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''Older Than My Old Man Now'' is the twenty-second studio album by American singer-songwriter
Loudon Wainwright III Loudon Snowden Wainwright III (born September 5, 1946) is an American singer-songwriter and occasional actor. He has released twenty-six studio albums, four live albums, and six compilations. Some of his best-known songs include "The Swimmin ...
, released on April 17, 2012, on 2nd Story Sound Records. Described as "a gleefully morbid summing up of ainwright'slife in which he ponders
childhood A child (plural, : children) is a human being between the stages of childbirth, birth and puberty, or between the Development of the human body, developmental period of infancy and puberty. The legal definition of ''child'' generally refers ...
,
family history Genealogy () is the study of families, family history, and the tracing of their lineages. Genealogists use oral interviews, historical records, genetic analysis, and other records to obtain information about a family and to demonstrate kin ...
,
aging Ageing ( BE) or aging ( AE) is the process of becoming older. The term refers mainly to humans, many other animals, and fungi, whereas for example, bacteria, perennial plants and some simple animals are potentially biologically immortal. In ...
and death," the album is produced by '' High Wide & Handsome: The Charlie Poole Project'' (2009) collaborator Dick Connette, and features contributions from each of Wainwright's children. The album's title alludes to Wainwright's father, Loudon Wainwright, Jr., who was aged sixty-three upon his death. Upon the album's release, Wainwright noted, "When you’re sixty-five, everything seems to be somewhat in the rear-view, or at least in the side-view. Well, not everything, and hopefully your windshield wipers are still working."


Writing and composition

Regarding one of the album's most prominent themes, death, Wainwright noted, "I'm also old enough to have a lot of friends that have died already, people I knew and was close to. The mother of my first two kids, Kate McGarrigle, died a couple of years ago. Friends, parents. So it becomes a powerful part of your life as you get older." Wainwright elaborated, "The whole album is about, in a sense, the handwriting on the wall for all of us, and that’s been the situation with the songs I've written throughout my career. Whether it’s declining powers or family skirmishes or too much hanging out in the bar, this is all material that I’m assuming my audience knows about, and is going through. Or if they’re not going through it at the time, they’ll eventually get there." Two of the songs from the album, "Older Than My Old Man Now" and "The Days That We Die", feature spoken word performances of prose written by
Loudon Wainwright Jr. Loudon Snowden Wainwright Jr. (December 16, 1924 – December 12, 1988) was an American writer. He was the father of folk singer Loudon Wainwright III and singer Sloan Wainwright, and grandfather to Rufus Wainwright, Martha Wainwright, and L ...
for ''
Life Life is a quality that distinguishes matter that has biological processes, such as signaling and self-sustaining processes, from that which does not, and is defined by the capacity for growth, reaction to stimuli, metabolism, energy ...
'' magazine in the early 80s. Regarding his father's influence on ''Older Than My Old Man Now'' and the inclusion of his writing, Wainwright noted, "He died in 1988, and I have powerful memories of him. He was a huge presence in my life, and we had difficulties... very typical father-son oedipal clashes, but he was a remarkable guy, and a fine writer. And that’s why I was so excited to be able to include some of his writing on the record, to bring him into the record. Both of my parents are dead, and in a way they've become bigger than ever, more important than ever. I don’t know why that is; maybe because I’m headed down that road myself. There are lots of wonderful old folk songs about how you’re going to join your parents on the other side. That remains to be seen, of course. But yeah, I was very happy to have Loudon Wainwright Junior on my album." Following the album's release, Wainwright subsequently added spoken word performances of his father's writing into his live shows. The track "Over the Hill" – which previously appeared as a bonus track on the CD reissue of Wainwright's 1975 album, '' Unrequited'' – was initially a duet between Wainwright and his then-wife Kate McGarrigle, and appears here as a duet between Wainwright and his daughter
Martha Wainwright Martha Wainwright (born May 8, 1976) is a Canadian-American singer-songwriter, musician, and actress. She has released seven critically-acclaimed studio albums. Wainwright is the daughter of musicians Kate McGarrigle and Loudon Wainwright III ...
. Wainwright stated, "Kate, who was the mother of my two older kids, was a very important person in my life. We didn’t hang out much in the last thirty years, but that doesn't diminish the effect that she had on me. And certainly when she died two years ago it had a powerful effect on me. She was a big person in my life."


Reception

Prior to the album's release, ''
The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...
s Hendric Hertzberg stated, "''Older Than My Old Man Now'' is uniformly excellent. It offers not only welcome consolation to those who (like me) are shocked to find ourselves in the relevant age cohort but also, I imagine, innocent amusement to those who — eventually, inevitably — will find themselves there one day, however improbable the prospect may seem at the moment."


Track listing

# "The Here & the Now" # "In C" # "Older Than My Old Man Now" # "Double Lifetime" # "Date Line" # "All in a Family" # "My Meds" # "Interlude" # "Over the Hill" # "Ghost Blues" # "I Remember Sex" # "Somebody Else" # "The Days That We Die" # "10" # "Something's Out to Get Me"


Personnel


Musicians

The following musicians are confirmed to appear on the album: *
Loudon Wainwright III Loudon Snowden Wainwright III (born September 5, 1946) is an American singer-songwriter and occasional actor. He has released twenty-six studio albums, four live albums, and six compilations. Some of his best-known songs include "The Swimmin ...
– vocals, guitar * Ramblin’ Jack Elliott *
Dame Edna Everage Dame Edna Everage, often known simply as Dame Edna, is a character created and performed by Australian comedian Barry Humphries, known for her lilac-coloured ("wisteria hue") hair and cat eye glasses ("face furniture"); her favourite flower, t ...
*
Chris Smither William Christopher Smither (born November 11, 1944) is an American folk/ blues singer, guitarist, and songwriter. His music draws deeply from the blues, American folk music, and modern poets and philosophers. Early life, influences and educa ...
* Lucy Wainwright Roche *
Suzzy Roche Suzzy Roche ( ; born September 29, 1956) is an American singer and actress best known for her work with the vocal group The Roches, alongside sisters Maggie and Terre. Suzzy is the youngest of the three, and joined the act in 1977. She is the aut ...
* Chaim Tannenbaum *
Martha Wainwright Martha Wainwright (born May 8, 1976) is a Canadian-American singer-songwriter, musician, and actress. She has released seven critically-acclaimed studio albums. Wainwright is the daughter of musicians Kate McGarrigle and Loudon Wainwright III ...
*
Rufus Wainwright Rufus McGarrigle Wainwright (born July 22, 1973) is a Canadian-American singer, songwriter, and composer. He has recorded 10 studio albums and numerous tracks on compilations and film soundtracks. He has also written two classical operas and set ...
*
Rob Moose Rob Moose (born 1982) is an American multi-instrumentalist, arranger, producer, conductor, and orchestrator. He primarily plays the violin, viola, and guitar. Early life and education Moose was born in 1982. He was raised in Windsor, Connect ...
*
John Scofield John Scofield (born December 26, 1951), sometimes referred to as "Sco", is an American guitarist and composer whose music over a long career has blended jazz, jazz fusion, funk, blues, soul and rock. He first came to mainstream attention in th ...


Recording personnel

* Dick Connette – producer * Alex Venguer – recording engineer


References

{{Authority control 2012 albums Loudon Wainwright III albums