''...Ya Know?'' is the second and final solo

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 ...

Joey Ramone Jeffrey Ross Hyman (May 19, 1951 – April 15, 2001), known professionally as Joey Ramone, was an American musician, best known as the lead singer and a founding member of the punk rock band Ramones. His image, voice, and his tenure with the R ...

. It was released posthumously on May 22, 2012, by

BMG BMG may refer to: Organizations * Music publishing companies: ** Bertelsmann Music Group, a 1987–2008 division of Bertelsmann that was purchased by Sony on October 1, 2008 *** Sony BMG, a 2004–2008 joint venture of Bertelsmann and Sony that wa ...

. The album features producers

Ed Stasium Ed Stasium is an American record producer and audio engineer, who has worked on albums by the Ramones, Talking Heads, Motörhead, the Smithereens and Living Colour. History Stasium began his recording career in 1970 fronting the band Brandywine. ...

Jean Beauvoir Jean Beauvoir is an American singer, bassist, guitarist, multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, producer and entertainment executive. He came to prominence in the early 1980s with the punk group the Plasmatics and went on to work with Little Steven ...

Daniel Rey Daniel Rey (born Daniel Rabinowitz) is an American musician, record producer and songwriter from New York City, best known for his work with the punk rock band Ramones. As a teenager Rey played in punk band Shrapnel, which also featured Dave Wynd ...

(all of whom worked with the

Ramones The Ramones were an American punk rock band that formed in the New York City neighborhood of Forest Hills, Queens, in 1974. They are often cited as the first true punk rock group. Despite achieving a limited commercial appeal in the United ...

), Joey's brother

Mickey Leigh Mickey is a given name and nickname, almost always masculine and often a short form (hypocorism) of Michael, and occasionally a surname. Notable people and characters with the name include: People Given name or nickname Men * Mickey Andrews (bor ...

and Joe Blaney. Musicians include

Joan Jett Joan Jett (born Joan Marie Larkin, September 22, 1958) is an American singer, guitarist, record producer, and actress. Jett is best known for her work as the frontwoman of her band Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, and for earlier founding and per ...

Steven Van Zandt Steven Van Zandt (né Lento; born November 22, 1950), also known as Little Steven or Miami Steve, is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and actor. He is a member of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band, in which he plays guitar and mandolin ...

Richie Ramone Richard Reinhardt (born August 11, 1957) is an American drummer best known by his stage name Richie Ramone, and for being the drummer for the punk band the Ramones from February 1983 until August 1987. As of 2022, he is one of the four survivi ...

Holly Beth Vincent Holly Beth Vincent (born Holly Beth Cernuto in 1956) is an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and record producer. In her youth Vincent sang and played drums and guitar in several bands and took part in the Los Angeles punk scen ...

Genya Ravan Genya Ravan, a.k.a. Goldie (born Genyusha Zelkovicz; April 19, 1940) is an American rock singer and music producer. She was lead singer of The Escorts, Goldie and the Gingerbreads, and Ten Wheel Drive. Life and career Childhood Ravan was born ...

, members of

Cheap Trick Cheap Trick is an American rock band from Rockford, Illinois, formed in 1973 by guitarist Rick Nielsen, bassist Tom Petersson, lead vocalist Robin Zander and drummer Bun E. Carlos. The current lineup of the band consists of Zander, Nielsen and ...

and

the Dictators The Dictators are an American punk rock band formed in New York City in 1973. Critic John Dougan said that they were "one of the finest and most influential proto-punk bands to walk the earth." Origins The band was formed in 1972 by Andy "Ad ...

and Mickey Leigh.

Background

The songs from the album were originally recorded by Joey Ramone as demos with overdubs added later by his musician friends. The album was originally announced to contain 17 songs, but due to a last minute glitch, two songs had to be cut. The songs in question were co-written by Joey and

Dee Dee Ramone Douglas Glenn Colvin (September 18, 1951 – June 5, 2002), better known by his stage name Dee Dee Ramone, was an American musician. He was the bassist and a founding member of the punk rock band Ramones. Throughout the band's existence, he w ...

