''It's a Shame About Ray'' is the fifth

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records c ...

by American

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 mainstream or commercial ...

band the Lemonheads, released on June 2,

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment building in Amsterdam after two of its engin ...

. The album was produced by the Robb Brothers. At the time of principal recording, the band consisted of

Evan Dando Evan Griffith Dando (born March 4, 1967) is an American musician and frontman of the Lemonheads. He has also embarked on a solo career and collaborated on songs with various artists. In December 2015 Dando was inducted into the Boston Music Award ...

(lead vocals, guitar), Juliana Hatfield (bass, backing vocals) and David Ryan (drums). Though not originally on the album, the band's cover of

Simon & Garfunkel Simon & Garfunkel were an American folk rock duo consisting of the singer-songwriter Paul Simon and the singer Art Garfunkel. They were one of the best-selling music groups of the 1960s, and their biggest hits—including the electric remix of ...

's " Mrs. Robinson" was added to the album in later pressings after it had become a major worldwide radio hit, and it features a later lineup of the band with

Nic Dalton NIC may refer to: Banking and insurance companies * National Insurance Corporation, Uganda * NIC Bank, a commercial bank in Kenya Politics, government and economics * National Ice Center, an agency that provides worldwide navigational ice a ...

on bass.

History

The title track was inspired by a quote that band leader

had seen in a

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mounta ...

newspaper in reference to a kid called Ray who kept getting kicked out of every school he went to. The album became an international hit for the band, reaching #31 in the UK Top 100 as well as #5 on the

Modern Rock Tracks Alternative Airplay (formerly known as Modern Rock Tracks (1988–2009) and Alternative Songs (2009–2020)) is a music chart in the United States that has appeared in ''Billboard'' magazine since September 10, 1988. It ranks the 40 most-playe ...

chart in the U.S. The song was later included at #138 on '' Pitchfork's'' "Top 200 Tracks of the 90s" list. The music video features

Johnny Depp John Christopher Depp II (born June 9, 1963) is an American actor and musician. He is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Johnny Depp, multiple accolades, including a Golden Globe Award and a Screen Actors Guild Awa ...

. Actress Polly Noonan and her car appear on the cover of the album.

Rereleases

After its initial release, the album was reissued with a cover of the song " Mrs. Robinson", written by

Paul Simon Paul Frederic Simon (born October 13, 1941) is an American musician, singer, songwriter and actor whose career has spanned six decades. He is one of the most acclaimed songwriters in popular music, both as a solo artist and as half of folk roc ...

and originally recorded by

. The Lemonheads' version was recorded to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the release of the film ''

The Graduate ''The Graduate'' is a 1967 American romantic comedy-drama film directed by Mike Nichols and written by Buck Henry and Calder Willingham, based on the 1963 novel of the same name by Charles Webb, who wrote it shortly after graduating from W ...

.'' The band recorded the song in Berlin while on tour, with

on bass guitar. It was released as a single. The album was reissued by Rhino in 2008 as a collector's edition that includes several demo versions of album tracks, the B-side song "Shaky Ground" and a DVD containing the previously released (on VHS) ''Two Weeks in Australia''.

Notable performances

The Lemonheads toured Australia in late 2010, playing the album in its entirety along with songs from their other albums. The band performed the entire album at London's

Shepherd's Bush Empire Shepherd's Bush Empire (currently known as O2 Shepherd's Bush Empire for sponsorship reasons, and formerly known as the BBC Television Theatre) is a music venue in Shepherd's Bush, West London, run by the Academy Music Group. It was originally ...

on September 14–15, 2005 as part of the

All Tomorrow's Parties "All Tomorrow's Parties" is a song by the Velvet Underground and Nico, written by Lou Reed and released on the group's 1967 debut studio album, ''The Velvet Underground & Nico''. Inspiration for the song came from Reed's observation of Andy Warh ...

-curated Don't Look Back concert series, with "Mrs. Robinson" missing from the setlist. The band will perform the album in its entirety opening for certain dates of Jawbreaker's 2022 spring tour.

Track listing

All songs by Evan Dando unless otherwise stated. # "Rockin Stroll" - 1:48 # "Confetti" - 2:47 # " It's a Shame About Ray" (words: Dando, Tom Morgan; music: Dando) - 3:08 # "Rudderless" - 3:21 # "My Drug Buddy"- 2:52 # "The Turnpike Down" - 2:34 # "Bit Part" (studio version) (words: Dando, Morgan; music: Dando) - 1:52 # "Alison's Starting to Happen" - 2:00 # "Hannah & Gabi" - 2:41 # "Kitchen" (Nic Dalton) - 2:55 # "Ceiling Fan in My Spoon" - 2:00 # "Frank Mills" (

James Rado James Alexander Radomski (January 23, 1932 – June 21, 2022), known professionally as James Rado, was an American actor, playwright, director, and composer, best known as the co-author, along with Gerome Ragni, of the 1967 musical ''Hair''. He ...

Gerome Ragni Gerome Ragni (born Jerome Bernard Ragni; September 11, 1935 – July 10, 1991) was an American actor, singer, and songwriter, best known as one of the stars and co-writers of the 1967 musical '' Hair: The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical''. On Jun ...

Galt MacDermot Arthur Terence Galt MacDermot (December 18, 1928 – December 17, 2018) was a Canadian-American composer, pianist and writer of musical theater. He won a Grammy Award for the song "African Waltz" in 1960. His most-successful musicals were '' Ha ...

) - 1:45 ;Re-release bonus track #

" Mrs. Robinson" (

) - 3:45 ;Bonus material # "Shaky Ground" (B-side) - 1:49 # "It's a Shame About Ray" (demo version) - 2:57 # "Rockin Stroll" (demo version) - 1:49 # "My Drug Buddy" (demo version) - 2:47 # "Hannah & Gabi" (demo version) - 2:27 # "Kitchen" (demo version) - 3:13 # "Bit Part" (demo version) - 1:55 # "Rudderless" (demo version) - 3:21 # "Ceiling Fan in My Spoon" (demo version) - 2:18 # "Confetti" (demo version) - 1:16

Personnel

;The Lemonheads *

–

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected string ...

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...

* Juliana Hatfield –

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

backup vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are used ...

*David Ryan –

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair of matching drumsticks ...

–

on "Mrs. Robinson" * Jeff "Skunk" Baxter –

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 t ...

on "Hannah & Gabi"

Charts

Certifications

References

{{Authority control The Lemonheads albums 1992 albums Atlantic Records albums Grunge albums