Rattle and Hum

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Rattle and Hum

Rattle and Hum is the name of both an album and a companion motion picture recorded by Irish

Republic of Ireland

Ireland is an Island country in north-western Europe. The modern Sovereignty state occupies about five-sixths of the island of Ireland, which was partitioned by the British on 3 May 1921....
rock

Rock music

Rock music is a loosely defined genre of popular music that entered the mainstream in the mid 1950's. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rhythm and blues, country music and other influences....
band U2

U2 are a rock music band from Dublin, Republic of Ireland. The band consists of Bono , The Edge , Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen, Jr. .The band formed in 1976 when the members were teenagers with limited musical proficiency....
. Both were released in 1988.

The album, which was made following the band's 1987 Joshua Tree Tour

Joshua Tree Tour

The Joshua Tree Tour was a concert tour by the Ireland Rock music band U2, which took place during 1987, in support of their album The Joshua Tree....
, is a mix of live recordings and new songs. To a greater extent than their previous album, The Joshua Tree
The Joshua Tree

The Joshua Tree is the fifth studio album by Republic of Ireland rock music band U2, released 9 March 1987 on Island Records. Recording sessions took place from July to November 1986 at Windmill Lane Studios in Dublin, Ireland....
, the band play roots rock

Roots rock

Roots rock is a term recently used to describe "a style of rock music that draws material from various American musical traditions including country music, blues, and folk." The term is sometimes used in a broader sense to encompass other Americana , including early rock and roll, country rock, and other genres of rock with traditional roots....
, blues-rock

Blues-rock

Blues-rock is a hybrid musical genre combining bluesy Improvisation#Musical_improvisations over the 12-bar blues and extended boogie jam session with rock and roll styles....
, folk rock

Folk rock

Folk rock is a musical genre, combining elements of folk music and Rock and roll.In its earliest and narrowest sense, the term referred to a genre that arose in the United States and Canada around the mid-1960s....
, and country music

Country music

Country music is a blend of popular American music forms originally found in the Southern United States and the Appalachian Mountains. It has roots in Traditional music, Celtic music, gospel music, and old-time music and evolved rapidly in the 1920s....
. The film documents the band's Joshua Tree Tour of the United States

United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
and the band's experience of American music

American Music

American Music can refer to:* American Music Records* American Music * the Music of the United States* Music of the Americas* A song by the Violent Femmes...
.

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Encyclopedia

Rattle and Hum is the name of both an album and a companion motion picture recorded by Irish

Republic of Ireland

Ireland is an Island country in north-western Europe. The modern Sovereignty state occupies about five-sixths of the island of Ireland, which was partitioned by the British on 3 May 1921....
rock

Rock music

Joshua Tree Tour

Roots rock

Blues-rock

Blues-rock is a hybrid musical genre combining bluesy Improvisation#Musical_improvisations over the 12-bar blues and extended boogie jam session with rock and roll styles....
, folk rock

Folk rock

Country music

United States

American Music

American Music can refer to:* American Music Records* American Music * the Music of the United States* Music of the Americas* A song by the Violent Femmes...
. Although the album and motion picture were intended to represent the band paying tribute to rock legends, critics said that U2 were trying to place themselves amongst the ranks of these artists.

History

The movie is a rockumentary

Rockumentary

The term 'rockumentary' is a neologism denoting a program on television or film documentary film about Rock music or its musicians. It is a portmanteau of the words "rock" and "documentary." The term was used by Bill Drake in the 1969 History of Rock & Roll radio broadcast, and by Rob Reiner in the 1984 mockumentary film This Is Spinal...
, released in theaters in 1988 and on video in 1989. It was produced by Michael Hamlyn and directed by Phil Joanou

Phil Joanou

Phil Joanou is an United States Of America film director. He is also well known for his work with Irish people rock band U2, having directed their rockumentary/live tape Rattle and Hum, one of three videos filmed for One , and the video for All Because of You ....
. It incorporates live footage with studio outtakes and band interviews. The album is a mix of live material and new studio recordings that furthers the band's experimentation with American music

American Music

American Music can refer to:* American Music Records* American Music * the Music of the United States* Music of the Americas* A song by the Violent Femmes...
styles and recognises many of their musical influences. It was produced by Jimmy Iovine

Jimmy Iovine

James Iovine, better known as Jimmy Iovine , is a music producer, entrepreneur and chairman of Interscope-Geffen-A&M.He has worked with bands including U2, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, The Wallflowers, Three Dog Night, Stevie Nicks, Dire Straits, Patti Smith and Bruce Springsteen....
and also released in 1988.

