''Ghost of a Dog'' is the second

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

alternative rock Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from Popular culture, mainstre ...

band

Edie Brickell & New Bohemians Edie Brickell & New Bohemians is an alternative rock jam band that originated in Dallas, Texas, in the mid-1980s. The band is widely known for their 1988 hit "What I Am" from the album ''Shooting Rubberbands at the Stars''. Their music contains ...

, released in 1990. In the printed lyrics that accompany the album, each song has a word with a single letter missing. In order, they spell out "ghost of a dog." The album sold about 500,000 copies. After a tour in support of the album, the band decided to take an indefinite hiatus.

Production

The album was produced by

Tony Berg Anthony Rains "Tony" Berg (born October 21, 1954) is an American musician, record producer, and A&R representative, in which role he has been described as an "industry guru". Berg's music career began in the late 1970s as a session guitarist who ...

. Unlike on the debut, where many tracks used session musicians, the New Bohemians play throughout ''Ghost of a Dog''.

Critical reception

The ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

'' thought that "Brickell and the Bohemians band do a reasonable job of recycling the soothing elements of ‘60s pop-folk, but her own views are so childlike and her images so often pointless that it’s hard to work up any feeling for them." ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cul ...

'' wrote: "Brickell can write lyrically about the difference between the desire for romantic independence and desire itself. But just when she starts to show some grit, she’ll drift toward smiley-faced ditties like 'Oak Cliff Bra' — songs so cloying they make you wonder if Brickell underwent a lobotomy between tracks." ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' declared that none of the songs recaptured the charm of the first album's "

What I Am "What I Am" is a song written by Edie Brickell and Kenny Withrow and recorded by Edie Brickell & New Bohemians for their debut album, ''Shooting Rubberbands at the Stars'' (1988). The song is highlighted by a guitar solo that notably features an ...

". The ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television ar ...

'' wrote that Brickell's "ability to write wisely about the bad stuff of romance with a marked lack of anger toward the opposite sex makes her unique and-for postmodern romantics-endearing."

Track listing

Personnel

The New Bohemians *

Edie Brickell Edie Arlisa Brickell (born March 10, 1966) is an American singer-songwriter widely known for 1988's ''Shooting Rubberbands at the Stars'', the debut album by Edie Brickell & New Bohemians, which went to No. 4 on the ''Billboard'' albums chart. ...

– vocals, acoustic guitar *

Kenny Withrow Edie Brickell & New Bohemians is an alternative rock jam band that originated in Dallas, Texas, in the mid-1980s. The band is widely known for their 1988 hit "What I Am" from the album ''Shooting Rubberbands at the Stars''. Their music contains ...

– acoustic guitar, electric guitar,

dobro Dobro is an American brand of resonator guitars, currently owned by Gibson and manufactured by its subsidiary Epiphone. The term "dobro" is also used as a generic term for any wood-bodied, single-cone resonator guitar. The Dobro was originally ...

slide guitar Slide guitar is a technique for playing the guitar that is often used in blues music. It involves playing a guitar while holding a hard object (a slide) against the strings, creating the opportunity for glissando effects and deep vibratos tha ...

, backing vocals * Wes Burt-Martin – acoustic guitar, electric guitar, backing vocals, string arrangements (9) *

Brad Houser John Bradley Houser (born September 7, 1960) is an American bass guitar, baritone saxophone and bass clarinet player, originally from Dallas, Texas. He was a co-founding member of the New Bohemians, later to become known as Edie Brickell & New Boh ...

– bass *

Matt Chamberlain Matthew Chamberlain (born April 17, 1967) is an American session musician, drummer, producer and songwriter. Biography Life and career Chamberlain was born in San Pedro, California on April 17, 1967. He began learning how to play the drums ...

– drums * John Bush – percussion Additional musicians *

– keyboards, guitars, string arrangements (9) * Paul Fox – keyboards * Danny Timms – acoustic piano (1) *

Jo-El Sonnier Jo-El Sonnier (; born Joel Sonnier; October 2, 1946) is an American singer-songwriter and accordionist who performs country music and Cajun music. Originally signed to Mercury Nashville Records, Sonnier charted several minor singles on the ''Bi ...

