''A Man Called E'' is

Mark Oliver Everett Mark Oliver Everett (born April 10, 1963) is the American lead singer, songwriter, guitarist, keyboardist and sometimes drummer of the rock band Eels. Also known as E, he is known for writing songs tackling subjects such as death, loneliness, d ...

's 1992 major-label debut album, and the first on which he used the

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...

"E". (As Mark Everett, he had previously self-released the limited edition LP ''Bad Dude in Love'' in 1985.) "Hello Cruel World" was released as a one-track single in 1992. "Nowheresville"/"Strawberry Blonde" was released in March of that year.

Background

In 1987, Everett moved from his family home in

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

and resettled in

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

. There, in 1991, he signed a contract with

Polydor Records Polydor Records Ltd. is a German-British record label that operates as part of Universal Music Group. It has a close relationship with Universal's Interscope Geffen A&M Records label, which distributes Polydor's releases in the United States. ...

and released ''A Man Called E'' under the name E a year later. The single "Hello Cruel World" was a minor success. Touring to support the album, E opened for

Tori Amos Tori Amos (born Myra Ellen Amos; August 22, 1963) is an American singer-songwriter and pianist. She is a classically trained musician with a mezzo-soprano vocal range. Having already begun composing instrumental pieces on piano, Amos won a full ...

. Everett became known as "E" because there were several people in his life at the time who had the same first name. While it may have caused some confusion in record stores and radio stations, the single-letter name gave the press a playful handle. This playfulness was evident in a review of the album by the eminent writer Daniel Levitin which began: "Excellent eponymous effort, energizingly eclectic. Early enthusiasm effectively ensures E's eminence." Everett released one further solo album, 1993's ''

Broken Toy Shop ''Broken Toy Shop'' is the second album by American singer-songwriter E (a.k.a. Mark Oliver Everett), released in December 1993 by Polydor Records. It was his last record as a solo artist before forming the band Eels. Track listing All songs ...

'', before forming the band

Eels Eels are ray-finned fish belonging to the order Anguilliformes (), which consists of eight suborders, 19 families, 111 genera, and about 800 species. Eels undergo considerable development from the early larval stage to the eventual adult stage ...

in 1995.

Track listing

All songs written by E, except where noted #"Hello Cruel World" (E,

Parthenon Huxley Parthenon Huxley (born January 19, 1956) is an American musician, singer, songwriter and producer who is known for his solo albums and for his involvement in ELO Part II and The Orchestra, both of which are latter-day offshoots of the 1970s-80s ...

) – 3:50 #"Fitting In with the Misfits" – 3:09 #"Are You & Me Gonna Happen" – 3:00 #"Looking Out the Window with a Blue Hat On" – 2:17 #"Nowheresville" (E, Huxley) – 3:21 #"Symphony for Toy Piano in G Minor" – 0:34 #"Mockingbird Franklin" – 3:03 #"I've Been Kicked Around" – 3:24 #"Pray" – 2:46 #"E's Tune" – 2:53 #"You'll Be the Scarecrow" – 3:21

Personnel

* E – lead & background vocals, electric & acoustic guitars, piano,

Hammond B-3 The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert and first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, Hammond organs generated ...

, keyboards, harmonica, accordion, drums, percussion,

melodica The melodica is a handheld free-reed instrument similar to a pump organ or harmonica. It features a musical keyboard on top, and is played by blowing air through a mouthpiece that fits into a hole in the side of the instrument. The keyboard usua ...

toy piano The toy piano, also known as the ''kinderklavier'' (child's keyboard), is a small piano-like musical instrument. Most modern toy pianos use round metal rods, as opposed to strings in a regular piano, to produce sound. The U.S. Library of Congress ...

, programming Additional musicians *

– acoustic & electric guitars, bass guitar, percussion, fingersnaps, programming *

Jennifer Condos Jennifer Condos is an American bass guitarist known primarily for her session and live performance work. She has contributed to the recordings and live performances of many well-known artists. Biography Condos was a founding member of the ban ...

– bass guitar * Jim Lang – accordion, Hammond B-3, piano, keyboards,

cuckoo clock A cuckoo clock is, typically, a pendulum clock that strikes the hours with a sound like a common cuckoo call and has an automated cuckoo bird that moves with each note. Some move their wings and open and close their beaks while leaning forwards ...

, programming *Eric Williams – mandolin ("Nowheresville") *Danny Davis Jr. – electric guitar ("Are You & Me Gonna Happen") *Rockenspiel – glockenspiel Production *Parthenon Huxley – co-producer *E – co-producer *Jim Lang – conductor (The Knobworld Symphony Orchestra), engineer, mixing *Bill Gable – additional engineer *Mikal Reid – additional engineer *Fen – additional engineer *Jesse Kanner – additional engineer *Opie – additional engineer *

Stephen Marcussen Stephen Marcussen is the founder and chief mastering engineer at Marcussen Mastering in Hollywood, California, United States. He has been mastering music since 1979. Biography Marcussen's introduction to music recording happened in 1976 when, at ...

– mastering *David Lau – artwork *Rick Dobbis – design *Bradford Walker Evans Hitz – photography *Thomas Nelson – photography *Lex – pin design

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Man Called E, A 1992 debut albums Eels (band) albums Polydor Records albums Albums produced by Mark Oliver Everett

Background

Track listing

Personnel

References

Further reading

External links