The title, "Rattle and Hum", is taken from a lyric from "Bullet the Blue Sky

Bullet the Blue Sky

"Bullet the Blue Sky" is the fourth track from U2's 1987 in music album, The Joshua Tree. Although never released as a single, "Bullet the Blue Sky" has been played at nearly every one of the band's live concerts since its first performance at the opening night of the Joshua Tree Tour on April 2, 1987....
", the fourth track on The Joshua Tree
The Joshua Tree

The Joshua Tree is the fifth studio album by Republic of Ireland rock music band U2, released 9 March 1987 on Island Records. Recording sessions took place from July to November 1986 at Windmill Lane Studios in Dublin, Ireland....
.

Studio recordings

The album opens with a live cover of The Beatles

The Beatles

The Beatles were a rock music and pop music band from Liverpool, England that formed in 1960. During their career, the group primarily consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr ....
' "Helter Skelter." Its inclusion on the album was intended by the band to reflect the confusion of The Joshua Tree Tour and their new found superstar status. Bono's introduction of the song—"this song Charles Manson stole from The Beatles...we're stealing it back"—was interpreted as U2 claiming to be the new Beatles.

A live version of Bob Dylan's "All Along the Watchtower

All Along the Watchtower

"All Along the Watchtower" is a song written and recorded by singer-songwriter Bob Dylan. It initially appeared on his album John Wesley Harding ....
", which can be seen as a dual tribute to Dylan and to Jimi Hendrix

Jimi Hendrix

James Marshall Hendrix was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter whose guitar playing continues to be a considerable influence on rock music....
, who popularized the song with his own blistering rendition. Aside from the covers, a couple of songs were written for other artists. "Angel of Harlem

Angel of Harlem

"Angel of Harlem" is the second single from U2's 1988 album, Rattle and Hum.It peaked at #9 on the UK singles chart, #8 on the Dutch Top 40, #14 on the Billboard Hot 100, and #1 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks....
" is a vivacious, horn-filled tribute to Billie Holiday

Billie Holiday

Billie Holiday was an American jazz singer and songwriter.Nicknamed Lady Day by her loyal friend and musical partner Lester Young, Holiday was a seminal influence on jazz and pop singing....
. The bass-heavy "God Part II

God Part II

"God Part II" is the fourteenth track from U2's 1988 album, Rattle and Hum. It was written as a sequel of sorts to John Lennon's "God ", having the same kind of lyrical structure....
" is an introduction to the Achtung Baby
Achtung Baby

Achtung Baby is the seventh studio album by Republic of Ireland rock music band U2. It was released on 19 November 1991, nearly two years after lead vocalist Bono announced the band would have to "go away and dream it all up again", following the mixed response to 1988's Rattle and Hum and their own sense of musical stagnation....
sound, and is a sequel of sorts to John Lennon

John Lennon

John Winston Ono Lennon, Order of the British Empire was an English Rock music musician, singer, songwriter, artist, and peace activist who gained worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles....
's "God

God (John Lennon song)

"God" is a song from John Lennon's first post-The Beatles solo album, Plastic Ono Band . The album was released on December 11, 1970 in the United States and the United Kingdom....
", his stark denunciation of everything from Elvis Presley

Elvis Presley

Elvis Aaron Presley was an United Statesn singer, actor, and musician. A cultural icon, he is commonly known simply as "Elvis", and is also sometimes referred to as "List of honorific titles in popular music" or "The King"....
to Jesus Christ

Jesus

Jesus of Nazareth , also known as Jesus Christ, is the central figure of Christianity and is revered by most Christian churches as the Son of God and the Incarnation ....
.

