On this 1996 release, Iris looks out at the world and is not really thrilled about what she sees. Her voice, beautifully twangy, speaks for those who do not have a protective coating.
Wasteland of The Free declaims 'We got preachers dealin' in politics and diamond mines and their speech is growing increasingly unkind'.
Letter to Mom lances the shame of a woman who finally reveals that she had been sexually molested by her mother's boyfriend.
There's a Wall in Washington is a rageful cry at the unhealed wounds of the Vietnam War. In a more personal vein, there is the self-explanatory
I'll Take My Sorrow Straight,
When My Morning Comes Around which instigated a serious bout of soul searching on my end, and a respite of cheerfulness in the Merle Haggard co-written
This Kind Of Happy. The final cut,
Trouble, is a road house blues, devil-may-care duet with Delbert McClinton that warms us up before sending us out into the chilly night. I'll have another round of this, please.
The Way I Should is the third album released by singer-songwriter Iris DeMent. It peaked at number 22 on the Billboard Heatseekers chart.
Guests include guitarist Mark Knopfler and Delbert McClinton, who duets with DeMent on "Trouble".
Personnel
*Iris DeMent – vocals, guitar, piano
*Mark Knopfler – guitar
*Chuck Leavell – organ, piano, accordion
*Lonnie Mack - guitar
*Brent Mason - guitar
*Paul Franklin – steel guitar
*John Jennings – guitar, EBow, 6-string bass
*Bekka Bramlett – background vocals
*Billy Burnette – background vocals
*Melodie Crittenden – background vocals
*Delbert McClinton – harmonica, vocals
*Dave Pomeroy – bass
*Tom Roady – tambourine
*Tammy Rogers – fiddle, mandolin, violin, cello, viola
*Harry Stinson – drums
*Russ Taff – background vocals
*Earl Scruggs – banjo
*Randy Scruggs – guitar
*Stuart Smith – guitar, slide guitar
Production notes
*Produced by Randy Scruggs
*Engineered and mixed by Chuck Ainlay
*Mastered by Denny Purcell
*Assistant Engineers – Chris Rua and Graham Lewis
*Photography by Debbie Spinelli and Rocky Schenck
*Art direction and design by Stephen Walker and Terry Robertson
Category:1993 albums
Category:Iris DeMent albums
Category:Warner Bros. Records albums
pt:The Way I Should (álbum de Iris DeMent)
This text has been derived from The Way I Should on Wikipedia and is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License 3.0Artist/Band Information
Iris DeMent (born January 5, 1961) is an American singer and songwriter. DeMent's musical style encompasses the genres country and folk music.
Early life
DeMent was the youngest child of Pat DeMent and his second wife, Flora Mae. As the baby of the family, she was Pat DeMent's fourteenth child, and Flora Mae's eighth. She was raised in a Pentecostal household, but now identifies as agnostic.
She was born near the town of Paragould, Arkansas but grew up in Cypress, California, where she was exposed to and influenced by country and gospel music.
Music and career
DeMent's songs are typically simple, clearly told stories about life's pains and joys.
Her first album, Infamous Angel, was released in 1992 and explored themes like religious skepticism, living in a small town, lamenting "nothing good ever lasts", and forgiving human frailty. Her song "Let the Mystery Be" from that album has been covered by a number of artists, including 10,000 Maniacs, Alice Stuart, and in the opening scenes of the movie Little Buddha (neither credited, nor on the sound-track album) and has become one of DeMent's better known compositions. In her second album, My Life, released in 1994, she continued the personal and introspective approach. My Life was nominated for a Grammy in the Best Contemporary Folk Album category. DeMent's third album, The Way I Should, was released in 1996. Featuring the protest song "Wasteland of the Free," it is DeMent's most political work, and covers topics like sexual abuse, religion, government policy, and Vietnam. After a hiatus during the late 1990s and early 2000s, she released her fourth album, Lifeline, in 2004.
She gained some notice singing the Merle Haggard song, "Big City", on Tulare Dust: Tribute to Merle Haggard, a 1994 various artists tribute album. In 1995, her song "Our Town" was played in the closing moments of the last episode for the popular CBS TV series Northern Exposure, gaining DeMent more fans. (The song has also been recorded by Kate Rusby, Jody Stecher, and Kate Brislin.)
DeMent has sung duets with John Prine (on In Spite of Ourselves), Steve Earle and Emmylou Harris and is featured on the albums of many other performers. She has made frequent appearances on Garrison Keillor's A Prairie Home Companion, and appeared in the 2000 film Songcatcher, playing the character Rose Gentry and singing on the soundtrack as well. In 1994, Natalie Merchant of 10,000 Maniacs performed DeMent's song "Let the Mystery Be" with David Byrne for the show MTV Unplugged. The song was included on Campfire Songs: The Popular, Obscure and Unknown Recordings.
DeMent's rendition of "Leaning on the Everlasting Arms" accompanies the closing credits of the Coen brothers' True Grit (2010 film).
Personal life
DeMent married Elmer McCall in 1991, but the marriage subsequently ended in divorce. She married singer-songwriter Greg Brown on November 21, 2002.
Charts
Discography
Albums
*Infamous Angel (January 16, 1992)
*My Life (1994)
*The Way I Should (1996)
*Lifeline (2004)
Other contributions
*WYEP Live and Direct: Volume 4 - On Air Performances (2002) - "Our Town"
Further reading
* In The Country of Country: A Journey to the Roots of American Music, Nicholas Dawidoff, Vintage Books, 1998, ISBN 0-375-70082-X
* Don't Get Above Your Raisin': Country Music and the Southern Working Class, Bill C. Malone, University of Illinois Press, 2001, ISBN 0-252-02678-0
References
This text has been derived from Iris DeMent on Wikipedia and is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License 3.0