–

accordion Accordions (from 19th-century German ''Akkordeon'', from ''Akkord''—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a reed ...

(3) *

Paul "Wix" Wickens Paul Wickens (born 27 March 1956) is an English musician, composer, and record producer, professionally known as Wix. In a career spanning more than 40 years, Wickens has worked with artists including Nik Kershaw, Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Bon ...

– keyboards (8) *

David Mansfield David Mansfield (born September 13, 1956) is an American musician and composer. Mansfield was raised in Leonia, New Jersey. His father, Newton Mansfield was a first violinist in the New York Philharmonic. David played guitar, pedal steel guitar ...

– acoustic guitar (8) * Larry Corbett – cello (9) *

Novi Novog Novi Novog is an American viola player. She is sometimes simply credited as "Novi" and is a cousin of Lauren Wood (also known as "Chunky"). In 1973, Novi became one of three members of her cousin's band Chunky, Novi and Ernie with the bassist Ern ...

– viola (9) *

Sid Page Sid Page is an American violinist who has been active in many genres of music since the late 1960s. He has been a member of Dan Hicks (singer), Dan Hicks and His Hot Licks. From 1973 to 1974, he was a member of Sly and the Family Stone and appea ...

– violin (9) *

John Lydon John Joseph Lydon (; born 31 January 1956), also known by his former stage name Johnny Rotten, is an English singer and songwriter. He was the lead singer of the late-1970s punk band the Sex Pistols, which lasted from 1975 until 1978, and aga ...

– backing vocals (8)

Production

* Tony Berg – producer, mixing (5, 14) *

Chris Lord-Alge Chris Lord-Alge is an American mix engineer. He is the brother of both Tom Lord-Alge and Jeff Lord-Alge, both of whom are also audio engineers. Chris and Tom are known for their abundant use of dynamic compression for molding mixes that play wel ...

– recording * Susan Rogers – recording, mixing (7, 12) * David Thoener – recording * Ken Jordan – additional recording * Greg Goldman – assistant engineer * Mike Reiter – assistant engineer *

Bob Clearmountain Bob Clearmountain (born January 15, 1953) is an American recording engineer, mixer and record producer. He has worked with many major acts, including Bruce Springsteen, the Rolling Stones, Toto, Bon Jovi and Bryan Adams, with whom he has a very ...

– mixing (1-4, 6, 8-11, 13) *

George Marino George Marino (April 15, 1947 – June 4, 2012) was an American mastering engineer known for working on albums by rock bands starting in the late 1960s. Biography Marino was born on April 15, 1947, in the New York City borough The Bronx. He at ...

– mastering * Robin Sloane – creative director * Lyn Bradley – design, layout * Janet Wolsborn – design, layout * Ann Cutting – photographic tinting Studios * Recorded at

Bearsville Studios Bearsville Sound Studio was a recording studio founded by Albert Grossman in Bearsville, New York, west of Woodstock in 1969. History Albert Grossman, who was the manager of Bob Dylan and Peter, Paul and Mary, first arrived in Bearsville in 1 ...

(Bearsville, New York);

The Village Recorder The Village (also known as Village Recorders, or the Village Recorder) is a recording studio located at 1616 Butler Avenue in West Los Angeles, California. History The building was built by the Freemasons in 1922 and was originally a Masonic ...

and Zeitgeist Studios (Los Angeles, California). * Mixed at

A&M Studios The Jim Henson Company Lot, formerly A&M Studios, is a studio property located just south of the southeast corner of North La Brea Avenue and Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood. Originally established by film star Charlie Chaplin, the property serve ...

(Hollywood, California). * Mastered at Sterling Sound (New York City, New York).

Charts

Album -

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

(United States) Singles - Billboard (United States)

Notes

{{Authority control Edie Brickell & New Bohemians albums 1990 albums Albums produced by Tony Berg Geffen Records albums