The songs are also musically in line with the predecessors they honor. The punchy lead single, "Desire", for instance, sports a Bo Diddley

Bo Diddley

Bo Diddley , was an original and influential American rock and roll singer, guitarist, and songwriter. He was known as "The Originator" because of his key role in the transition from blues music to rock & roll, influencing a host of legendary acts including Buddy Holly, Jimi Hendrix and Eric Clapton....
beat. "Love Rescue Me

Love Rescue Me

"Love Rescue Me" is the eleventh track from U2's 1988 in music album, Rattle and Hum. It is a collaboration between the band and Bob Dylan, who also provides vocals to the recording....
" (featuring co-author Bob Dylan on vocals) and the live performance of "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" (recorded with a full church choir) are gospel

Gospel music

Gospel music is music that is written to express either personal or a communal belief regarding Christian life, as well as to give a Christian alternative to mainstream secular music....
songs. "When Love Comes to Town

When Love Comes to Town

"When Love Comes to Town" is the 12th song on U2's 1988 album, Rattle and Hum. It was released as the album's third single in 1989. It was recorded as a duet between U2 and B....
" is a blues

Blues

Blues is a music genre based on the use of the blues chord progressions and the blue notes. Though several blues musical form s exist, the 12-bar blues chord progressions are the most frequently encountered....
rocker featuring B. B. King

B. B. King

B. B. King is an United States blues guitarist and singer-songwriter known for his expressive singing and inimitable guitar playing. As Komara has written, "King introduced a sophisticated style of soloing based on fluid string bending and shimmering vibrato that would influence virtually every electric blues guitarist that followed." Critic...
on guitar and vocals.

"Angel of Harlem", "Love Rescue Me" and "When Love Comes to Town" were recorded at Sun Studio

Sun Studio

Sun Studio was opened by rock pioneer Sam Phillips at 706 Union Avenue in Memphis, Tennessee, on January 3, 1950. It was originally called Memphis Recording Service, sharing the same building with the Sun Records label business....
in Memphis, Tennessee

Memphis, Tennessee

Memphis is a city in the southwest corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County, Tennessee. Memphis rises above the Mississippi River on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff just south of the mouth of the Wolf River ....
, where Elvis Presley, Roy Orbison

Roy Orbison

Roy Kelton Orbison was an influential Grammy Award-winning United States singer-songwriter, guitarist and a pioneer of rock and roll whose recording career spanned more than four decades....
, Johnny Cash

Johnny Cash

Johnny Cash was a Grammy Award-winning American singer-songwriter and one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century. Primarily a country music artist, his songs and sound spanned many other genres including rockabilly and rock and roll , as well as blues, folk music and Gospel music....
and many others also recorded.

All of the studio tracks apart from "Heartland" were performed in concert on the Lovetown Tour

Lovetown Tour

The Lovetown Tour was a concert tour by the Ireland Rock music band U2, which took place in late 1989 and early 1990....
, which began almost a year after Rattle and Hums release.

Live performances
Most of the video from the movie is black-and-white
Black-and-white

Black-and-white is a number of monochrome forms in visual arts. Most forms of visual technology start out in black and white, then slowly evolve into color as technology progresses....
indoor concert footage from the band's Denver, Colorado
Colorado

The State of Colorado is a U.S. state located in the Mountain States of the United States of America. Colorado may also be considered to be a part of the Western United States and Southwestern United States regions of the United States....
show on 8 November 1987 or colour outdoor concert footage from the band's Tempe
Tempe, Arizona

Tempe is a city in Maricopa County, Arizona, Arizona, United States, with a 2007 population of 174,091. The city is named after the Vale of Tempe in Greece....
, Arizona
Arizona

The State of Arizona is a U.S. state located in the Southwestern United States of the United States. The capital and largest city is Phoenix, Arizona....
shows on 19 December 1987 and 20 December 1987.

The performance of Bob Dylan's "All Along the Watchtower" is from the band's impromptu "Save the Yuppies" concert in Justin Herman Plaza in San Francisco, California
California

California is a U.S. state on the West Coast of the United States of the United States, along the Pacific Ocean. It is bordered by Oregon to the north, Nevada to the east, Arizona to the southeast, and to the south the Mexico state of Baja California....
on 11 November 1987. The video intersperses the performance of the song with footage from the band's performance of "Pride" from the same show, during which Bono spray-painted "Rock and Roll Stops the Traffic" on the Vaillancourt Fountain. This caused a bit of controversy, and ultimately, the band paid to repair the damage and publicly apologized for the incident. The phrase "Rock and Roll Stops the Traffic" reappeared 18 years later in the video "All Because of You" when an unnamed fan appeared with the sign at 1:55 in the video.

