A Few Small Repairs
| A Few Small Repairs | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Cover to the standard edition of the album | ||||
| Studio album by Shawn Colvin | ||||
| Released | October 1, 1996 | |||
| Genre | Rock, contemporary folk | |||
| Length | 51:09 | |||
| Label | Columbia | |||
| Producer | John Leventhal | |||
| Shawn Colvin chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Singles from A Few Small Repairs | ||||
| ||||
| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   link |
| Entertainment Weekly | A[1] |
| Los Angeles Times |  [2] |
A Few Small Repairs is Shawn Colvin's fourth album. It was released on October 1, 1996.[3]
A Few Small Repairs is a concept album about divorce, as Shawn Colvin's marriage was ending. At the time of the album's release, she had relocated to Austin, Texas.[4] The Album's biggest single, released in 1997, was "Sunny Came Home". The album cover consists of a painting by Colvin's friend Julie Speed[5] of a three-eyed woman with a lit match, which inspired Colvin to write the song. The single peaked on the Billboard Hot 100 at number 7,[6] and topped the Adult Contemporary,[7] Adult Top 40,[8] and Top 40 Adult Recurrents[9] charts the same year.
Another notable song from the album was "Nothin' on Me", which peaked at number 24 on Billboard's Adult Top 40 chart.[10] The song was also used on Suddenly Susan as its theme song from 1997 to 2000.[11] Colvin appeared on the show in the second season episode Ready ... aim ... Fong!.[12] She performed the song on the show.
Grammy success came to Colvin two years after the release of A Few Small Repairs. In the 1997 Grammy Awards, she was nominated for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance award for "Get Out of This House" and Best Pop Album for A Few Small Repairs.[13] At the next year's Grammy Awards, Colvin was nominated for Song of the Year and Record of the Year for "Sunny Came Home". She won both awards (sharing Song of the Year with Leventhal).[14] As Colvin was about to begin her speech after winning Song of the Year, rapper Ol' Dirty Bastard stormed the stage protesting his loss of an award that same night, saying, "...I don't know how you all see it, but when it comes to the children, Wu-Tang is for the children..." leading him to be escorted off stage.[15] Colvin then began her speech, remarking, "I'm confused now!"[16]
A Few Small Repairs made it to number 39 on the Billboard Top 200 chart.[17]
Track listing
All tracks written by Shawn Colvin and John Leventhal, except where noted[18].
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Sunny Came Home" | 4:24 |
| 2. | "Get Out of This House" | 4:15 |
| 3. | "The Facts About Jimmy" | 5:22 |
| 4. | "You and the Mona Lisa" | 4:05 |
| 5. | "Trouble" (Colvin, Leventhal, Tom Littlefield) | 4:18 |
| 6. | "I Want It Back" | 4:55 |
| 7. | "If I Were Brave" (Colvin) | 3:11 |
| 8. | "Wichita Skyline" | 3:39 |
| 9. | "84,000 Different Delusions" | 4:01 |
| 10. | "Suicide Alley" | 5:29 |
| 11. | "What I Get Paid For" (Colvin, Neil Finn) (not on US pressings of album) | 3:23 |
| 12. | "New Thing Now" (Colvin) | 3:34 |
| 13. | "Nothin' on Me" | 3:56 |
Personnel
- Shawn Colvin – All vocals (tracks 2, 5-8, 12), lead vocals (1, 3-4, 9-10, 13), background vocals (4), acoustic guitar (tracks 1, 5, 8-10, 12-13), additional guitars (6), piano (7)
- John Leventhal – All guitars (track 2), electric guitar (12), additional guitars (1, 3-6, 8-10, 12-13), pedal steel guitar (6), mandolin (1), keyboards (1-5, 8-10, 12-13, organ- 6), violin (1), additional percussion (1, 3-6, 8-10, 13), string arranger (2, 7-8), harmonica (2, 4), horn arranger (3), background vocals (4, 9, 13)
- Michael Rhodes – bass guitar (tracks 1, 3, 6, 9-10)
- Shawn Pelton – drums (tracks 1-6, 8-10, 13), percussion (2, 4-5)
References
- ↑ Cannon, Bob (October 25, 1996). "Music Review: A Few Small Repairs". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 12 April 2011.
- ↑ Hochman, Steve (1996-12-06). "ALBUM REVIEWS / POP; Shawn Colvin, "A Few Small Repairs," Columbia. (** 1/2)". Los Angeles Times. p. 4.
- ↑ "A Few Small Repairs". Allmusic.com. Retrieved 12 April 2011.
- ↑ "Lebanon Opera House presents Shawn Colvin". Lebanon Opera House. Archived from the original on December 30, 2005.
- ↑ "Sunny Came Home by Shawn Colvin". SongFacts.com. Archived from the original on 16 May 2011. Retrieved 12 April 2011.
- ↑ Billboard (1997-07-26). "The Billboard Hot 100 Sunny Came Home". Nielsen Business Media, Inc. Archived from the original on March 2, 2014. Retrieved 2009-02-07.
- ↑ Billboard (1997-08-09). "Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks Sunny Came Home". Nielsen Business Media, Inc. Retrieved 2009-02-07.
- ↑ Billboard (1997-06-28). "Hot Adult Top 40 Tracks Sunny Came Home". Nielsen Business Media, Inc. Archived from the original on November 21, 2014. Retrieved 2009-02-07.
- ↑ Billboard (1997-12-27). "Hot Adult Top 40 Recurrents Sunny Came Home". Nielsen Business Media, Inc. Retrieved 2009-02-07.
- ↑ Billboard (1998-05-02). "The Billboard Hot 100 Sunny Came Home". Nielsen Business Media, Inc. Archived from the original on November 23, 2014. Retrieved 2009-02-07.
- ↑ "IMDB: Full Cast and Crew for Suddenly Susan". Retrieved 12 April 2011.
- ↑ "Suddenly Susan: Ready ... aim ... Fong!". TV.com. Retrieved 12 April 2011.
- ↑ "Rock On The Net: 39th Annual Grammy Awards - 1997". Rock On The Net. Retrieved 12 April 2011.
- ↑ "Rock On The Net: 40th Annual Grammy Awards - 1998". Rock On The Net. Retrieved 12 April 2011.
- ↑ "Wu-Tang's O.D.B. Bumrushes Grammy Podium". MTV News. Archived from the original on 2002-10-24.
- ↑ Lyndsey Parker. "40th Annual Grammy Award Lowdown". Archived from the original on September 11, 2007. Retrieved 12 April 2011.
- ↑ Billboard (1996-10-19). "The Billboard 200 A Few Small Repairs". Nielsen Business Media, Inc. Archived from the original on September 24, 2014. Retrieved 2009-02-07.
- ↑ A Few Small Repairs (CD). Shawn Colvin. Columbia Records. 1996. CK 67119.