Terra Incognita (Chris Whitley album)
Encyclopedia
Terra Incognita is the third studio album by singer-songwriter
and guitarist
, Chris Whitley
.
It was produced primarily by Chris Whitley, Toby Wright
, Mark Howard
, and Dougie Bowne. The album was recorded primarily by Mark Howard (assisted by Wayne Lorenz) at Boulevard Teatro in Oxnard, California
. It was mixed primarily by Toby Wright (assisted by John Seymour) at Electric Lady Studios
in New York City
.
Additional recording was done by Dinky Dawson at the Best Western
Highway Inn in Salem, Oregon
("As Flat as the Earth (exp)"), by Chris Whitley at the Sheffield Holiday Inn
in Sheffield, Alabama
("Immortal Blues"), and by Toby Wright at Electric Lady Studios in New York City
("Alien").
Additional production and mixing on "Automatic" was done by Michael Barbiero
at River Sound in New York City.
The album's title was inspired by Dime-Store Alchemy: The Art of Joseph Cornell by Charles Simic
.
"Automatic" was released as a single.
The CD Extra
part of the CD includes interviews with Whitley as well as live video performances of "Weightless", "Power Down", "Cool Wooden Crosses", and "Automatic" culled from his November 4, 1996 performance at Billboard
Live at The Palace
in Los Angeles, California
.
Singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...
and guitarist
Guitarist
A guitarist is a musician who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselves on the guitar while singing.- Versatility :The guitarist controls an extremely...
, Chris Whitley
Chris Whitley
Christopher Becker Whitley was an American blues singer-songwriter and guitarist.Whitley changed his sound frequently, and achieved modest mainstream success while maintaining a small but devoted following...
.
It was produced primarily by Chris Whitley, Toby Wright
Toby Wright
Toby Wright is a record producer and mixing engineer who has worked with artists such as Alice in Chains, Metallica, Sevendust and Korn. He is currently in Nashville, Tennessee working on Kara Clark's latest Ep.-Producer:...
, Mark Howard
Mark Howard (producer)
Mark Howard is a Canadian record producer, engineer, and mixer. He has worked with many artistsincluding Bob Dylan, Tom Waits, Lucinda Williams, Willie Nelson, Marianne Faithful, Emmylou Harris, U2, Peter Gabriel, R.E.M...
, and Dougie Bowne. The album was recorded primarily by Mark Howard (assisted by Wayne Lorenz) at Boulevard Teatro in Oxnard, California
Oxnard, California
Oxnard is the 113th largest city in the United States, 19th largest city in California and largest city in Ventura County, California, by way of population. It is located at the western edge of the fertile Oxnard Plain, and is an important agricultural center, with its distinction as the...
. It was mixed primarily by Toby Wright (assisted by John Seymour) at Electric Lady Studios
Electric Lady Studios
Electric Lady Studios, at 52 West 8th Street, in New York City's Greenwich Village, is a recording studio originally built by Jimi Hendrix and designed by John Storyk in 1970...
in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
.
Additional recording was done by Dinky Dawson at the Best Western
Best Western
Best Western International, Inc. is the third largest hotel chain, with over 4,195 hotels in nearly 80 countries. The chain, with its corporate headquarters in Phoenix, Arizona, operates more than 2,000 hotels in North America alone. Best Western has a marketing program involving placement of free...
Highway Inn in Salem, Oregon
Salem, Oregon
Salem is the capital of the U.S. state of Oregon, and the county seat of Marion County. It is located in the center of the Willamette Valley alongside the Willamette River, which runs north through the city. The river forms the boundary between Marion and Polk counties, and the city neighborhood...
("As Flat as the Earth (exp)"), by Chris Whitley at the Sheffield Holiday Inn
Holiday Inn
Holiday Inn is a brand of hotels, formally a economy motel chain, forming part of the British InterContinental Hotels Group . It is one of the world's largest hotel chains with 238,440 bedrooms and 1,301 hotels globally. There are currently 5 hotels in the pipeline...
in Sheffield, Alabama
Sheffield, Alabama
Sheffield is a city in Colbert County, Alabama, United States, and is included in The Shoals MSA. As of the 2000 census, the population of the city is 9,652. Sheffield is the birthplace of notable attorney, actor, former senator and presidential contender Fred Thompson...
("Immortal Blues"), and by Toby Wright at Electric Lady Studios in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
("Alien").