, but despite the intent of an equal financial split between the two, the manager of Dee Dee Ramone's business interests blocked the songs' inclusion on the album. Two of the album's songs, "Merry Christmas (I Don't Want to Fight Tonight)" and "Life's a Gas", are re-recordings of songs originally recorded by the Ramones. The ten-year gap between ''

Don't Worry About Me ''Don't Worry About Me'' is the debut album released by Joey Ramone as a solo artist. It was released posthumously on February 19, 2002, by Sanctuary Records, less than a year after his death. The album was produced by Daniel Rey, who also did m ...

'' and ''...Ya Know?'' was due to legal wranglings between Joey Ramone's estate and

, who had originally recorded the demos with Joey Ramone. The album's liner notes included the statement: "This is stated in fairness to the producers: Joey's vocal tracks were taken from demos owned by Joey, but held in possession of Rey prior to and following Joey's passing, thus forcing the Estate of Joey Ramone to re-acquire them from Rey for all further production and release. Co-production credit has been given Rey in fulfillment of contractual obligations." Producer

, who worked on 11 of the album's 15 tracks, stated that he acquired the original demos in 2008. "Things were pretty basic," he said. "There was a drum machine, a guitar, a bass and Joey. The drum machine wasn't programmed or anything; it just made a beat. Some of the songs were fragmented, and some were arranged very well. That's what I had to work with ... I tried to add what I thought Joey was going for. I made solos where there weren't solos, intros where there weren't intros, endings where there weren't endings." A 7" single of "Rock 'n Roll Is the Answer" was released on April 21, 2012 for

Record Store Day Record Store Day is an annual event inaugurated in 2007 and held on one Saturday (typically the third) every April and every Black Friday in November to "celebrate the culture of the independently owned record store". The day brings together fa ...

. The song was premiered on

Spinner.com Spinner was an online music and entertainment service. An AOL Music property, it was acquired by AOL on June 1, 1999, along with Nullsoft for $400 million. Based in San Francisco, California, the website was the first Internet music service and w ...

on April 6, 2012

"New York City" music video

On September 25, 2012,

Vevo Vevo ( , an abbreviation for "Video Evolution", stylized as VEVO until 2013) is an American multinational video hosting service, best known for providing music videos to YouTube. The service is also available as an app on selected smart TVs, di ...

premiered a music video for "New York City" online. The video, which was directed by Greg Jardin, features appearances by 115 people. People featured include: *

Tommy Ramone Thomas Erdelyi (born Tamás Erdélyi; January 29, 1949 – July 11, 2014), known professionally as Tommy Ramone, was a Hungarian American record producer and musician. He was the drummer for the influential punk rock band the Ramones for ...

Andy Shernoff Andy Shernoff (born April 19, 1955) is an American musician, songwriter and record producer. He is a founding member of The Dictators, one of the original New York punk bands, in which he wrote nearly all of the songs, played bass guitar and k ...

Reggie Watts Reginald Lucien Frank Roger Watts (born March 23, 1972) is an American comedian, actor, beatboxer, and musician. His improvised musical sets are created using only his voice, a keyboard, and a looping machine. Watts refers to himself as a "disinf ...

Kristen Schaal Kristen Joy Schaal (; born January 24, 1978) is an American actress, comedian, and writer. She is best known for her voice roles as Louise Belcher on ''Bob's Burgers'' and Mabel Pines on ''Gravity Falls''. She's also known for playing Mel on ''F ...

Scott Adsit Robert Scott Adsit (born November 26, 1965) is an American actor, comedian, and writer. Born and raised in the Chicago suburbs, Adsit joined the mainstage cast of Chicago's The Second City in 1994 after attending Columbia College Chicago. He app ...

John Lutz John Michael Lutz (born April 23, 1973) is an American actor, comedian, and screenwriter. He is best known for playing J. D. Lutz on the NBC sitcom ''30 Rock'', and for his work as a writer on the NBC series ''Saturday Night Live'' for seven s ...

Andrew W.K. Andrew Fetterly Wilkes-Krier (born May 9, 1979), known professionally as Andrew W.K., is an American conceptual performance artist, rock singer, multi-instrumentalist, record producer and actor. Raised in Michigan, Wilkes-Krier began his m ...

