''The Darkest Night of the Year'' is a Christmas album by the group
Over the Rhine
Over-the-Rhine (often abbreviated as OTR) is a neighborhood in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. Historically, Over-the-Rhine has been a working-class neighborhood. It is among the largest, most intact urban historic districts in the United Sta ...
, released independently in 1996. It is their fifth studio album overall, and the last to feature the band's original lineup.
The album features six interpretations of traditional Christmas songs, three original instrumentals, three vocal compositions, and a second version of "Silent Night" featuring Terri Templeton, who was touring with Over The Rhine as a secondary vocalist at the time. Ten years later, Over The Rhine would release a second Christmas album,
Snow Angels with a greater emphasis on original compositions.
This album is notable for being the first Over The Rhine album not to feature the photography of
Michael Wilson. The cover illustration is by David Sheldon. Additionally, this is the only full-length OTR album to feature bassist Chris Dahlgren, who began touring with the band in 1996 to accommodate Linford Detweiler's move to keyboards.
Track listing
#"
The First Noel
"The First Nowell", also known as "The First Noel (or Noël)", is a traditional English Christmas carol with Cornish origins, most likely from the early modern period, although possibly earlier.[Silent Night
"Silent Night" (german: "Stille Nacht, heilige Nacht", links=no, italic=no) is a popular Christmas carol, composed in 1818 by Franz Xaver Gruber to lyrics by Joseph Mohr in the small town of Oberndorf bei Salzburg, Austria. It was declared an ...]
" (arranged: Bergquist and Hordinski) - 3:43
#"
It Came Upon a Midnight Clear
"It Came Upon the Midnight Clear", sometimes rendered as "It Came Upon a Midnight Clear", is an 1849 poem and Christmas carol written by Edmund Sears, pastor of the Unitarian Church in Wayland, Massachusetts. In 1850, Sears' lyrics were set ...
" (arranged: Detweiler) - 2:50
#"
Greensleeves
"Greensleeves" is a traditional English folk song. A broadside ballad by the name "A Newe Northen Dittye of ye Ladye Greene Sleves" was registered by Richard Jones at the London Stationer's Company in September 1580,Frank Kidson, ''English Fol ...
" (arranged: Detweiler and Dahlgren) - 2:49
#"
O Little Town of Bethlehem
"O Little Town of Bethlehem" is a Christmas carol. Based on an 1868 text written by Phillips Brooks, the carol is popular on both sides of the Atlantic, but to different tunes: in The United States, to "St. Louis" by Brooks' collaborator, Lewis R ...
" (arranged: Detweiler) - 3:00
#"Coal Train" (music: Hordinski) -!2:43
#"Thank You My Angel" (words and music: Detweiler, MacDonald, Powell) - 4:12
#"Mary's Waltz" (words and music: Detweiler) - 3:59
#"Up North Here Where the Stars... 1945" (music: Detweiler) - 1:53
#"Silent Night (duet)" (arranged: Detweiler) - 3:11
#"
O Come, O Come Emmanuel" (arranged: Detweiler and Dahlgren) - 2:02
#"Amelia's Last" (words and music: Detweiler) - 2:49
#"A Little Lower Than the Angels" (music: Hordinski) - 7:10
*The two versions of "Silent Night" are performed in different styles: the first being a full-band electric recording similar to the sound of ''
Eve
Eve (; ; ar, حَوَّاء, Ḥawwāʾ; el, Εὕα, Heúa; la, Eva, Heva; Syriac: romanized: ) is a figure in the Book of Genesis in the Hebrew Bible. According to the origin story, "Creation myths are symbolic stories describing how the ...
'', while the second is a slower, acoustic reading featuring Norm Johns' upright bass.
*"A Little Lower Than the Angels" takes its title from a lyric of ''
Good Dog, Bad Dog
''Good Dog, Bad Dog'' is the fourth studio album by Over the Rhine. It was released independently in 1996 and reissued with a slightly altered track listing by Virgin/Backporch in 2000.
Track listing 1996 independent release
#"Latter Days" - 5:3 ...
s "All I Need Is Everything"; however the songs are not related musically.
Personnel
Over the Rhine
* Karin Bergquist – vocals
* Linford Detweiler – upright piano,
harmonium
The pump organ is a type of free-reed organ that generates sound as air flows past a vibrating piece of thin metal in a frame. The piece of metal is called a reed. Specific types of pump organ include the reed organ, harmonium, and melodeon. T ...
, acoustic guitars, electric bass
* Ric Hordinski – guitars,
Ebow
The EBow, short for electronic bow or energy bow, is an electronic device used for playing string instruments, most often the electric guitar. It is manufactured by Heet Sound Products, of Los Angeles, California. It was invented by Greg Heet i ...
* Chris Dahlgren – acoustic bass
* Brian Kelley – drums
Additional personnel
* Norm Johns – cello
* Terri Templeton – additional vocals on "Silent Night (duet)"
Production
* Todd Kearby – executive production assistancr
* Linford Detweiler – producer (1-5, 8-12), recording (1, 3, 4, 5, 8, 10, 11), mixing (1, 3-5, 8, 10, 11), vocal and bass recording (2), final mix (2)
* Ric Hordinski – producer (2, 6, 13), guitar and drum recording (2), recording (6, 13), mixing (6, 13)
* Dale Smith – recording (9, 12), mixing (9, 12)
* Steve Harris – technical assistant (2)
* Mark Hood – digital editing, mastering
* Grey Larsen – digital editing, mastering
*
Owen Brock – design, art production
* David Sheldon – illustration
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Darkest Night of the Year, The
1996 Christmas albums
Christmas albums by American artists
Over the Rhine (band) albums
Folk rock Christmas albums