''At Home'' is the second studio album by Dutch

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

band

Shocking Blue Shocking Blue was a Dutch rock band formed in 1967 in The Hague. It was part of the music movement in the Netherlands that was generally known by the name Nederbeat. The band had a number of hits throughout the counterculture movement during ...

, released in 1969 on the Pink Elephant label. It is their first album to feature

Mariska Veres Maria Elizabeth Ender, better known as Mariska Veres () (1 October 1947 – 2 December 2006), was a Dutch singer who was best known as the lead singer of the rock group Shocking Blue. Described as being similar to a young Cher, she was known fo ...

, the group's signature frontwoman and lead singer.

Overview

The album is the group's first record with singer

Robbie van Leeuwen Robbie van Leeuwen (born 29 October 1944) is a Dutch musician who was a guitarist, sitarist, background vocalist and main songwriter for Dutch bands, including The Motions and Shocking Blue. In 1967 he played guitar on the only single ever rele ...

acquired Veres in an attempt to ape the form of the female-fronted

Jefferson Airplane Jefferson Airplane was an American rock band based in San Francisco, California, that became one of the pioneering bands of psychedelic rock. Formed in 1965, the group defined the San Francisco Sound and was the first from the Bay Area to ac ...

. With Veres's notable vocal performance and stunning looks, the band finally had an adequate frontwoman. ''At Home'' was a mixture of influences ranging from

pop rock Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre with an emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than rock music. Originating in the late 1950s as an alternative to normal rock and roll, earl ...

psychedelic rock Psychedelic rock is a rock music Music genre, genre that is inspired, influenced, or representative of psychedelia, psychedelic culture, which is centered on perception-altering hallucinogenic drugs. The music incorporated new electronic sound ...

. There is also early evidence of their interest in Americana, with tracks like "California Here I Come" and "Harley Davidson". The hit single "

Venus Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is sometimes called Earth's "sister" or "twin" planet as it is almost as large and has a similar composition. As an interior planet to Earth, Venus (like Mercury) appears in Earth's sky never fa ...

" was omitted from the original dutch pressings of the album, but was appended to the international versions both as an opening or closing track to the side one. Singles "Long and Lonesome Road" and "Mighty Joe" were also featured on several versions of the album. ''At Home'' was repackaged for the American market as a self titled album rearranging tracklisting, omitting "I'll Write Your Name Through the Fire" and including singles of that period. Since the first reissue of ''At Home'' in 1989 "Venus" and "Long and Lonesome Road" were constantly present on the main tracklistings, both on CD and LP. Additional CD bonus tracks were the b-sides of that period.

Uses in media and cover versions

The

John Mayer John Clayton Mayer ( ; born October 16, 1977) is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Born and raised in Fairfield County, Connecticut, Mayer attended Berklee College of Music in Boston, but left and moved to Atlanta in 1997 with ...

version of the song "Acka Raga" was used as the theme song for the

BBC1 BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...

quiz show ''

Ask the Family ''Ask the Family'' is a British game show that was first broadcast on BBC1 from 12 June 1967 to 22 October 1984 hosted by Robert Robinson and then on UK Gold from 6 June to 10 October 1999 hosted by Alan Titchmarsh and from 4 April to 5 May 20 ...

''. The track "Love Buzz" gained notoriety when it was covered by grunge band

Nirvana ( , , ; sa, निर्वाण} ''nirvāṇa'' ; Pali: ''nibbāna''; Prakrit: ''ṇivvāṇa''; literally, "blown out", as in an oil lampRichard Gombrich, ''Theravada Buddhism: A Social History from Ancient Benāres to Modern Colombo.' ...

Track listing

All songs were written by

, except for "Acka Raga" by

Original version

;Side one #"Boll Weevil" – 2:40 #"I'll Write Your Name Through the Fire"– 2:50 #"Acka Raga" – 3:10 #"Love Machine" – 3:15 #"I'm a Woman" – 3:00 ;Side two #"California Here I Come" – 3:15 #"Poor Boy" – 4:50 #"

Love Buzz "Love Buzz" is a song by Dutch rock band Shocking Blue. It was written by Robbie van Leeuwen and first released on the group's 1969 album '' At Home''. The song was covered by Nirvana, released as their debut single in 1988. Nirvana cover versio ...

" – 3:40 #"The Butterfly and I" – 3:50

American ''The Shocking Blue'' version

;Side one #"Long and Lonesome Road" – 2:44 #"Love Machine" – 3:15 #"The Butterfly and I" – 3:50 #"

" - 3:07 #"California Here I Come" – 3:15 #"Poor Boy" – 4:50 ;Side two #"Mighty Joe" – 3:04 #"Boll Weevil" – 2:40 #"Acka Raga" – 3:10 #"

" – 3:40 #"I'm a Woman" – 3:00 #"Send Me a Postcard"– 2:33

Reissue edition

#"Boll Weevil" – 2:40 #"I'll Write Your Name Through the Fire"– 2:50 #"Acka Raga" – 3:10 #"Love Machine" – 3:15 #"I'm a Woman" – 3:00 #"

" - 3:07 #"California Here I Come" – 3:15 #"Poor Boy" – 4:50 #"Long and Lonesome Road" – 2:44 #"

" – 3:40 #"The Butterfly and I" – 3:50 ;CD reissue bonus tracks

Personnel

- lead vocals *

- guitar, sitar, backing vocals * Klaasje van der Wal - bass guitar * Cor van der Beek - drums

Overview

Uses in media and cover versions

Track listing

Original version

American ''The Shocking Blue'' version

Reissue edition

Personnel

Studio musicians

Charts

Certifications

References