Description
Tinseltown is the third studio album by the American singer, songwriter, and guitarist Pierce Pettis, released on High Street Records in June 1991, a division of Windham Hill. The album was produced, recorded, and mixed by Mark Heard at his Fingerprint Studios in Los Angeles, California. All songs written by Pierce Pettis.
Tom Willett of A&M Records heard Pettis debut recording Moments and invited him out to California. Through Willett, Pettis met Mark Heard who ended up producing his next album, Tinseltown (as well as playing electric guitars, mandolin, autoharp, and keyboards on the album). A couple of tracks on the album were done live in studio featuring a rhythm section consisting of Fergus Marsh playing the Chapman Stick (a longtime sideman of the Canadian singer-songwriter Bruce Cockburn) and drummer David Raven. The album also features David Miner and Tim Chandler on acoustic and fretless bass respectively, as well as percussion provided by Brad Dutz, David Baker, and Ralph Stewart.
Pierce Pettis is different from most singer/songwriters today. He’s not afraid to ask the tough questions and his music and lyrics speak volumes on what Pettis feels are the important issues in today’s society. However, he does it in a way that is accessible, without appearing preachy or overbearing. Tinseltown, his third LP, shows further advances in Pettis’ songwriting style, while, musically, the songs are filled out with percussion, mandolin, keyboards and electric guitar, adding textures that make the songs shimmer and set him apart from the current flock of performers in the new acoustic movement. The title track is a standout, a biting commentary on the current state of the poor in America, and give a listen to «Mickey Leland», a quiet yet moving tribute to the Texas congressman who died while attempting to help the starving people in Ethiopia. On the other side of coin, there’s the loopy groove of «Can’t Get Away From My Love» and the deeply personal «Little Man», Pettis’ delightful ode to his newborn son. With Tinseltown, Pierce Pettis combines the faculties of a master poet with a songwriting adeptness very few possess, and emerges as a powerful voice willing to speak up against the madness in a way that’s both vital and refreshing. [Jim Caligiuri, CMJ New Music Report, July 05]
If you have been lamenting the untimely death of singer songwriter Mark Heard last August, here’s an album to bring you cheer. Like recent efforts from Randy Stonehill and Garth Hewitt it was produced by Mark and is very much in his mould. Indeed, Pierce Pettis proves himself equal to his mentor with a fine selection of well crafted songs. «In So Many Words» is a brilliant expose of superficial conversation and relates that “When the talk gets serious our voices fade.” In «Mickey Leland» he mourns the passing of a US senator as another of the good die young. He writes touchingly about his grandmother and his «Little Man». Overall, the lyrics are of a quality found on a Cockburn album. And talking of Bruce, the Canadian certainly has a rival here in terms of acoustic guitar playing. To merit a couple of instrumentals on an album you just have to play well. So let’s give full credit to a versatile producer. One man falls but his torch is carried on by another. Great stuff. [Chris Tozer, Cross Rhythms, February 1993]
Pierce Pettis seems to get a little better with each album. Or maybe I’m learning to enjoy him the way I enjoy my old, ripped-up tennies and Levis. His gentle melodies roll into my ears and off of my back, but usually not until he’s dropped some important insight between my shoulder blades.
Production is handled by Mark Heard. He uses the instruments to serve as a backdrop to Pettis’s warm, heartfelt vocals. Setting the tone right away with «Moments», the first song, Pierce reminds us that life is often transitory and sad. That’s what makes fallenness the perfect canyon for God’s echo of hope through Christ. Whether we hear it through the example of Congressman Mickey Leland, who died establishing free food zones in Ethiopia, or in the pleading of the homeless and mentally numb classes (poor, middle, upper – take your pick), we hear it loud and clear in ‘Tinseltown’. Do we respond? Not most of us. Pierce Pettis is a small candle in a very dark room. [D.C.]
When I worked with David Miner on Chase the Buffalo it was very much along the lines of what Mark Heard and I had talked about doing. When we were finishing up ‘Tinseltown’, the last couple of tracks were done live. Mostly out of necessity. We had booked this studio which cost a fortune. It was called The Sound Factory – a very famous studio – and we just didn’t have time to do anything else. I went in and played the tracks and sang them with the band – with Fergus Marsh and David Raven, right there in the studio. It had such intensity. That’s where we cut the song «Tinseltown» and a couple of others. Those songs were so powerful that we thought, “Man, we should do a whole album like this.” That’s what I ended up doing with David Miner. David worked on ‘Tinseltown’ and although he didn’t work on that particular session, he was around and heard the tracks. [Pierce Pettis, 2001-interview]
CD tracklist:
01. Moments – 3:15
02. Can’t Get Away From My Love – 3:39
03. So Many Words – 2:40
04. Mickey Leland – 3:50
05. Flannery’s Georgia – 2:25
06. You Need A Love – 3:13
07. Little Man – 3:54
08. Swimming – 4:19
09. Grandmother’s Song – 4:37
10. From Way Up Here – 3:58
11. Infernal Equinox – 1:35
12. Tinseltown – 5:53
Note: Simultaneously released on cassette, 12-inch vinyl LP, and CD by High Street Records.
CREDITS. Produced by Mark Heard. Recorded and mixed by Mark Heard at Fingerprint Studios, Los Angeles, CA. Additional recording at Sunset Sound Factory, Hollywood, CA. Second Engineer: Neal Avron. Digitally Mastered by Eddy Schreyer at Furure Disc Systems, Hollywood, CA. Mastering supervised by Mark Boddeker. Art Direction and Design by Steve Vance. Photography by Howard Rosenberg. Executive Producer for Sound Cell Productions: Doug Jansen Smith. All songs written by Pierce Pettis. “Swimming” is for Father Bernard McClory.
Musicians: Pierce Pettis (Vocals, Acoustic Guitars, Electric Guitar, Hi-String Guitar, Harmonica, Keyboards), Mark Heard (Electric Guitars, Mandolin, Autoharp, Keyboards), Jeff Davis (Digeridoo), Larry Knight (Electric Guitar on track 2, Mandolin on track 4), Fergus Marsh (Chapman Stick), David Miner (Acoustic Bass), Tim Chandler (Fretless Bass), David Raven (Drums), David Baker (African Percussion), Brad Dutz (Percussion), Ralph Stewart (Percussion). Background Vocals: Bob Duskis, Pam Dwinell, Mark Heard, Mimi Hearn, Doug Jansen Smith, Ralph Stewart,and Pierce Pettis.
Reviews
There are no reviews yet.