The Boatman's Call
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''The Boatman's Call'' is the tenth studio album by the Australian
rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...
band
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds are a Rock music, rock band formed in Melbourne in 1983 by lead vocalist Nick Cave, multi-instrumentalist Mick Harvey and German guitarist-vocalist Blixa Bargeld. The band has featured international personnel throug ...
, released on 3 March 1997 by
Mute Records Mute Records is a British independent record label owned and founded in 1978 by Daniel Miller (music producer), Daniel Miller. It has featured several prominent musical acts on its roster such as Depeche Mode, Erasure (duo), Erasure, Einstürze ...
. The album is entirely piano-based, alternately somber and romantic in mood, making it a marked departure from the bulk of the band's
post-punk Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad genre of music that emerged in late 1977 in the wake of punk rock. Post-punk musicians departed from punk's fundamental elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a broader, more experiment ...
catalogue up to that point. ''The Boatman's Call'' remains one of the most critically acclaimed releases of
Nick Cave Nicholas Edward Cave (born 22 September 1957) is an Australian musician, writer, and actor who fronts the rock band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. Known for his baritone voice, Cave's music is characterised by emotional intensity, a wide variety ...
's career.


Background and production

Recording for the album began at
Sarm West Studios Sarm Studios is an independent recording studio in London. Originally founded in east London in 1973, the studio's original location was renamed Sarm East Studios in 1982 when Jill Sinclair and Trevor Horn purchased Basing Street Studios from Is ...
in
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
, England in mid-1996, with "The Garden Duet", one of the album's outtakes, being the first song recorded. Though the bulk of ''The Boatman's Call'' was recorded at Sarm West, further recordings—including overdubs—were later done at
Abbey Road Studios Abbey Road Studios (formerly EMI Recording Studios) is a music recording studio at 3 Abbey Road, London, Abbey Road, St John's Wood, City of Westminster, London. It was established in November 1931 by the Gramophone Company, a predecessor of ...
. Musically, the album's tone is considered sombre and minimalist and marks a major departure for Cave and the Bad Seeds. Moving away from full-band arrangements and character-based narratives, the album's music and lyrics move towards the more intimate sound of Cave's solo voice accompanied by piano or a few other instruments. The tempo is also generally slow, reflecting many of the moods of the songs. Many of the lyrics seem to reflect on Cave's personal relationships and spiritual yearnings at the time of writing. Some songs are thought to be directed at either the mother of Cave's oldest son Luke, Viviane Carneiro (in "Where Do We Go Now But Nowhere?") or singer
PJ Harvey Polly Jean Harvey (born 9 October 1969) is an English singer-songwriter. Primarily known as a vocalist and guitarist, she is also proficient with a wide range of instruments. Harvey began her career in 1988 when she joined local band Automat ...
, with whom he had a brief relationship around that time (as referenced in "West Country Girl", "Black Hair" and "Green Eyes"). "Green Eyes" includes a line from "Sonnet 18" by the
French Renaissance The French Renaissance was the cultural and artistic movement in France between the 15th and early 17th centuries. The period is associated with the pan-European Renaissance, a word first used by the French historian Jules Michelet to define ...
poet Louise Labé (''Kiss me, rekiss me, & kiss me again''). Cave performed " Into My Arms" at the 1997 funeral of
INXS INXS (a phonetic play on "in excess") were an Australian rock band, formed as the Farriss Brothers in 1977 in Sydney. The founding members were bassist Garry Gary Beers, main composer and keyboardist Andrew Farriss, drummer Jon Farriss, gu ...
vocalist
Michael Hutchence Michael Kelland John Hutchence (22 January 1960 – 22 November 1997) was an Australian singer and songwriter. He was the co-founder, lead singer and lyricist of the rock band INXS from 1977 until his death in 1997. The band sold over 50 ...
, an old friend from Cave's youth, and requested that the TV cameras be shut off for his performance out of respect for Hutchence. The song "People Ain't No Good" was also featured in the film ''
Shrek 2 ''Shrek 2'' is a 2004 American animated fantasy comedy film loosely based on the 1990 children's picture book '' Shrek!'' by William Steig. Directed by Andrew Adamson, Kelly Asbury, and Conrad Vernon from a screenplay by Adamson, Joe Sti ...
'' (2004). The song "There Is a Kingdom" was featured in the film ''
Zack Snyder's Justice League ''Zack Snyder's Justice League'' (colloquially referred to as the ''Snyder Cut'') is the 2021 director's cut of the 2017 American superhero film ''Justice League'', the fifth film set within the DC Extended Universe (DCEU), which is based ...
'' (2021). In October 2010, the album was listed in the top 30 in the book, ''
100 Best Australian Albums ''The 100 Best Australian Albums'' (a.k.a. ''One Hundred Best Australian Albums'') is a compendium of rock and pop albums of the past 50 years as compiled by music journalists Toby Creswell, Craig Mathieson and John O'Donnell. The book was ...
'' (2010).


Critical reception

''The Boatman's Call'' received almost unanimous critical acclaim upon release with many reviewers citing it as Cave's most poignant album. Writing in ''
NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a "Rock music, rock inkie", the ''NME'' would be ...
'', James Oldham concluded that the album is "a stark look at all that he's been through, recounted with withering bleakness and arid humour", noting "Cave's magnificent lyrics, riddled with comic misanthropy and New Gospel humanity", and "their starkly beautiful accompaniments". The magazine rated it as the 23rd best album of 1997. The album was also included in the book ''
1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die ''1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die'' is a musical reference book first published in 2005 by Universe Publishing. Part of the ''1001 Before You Die'' series, it compiles writings and information on albums chosen by a panel of music criti ...
'' (2010).