"I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" is from the band's New York City
New York City

The City of New York is the List of United States cities by population in the United States, while the New York metropolitan area ranks among the List of urban areas by population....
show on 28 September 1987 and features the New Voices of Freedom, a gospel choir.

During "Silver and Gold", Bono explains that the song is an attack on apartheid.

"Sunday Bloody Sunday" is from the Denver show, which was performed on the day that an IRA
Provisional Irish Republican Army

The Provisional Irish Republican Army , is an Irish republican paramilitary organisation that considers itself a direct continuation of the Irish Republican Army that fought in the Irish War of Independence....
bomb killed eleven people at a Remembrance Day
Remembrance Day

Remembrance Day – also known as Poppy Day, Armistice Day or Veterans Day – is a day to commemorate the sacrifices of members of the armed forces and of civilians in times of war, specifically since the World War I....
ceremony in the Northern Irish
Northern Ireland

conventional_long_name = Northern Ireland|native_name= Tuaisceart ?ireannNorlin Airlann|motto =|image_map = Europe location N-IRL2.png...
town of Enniskillen
Enniskillen

Enniskillen is the county town in County Fermanagh. It is located almost exactly in the centre of the county between the Upper and Lower sections of Lough Erne....
(see Remembrance Day Bombing
Remembrance Day Bombing

The Remembrance Day bombing, also known as the Enniskillen bombing or the Poppy Day massacre, occurred on 8 November 1987 in Enniskillen, County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland....
). As the band went into a long musical break, Bono condemned the violence in a furious mid-song rant—capped by an emotional cry of "Fuck the revolution!" — and led the crowd in a brief chant of "No more! No more!"

The noise of the crowd was sampled extensively by the The KLF
The KLF

The KLF, also known as The Justified Ancients of Mu Mu , The Timelords and other names, were one of the seminal bands from the Music of the United Kingdom acid house movement during the late 1980s and early 1990s....
for 'the Stadium House Trilogy' of singles on their 1990 album The White Room

The White Room

The White Room was a 1991 album by United Kingdom house music group The KLF. Originally scheduled to be released in 1989 as the soundtrack to a film of the same name, the album's direction was changed after both the film and the original soundtrack LP were cancelled at the last moment....
.

Reception

After the success of The Joshua Tree, the album received a generally positive reception. Writing in Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone

Rolling Stone is a United States-based magazine devoted to music, politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J....
, Anthony DeCurtis

Anthony DeCurtis

Anthony DeCurtis is an United States author and music critic, who has written for Rolling Stone, The New York Times, Relix and other publications....
said, "The album ably demonstrates U2's force but devotes too little attention to the band's vision". The album received an 8/10 marking in the NME

NME

The New Musical Express is a popular music magazine in the United Kingdom which has been published weekly since March 1952. It was the first British paper to include a singles chart, which first appeared in the 14 November 1952 edition....
from Stuart Baillie but was controversial as Mark Sinker

Mark Sinker

Mark Sinker is a United Kingdom writer . While working for the New Musical Express and briefly for Melody Maker he also wrote for The Wire from 1985....
originally gave it a much poorer review, which was pulled in favour of Baillie's more positive one. Sinker left the NME shortly after.

Roger Ebert

Roger Ebert

Roger Joseph Ebert born June 18, 1942) is an United States film criticism and screenwriter.He is known for his film review column and for two television programs Sneak Previews and At the Movies , which he co-hosted for a combined 23 years with Gene Siskel....
slammed the movie saying the footage was badly lit and monotonous, with little use made of the crowds. However, review partner Gene Siskel

Gene Siskel

Eugene "Gene" Kal Siskel was an United States film critic. Alongside colleague Roger Ebert, he pioneered the classic review show, Siskel & Ebert at the Movies....
was more sympathetic, praising the music and finding the footage of the Harlem gospel choir particularly moving.

