has never played better guitar on record”.[7]

The Aspen Times drew attention to the album’s “yearning, grit and pain” and praised the “smooth and sultry” feel of the songs.[8]

Dave Gil de Rubio, writing in the East Bay Express (California) stated that Armatrading “puts a fresh stamp on a classic American genre” and that her guitar playing “rings with a Mark Knopfler-like resonance”, praising her “rich and burnished voice”.[9]

Track listing

All songs written and arranged by Joan Armatrading.

  1. "A Woman In Love" – 3:54
  2. "Play The Blues" – 4:32
  3. "Into The Blues" – 4:22
  4. "Liza" – 4:07
  5. "Secular Song" – 4:11
  6. "My Baby’s Gone" – 3:35
  7. "D.N.A." – 4:02
  8. "Baby Blue Eyes" – 3:55
  9. "Deep Down" – 3:58
  10. "There Ain’t A Little Girl Alive" – 4:25
  11. "Empty Highway" – 5:25
  12. "Mama Papa" – 4:00
  13. "Something’s Gotta Blow" – 8:02

Personnel

Musicians

  • Joan Armatrading: all vocals and all instruments (guitars, mandolin, bass, harp, keyboards, harmonica)
  • Miles Bould: drums & percussion (all tracks)

Production

  • Producer: Joan Armatrading
  • Arranger: Joan Armatrading
  • Engineer: Graham Dickson
  • Co-engineer: Joan Armatrading
  • Mixed by: Graham Dickson & Joan Armatrading
  • Photography: Andrew Catlin
  • Art direction: David Alan Kogut

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References

  1. ^ http://www.allmusic.com/album/into-the-blues-mw0000572867/releases retrieved 19th February 2014
  2. ^ http://www.429records.com/sites/429records/429details/d_joan3.asp retrieved 19th February 2014
  3. ^ ttp://www.joanarmatrading.com/biog.html http://top40-charts.com/news.php?nid=32744&string=Blue retrieved 19th February 2014
  4. ^ ttp://www.reuters.com/article/2007/06/14/us-armatrading-idUSN1336007920070614?feedType=RSS&pageNumber=1 retrieved 19th February 2014
  5. ^ http://recordcollectormag.com/reviews/into-the-blues retrieved 19th February 2014
  6. ^ http://top40-charts.com/news.php?nid=32744&string=Blue retrieved 19th February 2014
  7. ^ http://www.429records.com/sites/429records/429news/joan17.asp retrieved 19th February 2014
  8. ^ http://www.aspentimes.com/article/20070626/AE/106260041 retrieved 19th February 2014
  9. ^ http://www.eastbayexpress.com/oakland/blues-mama/Content?oid=1083674 retrieved 19th February 2014
  • Sleeve notes: Into The Blues, 2007, 429/Hypertension
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