Whiskeytown Pneumonia Lost Highway by Scott Snidow

Too often the world of big business creeps in to the world of music and tramples on or even kills bands or projects. The big wigs at the top can only focus their myopic eyes on the bottom line, not the quality of the art being produced. Whiskeytown, one of the more popular bands of the 1990's insurgent country movement, fell victim to the world of big business. And it has seemed that for the longest time, so had the album that has now been released as Pneumonia. Long before its release, Pneumonia had achieved a status that bordered somewhere between cultic to mythical. There was one camp that wondered whether or not the tapes to these last sessions still existed, or if they had become a casualty of a corporate sweep. Another camp insisted that the tapes did exist, but that they would never see the light of day, much like the fabled Chris Smither album Honeysuckle Dogs. Still others insisted, whether or not it was the product of their own meager hopes, that one day some enlightened record company exec would push the tapes through to final production. Well, this past summer that day arrived. As a swan song, Pneumonia is extraordinary. Usually last efforts have a tired or disjointed sound to them. Not so with this album. The songs that Ryan Adams composed for this session are among some of the best that he has recorded to date. Together with producer Ethan Johns, Adams has assembled a world class collection of musicians to make each and every track of Pneumonia a stand out. A native of North Carolina, Adams said that he wanted to take a different approach to recording this album, one that would give it a definitive feel. So, he and Johns set up shop in an old abandoned church, which is where they proceeded to build the album backwards, according to Adams, when you compare it to the usual way that recorded projects tend to take place. They selected the songs that they felt should be on the album, then before bringing in the other musicians they started laying down tracks with Adams providing the vocals, as well as playing guitar, piano and harmonica. When Johns wasn't behind the console, he also participated musically by playing drums, bass, mandolin, mandocello, keyboards, percussion and guitars. The second phase of the recording sessions consisted of bringing in a host of other musicians to add their unique perspectives in sound to the tracks that Adams and Johns felt needed a more "orchestrated" feel to them, a greater sense of depth. The musicians that lent their talents to achieve this end were Caitlin Cary, who is the only musician other than Adams to be on every Whiskeytown project, on fiddle and background vocals; Mike Daly on peddle and lap steel, mandolin, dulcimer, guitar, and keyboards; Brad Rice on guitar; Jennifer Condos on bass; Richard Causon on keyboards; James Iha on guitar; Tommy Stinson on dobro and guitar; James "Jumbo" Aumonier on celeste. The final phase of Pneumonia once again saw Adams and Johns partnered in the mixing and editing of the tapes. Together they assembled a package that is one of the most dynamic to come across this desk in quite some time. It flows lyrically and musically, with a sound that is as unique as the process by which it came about. Perhaps the most amazing thing about Pneumonia is that it has a sound that clearly defies any classification. I know that it will be filed away as "alt-country" or "insurgent country," but neither of those labels do it justice. What they will do is serve only to drive away that segment of the listening audience who are turned off by any connotation of country. The crime in this is that there is much on this album that would appeal to a wider market than will probably ever be exposed to it. Some tracks feature a neo-70's, post hippiesque sound to them. Others have a very "folky" feel. Some would sound equally at home on alternative radio as they would on PBS or Americana style stations. One track, "Paper Moon," even has an Old World, almost Italian feel to it. "What the Devil Wanted" features a piano sound that is reminiscent of the track that John Lennon laid down on "Imagine," and has Adams doing vocal stylings a la the Moody Blues. In short, this package can only be classified under the overused label of "eclectic," something I have yet to see in the bins of local record stores. Pneumonia is a fitting monument not only to one of the great bands of Americana music, but to pioneering songwriting and production values that are in grave danger of extinction in today's mass marketing mentality. It is 15 tracks and nearly one hour of pure auditory pleasure. If you pass this one up simply because it is not in that classification that you normally listen to, the only disservice will be the one that you do to yourself. It is by far one of the best albums to hit the shelves this summer, and certainly the best project ever produced by Whiskeytown. Lost Highway Records has set up a wonderful site to this legendary band at www.losthighwayrecords.com/whiskeytown/. Here you can listen to nearly every cut on this album, view pictures from the Pneumonia sessions, listen to a recorded interview with Ryan Adams and Ethan Johns, or hook up with other Whiskeytown enthusiasts on a message board. Ryan Adams also has his own website at www.ryan-adams.com.   You can contact Scott Snidow at: scott-at-rockzilla.net

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