At the time, the album and film were derided as self-indulgent by many critics who claimed U2 was trying to enshrine itself in the great pantheon of rock legends (influences ranging from B. B. King

B. B. King

Elvis Presley

Jerry Lee Lewis

Jerry Lee Lewis is an American rock and roll and country music singer, songwriter and pianist. An early pioneer of rock and roll music, Lewis was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986 and his pioneering contribution to the genre has been recognized by the Rockabilly Hall of Fame....
, Johnny Cash

Johnny Cash

The Rolling Stones

The Rolling Stones are an English rock music band formed in 1962 in London when multi-instrumentalist Brian Jones and pianist Ian Stewart were joined by vocalist Mick Jagger and guitarist Keith Richards....
, and The Beatles

The Beatles

The Beatles were a rock music and pop music band from Liverpool, England that formed in 1960. During their career, the group primarily consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr ....
are all referenced in the project) as opposed to honoring its newly-found influences. Many found the project—with its focus on earnest roots music and its many political diatribes—to be too serious.

Others, to the contrary, find the album to be a fine representation of a great band at the height of its artistic powers and popular influence. To date it has sold nearly ten million copies worldwide and earned the band its first number one single in the UK

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom , the UK or Britain,is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe....
, "Desire".

Due slightly to the poor reception of Rattle and Hum, but mostly from the exhaustion of touring (Larry Mullen Jr. was quoted as saying that he felt like a human juke box on the "Joshua Tree" and "Lovetown" tours), Bono announced at a concert in Ireland on December 30, 1989 that they needed to go away for a while to "dream it all up again". Many fans feared the band was going to split up, which it nearly did. Instead, the band took a drastic change in direction with 1991's Achtung Baby
Achtung Baby

Achtung Baby is the seventh studio album by Republic of Ireland rock music band U2. It was released on 19 November 1991, nearly two years after lead vocalist Bono announced the band would have to "go away and dream it all up again", following the mixed response to 1988's Rattle and Hum and their own sense of musical stagnation....
.

Album

Track listing

Chart positions and sales

Country		Certification
Australia	1
Brazil			50,000+
Canada		7x Platinum	700,000+
Finland		Gold	28,632
France	34	Gold	100,000+
Germany		Platinum	200,000+
Netherlands	1	Platinum	80,000+
Switzerland	1 (9 weeks)	2x Platinum	100,000+
United Kingdom	1	4x Platinum	1,200,000+
United States	1	5x Platinum	5,000,000+

Film

"Helter Skelter" (live)
"Van Diemen's Land"
"Desire" (demo)
"Exit" / "Gloria (Them song)" (live)
"I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For
I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For

"I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" is the second track from U2's 1987 album The Joshua Tree, and was released as the album's second single....
" (rehearsal)
"Freedom for My People" excerpt by Adam Gussow and Sterling Magee
Satan and Adam

Satan and Adam, a blues Duet consisting of Sterling Magee and Adam Gussow , were a fixture on Harlem sidewalks in the late 1980s and early 1990s....
/ "Silver and Gold" (live)
"Angel of Harlem" (demo)
"All Along the Watchtower" (live)
"In God's Country
In God's Country

"In God's Country" is the seventh track and fourth single from U2's 1987 in music album, The Joshua Tree. Bono has stated that he originally began writing the lyrics about Ireland, but in the end it became about United States of America....
" (live)
"When Love Comes to Town" (rehearsal/live/recital)
"Heartland"
"Bad
Bad (U2 song)

"Bad" is the seventh track from U2's 1984 album, The Unforgettable Fire. A song about heroin addiction, it would become a staple of their live set, particularly after a remarkable extended performance at Live Aid in which Bono danced with a girl in the audience....
" / "Ruby Tuesday
Ruby Tuesday (song)

"Ruby Tuesday" is a song recorded by The Rolling Stones in 1966, released in January 1967. The song was a number-one hit in the US and a number three in the UK....
" / "Sympathy for the Devil
Sympathy for the Devil

"Sympathy for the Devil" is a song by The Rolling Stones which first appeared as the opening track on the band's 1968 album Beggars Banquet....
" (live)
"Where the Streets Have No Name
Where the Streets Have No Name

"Where the Streets Have No Name" is a song by Irish rock music U2, from their 1987 album, The Joshua Tree. It was released August 1987 as the third single from The Joshua Tree....
" (live)
"MLK
MLK (song)

"MLK" is the tenth and final track of U2's 1984 album, The Unforgettable Fire. A lullaby to honor Martin Luther King, Jr., it is a short, pensive piece with simple lyrics....
" (live)
"With or Without You" (live)
"The Star-Spangled Banner" excerpt by Jimi Hendrix
Jimi Hendrix

