Still Life (Talking)

History

Group co-founders Pat Metheny and Lyle Mays joined the Geffen Records label in 1985. After recording and releasing the album Song X and Mays's eponymous debut as a solo bandleader, they recruited multi-instrumentalists David Blamires and Mark Ledford for the Group. "They were like super-musicians," Metheny said in the album's podcast retrospective. "They could play just about anything." Metheny held percussion auditions in Brazil, where he heard and recruited Armando Marcal.

Metheny stated that while he has he has no negativity toward the ECM Records label nor the way the Group's ECM albums were recorded, the label had a very stringent policy: "You recorded for two days, you mixed for a day, that was your record. For better or worse...whether you liked it or not, that was your record." The Group recorded Still Life (Talking) in approximately two weeks, creating a greater opportunity, Metheny continued, to refine the sound for the album.

Since the recording of their album As Falls Wichita, So Falls Wichita Falls, one of Metheny and Mays's primary musical goals was to make the recording studio itself an additional ensemble instrument. To accomplish this for Still Life (Talking), Metheny played his guitars with microphones attached to their bodies, to create deeper and more intimate sounds. Additionally, the opening track, "Minuano (Six-Eight)," was created to establish that mantra for the entire album.

Reception & Legacy

Still Life (Talking) was widely acclaimed and won the 1988 Grammy for Best Jazz Fusion Performance. It remains one of the Group's most popular albums, being its first to sell over 500,000 copies. Most of the album's songs continued to be played by the Group in concert long after the album's original release, especially, "Minuano (Six-Eight)."

The track "Last Train Home" was used in a Christmas commercial by the Florida-based supermarket chain Publix, featuring relatives traveling to Florida by train for Christmas. Metheny jokingly refers to the piece as "The Publix Song" when performing in Florida, as the commercial aired every holiday season from 1987 to 1996. The NPR radio show Radio Deluxe with John Pizzarelli uses the tune as its closing theme. In 2015, the song served as the end theme of the anime adaptation JoJo's Bizarre Adventure during the show's Stardust Crusaders arc, and later became the focus of Essential Collection Last Train Home, a JoJo-themed compilation album for Pat Metheny Group. The composition has also been featured during The Weather Channel's Local on the 8s playlist since the late 1980s. The retail bedding manufacturer Sleep Train, which operates primarily in California, uses the track for their television commercials.

Track listing

All music composed by Pat Metheny, except where noted.

Personnel

Charts

Album - Billboard

Awards

Grammy Awards