Play Me Backwards
Play Me Backwards is a 1992 album by Joan Baez. In addition to her own work, she included songs by Mary Chapin Carpenter and Janis Ian among others. The album marked the first time Baez worked with producers Kenny Greenberg and Wally Wilson, with whom she would continue to work throughout most of the 1990s. Also significant was her recording of the Mary Chapin Carpenter song, "Stones in the Road", for which Baez produced her first ever music video. The album was nominated for a Grammy for Best Contemporary Folk Recording.
| Play Me Backwards | ||||
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | October 1992 | |||
| Recorded | Nashville, 1992 | |||
| Genre | Folk | |||
| Length | 36:19 | |||
| Label | Virgin | |||
| Producer | Wally Wilson, Kenny Greenberg | |||
| Joan Baez chronology | ||||
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For the making of this album, Baez worked in Nashville for the first time since recording 1972's Come from the Shadows.
In 2012, to commemorate the twentieth anniversary of the album's original release, Play Me Backwards was reissued, digitally remastered, and including new liner notes; three bonus tracks—recorded during the original sessions, but not included on the original release—were included: "The Trouble With the Truth", "Medicine Wheel" and a cover of Bob Dylan's "Seven Curses".
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| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   |
| Rolling Stone | |
Track listing
All tracks composed by Joan Baez, Wally Wilson and Kenny Greenberg, except where indicated.
- "Play Me Backwards"
- "Amsterdam" (Janis Ian, Buddy Mondlock)
- "Isaac and Abraham"
- "Stones in the Road" (Mary Chapin Carpenter)
- "Steal Across the Border" (Ron Davies)
- "I'm with You" (Baez)
- "I'm with You" (Reprise) (Baez)
- "Strange Rivers" (John Stewart)
- "Through Your Hands" (John Hiatt)
- "The Dream Song"
- "The Edge of Glory"
Personnel
- Joan Baez - guitar, vocals
- James A. Ball - engineer
- Greg Barnhill - backing vocals
- Richard Bennett - electric guitar
- Ashley Cleveland - backing vocals
- Peter Coleman - engineer
- Chad Cromwell - drums
- Tom Dolan - design
- Jerry Douglas - Dobro, guitar, lap steel guitar, Weissenborn
- Roy Gamble - engineer, second engineer
- Aaron D. Jacoves - A&R/executive producer
- Carl Gorodetzky - violin
- Eric Gorodetzky - engineer, second engineer
- Kenny Greenberg - acoustic and electric guitar, producer
- Mick Haggerty - art direction
- Vicki Hampton - backing vocals
- Mike Lawler - organ, synthesizer
- Bob Ludwig - mastering
- Bob Mason - cello
- Edgar Meyer - upright bass
- Jonell Mosser - backing vocals
- Steve Nathan - organ, Wurlitzer
- Melanie Nissen - photography
- Greg Parker - engineer, second engineer
- Cyndi Richardson - backing vocals
- Jerry Roady - percussion
- Tom Roady - percussion
- Chris Rodriguez - backing vocals
- Ed Simonton - engineer, second engineer
- Pamela Sixfin - violin
- Kevin Smith - mixing
- James Stroud - drums
- Marcos Suzano - percussion, berimbau
- Willie Weeks - bass guitar
- Kristin Wilkinson - viola
- Wally Wilson - synthesizer, piano, producer
- Glenn Worf - bass guitar
- Taylor York - engineer