Track listing


Outtakes and other songs

A number of other songs were recorded at ''The Boatman's Call'' sessions, some of which were later released as B-sides to the album's two singles and also on Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds 2005 compilation album, '' B-Sides and Rarities''. * "The Garden Duet" * "I Do, Dear, I Do" * "Opium Tea" (released on ''B-Sides & Rarities'') * "Sheep May Safely Graze" (released on ''B-Sides & Rarities'') * "Wake Up My Lover" * "Farewell, Goodbye, So Long" * "I Got Another Woman Now, Dear" * "Little Empty Boat" (released as a B-side on "Into My Arms") * "Right Now I'm A-Roaming" (released as a B-side on "Into My Arms") * "Come Into My Sleep" (released as a B-side on "(Are You) The One That I've Been Waiting For?") * "Babe, I Got You Bad" (released as a B-side on "(Are You) The One That I've Been Waiting For?"')


Personnel

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds *
Nick Cave Nicholas Edward Cave (born 22 September 1957) is an Australian musician, writer, and actor who fronts the rock band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. Known for his baritone voice, Cave's music is characterised by emotional intensity, a wide variety ...
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 ...
(1–17),
piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...
(1–3, 8, 11–13, 15),
organ Organ and organs may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a group of tissues organized to serve a common function * Organ system, a collection of organs that function together to carry out specific functions within the body. Musical instruments ...
(2, 5, 10, 11), keyboards (casio) (4), vibes (3), keyboard (14) *
Mick Harvey Michael John Harvey (born 29 August 1958) is an Australian musician, singer-songwriter, composer, arranger and record producer. A multi-instrumentalist, he is best known for his long-term collaborations with Nick Cave, with whom he formed The ...
electric guitar An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external electric Guitar amplifier, sound amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar. It uses one or more pickup (music technology), pickups ...
(6, 10, 13, 14, 17),
acoustic guitar An acoustic guitar is a musical instrument in the string family. When a string is plucked, its vibration is transmitted from the bridge, resonating throughout the top of the guitar. It is also transmitted to the side and back of the instrument, ...
(5, 7, 8, 12),
bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...
(2), organ (6, 13, 14, 16, 17), vibes (3), bass organ (9),
backing 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 us ...
(14), xylophone (16) *
Blixa Bargeld Blixa Bargeld (born 12 January 1959) is a German musician who has been the lead singer of the band Einstürzende Neubauten since its formation in 1980. Bargeld was also a founding member of the Australian rock band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, s ...
– electric guitar (4, 5, 7, 10, 11, 13, 14, 16, 17), piano treatment (8), backing vocals (13–14) *
Martyn P. Casey Martyn Paul Casey (born 10 July 1960) is an English-born Australian rock bass guitarist. He has been a member of the Triffids, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds and Grinderman. Casey plays either his Fender Precision Bass or Fender Jazz Bass. B ...
– bass (1, 3–8, 10, 11, 13–17), backing vocals (13) * Conway Savage – piano (5–7, 10, 14, 16, 17), backing vocals (5) *
Warren Ellis Warren Girard Ellis (born 16 February 1968) is an English comic book writer, novelist, and screenwriter. He is best known as the co-creator of several original comics series, including ''Transmetropolitan'' (1997–2002), ''Global Frequency'' ...
violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...
(3, 7–8, 10, 11),
accordion Accordions (from 19th-century German language, German ', from '—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a Reed (mou ...
(9), piano (9), looped violin (13) *
Jim Sclavunos James Sclavunos is an American multi-instrumentalist, record producer and writer. He is best known for his work as a drummer, having been a member of two seminal no wave groups in the late 1970s, Teenage Jesus & the Jerks and 8 Eyed Spy, both a ...
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 ...
(6),
melodica The melodica is a handheld free-reed instrument similar to a pump organ or harmonica. It features a musical keyboard on top, and is played by blowing air through a mouthpiece that fits into a hole in the side of the instrument. The keyboard usu ...
(12), bells (5, 14), percussion (13), organ (15), bongos (16), tambourine (17) *
Thomas Wydler Thomas Wydler (born 9 October 1959), is a Swiss musician, best known as the drummer of Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, which he has been a member of since 1985. Prior to joining the band, he was a founding member of the experimental German band Die ...
– drums (2, 3, 5, 7, 8, 10, 11, 13–17),
maracas A maraca ( , , ), sometimes called shaker or chac-chac, is a rattle which appears in many genres of Caribbean and Latin music. It is shaken by a handle and usually played as part of a pair. Maracas, also known as tamaracas, were rattles of d ...
(4), backing vocals (13) Technical personnel *
Flood A flood is an overflow of water (list of non-water floods, or rarely other fluids) that submerges land that is usually dry. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods are of significant con ...
producer,
engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who Invention, invent, design, build, maintain and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials. They aim to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while ...
, mixing * Chris Scard – co-producer, mixing *
Paul Corkett Paul Corkett is a British record producer, engineer and arranger. Biography Corkett got his start as an engineer in the mid-1980s, engineering singles and albums for bands as varied as ABC, the Chameleons, Twelfth Night and the Heart Throbs. H ...
– engineer * Paul Hicks – assistant engineer * Paul Wright – assistant engineer *
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds are a Rock music, rock band formed in Melbourne in 1983 by lead vocalist Nick Cave, multi-instrumentalist Mick Harvey and German guitarist-vocalist Blixa Bargeld. The band has featured international personnel throug ...
– additional production


Charts


Weekly charts


Year-end charts


Certifications


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Boatman's Call, The 1997 albums Nick Cave albums Mute Records albums Reprise Records albums