Anthony Bourdain Anthony Michael Bourdain (; June 25, 1956 – June 8, 2018) was an American celebrity chef, author, and travel documentarian who starred in programs focusing on the exploration of international culture, cuisine, and the human condition. Bourdai ...

The Drums The Drums are an American indie pop band from New York City. Formation Founding members Jonathan (Jonny) Pierce and Jacob Graham became friends as children, having met at Bible camp at age 11 or 12. Some years later, they formed a short-lived ...

Matt & Kim Matt and Kim (sometimes stylized MATT and KIM) are an American indie electronic duo from Brooklyn, New York City. The group formed in 2004 and consist of Matt Johnson (vocals/keyboards) and Kim Schifino (drums). The duo is known for its upbeat d ...

Kurt Braunohler Kurt Braunohler (born February 22, 1976) is an American comedian and co-host of the podcast ''Bananas'' on Exactly Right Podcast Network. He was previously the host of IFC's comedy game show '' Bunk'' and has appeared on Comedy Central, ''This ...

Deluxe edition

On November 23, 2012, a deluxe edition of the album was released as part of Record Store Day. It was limited to 500 copies. It featured a DVD that includes interviews with

Elvis Costello Declan Patrick MacManus Order of the British Empire, OBE (born 25 August 1954), known professionally as Elvis Costello, is an English singer-songwriter and record producer. He has won multiple awards in his career, including a Grammy Award in ...

Kirk Hammett Kirk Lee Hammett (born November 18, 1962) is an American musician who has been the lead guitarist and a contributing songwriter for heavy metal band Metallica since 1983. Before joining Metallica, he formed and named the band Exodus. In 2003, ...

Debbie Harry Deborah Ann Harry (born Angela Trimble; July 1, 1945) is an American singer, songwriter and actress, best known as the lead vocalist of the band Blondie. Four of her songs with the band reached on the US charts between 1979 and 1981. Born in ...

Anthony Kiedis Anthony Kiedis ( ; born November 1, 1962) is an American singer and songwriter. He is a founding member and lead vocalist of the rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers. Kiedis and his fellow band members were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fa ...

Joe Strummer John Graham Mellor (21 August 1952 – 22 December 2002), known professionally as Joe Strummer, was a British singer, musician and songwriter. He was the co-founder, lyricist, rhythm guitarist and co-lead vocalist of punk rock band the Clash, ...

and others, a 24 page booklet with pictures and lyrics, and a playable 5" vinyl "Merry Christmas(I Don't Wanna Fight Tonight) ornament.

Track listing

All songs written by Joey Ramone (in a period between 1977 and 2000), except where noted.

Personnel

*Joey Ramone – lead vocals on tracks 1–15, production on 13 *

Greg Calbi Gregory Calbi (born April 3, 1949) is an American mastering engineer at Sterling Sound, New Jersey. Biography Greg Calbi was born on April 3, 1949, in Yonkers, New York, and raised in Bayside, Queens, New York. He graduated in 1966 from Bisho ...

– mastering on tracks 1–15 *

– production, engineering, mixing on tracks 2–4, 6–11, 14, 15, guitar, backing vocals on 2–4, 6–9, 11, 14, 15, bass on 2–4, 6–9, piano on 3, 7, 9, percussion on 4, 6, 8, 9, 11, 14, accordion on 4, mellotron on 14 *

– guitar on tracks 1, 4–6, 8, 10, 11, bass on 1, 5, 10, 11, percussion on 1, 5, 10, 14, 15, backing vocals on 1, 3–6, 10, 11, 14, keyboards on 1, 10, 14, organ on 11, mixing on 1, 5, 11, production on 4, 5, 11 *

– production on tracks 2–4, 6–8, 10–12, 14, 15 *

– bass on tracks 3, 8, 11, 13, 14, production, guitar, keyboards, percussion on 13 *

– drums on tracks 2, 6, 7, 11 *

– backing vocals on tracks 3, 4, 7, lead vocals on 9 *Joe Blaney – production on track 1, engineering, mixing on tracks 1, 5, 11 *Kyle "Slick" Johnson – assistant engineering on tracks 1, 5, 11 *Al Maddy – backing vocals on tracks 3, 7, guitar on 14 *

Bun E. Carlos Brad M. Carlson, better known by the stage name Bun E. Carlos, is the original drummer for American rock band Cheap Trick. He recorded and performed with the band from 1973 to 2010. Carlos was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2016 ...

