From Beale Street to Oblivion
From Beale Street to Oblivion is the eighth full-length studio album by American rock band Clutch. It was produced by Joe Barresi (whose credits include The Melvins, Kyuss, Queens of the Stone Age and Coheed and Cambria), and released on the DRT Entertainment label. The album was released on March 20, 2007 and was the second of two Clutch albums to feature keyboardist Mick Schauer.
| From Beale Street to Oblivion | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | March 20, 2007 | |||
| Recorded | September 2006 | |||
| Venue | Sound City Studios | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 48:18 | |||
| Label | DRT Entertainment | |||
| Producer | Joe Barresi | |||
| Clutch chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   |
| Blabbermouth | |
| TheEndlessFeed | |
A reissue of the album was released on July 20, 2010 and Clutch re-released the album as a 2-LP set on purple vinyl, limited to 1,000 copies, for Record Store Day 2015.[3][4][5]
Album description and reviews
The album title comes from a line in the song "The Devil & Me", and is named after the real Beale Street in Memphis, Tennessee. The song "One Eye Dollar" is a remake of the same track from Jam Room. The track "Electric Worry" is a partial cover of the Muddy Waters song "Trouble No More" [6] and features Eric Oblander of Five Horse Johnson on harmonica. It also shares a striking similarity to "Boom Boom" by John Lee Hooker, even including the "Bang Bang Bang Bang" variation he would do live. A music video was produced for the track as well.
In his 4 star review of the album for AllMusic, Greg Prato said "If you long for the days when Soundgarden were still a functioning band, Kyuss were still patrolling the desert, and Black Sabbath had yet to make up with Ozzy, Clutch will definitely not let you down with From Beale Street to Oblivion."[1]
Writing for Blabbermouth, Keith Bergman said of the album, " — the band just cooks, with a live revival-tent intensity and more goddamn groove than you can possibly stand without involuntarily bouncing up and down in your chair. Clutch are carrying the flame for real American rock and roll, dumb rock for smart people, road warriors of the highest order and master artisans of the riff and the turn of phrase."[2]
Track listing
All tracks written by Clutch, except where noted.
Original album
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "You Can't Stop Progress" | 2:40 | |
| 2. | "Power Player" | 3:06 | |
| 3. | "The Devil & Me" | 3:57 | |
| 4. | "White's Ferry" | 5:24 | |
| 5. | "Child of the City" | 3:53 | |
| 6. | "Electric Worry" | Partially written by Mississippi Fred McDowell | 5:14 |
| 7. | "One Eye Dollar" | 1:23 | |
| 8. | "Rapture of Riddley Walker" | 4:09 | |
| 9. | "When Vegans Attack" | 4:56 | |
| 10. | "Opossum Minister" | 4:28 | |
| 11. | "Black Umbrella" | 4:05 | |
| 12. | "Mr. Shiny Cadillackness" | 5:11 | |
| Total length: | 48:18 | ||
2010 Deluxe Reissue Bonus CD listing
All tracks written by Clutch, except where noted.
Tracks 1–5 were recorded live at the BBC Maida Vale Studios on November 11, 2006 and tracks 6–9 were recorded on December 13, 2007 in Melbourne, Australia during the tour for this album.[7]
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Politician" | Pete Brown | 4:25 |
| 2. | "Electric Worry" | Partially written by Mississippi Fred McDowell | 5:16 |
| 3. | "One Eye Dollar" | 1:22 | |
| 4. | "Mr. Shiny Cadillackness" | 5:05 | |
| 5. | "Cypress Grove" | 4:27 | |
| 6. | "The Devil & Me" | 3:47 | |
| 7. | "Child of the City" | 3:32 | |
| 8. | "You Gonna Wreck my Life" | Chester Burnett | 5:20 |
| 9. | "White's Ferry" | 5:42 | |
| Total length: | 38:57 | ||
Personnel
- Neil Fallon – vocals, guitar
- Tim Sult – guitar
- Dan Maines – bass
- Jean-Paul Gaster – drums, percussion
- Mick Schauer – Hammond B3, piano, Hohner Clavinet
- Bryan Hinkley – guitar on tracks 4 and 12
- Eric Oblander – Hohner harmonica's on tracks 6, 11 and 12
Production
- Produced, Recorded and Mixed by 'Evil' Joe Barresi at Sound City Studios, Van Nuys, CA and Bay 7, Valley Village, CA
- Additional Engineering by Pete Martinez
- Assistant Engineering at Bay 7 by Glen Pittman
- Art and Design by Nick Lakiotes
- Photography by Louis Rivera
References
- Prato, Greg. "From Beale Street to Oblivion – Overview". Allmusic. Retrieved April 20, 2020.
- Bergman, Keith. ""From Beale Street To Oblivion"". Blabbermouth. Retrieved April 20, 2020.
- Reissue's news
- "Clutch announces vinyl/digital reissues, DVD". lambgoat.com. Retrieved February 13, 2016.
- "Clutch From Beale Street to Oblivion (Vinyl 2LP) at Music Direct". www.musicdirect.com. Retrieved February 13, 2016.
- Whitburn 1988, p. 435.
- "CLUTCH's 'Beale Street' To Be Reissued With Bonus Material, Updated Artwork And Packaging". BLABBERMOUTH.NET. June 6, 2010. Retrieved February 13, 2016.