''Central Reservation'' is the second studio album by English singer-songwriter

Beth Orton Elizabeth Caroline Orton (born 14 December 1970) is an English musician, known for her "folktronica" sound, which mixes elements of folk and electronica. She was initially recognised for her collaborations with William Orbit, Andrew Weatherall, ...

, released on 9 March 1999. The album featured contributions from

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Folk Plus or Fol ...

musician

Terry Callier Terrence Orlando "Terry" Callier (May 24, 1945 – October 27, 2012) was an American soul music, soul, Folk music, folk and jazz guitarist and singer-songwriter. Life and career Callier was born in the North Side of Chicago, Illinois, and was r ...

(with whom she also recorded the b-side "Lean on Me"), Dr. Robert and

Ben Harper Benjamin Chase Harper (born October 28, 1969) is an American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. Harper plays an eclectic mix of blues, folk, soul, reggae, and rock music and is known for his guitar-playing skills, vocals, live perfo ...

. Several tracks were also produced by

Ben Watt Benjamin Brian Thomas Watt (born 6 December 1962) is a British musician, singer, songwriter, author, DJ and radio presenter, best known as one half of the duo Everything but the Girl. Early life Watt was born in Marylebone, London, and grew u ...

Everything but the Girl Everything but the Girl (occasionally referred to as EBTG) are an English musical duo formed in Kingston upon Hull in 1982, consisting of lead singer and occasional guitarist Tracey Thorn and guitarist, keyboardist, producer and singer Ben Watt ...

. ''Central Reservation'' received critical acclaim and garnered Orton a second

Mercury Music Prize The Mercury Prize, formerly called the Mercury Music Prize, is an annual music prize awarded for the best album released in the United Kingdom by a British or Irish act. It was created by Jon Webster and Robert Chandler in association with the B ...

nomination, and won her Best British Female at the 2000 BRIT Music Awards.

Release

''Central Reservation'' was released on 9 March 1999 on

Heavenly Records Heavenly Recordings is a London-based independent record label founded by Jeff Barrett in 1990. Heavenly released the first albums from Saint Etienne, Beth Orton and Doves, and early singles by Manic Street Preachers. Current Heavenly artists ...

. It reached number 17 on the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts C ...

and stayed on the chart for eight weeks. It went to number 34 on the

ARIA albums chart The ARIA Charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling songs and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA became the offici ...

in Australia, number 35 on the RIANZ albums chart in New Zealand and number 110 on the ''Billboard'' 200 chart in the United States. It also went to number two on the US Heatseekers albums chart. By 2002 it had sold 244,000 copies in United States. The first single from the album was " Stolen Car", which was released on 13 March 1999 and peaked at number 34 on the UK Singles Chart. "Central Reservation", the second single, peaked at number 37 on the UK Singles Chart. On 30 June 2014, British independent record label 3 Loop Music re-released ''Central Reservation'' as a 2CD Expanded Edition which included b-sides, original demos and live recordings.

Reception

''Central Reservation'' received generally positive reviews from critics. Jason Ankeny of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

gave the album a rating of 4.5 stars out of 5 and called it "stunning". Orton won the award for British Female Solo at the 2000 BRIT Awards. The album is included in the book ''

1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die ''1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die'' is a musical reference book first published in 2005 by Universe Publishing. Part of the ''1001 Before You Die'' series, it compiles writings and information on albums chosen by a panel of music critics ...

''. The album is ranked number 982 in ''

All-Time Top 1000 Albums ''All Time Top 1000 Albums'' is a book by Colin Larkin, creator and editor of the ''Encyclopedia of Popular Music''. The book was first published by Guinness Publishing in 1994. The list presented is the result of over 200,000 votes cast by the ...

'' (3rd. edition, 2000).

Track listing

Notes * signifies remixer

Personnel

;Music *

Ted Barnes Clayhill was a British three-piece folk band comprising Ali Friend, Ted Barnes and vocalist Gavin Clark. They released their debut album ''Small Circle'' in 2004, and released two EPs and another LP, ''Mine at Last'' (2006). Throughout the su ...

— acoustic guitar,

bouzouki The bouzouki (, also ; el, μπουζούκι ; alt. pl. ''bouzoukia'', from Greek ), also spelled buzuki or buzuci, is a musical instrument popular in Greece. It is a member of the long-necked lute family, with a round body with a flat top and ...

, guitar, slide guitar *Will Blanchard — drums *

— background vocals *Calina de la Mare — violin *Dr. Robert — guitar *Beki Doe — violin *

Dr. John Malcolm John Rebennack Jr. (November 20, 1941 – June 6, 2019), better known by his stage name Dr. John, was an American singer and songwriter. His music encompassed New Orleans blues, jazz, funk, and R&B. Active as a session musician from ...

— piano * David Friedman —

vibraphone The vibraphone is a percussion instrument in the metallophone family. It consists of tuned metal bars and is typically played by using mallets to strike the bars. A person who plays the vibraphone is called a ''vibraphonist,'' ''vibraharpist,' ...

*Ali Friend — bass *Lascelles Gordon — percussion *Howard Gott — violin *Ruth Gottlieb — violin *

— electric guitar *

Oliver Kraus Oliver Kraus (born 1970 in Shepherd's Bush, London) is an English musician best known for his work as a cellist and string arranger/ producer and composer for film and television. String Arrangements and Performance Kraus has performed with nume ...

— cello *Henry Olsen — bass *Beth Orton — acoustic guitar, guitar, vocals *Sean Read — piano, keyboards *Becca Ware — viola *Andy Waterworth — double bass *

— guitar, keyboards *Lucy Wilkins — violin *Sara Wilson — cello ;Production *Andy Bradfield — mixing *Dr. Robert — producer, mixing *Beki Doe — mixing *Giles Hall — engineer *Peter Hill — assistant engineer *Oliver Kraus — mixing *Dick Meaney — engineer *Beth Orton — producer *

David Roback David Edward Roback (April 4, 1958 – February 24, 2020) was an American guitarist, songwriter and producer, best known as a founding member of the alternative rock band Mazzy Star. Early life Roback was born on April 4, 1958 and raised in Los ...

— producer, mixing *Trevor Smith — engineer *

Mark "Spike" Stent Mark "Spike" Stent (born 3 August 1965) is an English record producer and mixing engineer who has worked with many international artists including Madonna, Marshmello, U2, Beyoncé, Björk, Depeche Mode, Echo & The Bunnymen, Grimes, Ed She ...

— producer *

Victor Van Vugt Victor Van Vugt is a music producer, mixer and engineer. An Australian based in New York, he has had a long association with the careers of Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds and Beth Orton. He has also worked with the likes of P.J. Harvey, Depeche Mo ...

— producer, engineer *Paul Walton — mixing assistant *Ben Watt — programming, noise, producer, engineer, mixing * John Wood — engineer *Tim Young — mastering ;Design *Sam Harris — photography

Charts

Certifications and sales

References

{{Authority control Beth Orton albums 1999 albums Albums produced by Victor Van Vugt Arista Records albums