James Marshall Hendrix was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter whose guitar playing continues to be a considerable influence on rock music....
/ "Bullet the Blue Sky" (live)
"Running to Stand Still
Running to Stand Still

"Running to Stand Still" is the fifth track from U2's 1987 album, The Joshua Tree. It is a soft, slow, piano-based song about a heroin-addicted woman from the Ballymun Flats area of Dublin, shown in the lyric "I see seven towers/But I only see one way out." The woman's addiction is reflected in lines such as "She runs through the streets/...
" (live)
"Sunday Bloody Sunday
Sunday Bloody Sunday (song)

"Sunday Bloody Sunday" is the opening track and third single from U2's 1983 album, War . The song is noted for its militaristic drumbeat, simple but harsh guitar, and melodic harmonies....
" (live)
"Pride (In the Name of Love)" (live)
"All I Want Is You"

Music by U2, words by Bono, except:

"Helter Skelter" is a Lennon-McCartney song.
"Van Diemen's Land" was written and performed solely by guitarist The Edge.
"Gloria", which appears as an excerpt in "Exit", was written by Van Morrison
Van Morrison

George Ivan Morrison Order of the British Empire is a Grammy Award-winning singer, songwriter, author, poet and multi-instrumentalist, who has been a professional musician since the late 1950s....
.
"Freedom For My People" is a short interlude written and performed by Sterling Magee on guitar and percussion and Adam Gussow
Adam Gussow

Adam Gussow is a scholar, memoirist, and blues harmonica player.Gussow is currently an associate professor of English and Southern Studies at the University of Mississippi in Oxford, Mississippi....
on harmonica. Magee and Gussow later recorded three albums as the blues duo Satan and Adam
Satan and Adam

Satan and Adam, a blues Duet consisting of Sterling Magee and Adam Gussow , were a fixture on Harlem sidewalks in the late 1980s and early 1990s....
. A full-length version of "Freedom For My People" can be found on the album Mother Mojo; Gussow's description of the duo's encounter with U2 can be found in his 1998 memoir, Mister Satan's Apprentice.
"All Along the Watchtower
All Along the Watchtower

"All Along the Watchtower" is a song written and recorded by singer-songwriter Bob Dylan. It initially appeared on his album John Wesley Harding ....
" was written by Bob Dylan.
"Ruby Tuesday" and "Sympathy for the Devil
Sympathy for the Devil

"Sympathy for the Devil" is a song by The Rolling Stones which first appeared as the opening track on the band's 1968 album Beggars Banquet....
", both snippeted in "Bad", are Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones

The Rolling Stones are an English rock music band formed in 1962 in London when multi-instrumentalist Brian Jones and pianist Ian Stewart were joined by vocalist Mick Jagger and guitarist Keith Richards....
songs.
"Love Rescue Me" is based on an old gospel song and features lyrics co-written with Bob Dylan.
"The Star-Spangled Banner
The Star-Spangled Banner

"The Star-Spangled Banner" is the national anthem of the United States of America. The lyrics come from a poem written in 1814 by then 35-year-old amateur poet Francis Scott Key who wrote "Defence of Fort McHenry" after seeing the bombardment of Fort McHenry at Baltimore, Maryland, Maryland, by Royal Navy ships in the Chesapeake Bay during th...
" is an instrumental rendition of the national anthem of the United States. The recording used here is an excerpt of Jimi Hendrix
Jimi Hendrix

James Marshall Hendrix was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter whose guitar playing continues to be a considerable influence on rock music....
's famous Woodstock
Woodstock Festival

Woodstock was a music festival, billed as An Aquarian Exposition, held at Max Yasgur's 600 acre dairy farm in the rural town of Bethel, New York from August 15 to August 18, 1969....
performance in 1969.

"Desire," "Angel of Harlem", "When Love Comes to Town", and "All I Want Is You" were released as singles.

