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BIOGRAPHY - DISCOGRAPHY
"See
Jesse Winchester at historic concert in Bearsville/Woodstock, NY
"
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After an eleven-year hiatus
from the studio, singer/songwriter Jesse Winchester is back with his
second album for Sugar Hill, Gentleman of Leisure. Produced
in Nashville by Jerry Douglas, the collaboration renewed the artist’s
enthusiasm for recording that had been abandoned in 1988 after the
release of his critically acclaimed project Humour Me.
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“You’ve
heard the story a thousand times before. It happened to me. I took
stock and thought, ‘The only thing making money for me in this business
is songwriting,’” said Winchester. “I don’t make any (money) from
records and what little I did make from performing wasn’t usually worth
the aggravation.”
Though
he recorded prolifically between 1970 and 1981, Winchester had enough
of performing and recording after the 1988 album. Disgusted, burned-out
and drinking too much, he decided to focus on the craft that had
already brought him success with such artists as Elvis Costello, Joan
Baez, The Everly Brothers, Jimmy Buffett, Waylon Jennings, Bonnie Raitt
and Emmylou Harris -- all who delved into his treasure chest of songs.
As
the nineties went by, his songs continued to find success - primarily
in Nashville. Winchester says that during that decade, “Reba McEntire
made a lot of money for me. I placed a couple of cuts on Wynonna’s
album. Emmylou Harris did some of my tunes too. I made enough money to
keep myself going and make my alimony payments.”
But
as he continued writing songs, the desire to cut some of his own
material was nagging at him. “I guess guilt had a lot to do with it,”
he laughs. “I just felt like I should do it. And even from a financial
standpoint, even though my records have not sold a lot, they’ve always
functioned as glorified demos. So from that point of view, it made
sense for me to get back in the studio.” And since Winchester owed
Sugar Hill an album anyway, he got in touch with Barry Poss, who put
him in the studio with the right producer.
With
Jerry Douglas at the production helm, recording Gentleman of
Leisure was so positive that Winchester was “sort of blue” when
the process was over. “Jerry is very decisive which is what you need in
the studio. He has a strong mind and qualities you want in a friend and
a colleague. I’m ready to make another album. You really can’t do it
all by yourself, which is what I’ve been trying to do. These sessions
helped me get my head back on straight.”
Musicians
on Gentleman of Leisure include Byron House, John Gardner,
Bryan Sutton, Mike Henderson, and Steve Cropper, whom Winchester had
pretty much idolized since his teenage years in Memphis grooving to the
sounds of Booker T. & The MG’s. Jerry Douglas’ superlative Dobro
and lap steel work is featured on several tracks, and Vince Gill
appears as a guest vocalist on “Just Because I’m In Love With You.” The
legendary Fairfield Four joined Winchester on the gospel number,
“Wander My Way Home,” and the experience was “too good to be true.”
The
album offers laid-back rock songs like “Club Manhattan,” Sweet Little
Shoe” and the title track. Slow dancers will enjoy wistful ballads “No
Pride At All” and “Then I Wave Bye Bye.” And Winchester’s Nashville
success flavors the songs “Sweet Lovin’ Daddy,” “Evil Angel” and
“Freewheeler,” and the super cool tune “Just Like New,” a brilliant
song about Elvis which Wynonna used on her album Tell Me Why.
Although
Winchester recorded the album in Nashville, the Memphis native
continues to live in Quebec province outside of Montreal. He is perhaps
the most well known American to have chosen Canadian exile over being
drafted for the Vietnam War in 1967. He soon began playing the piano in
Montreal cafes and writing songs. Though he had left Tennessee, his
songs had the unmistakably southern feel that combined the best of
country with rhythm and blues.
Fellow
Canadian Robbie Robertson took an interest in Winchester’s career,
helping him land a record deal with the Bearsville label and produced
his self - titled debut album. Aided by the drum and mandolin work of
Levon Helm and the engineering of Todd Rundgren, the album signaled the
emergence of a sensitive and literate tunesmith that invoked the tone
of the 70s, having an impact on listeners and musicians alike.
After
established a highly regarded run of albums in the ‘70s with
Bearsville, Winchester moved to Sugar Hill Records and released Humour
Me, which Stereo Review termed, “a delight from start to
finish” (May 1989), while People Magazine noted that
comparisons between Winchester and James Taylor “aren’t out of line,”
and that he “certainly seems too obscure for a performer of his
talent.” (Feb. 1989.)
With
the release of Gentleman of Leisure, Winchester is
enthusiastic, back on track and back on the road with a wealth of music
that illustrates his twenty plus years as a prolific songwriter and
singer. If you aren’t familiar with Jesse Winchester, it’s never too
late to start.
Album Discography
1999 Gentleman of Leisure (Sugar
Hill)
1989 The Best of Jesse Winchester
(Rhino)
1988 Humour Me (Sugar Hill)
1981 Talk Memphis (Bearsville)
1978 A Touch on the Rainy Side
(Bearsville)
1977 Nothing But a Breeze
(Bearsville)
1976 Let the Rough Side Drag
(Bearsville)
1975 Live at the Bijou Café
(Bearsville)
1974 Learn to Love It
(Bearsville)
1972 Third Down, 110 to Go
(Bearsville)
1970 Jesse Winchester
(Bearsville)
Visit the Jesse
Winchester web site.
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