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

album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

by American

alternative rock Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...

band

the Lemonheads The Lemonheads are an American alternative rock band formed in Boston in 1986 by Evan Dando, Ben Deily, and Jesse Peretz. Dando has remained the band's only constant member. After their initial punk-influenced releases and tours as an indep ...

, released on June 2, 1992. The album was produced by the Robb Brothers. At the time of principal recording, the band consisted of Evan Dando (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 comprising the singer-songwriter Paul Simon and the singer Art Garfunkel. They were one of the best-selling music acts of the 1960s. Their most famous recordings include three US number-one sing ...

's "

Mrs. Robinson "Mrs. Robinson" is a song by American folk rock duo Simon & Garfunkel from their fourth Album, studio album, ''Bookends (album), Bookends'' (1968). The writing of the song was begun before the 1967 film ''The Graduate'', which contained only f ...

" 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 on bass.

History

The title track was inspired by a quote that band leader Evan Dando had seen in a

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

newspaper in November 1991. The newspaper story was about a 15 year old boy named Ray, who had left school in Nowra and moved to

where he was homeless and considering working as a prostitute. 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 between 1988 and 2009, and Alternative Songs between 2009 and 2020) is a music chart published in the American magazine ''Billboard'' 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 as well as nominations for ...

. 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 "

", written by

Paul Simon Paul Frederic Simon (born October 13, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter known for his solo work and his collaborations with Art Garfunkel. He and Garfunkel, whom he met in elementary school in 1953, came to prominence in the 1960s as Sim ...

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 independent romantic comedy-drama film directed by Mike Nichols and written by Buck Henry and Calder Willingham, based on the 1963 novella by Charles Webb. It stars Dustin Hoffman as Benjamin Braddoc ...

.'' The band recorded the song in Berlin while on tour, with Nic Dalton on bass guitar. It was released as a single. Also, the song "My Drug Buddy" was later truncated to just "Buddy," but was later restored. 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 original ...

on September 14–15, 2005, as part of the All Tomorrow's Parties–curated Don't Look Back concert series, with "Mrs. Robinson" missing from the setlist. The band performed the album in its entirety while opening for certain dates of Jawbreaker's 2022 spring tour. The Lemonheads toured Australia in May 2025, with the tour being advertised as the band performing both It's A Shame About Ray and the Come On Feel The Lemonheads albums in their entireties. For these performances, the original track listing of the album was performed in sequence.

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, Gerome Ragni,

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 ''Hair ...

) - 1:45 ;Re-release bonus track

" (

) - 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 * Evan Dando –

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

vocals Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define sing ...

* Juliana Hatfield –

bass guitar The bass guitar (), also known as the electric bass guitar, electric bass, or simply the bass, is the lowest-pitched member of the guitar family. It is similar in appearance and construction to an Electric guitar, electric but with a longer nec ...

, backup vocals *David Ryan –

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

* Nic Dalton –

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 that ...

on "Hannah & Gabi"

Charts

Certifications

References

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