Little Creatures (album)
Encyclopedia
Little Creatures is the sixth album by Talking Heads
, released in 1985. The album examined themes of Americana
and incorporated elements of country music
, with many songs featuring the steel guitar
. It was voted as the best album of the year in The Village Voice
Pazz & Jop
critics poll.
The cover art was created by outsider artist
Howard Finster
, and was selected as album cover of the year by Rolling Stone
magazine.
In 2005, it was re-released and remastered by Warner Music Group on their Warner Bros./Sire Records/Rhino Records labels in DualDisc
format, with three bonus tracks on the CD side (early versions of "Road To Nowhere" and "And She Was" and an extended mix of "Television Man"). The DVD-Audio
side includes both stereo and 5.1 surround high resolution (96 kHz/24bit) mixes, as well as a Dolby Digital version and the videos of "And She Was" and "Road to Nowhere." In Europe, it was released as a CD+DVDA two disc set rather than a single DualDisc. The reissue was produced by Andy Zax
with Talking Heads.
, except where noted.
Singles
Talking Heads
Talking Heads were an American New Wave and avant-garde band formed in 1975 in New York City and active until 1991. The band comprised David Byrne, Chris Frantz, Tina Weymouth and Jerry Harrison...
, released in 1985. The album examined themes of Americana
Americana
Americana refers to artifacts, or a collection of artifacts, related to the history, geography, folklore and cultural heritage of the United States. Many kinds of material fall within the definition of Americana: paintings, prints and drawings; license plates or entire vehicles, household objects,...
and incorporated elements of country music
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
, with many songs featuring the steel guitar
Steel guitar
Steel guitar is a type of guitar or the method of playing the instrument. Developed in Hawaii in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, a steel guitar is usually positioned horizontally; strings are plucked with one hand, while the other hand changes the pitch of one or more strings with the use...
. It was voted as the best album of the year in The Village Voice
The Village Voice
The Village Voice is a free weekly newspaper and news and features website in New York City that features investigative articles, analysis of current affairs and culture, arts and music coverage, and events listings for New York City...
Pazz & Jop
Pazz & Jop
The Pazz & Jop critics' poll is a poll of music critics run by The Village Voice newspaper. It is compiled every year from the top ten lists of hundreds of music critics...
critics poll.
The cover art was created by outsider artist
Outsider Art
The term outsider art was coined by art critic Roger Cardinal in 1972 as an English synonym for art brut , a label created by French artist Jean Dubuffet to describe art created outside the boundaries of official culture; Dubuffet focused particularly on art by insane-asylum inmates.While...
Howard Finster
Howard Finster
Howard Finster was an American artist and Baptist reverend from Georgia. He claimed to be inspired by God to spread the gospel through the environment of Paradise Garden and over 46,000 pieces of art. His creations overlap folk art, outsider art, naïve art, and visionary art...
, and was selected as album cover of the year by Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
magazine.
In 2005, it was re-released and remastered by Warner Music Group on their Warner Bros./Sire Records/Rhino Records labels in DualDisc
DualDisc
DualDisc was a type of double-sided optical disc product developed by a group of record companies including EMI Music, Universal Music Group, Sony/BMG Music Entertainment, Warner Music Group, and 5.1 Entertainment Group and later under the aegis of the Recording Industry Association of America...
format, with three bonus tracks on the CD side (early versions of "Road To Nowhere" and "And She Was" and an extended mix of "Television Man"). The DVD-Audio
DVD-Audio
DVD-Audio is a digital format for delivering high-fidelity audio content on a DVD. DVD-Audio is not intended to be a video delivery format and is not the same as video DVDs containing concert films or music videos....
side includes both stereo and 5.1 surround high resolution (96 kHz/24bit) mixes, as well as a Dolby Digital version and the videos of "And She Was" and "Road to Nowhere." In Europe, it was released as a CD+DVDA two disc set rather than a single DualDisc. The reissue was produced by Andy Zax
Andy Zax
Andy Zax is a music historian and producer of CD boxed sets and reissues by Talking Heads, Rod Stewart, Echo & the Bunnymen, Television, Little Richard, Fats Domino, Judee Sill, John Cale, Nico, The Neon Philharmonic, Charles Wright & the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band, The Sisters of Mercy,...
with Talking Heads.
Track listing
All songs by David ByrneDavid Byrne
David Byrne may refer to:*David Byrne , musician and former Talking Heads frontman**David Byrne , his eponymous album*David Byrne , Irish footballer*David Byrne , English footballer...
, except where noted.
- "And She WasAnd She Was"And She Was" is the name of a rock song written by David Byrne for the 1985 Talking Heads album Little Creatures. According to Byrne, the song was written about a girl he knew who used to take LSD in a field next to a Yoo-hoo beverage factory in Baltimore, Maryland. It reached number 54 on the...
" – 3:36 - "Give Me Back My Name" – 3:20
- "Creatures of Love" – 4:12
- "The Lady Don't Mind" (Byrne, Chris FrantzChris FrantzChris Frantz is an American musician and record producer. He was the drummer for both Talking Heads and the Tom Tom Club.-Career:...
