Released 15 November 1988 | Length 52:36 Release date 15 November 1988 | |
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Recorded 27 November 1987 (1987-11-27) Similar Cowboy Junkies albums, Rock music albums | ||
Cowboy junkies misguided angel
The Trinity Session is a 1988 album by Cowboy Junkies, their second album.
Contents
- Cowboy junkies misguided angel
- Blue moon revisited cowboy junkies the trinity session
- The recording sessions
- Personnel
- Chart performance
- Other media
- Songs
- References
The music was recorded inside Toronto's Church of the Holy Trinity on 27 November 1987 (1987-11-27), with the band circled around a single microphone. The album includes a mixture of original material by the band and covers of classic folk, rock, and country songs. Notable amongst the covers is the band's most famous single, a cover of The Velvet Underground's "Sweet Jane", based on the version found on 1969: The Velvet Underground Live, rather than the later studio version from Loaded. Also included is "Blue Moon Revisited (Song for Elvis)", which is both a cover and an original, combining a new song by the band with the pop standard "Blue Moon".
The album was released in early 1988 on Latent Records in Canada, and re-released worldwide later in the year on RCA Records. "Working on a Building" and "Blue Moon Revisited (Song for Elvis)" did not appear on the Latent Records release. "Blue Moon Revisited" was originally released on It Came from Canada, Vol. 4, a compilation of Canadian independent bands.
In 2007, the album was performed live in its entirety as part of the All Tomorrow's Parties' Don't Look Back series. Also that year, the band returned to The Church of the Holy Trinity to record a new version of the Trinity Session with guest musicians Natalie Merchant, Vic Chesnutt, and Ryan Adams. This new set of recordings was released as Trinity Revisited, to commemorate the 20th anniversary of The Trinity Session.
According to website Acclaimed Music, the album is the 946th most acclaimed album ever released. It was named the 42nd best album of the 1980s by Pitchfork Media in 2002 and the 36th best Canadian album by Chart in 2000. It was also ranked 62nd in Bob Mersereau's book The Top 100 Canadian Albums in 2007. In 2015, the album was named the winner in the 1980s category of the inaugural Slaight Family Polaris Heritage Prize, an annual Canadian music award for classic albums released prior to the creation of the Polaris Music Prize.
Blue moon revisited cowboy junkies the trinity session
The recording sessions
According to the band's website, the direction of The Trinity Sessions was influenced by music they heard while touring the southern United States in support of Whites Off Earth Now!!. The lyrics and instrumentation of the album were lifted from the classic country groups the band was exposed to, and the song "200 More Miles" was written in reference to their life on the road.
As they had on Whites, the band wanted to record live with one stereo microphone direct to tape—it is stated on the album cover that the recording was made on 2-track RDAT using one single Calrec Ambisonic Microphone.
Peter Moore was enlisted and suggested the Church of the Holy Trinity in Toronto for its natural reverb. To better persuade the officials of the historic church, the band claimed to be The Timmins Family Singers and said they were recording a Christmas special for radio. The session began on the morning of 27 November 1987. The group first recorded the songs with the fewest instruments and then the songs with gradually more complex arrangements. In this way Moore and the band were able to solve acoustic problems one by one. To better balance Margo Timmins's vocals against the electric guitars and drums, she was recorded through a PA system that had been left behind by a previous group. By making subtle changes in volume and placement relative to the microphone over six hours, Moore and the band had finally reached the distinctive sound of the album by the time the last of the guest musicians arrived at the church.
The band was unable to rehearse with most of the guest musicians before the day of the session. Considering the method of recording and time constraints, this could have been disastrous for the numbers which required seven or more musicians, but after paying a security guard twenty-five dollars for an extra two hours, the band was able to finish, and even recorded the final song of the session, "Misguided Angel", in a single take.
Contrary to popular myth, the album was not entirely recorded in one day. In the hustle of the first recording session, the band forgot to record "Mining for Gold". Margo and Moore recorded the song a few days later during the Toronto Symphony Orchestra's lunch break.
Sleeve notes state that the recording was not mixed, overdubbed or edited in any way.
Personnel
Chart performance
Other media
"Blue Moon Revisited" is heard playing in the background in the bar scene near the end of the 2004 film Silver City.
The Cowboy Junkies' version of Lou Reed's "Sweet Jane" features on the soundtrack of Oliver Stone's 1994 movie, Natural Born Killers.
Songs
1Mining for Gold1:31
2Misguided Angel4:56
3I Don’t Get It4:34