Telling Stories (album)

Background and Writing

In 1999, Chapman began working on her first new record in four years, her longest ever hiatus at the time. For the record, she reunited with producer David Kershenbaum, the producer of her first album, Tracy Chapman (1988), and co-producer of her second album, Crossroads (1989). The song "Unsung Psalm" was originally written for her previous album, New Beginning (1995), but it didn't make it onto the album.

Track listing

All songs written by Tracy Chapman.

Cover versions

• "Three Little Birds" is a Bob Marley cover. The song was originally released on the album Exodus in 1977.
• "House of the Rising Sun" is a cover of a traditional folk song. It was firstly released by Ashley and Foster on the single Rising Sun Blues under the same title in 1933.

Trivia

• "Three Little Birds" was recorded at the TNT concert and television special One Love: An All Star Tribute to Bob Marley in Oracabessa on December 4, 1999.
• "House of the Rising Sun" was recorded at the Greek Theatre, Berkeley and the A&M Studios in Los Angeles in 1990. It seems, that it is actually more a live in the studio recording than a real live recording because you don't hear any crowd noise.
• "Mountains o' Things" was recorded at the Montreux Jazz Festival on July 4, 1988.
• "Behind the Wall" was recorded at The Donmar Warehouse in London on March 25, 1988.
• "Baby Can I Hold You" is the same version as the one that was originally released on the album Tracy Chapman in 1988.

Personnel

Musicians

• Tracy Chapman – acoustic guitar, bouzouki, harp, vocals, background vocals, baritone guitar, record producer, mixing, art design
• Alex Acuña – percussion
• Rock Deadrick – vocals, background vocals
• Tommy Eyre – organ, keyboard
• Mike Finnigan – organ
• Denny Fongheiser – percussion, drums
• Emmylou Harris – vocals
• Howard Hersh – bass guitar
• Steve Hunter – dulcimer, lap steel guitar, baritone guitar
• Larry Klein – bass guitar
• JayDee Mannes – pedal steel guitar
• John Pierce – bass guitar
• Tim Pierce – acoustic guitar, dobro, mandolin, sitar, baritone guitar
• Eric Rigler – Uilleann pipes, low whistle
• Scarlet Rivera – violin
• Glenys Rogers – percussion, vocals, background vocals
• Andy Stoller – bass guitar
• Patrick Warren – keyboard, Chamberlin}}

Technical personnel

• Duane Baron – engineering, mixing
• Tim Hailand – artwork
• Jeri Heiden – design
• John Heiden – design
• Renata Kanclerz – production coordination
• David Kershenbaum – mixing, production
• Martie Kolbl – production coordination
• Curt Kroeger – assistant engineering
• Iki Levy – drum programming
• Bob Ludwig – mastering
• Herb Ritts – portraits
• Roger Sommers – assistant engineering}}

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Singles

Billboard (United States)

Certifications

References

References

1. (February 25, 2000). "Going for Adds".
2. {{AllMusic. Stephen Thomas. Erlewine
3. "Robert Christgau review". Robertchristgau.com.
4. Galloway, Mark. (24 February 2000). "Tracy Chapman".
5. Aston, Martin. (1 March 2000). "Tracy Chapman - Telling Stories".
6. [https://www.rollingstone.com/artists/tracychapman/albums/album/304324/review/5947018/telling_stories Rolling Stone review] {{webarchive. link. (July 23, 2009)
7. [https://books.google.com/books?id=t9eocwUfoSoC&dq=rolling+stone+album+guide+tracy+chapman&pg=PA153 Rolling Stone Album Guide review]
8. "Tracy Chapman - Telling Stories".
9. "Jahreshitparade Alben 2000".
10. "Top de l'année Top Albums 2000". SNEP.
11. "Top 100 Album-Jahrescharts". offiziellecharts.de.
12. "Schweizer Jahreshitparade 2000".
13. (July 29, 2000). "International".