, Jerry HarrisonJerry HarrisonJerry Harrison is an American songwriter, musician and producer...
, Tina WeymouthTina WeymouthMartina Michèle "Tina" Weymouth is an American musician, best known as a founding member and bassist of the New Wave group Talking Heads and its side project Tom Tom Club .-Profile:Weymouth is of French heritage on her mother's side. Weymouth was a cheerleader in high school...
) – 4:03 - "Perfect World" (Byrne, Frantz) – 4:26
- "Stay Up Late" – 3:51
- "Walk It Down" – 4:42
- "Television Man" – 6:10
- "Road to NowhereRoad to Nowhere"Road to Nowhere" is a song by Talking Heads, from the 1985 album Little Creatures. It also appeared on Best of Talking Heads, Sand in the Vaseline: Popular Favorites, the Once in a Lifetime box set and the Brick box set...
" – 4:19 - "Road To Nowhere" (Early version) (2009 Reissue)
- "And She Was" (Early version) (2009 Reissue)
- "Television Man" (Extended mix) (2009 Reissue)
Talking Heads
- David ByrneDavid ByrneDavid Byrne may refer to:*David Byrne , musician and former Talking Heads frontman**David Byrne , his eponymous album*David Byrne , Irish footballer*David Byrne , English footballer...
– guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
, vocals - Chris FrantzChris FrantzChris Frantz is an American musician and record producer. He was the drummer for both Talking Heads and the Tom Tom Club.-Career:...
– drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person .... - Jerry HarrisonJerry HarrisonJerry Harrison is an American songwriter, musician and producer...
– keyboardsKeyboard instrumentA keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
, guitar, backing vocals - Tina WeymouthTina WeymouthMartina Michèle "Tina" Weymouth is an American musician, best known as a founding member and bassist of the New Wave group Talking Heads and its side project Tom Tom Club .-Profile:Weymouth is of French heritage on her mother's side. Weymouth was a cheerleader in high school...
– bass guitarBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
, backing vocals
Additional musicians
- Ellen Bernfeld – backing vocals on "Perfect World" and "Walk It Down"
- Andrew Cader – washboardWashboardA washboard is a tool designed for hand washing clothing. With mechanized cleaning of clothing becoming more common by the end of the 20th century, the washboard has become better known for its originally subsidiary use as a musical instrument....
on "Road to Nowhere" - Gordon Grody – backing vocals
- Erin Dickens – backing vocals on "Television Man" and "Road to Nowhere"
- Lani Groves – backing vocals
- Diva Gray – backing vocals on "Road to Nowhere"
- Jimmy Macdonell – accordionAccordionThe accordion is a box-shaped musical instrument of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone family, sometimes referred to as a squeezebox. A person who plays the accordion is called an accordionist....
on "Road to Nowhere" - Lenny Pickett – saxophoneSaxophoneThe saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...
s - Steve Scales – percussion
- Naná VasconcelosNaná VasconcelosNaná Vasconcelos is a Brazilian Latin jazz percussionist, vocalist and berimbau player, most notable for his works with Pat Metheny, Don Cherry, Egberto Gismonti, and Gato Barbieri....
– percussion on "Perfect World" - Eric WeissbergEric WeissbergEric Weissberg is an American banjo player, best known for the theme from the movie Deliverance.-Biography:Eric Weissberg went to the University of Wisconsin–Madison, then the Juilliard School of Music. He joined an early version of the Greenbriar Boys , but left before they made any recordings....
– steel guitarSteel guitarSteel guitar is a type of guitar or the method of playing the instrument. Developed in Hawaii in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, a steel guitar is usually positioned horizontally; strings are plucked with one hand, while the other hand changes the pitch of one or more strings with the use...
on "Little Creatures" and "Walk It Down" - Kurt Yahijian – backing vocals
Recording personnel
- Jack Skinner – mastering
- Eric Thorngren – engineer, mixing
- Melanie West – second engineer
Chart performance
Album| Year | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 1985 | Billboard Billboard (magazine) Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis... 200 |
20 |
| UK Albums | 10 | |
| German Albums | 9 | |
| Australian Albums | 2 |
Singles
| Year | Song | Peak | |
|---|---|---|---|
| US Billboard Hot 100 The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday... |
UK UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ... |
||
| 1985 | "The Lady Don't Mind" | — | 81 |
| 1985 | "Road To Nowhere Road to Nowhere "Road to Nowhere" is a song by Talking Heads, from the 1985 album Little Creatures. It also appeared on Best of Talking Heads, Sand in the Vaseline: Popular Favorites, the Once in a Lifetime box set and the Brick box set... " |
105 | 6 |
| 1985 | "And She Was And She Was "And She Was" is the name of a rock song written by David Byrne for the 1985 Talking Heads album Little Creatures. According to Byrne, the song was written about a girl he knew who used to take LSD in a field next to a Yoo-hoo beverage factory in Baltimore, Maryland. It reached number 54 on the... " |
54 | 17 |