Additional production and mixing on "Automatic" was done by Michael Barbiero
Michael Barbiero
Michael Francis Barbiero , is an American record producer, mixer, engineer, songwriter, and journalist.-Background:Michael Barbiero has worked with a number of artists, such as Metallica, Guns N' Roses, Tesla, Cinderella, Blues Traveler, Ziggy Marley, Belouis Some, Cutting Crew, Counting Crows,...
at River Sound in New York City.
The album's title was inspired by Dime-Store Alchemy: The Art of Joseph Cornell by Charles Simic
Charles Simic
Dušan "Charles" Simić is a Serbian-American poet, and was co-Poetry Editor of the Paris Review. He was appointed the fifteenth Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress in 2007.-Early years:...
.
Track listing
All tracks written by Chris Whitley.- "As Flat as the Earth (exp)" – 1:05
- "Automatic" – 3:48
- "Clear Blue Sky" – 5:03
- "Weightless" – 3:04
- "Power Down" – 3:53
- "On Cue" – 3:28
- "Immortal Blues" – 2:30
- "Cool Wooden Crosses" – 2:48
- "Still Point" – 4:17
- "Gasket" – 4:03
- "One Long Day" – 2:19
- "Aerial" – 5:12
- "Alien" – 4:34
"Automatic" was released as a single.
The CD Extra
Enhanced CD
Enhanced CD, also known as CD Extra and CD Plus, is a certification mark of the Recording Industry Association of America for various technologies that combine audio and computer data for use in both Compact Disc and CD-ROM players....
part of the CD includes interviews with Whitley as well as live video performances of "Weightless", "Power Down", "Cool Wooden Crosses", and "Automatic" culled from his November 4, 1996 performance at Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
Live at The Palace
Avalon Hollywood
Avalon is a historic night club and music venue in Hollywood, California, located near the intersection of Hollywood and Vine, at 1735 N. Vine Street...
in Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
.
Personnel
- Chris Whitley – vocalsSingingSinging is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
, guitar, banjoBanjoIn the 1830s Sweeney became the first white man to play the banjo on stage. His version of the instrument replaced the gourd with a drum-like sound box and included four full-length strings alongside a short fifth-string. There is no proof, however, that Sweeney invented either innovation. This new...
, and bassBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick.... - Dougie Bowne – drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
, keyboardElectronic keyboardAn electronic keyboard is an electronic or digital keyboard instrument.The major components of a typical modern electronic keyboard are:...
, bass, and lime-green guitar soloGuitar soloIn popular music, a guitar solo is a melodic passage, section, or entire piece of music written for an electric guitar or an acoustic guitar. Guitar solos, which often contain varying degrees of improvisation, are used in many styles of popular music such as blues, jazz, rock and metal styles such...
on 5
Additional personnel
- Daniel LanoisDaniel LanoisDaniel Lanois born September 19, 1951 in Hull, Quebec) is a Canadian record producer, guitarist, vocalist, and 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, Neil Young, Peter Gabriel, Emmylou Harris, Willie...
- guitar solo on 4 - Patricia Place - guitar solo on 4
- Louis Lepore - guitar on 13
- Steve Almaas - bass on 2, 4, 5, and 6
- Alan Gevaert - bass on 3
- Melvin GibbsMelvin GibbsMelvin Gibbs is an American bass guitarist, composer, and producer who has appeared on close to 200 albums in diverse genres of music. Gibbs has been called "the best bassist in the world" by Time Out New York magazine....
- bass on 9 and 12 - Mike WattMike WattMichael David Watt is an American bassist, singer and songwriter.He is best known for co-founding the rock bands Minutemen, dos, and Firehose; , he is also the bassist for the reunited Stooges and a member of the art rock/jazz/punk/improv group Banyan as well as many other post-Minutemen...
- bass solo on 10 - Matt Greenberg - bass on 10 and 13
- Brady BladeBrady BladeBrady L Blade Jr. is an American rock, pop and country drummer, record producer and composer, who currently resides in Stockholm, Sweden....
- drum loopMusic loopIn electroacoustic music, a loop is a repeating section of sound material. Short sections of material can be repeated to create ostinato patterns...
on 12 - John Seymour - organElectronic organAn electronic organ is an electronic keyboard instrument which was derived from the harmonium, pipe organ and theatre organ. Originally, it was designed to imitate the sound of pipe organs, theatre organs, band sounds, or orchestral sounds....
donor on 5 - Jason Frangos - celloCelloThe cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...
on 13 - Trixie Whitley - backing vocalBacking vocalistA backing vocalist or backing singer is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists...
on 2 - Jessie Lee Montague - backing vocal on 6