The Black Rider (album)

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The Black Rider
The Black Rider cover
Studio album by Tom Waits
Released November 2, 1993
Recorded 1989, 1993
Genre Cabaret
Length 56:08
Label Island
Producer(s) Tom Waits
Professional reviews
Tom Waits chronology
The Early Years, Volume Two
(1993)
The Black Rider
(1993)
Mule Variations
(1999)


The Black Rider is an album by Tom Waits, released in 1993 on Island Records. The album contains studio versions of songs Waits wrote for the play The Black Rider, directed by Robert Wilson and co-written by William S. Burroughs. The play is based on the German folktale Der Freischütz, which had previously been made into an opera by Carl Maria von Weber.

The Black Rider premiered on March 31, 1990, at the Thalia Theater in Hamburg, Germany. Its world English-language premiere occurred in 1998 at the Edmonton International Fringe Festival.

Waits's collaboration with Wilson would later continue with the plays Alice (1992) and Woyzeck (2000), the music to which was released on the albums Alice and Blood Money, respectively.

There is a German vinyl release of this album featuring quite different tracks. It was released by Alka-Seltzer Medien GmbH in 1999 containing some liner notes concerning the Black Rider stage play. The vinyl is transparently red with only "A" and "B" printed on the labels respectively.

[edit] Track listing

All songs written by Tom Waits, except where noted.
Recorded in 1989 by Gerd Bessler at his Music Factory in Hamburg, Germany (2, 3, 6‒9, 14‒16, 19, 20), and in 1993 by Chad Blake at the Prairie Sun Recording Studios in Cotati, United States (1, 4, 5, 10‒13, 17, 18).