– traps on tracks 4, 7, 8 *J.P. "Thunderbolt" Patterson – drums on tracks 3, 14 *

– backing vocals on tracks 3, guitar on 9 *

Handsome Dick Manitoba Richard "Handsome Dick" Manitoba (born Richard Blum; January 29, 1954) is an American punk rock singer and radio personality, best known as the original lead singer of New York City-based band The Dictators and the reunion singer of MC5. Backg ...

– backing vocals on tracks 3, 7 *

Richie Stotts Richard Eugene Stotts (born 27 October 1953) (better known as Richie Stotts) is a musician, who was the first guitarist and one of the founding members of the punk/metal group Plasmatics. In 1978, Richie was among the earliest musicians to sport a ...

– guitar on track 1 *

Charley Drayton Charles Leslie Drayton (born May 9, 1965) is an American multi-instrumentalist and producer, known primarily as a drummer. Artists he has recorded or performed with include The Cult, Keith Richards, The Rolling Stones, Paul Simon, Neil Young, Mi ...

– drums on track 1 *Billy Hilfiger,

Carla Lother Carla Lother is a singer, songwriter, pianist, and flautist from Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Lother was born into a musical family. Her mother was a classical pianist, and her father was a cabaret and jazz singer. In her early years she studied ...

– backing vocals on track 1 *Jonathan Townes – digital editing on track 1 *Ben Liscio – assistant mixing engineering on track 1 *

Lenny Kaye Lenny Kaye (''né'' Kusikoff; born December 27, 1946) is an American guitarist, composer, and writer who is best known as a member of the Patti Smith Group. Early life Kaye was born to Jewish parents in the Washington Heights area of upper Ma ...

– backing vocals on track 3 *Pat Carpenter – drums on track 5 *Amy Hartman – backing vocals on track 9 *

Dennis Diken Dennis Diken (born February 25, 1957) is an American drummer, DJ, author, music historian, and founding member of the band the Smithereens, which he formed in 1980 with Pat DiNizio, Jim Babjak, and Mike Mesaros in Carteret, New Jersey. Besides ...

– drums on track 9 *Arno Hecht – saxophone on track 9 * Steve Jordan – drums on track 10 *

Tommy Mandel Tommy Mandel (born June 2, 1949) is a keyboardist most notable for playing with Bryan Adams from 1981 to 1998, starting with the album ''You Want It You Got It''. Life and career Prior to joining Bryan Adams' band, Mandel released a self-titled ...

– keyboards on track 10 *

– guitar, backing vocals on track 11 *

Kenny Laguna Kenneth Benjamin Laguna is an American songwriter and record producer, best known for his work with Joan Jett. Biography Laguna was born in Greenwich Village, New York City, United States, and started playing piano at high school dances from th ...

– keyboards on track 11 *Toshikazu Yoshioka – assistant mixing on track 11 *

– production, engineering, guitar, bass, drums, percussion, backing vocals on track 12 *Michael Caiati – engineering on track 13 ;Notes * Tracks 1, 5 recorded at Joe Music Studio,

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. * Tracks 2–4, 6–12, 14, 15 recorded at the KozyTone Ranch,

Durango, Colorado Durango is a home rule municipality that is the county seat and the most populous municipality of La Plata County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 19,071 at the 2020 United States Census. Durango is the home of Fort Lewis Coll ...

, and Stratosphere Sound, New York City. * Track 11 recorded at Joey Ramone's studio apartment and Joe Music Studio. * Track 12 recorded at Voodoo Island Studios. * Track 13 recorded at Coyote Studio, New York City.

Charts

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ya Know 2012 albums Joey Ramone albums BMG Rights Management albums Albums published posthumously Albums produced by Ed Stasium