All tracks were produced by Jimmy Iovine, except "Heartland", a left-over from The Joshua Tree
The Joshua Tree

The Joshua Tree is the fifth studio album by Republic of Ireland rock music band U2, released 9 March 1987 on Island Records. Recording sessions took place from July to November 1986 at Windmill Lane Studios in Dublin, Ireland....
that was produced by Brian Eno

Brian Eno

Brian Peter George St. John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno , commonly known as Brian Eno , is an England musician, composer, record producer, music theory and singer, who, as a solo artist, is best known as the People known as the father or mother of something of ambient music....
and Daniel Lanois

Daniel Lanois

Daniel Lanois is a Canada record producer, guitarist and singer-songwriter. He has released a number of albums of his own work and has produced albums for a wide variety of artists, including Bob Dylan, Parachute Club , U2, Brian Eno, Peter Gabriel, Emmylou Harris, Scott Weiland, Sin?ad O'Connor, Robbie Robertson, the Neville Brothers, Chris...
.

Personnel

Bono – lead vocals
Singing

Singing is the act of producing musical sounds with the human voice, which is often contrasted with regular speech. A person who sings is called a singer or vocalist....
, additional guitar
Rhythm guitar

Rhythm guitar is the use of a guitar to provide rhythmic chord al accompaniment for a singer or other instruments in a musical ensemble. In ensembles or "bands" playing within the country music, blues music, rock music or Heavy metal music genres , a guitarist playing the rhythm part of a composition supports the melodic lines and solos play...
, harmonica
Harmonica

The harmonica is a free reed aerophone wind instrument which is played by blowing air into it or drawing air out by placing lips over individual holes or multiple holes....
The Edge – guitar
Lead guitar

Lead guitar refers to the use of a guitar to perform melody lines, fill , and guitar solos within a song structure.In rock music, heavy metal music, blues, jazz and fusion bands and some pop music contexts as well as others, the lead guitar lines are usually supported by a second guitarist who plays rhythm guitar, which consists of accompan...
, keyboards
Keyboard instrument

A keyboard instrument is any musical instrument played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include various types of organ s as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic musical instrument....
, backing vocals
Backing vocalist

A backing vocalist or backing singer is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. In some cases, a backing singer may sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry....
, lead vocals on "Van Diemen's Land".
Adam Clayton
Adam Clayton

Adam Charles Clayton , is the Bass guitar of the rock music band U2. Clayton has resided in County Dublin since the time his family moved to Malahide when he was five years old in 1965....
– bass guitar
Bass guitar

The electric bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a plectrum.The bass guitar is similar in appearance and construction to an electric guitar, but with a larger body, a longer neck and Scale length, and usually four strings tuned to the same pitches as those of the double bass, whic...
Larry Mullen, Jr. – drums
Drum kit

A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and sometimes other percussion instruments, such as cowbell s, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single drummer....
, percussion
Percussion instrument

A percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound by being hit with an implement, shaken, rubbed, scraped, or by any other action which sets the object into vibration....

Guest performers

B. B. King
B. B. King

B. B. King is an United States blues guitarist and singer-songwriter known for his expressive singing and inimitable guitar playing. As Komara has written, "King introduced a sophisticated style of soloing based on fluid string bending and shimmering vibrato that would influence virtually every electric blues guitarist that followed." Critic...
– guitar and vocals on "When Love Comes to Town"
Bob Dylan – Hammond organ
Hammond organ

The Hammond organ is an electronic organ which was invented by Laurens Hammond in 1934 and manufactured by the Hammond Organ Company. While the Hammond organ was originally sold to Church as a lower-cost alternative to the wind-driven pipe organ, in the 1960s and 1970s, it became a standard keyboard instrument for jazz, blues, Rock and r...
on "Hawkmoon 269", vocals on "Love Rescue Me"
The New Voices of Freedom – vocals on "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For"
The Memphis Horns
The Memphis Horns

The Memphis Horns are an United States horn section made famous by their many appearances on Stax Records. They have been called "arguably the greatest soul music horn section ever." Originally a sextet, the Memphis Horns gradually slimmed down to a duo, Wayne Jackson on trumpet and Andrew Love on tenor saxophone....
– horns on "Angel of Harlem" and "Love Rescue Me"
Benmont Tench
Benmont Tench

Benjamin Montmorency Tench, III an American keyboardist, best known as a founding member of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, along with Tom Petty, Mike Campbell and Ron Blair of the current lineup....
– Hammond organ on "All I Want Is You"

External links

at U2 Wanderer, with comprehensive details on various editions, cover scans, lyrics, and more
at U2 Wanderer

Rattle and Hum

History

Studio recordings

Live performances

Reception

Album

Track listing

Chart positions and sales

Film

Personnel

Guest performers

See also

External links