The Harrow & The Harvest

The Harrow & The Harvest
Studio album by Gillian Welch
Released June 28, 2011
Recorded February 2011[1]
Genre Folk
Label Acony
Producer David Rawlings
Gillian Welch chronology
Soul Journey
(2003)Soul Journey2003		 The Harrow & The Harvest
(2011)

The Harrow & The Harvest is a 2011 album released by American musician Gillian Welch. It was Welch's first album in eight years and was released on June 28, 2011. The album was nominated for Best Folk Album for the 54th Grammy Awards.[2]

Background

The eight years since the release of 2003's Soul Journey marked the longest period of time between album releases for Welch. In explaining the relatively long recording absence, Welch said, "The sad truth is we never liked anything enough to put it out, which is not a pleasant place to be." She added, "over the course of that time that we were quiet we probably had enough songs to put out two or three records. Actually we made a few tentative steps at trying to record, but inevitably the heart would go out of it when we realised that we simply didn't like the material enough to go on with it."[3] Welch frequently performed the song "The Way It Will Be" in years prior to the release of the album.[4] Welch explains that this tense time period inspired the album title: "Our songcraft slipped and I really don't know why. It's not uncommon. It's something that happens to writers. It's the deepest frustration we have come through, hence the album title."[3] The writing process involved "this endless back and forth between the two of us," Welch said, stating that "It’s our most intertwined, co-authored, jointly-composed album."[5]

Recording

According to Welch, "The songs are mostly first and second takes, and Dave composed some of the music spontaneously in the studio. It was very freeing. We learned to accept mistakes and rough edges, because those didn't impede what the heart of the matter was."[5]

Reception

Uncut placed it at 2 on their "Top 50 albums of 2011" list,[6] while Q, Mojo, and Paste placed it at number 28, 34, and 39, respectively.[7][8][9]


Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[10]
The A.V. Club(C+)[11]
The Guardian[12]
Los Angeles Times[13]
MOJO[14]
musicOMH[15]
The Observer[16]
Rolling Stone[17]
Uncut[18]

Track listing

All tracks written by Gillian Welch and David Rawlings.

No.TitleLength
1."Scarlet Town"3:38
2."Dark Turn of Mind"4:07
3."The Way It Will Be"4:47
4."The Way It Goes"4:01
5."Tennessee"6:35
6."Down Along the Dixie Line"4:49
7."Six White Horses"3:38
8."Hard Times"4:52
9."Silver Dagger"3:23
10."The Way the Whole Thing Ends"6:11

Personnel

John Dyer Baizley provided artwork for the album.[19]

Chart performance

Chart (2011) Peak
position
Canadian Albums Chart[20] 80
US Billboard 200[21] 20
US Billboard Folk Albums[22] 1
US Billboard Independent Albums[23] 3
US Billboard Rock Albums[24] 5
Norwegian Albums Chart[25] 7
Swedish Albums Chart[26] 31
UK Albums Chart[27] 25
New Zealand Albums Chart[28] 14

References

  1. ↑ GillianWelch.com
  2. ↑ "Kanye West Tops 54th GRAMMY Nominations". The Recording Academy. Retrieved 18 November 2011.
  3. 1 2 Shedden, Iain (June 18, 2011). "Harvest time after long journey for Gillian Welch". The Australian. Retrieved June 18, 2011.
  4. ↑ Kiefer, Kate (November 20, 2009). "Catching Up With... David Rawlings". Paste Magazine. Retrieved January 13, 2010.
  5. 1 2 Leahey, Andrew (June 29, 2011). "Gillian Welch Comes Down From The Mountain". American Songwriter. Retrieved June 30, 2011.
  6. ↑ http://stereogum.com/891311/uncuts-top-50-albums-of-2011/list/
  7. ↑ http://stereogum.com/891091/qs-50-best-albums-of-2011/list/
  8. ↑ http://stereogum.com/894362/mojos-top-50-albums-of-2011
  9. ↑ http://www.pastemagazine.com/blogs/lists/2011/11/the-50-best-albums-of-2011.html?p=5
  10. ↑ Jurek, Thom. "The Harrow & the Harvest". Allmusic. Retrieved July 16, 2011.
  11. ↑ MIncher, Chris. "The Harrow & The Harvest". The A.V. Club. Retrieved July 16, 2011.
  12. ↑ Denselow, Robin (June 23, 2011). "Gillian Welch: The Harrow & the Harvest – review". The Guardian. London. Retrieved July 16, 2011.
  13. ↑ Barton, Chris (June 28, 2011). "Album review: Gillian Welch's 'The Harrow & the Harvest'". Pop & Hiss. Retrieved July 16, 2011.
  14. ↑ Paton, Daniel. "Gillian Welch – The Harrow & The Harvest". musicOMH. Retrieved September 23, 2011.
  15. ↑ Paton, Daniel. "Gillian Welch – The Harrow & The Harvest". musicOMH. Retrieved July 16, 2011.
  16. ↑ Empire, Kitty (June 26, 2011). "Gillian Welch: The Harrow & the Harvest – review". The Observer. London. Retrieved July 16, 2011.
  17. ↑ Hermes, Will. "Gillian Welch". Rolling Stone. Retrieved July 16, 2011.
  18. ↑ Mueller, Andrew. "Album Review: Gillian Welch – the Harrow and the Harvest". Uncut. Retrieved July 16, 2011.
  19. ↑ GillianWelch.com – Album Artwork
  20. ↑ "Canoe!". Canoe!. Retrieved July 16, 2011.
  21. ↑ "Gillian Welch Album & Song Chart History – Billboard 200". Billboard. Retrieved July 7, 2011.
  22. ↑ "Gillian Welch Album & Song Chart History – Folk Albums". Billboard. Retrieved July 7, 2011.
  23. ↑ "Gillian Welch Album & Song Chart History – Independent Albums". Billboard. Retrieved July 7, 2011.
  24. ↑ "Gillian Welch Album & Song Chart History – Rock Albums". Billboard. Retrieved July 7, 2011.
  25. ↑ "VG-lista". VG-lista. Retrieved July 16, 2011.
  26. ↑ "Sverigetopplistan". hitlistan. Retrieved July 16, 2011.
  27. ↑ "Album Chart". Official Charts. Retrieved July 16, 2011.
  28. ↑ "New Zealand Charts". New Zealand Charts. Retrieved July 17, 2011.
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