  1. "Lucky Day Overture" – 2:27
    • Tom Waits - vocal, calliope
    • Ralph Carney - sax
    • Bill Douglas - bass
    • Kenny Wollesen - percussion
    • Matt Brubeck - cello
    • Joe Gore - banjo
    • Nick Phelps - french horn
    • Kevin Porter - trombone
  2. "The Black Rider" – 3:21
    • Greg Cohen - bass, percussion, banjo, viola
    • Tom Waits - organ, vocal
  3. "November" – 2:53
    • Tom Waits - piano, banjo, vocal
    • Greg Cohen - bass, accordion
    • Don Neely - saw
  4. "Just the Right Bullets" – 3:35
    • Matt Brubeck - cello
    • Kenny Wollesen - percussion
    • Joe Gore - banjo
    • Ralph Carney - bass clarinet
    • Tom Waits - vocal, piano
    • Larry Rhodes - bassoon
    • Bill Douglas - bass
    • Francis Thumm - organ
  5. "Black Box Theme" – 2:42
    • Tom Waits - chamberlain
    • Don Neely - saw
    • Bill Douglas - bass
    • Matt Brubeck - cello
    • Kenny Wollesen - percussion
    • Nick Phelps - french horn
    • Larry Rhodes - bassoon
    • Joe Gore - banjo
  6. "'T' Ain't No Sin" (Walter Donaldson / Edgar Leslie) – 2:25
    • William Burroughs - vocal
    • Tom Waits - marimba, emax
    • Greg Cohen - bass clarinet, emax
  7. "Flash Pan Hunter/Intro" – 1:10
    • Henning Stoll - contra bassoon
    • Stefan Schäfer - bass
    • Volker Hemken - clarinet
  8. "That's the Way" (music: Waits, lyrics: William S. Burroughs) – 1:07
    • Hans-Jorn Braudenberg - organ
    • Henning Stoll - viola
    • Stefan Schäfer - bass
    • Volker Hemken - clarinet
    • Tom Waits - vocal
  9. "The Briar and the Rose" – 3:50
    • Hans-Jorn Braudenberg - organ
    • Henning Stoll - viola
    • Stefan Schäfer - bass
    • Volker Hemken - clarinet
    • Tom Waits - vocal
  10. "Russian Dance" – 3:12
    • Tom Waits - emax strings
    • Matt Brubeck - cello
    • Linda Deluca - viola
    • Bill Douglas - bass
    • Kathleen Brennan, Clive Butters, Tom Waits, Francis Thumm, Joe Marquez - boots
  11. "Gospel Train/Orchestra" – 2:33
    • Linda Deluca - viola
    • Nick Phelps - french horn
    • Larry Rhodes - bassoon
    • Kevin Porter - trombone
    • Ralph Carney - bass clarinet
    • Joe Gore - guitar
    • Kenny Wollesen - percussion
    • Bill Douglas - bass
    • Matt Brubeck - cello
  12. "I'll Shoot the Moon" – 3:51
    • Kevin Porter - trombone
    • Francis Thumm - organ
    • Bill Douglas - bass
    • Ralph Carney - sax
    • Kenny Wollesen - percussion, marimba
    • Joe Gore - guitar
    • Matt Brubeck - cello
    • Tom Waits - vocal
  13. "Flash Pan Hunter" (music: Waits, lyrics: Burroughs) – 3:10
    • Ralph Carney - bass clarinet
    • Matt Brubeck - cello
    • Joe Gore - banjo
    • Larry Rhodes - bassoon
    • Bill Douglas - bass
    • Francis Thumm - organ
    • Kenny Wollesen - percussion
    • Don Neely - saw
    • Tom Waits - vocal
  14. "Crossroads" (music: Waits, lyrics: Burroughs) – 2:43
    • Tom Waits - guitar, chamberlain, vocal
    • Greg Cohen - bass
    • Gerd Bessler - viola
  15. "Gospel Train" – 4:43
    • Tom Waits - train whistle, vocal, conga, log drum
    • Greg Cohen - percussion, bass
    • Ralph Carney - bass clarinet
    • Bill Douglas - bass
  16. "Interlude" (Greg Cohen) – 0:18
    • Henning Stoll - bassoon
    • Christoph Moinian - french horn
    • Volker Hemken - clarinet
  17. "Oily Night" – 4:23
    • Matt Brubeck - cello
    • Kenny Wollesen - percussion
    • Bill Douglas - bass
    • Ralph Carney - sax, bass clarinet
    • Nick Phelps - french horn
    • Kevin Porter - trombone
    • Larry Rhodes - contra bassoon
    • Joe Gore - banjo, guitar
    • Linda Deluca - viola
    • Featuring "The Boners"
  18. "Lucky Day" – 3:42
    • Tom Waits - organ & vocal
    • Bill Douglas - bass
    • Ralph Carney - baritone horn
    • Matt Brubeck - cello
    • Kenny Wollesen - percussion
    • Joe Gore - guitar
  19. "The Last Rose of Summer" – 2:07
    • Tom Waits - organ, vocal, chamberlain
    • Greg Cohen - bass
  20. "Carnival" – 1:15
    • Tom Waits - chamberlain, emax
    • Greg Cohen - bass

Hans-Jörn Brandenburg, Volker Hemken, Henning Stoll, Christoph Moinian, Dieter Fischer, Jo Bauer, Frank Wulff, and Stefan Schäfer were The Devil's Rhubato Band (Hamburg); Ralph Carney, Bill Douglas, Kenny Wollesen, Matt Brubeck, Joe Gore, Nick Phelps, Kevin Porter, Larry Rhodes, Francis Thumm, Don Neely, Linda Deluca were The Rhubato West Group (San Francisco).

Songs performed in the play, but not included on the album: "Chase The Clouds Away", "In The Morning".

[edit] Alka-Seltzer track listing

FACE A

  1. Black Rider (Opening)
  2. November
  3. The right bullets
  4. The briar and the rose
  5. George Schmid
  6. Chase the clouds at
  7. Flash pan hunter

FACE B

  1. Instrumental
  2. ? by W. S. Burroughs
  3. In the morning
  4. Gospel train
  5. I'll shoot the moon
  6. Instrumental
  7. The last rose of summer

[edit] Trivia

Waits's wife Kathleen Brennan contributed one of her paintings for the sleeve insert.

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