Horses in the Mines

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Horses in the Mines
Studio album by
Bad Livers
Released1994
LabelQuarterstick[1]
ProducerDanny Barnes
Bad Livers chronology
The Golden Years
(1992) 		Horses in the Mines
(1994) 		Hogs on the Highway
(1997)

Horses in the Mines is the second album by the American band Bad Livers, released in 1994.[2][3] It was released a month after their gospel album, Dust on the Bible, was reissued.[4] Horses in the Mines was Bad Livers' second album for Quarterstick Records; Bad Livers signed with Quarterstick, in part, because major labels considered the band to be a novelty.[5] The band supported the album with a North American tour.[6][7]

Production[edit]

The album was produced by bandmember Danny Barnes.[8] It was recorded on an 8-track in an Austin woodshed, in the fall of 1993.[9][10][11] It was mastered at Abbey Road Studios.[12] The packaging is reminiscent of an old Folkways Records album.[13] Horses in the Mines emphasizes the band's original material, with most of the songs written and sung by Barnes; Barnes was influenced by old gospel songs and conversations with elderly acquaintances.[14][15][16] Steve James appears on Horses in the Mines.[12] "New Bad Liver Singer" contains vocals by Barnes's dog.[16]

Critical reception[edit]

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[17]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music[12]
MusicHound Folk: The Essential Album Guide[8]

Trouser Press called the album "more reflective, less rollicking than its predecessor," and praised the "depth and sincerity."[9] The Austin American-Statesman determined that, "where the band's blitzkrieg interplay once left no space unfilled, the title track is brooding, halting, conveying as much sense of dread in the intervals between the notes as it does in the lyrics," and deemed the album "music that is sui generis—not bluegrass, not old-timey, but primarily punk in the sense that punk once meant freedom to do anything."[18]

Rolling Stone stated that Bad Livers' "take on America's musical heritage is both obsessively pure and free-form."[19] The St. Paul Pioneer Press labeled Horses in the Mines "authentic, old-timey porch music fueled by banjos, fiddles, empty whiskey bottles, [and] barking dogs."[20] The Boston Herald listed the album among the best "unknown" albums of 1994.[21]

AllMusic noted that, "while it has a largely traditional sound, its production and experimental tendencies are likely to further alienate any potential traditional bluegrass fans they may have courted."[17]

Track listing[edit]

No.TitleLength
1."Where They Do Not Know My Name" 
2."Turpentine Willie" 
3."Old Folk's Shuffle" 
4."Horses in the Mines" 
5."Time and Time Again" 
6."Clawhammer Fish" 
7."New Bad Liver Singer" 
8."High, Lonesome, Dead and Gone" 
9."Blue Ridge Express" 
10."Shot at a Bird, Hit Me a Stump" 
11."Chainsaw Therapy" 
12."He Didn't Say a Word" 
13."Puke Grub" 
14."Yearning" 
15."Stevejames" 
16."Let's Forgive Each Other" 

References[edit]

  1. ^ Fox, Pamela; Ching, Barbara (June 12, 2008). Old Roots, New Routes: The Cultural Politics of Alt.country Music. University of Michigan Press.
  2. ^ "Bad Livers Biography, Songs, & Albums". AllMusic.
  3. ^ Jacobson, Mark (Apr 1995). "New(ish) and not bad this month — Horses in the Mines by the Bad Livers". Esquire. Vol. 123, no. 4. p. 147.
  4. ^ "Livers on the Christmas Menu". Onward. Austin American-Statesman. 23 Dec 1993. p. 4.
  5. ^ Booth, Philip (June 9, 1995). "Organ grinders – Bad Livers rev up country, gospel". Friday Extra!. The Tampa Tribune. p. 22.
  6. ^ Scharnhorst, A. (December 2, 1994). "Clubs and concerts". Preview. The Kansas City Star. p. 15.
  7. ^ Minge, Jim (December 9, 1994). "Bad Livers Uncomfortable with Labels on Band's Music". Living Today. Omaha World-Herald. p. 40.
  8. ^ a b MusicHound Folk: The Essential Album Guide. Visible Ink Press. 1998. p. 32.
  9. ^ a b "Bad Livers". Trouser Press. Retrieved 12 June 2022.
  10. ^ "Bad to the Bone". Onward. Austin American-Statesman. 28 Oct 1993. p. 4.
  11. ^ Armstrong, Gene (April 21, 1995). "Unique Texas band Bad Livers to play in Tucson, at last". Arizona Daily Star. p. 11E.
  12. ^ a b c Larkin, Colin (2006). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Vol. 1. MUZE. pp. 354–355.
  13. ^ Hinton, Brian (June 26, 2012). Country Roads: How Country Came to Nashville. Bobcat Books.
  14. ^ Koster, Rick (May 8, 2000). Texas Music. Macmillan.
  15. ^ McLeese, Don (21 Dec 1993). "City Limits wraps up its 19th season in style". Austin American-Statesman. p. C5.
  16. ^ a b Peterson, Karla (May 26, 1994). "Old-fashioned music with a newfangled kick". Entertainment. The San Diego Union-Tribune. p. 6.
  17. ^ a b "Bad Livers Horses in the Mines". AllMusic.
  18. ^ McLeese, Don (21 Apr 1994). "Releases play with tradition". Onward. Austin American-Statesman. p. 5.
  19. ^ Darzin, Daina (Dec 15, 1994). "Bad Livers". Rolling Stone. No. 697. p. 40.
  20. ^ Walsh, Jim (April 2, 1994). "Best of March". St. Paul Pioneer Press. p. 12C.
  21. ^ Katz, Larry (January 5, 1995). "Buried Treasure". Entertainment. Boston Herald. p. 37.
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