Play Me Backwards

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Play Me Backwards

Studio album by Joan Baez

Released

October 1992

Recorded

Nashville, 1992

Genre

Folk

Length

36:19

Label

Virgin

Producer

Wally Wilson, Kenny Greenberg

Professional reviews

Joan Baez chronology

Speaking of Dreams
(1989)

Play Me Backwards
(1992)

Rare, Live & Classic
(1993)

Play Me Backwards was a 1992 album by Joan Baez. In addition to her own work, she included songs by Mary Chapin Carpenter and Janis Ian. The album marked the first time Baez worked with producers Kenny Greenberg and Wally Wilson, with whom she would continue to work throughout most of the '90s. Also significant was her recording of the Mary Chapin Carpenter song, "Stones in the Road", for which Baez produced her first ever music video. The album was nominated for a Grammy for Best Contemporary Folk Recording.

For the making of this album, Baez worked in Nashville for the first time since recording 1972's Come from the Shadows.

[edit] Track listing

"Play Me Backwards" (Joan Baez/Wally Wilson/Kenny Greenberg)
"Amsterdam" (Janis Ian)
"Isaac and Abraham" (Joan Baez/Wally Wilson/Kenny Greenberg)
"Stones in the Road" (Mary Chapin Carpenter)
"Steal Across the Border" (R. Davies)
"I'm With You" (Joan Baez)
"I'm With You" (Reprise) (Joan Baez)
"Strange Rivers" (John Stewart)
"Through Your Hands" (John Hiatt)
"The Dream Song" (Joan Baez/Wally Wilson/Kenny Greenberg)
"The Edge of Glory" (Joan Baez/Wally Wilson/Kenny Greenberg)

[edit] Credits

Joan Baez - Guitar, Vocals
James A. Ball - Engineer
Greg Barnhill - Vocals (bckgr)
Richard Bennett - Guitar (Electric)
Ashley Cleveland - Vocals (bckgr)
Peter Coleman - Engineer
Chad Cromwell - Drums
Tom Dolan - Design
Jerry Douglas - Dobro, Guitar, Lap Steel Guitar, Weissenborn
Roy Gamble - Engineer, Second Engineer
Carl Gorodetzky - Violin
Eric Gorodetzky - Engineer, Second Engineer
Kenny Greenberg - Guitar (Acoustic), Guitar, Guitar (Electric), Producer
Mick Haggerty - Art Direction
Vicki Hampton - Vocals (bckgr)
Mike Lawler - Organ, Synthesizer
Bob Ludwig - Mastering
Bob Mason - Cello
Edgar Meyer - Bass, Bass (Upright)
Jonell Mosser - Vocals (bckgr)
Steve Nathan - Organ, Wurlitzer
Melanie Nissen - Photography
Greg Parker - Engineer, Second Engineer
Cyndi Richardson - Vocals (bckgr)
Jerry Roady - Percussion
Tom Roady - Percussion
Chris Rodriguez - Vocals (bckgr)
Ed Simonton - Engineer, Second Engineer
Pamela Sixfin - Violin
Kevin Smith - Mixing
James Stroud - Drums
Marcos Suzano - Percussion, Berimbau
Willie Weeks - Bass
Kristin Wilkinson - Viola
Willy Wilson - Synthesizer, Piano, Producer
Glenn Worf - Bass
Taylor York - Engineer

Lyrics PLAY ME BACKWARDS (Written by Joan Baez, Wally Wilson, Kenny Greenberg & Karen O'Connor)

You don't have to play me backwards To get the meaning of my verse You don't have to die and go to hell To feel the devil's curse

Well I thought my life was a photograph On the family Christmas card Kids all dressed in buttons and bows And lined up in the yard Were the golden days of childhood So lyrical and warm Or did the picture start to fade On the day that I was born

I've seen them light the candles I've heard them bang the drum And I've cried Mama, I'm cold as ice! And I got no place to run

Let the night begin there's a pop of skin And the sudden rush of scarlet There's a little boy riding on a goat's head And a little girl playing the harlot There's a sacrifice in an empty church Of sweet li'l baby Rose And a man in a mask from Mexico Is peeling off my clothes

I've seen them light the candles I've heard them bang the drum And I've cried Mama, I'm cold as ice! And I got no place to run

So I'm paying for protection Smoking out the truth Chasing recollections Nailing down the proof

You don't have to play me backwards To get the meaning of my verse You don't have to die and go to hell To feel the devil's curse I'll stand before your altar And tell everything I know I've come to claim my childhood At the chapel of baby Rose

I've seen them light the candles I've heard them bang the drum I've seen them light the candles I've heard them bang the drum