Pneumonia

About

Pneumonia is the third and last studio album by the alternative country band Whiskeytown, released in 2001. The album is noted for its troubled history which saw the band lose its record deal in the midst of the merger between Polygram and Universal Music Group, and the already volatile band fell apart as a result. The album sat on the shelf for nearly two years and it was said that over 100 songs were recorded during the 3 year. It was bootlegged heavily and gained a reputation as a great "lost" record from fan, before getting released by Lost Highway Records as something of an appetizer for Ryan Adams' 2001 album Gold. Adams chose the album title Pneumonia for symbolic reason. He felt it reflected the album's themes of being lovesick and succumbing to love. Plu, he saw the recording of the album as Whiskeytown "falling into this very slow and sleepy finality". Recording and release By early 1999, Whiskeytown band members Ryan Adam, Caitlin Cary, and Mike Daly had started recording their follow-up to Strangers Almanac at an abandoned church in Woodstock, New York, called Dreamland Studio. Ethan John, son of legendary producer Glyn John, was tapped to produce the album. Originally planned to be a double-album entitled Happy Go Bye Bye, the music recorded was intended to be a departure from the band's previous alt-country sound, prominently featuring Adams on piano, with classic pop arrangements featuring strings and horn. Notably, Mike Daly co-wrote seven songs on the album with Adams; Smashing Pumpkins guitarist James Iha contributed guitar and co-wrote a song; ex-Replacements bassist Tommy Stinson added guitar and dobro; and producer Johns played several instrument. Adams envisioned this collective effort to be in the vein of "those Woodstock album, like The Band made in the '60." After recording, the album was mixed by Outpost Recordings house producer Scott Litt, best known for his work with R.E.M. But the band was unhappy with Litt's mix, so when the album was finally prepped for release by Lost Highway Records nearly two years later, Adams and Ethan Johns remixed it. Adams and Johns sought a classic Rolling Stones/Beatles sound with their mix, with little to no compression, and trimmed the album to 14 song. (Johns also produced Adams' first two solo album, Heartbreaker and Gold.) Break up During the merger between Polygram and Universal, which ultimately put the album's release in limbo, the band decided to call it quit. Said Adams at the time: "The decision was made for u, really, just by time and circumstance, and I respect things that happen like that. By the time we went to make Pneumonia, there were only three surviving member. Everybody kind of pooled thoughts together for that album, and when it didn't come out, it was kind of like we reached an end that's inevitable, and we all knew it in the back of our mind." In a 2001 interview with Magnet magazine, Mike Daly was even more candid: “If Pneumonia had come out when it was supposed to back in 1999, there would probably still be a Whiskeytown today.” Caitlin Cary agreed to a certain extent: “I suppose it’s possible that we might still be together, but Whiskeytown seemed to have something of a half-life. We never really worked very hard. We toured hard, but the way you make it in this industry i, besides being talented and driven, you have to play the game. Kiss a lot of ass along the way. And Ryan was never very good at any of that stuff.” .

via Last.fm

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