Joan Osborne - The "Pretty Little Stranger" Era

[Chelsea Press 2]

from FMQB:

Singer/songwriter Joan Osbourne will release Pretty Little Stranger, her first album for Vanguard Records, on November 14. She describes the record as "my version of a country record -- some of it very traditional, some less so. It tells feelings and stories in very simple language, and I wanted to focus on that simple way of communicating, rather than be flowery and poetic. I needed to get down to the bare bones and I feel like we did a good job of doing that.

[SHOOTER]

small correction: there's no U in her last name. ;)

[Damage]

<3 her.

I had a crush on her for a second :)

[Damage]

SANTA MONICA, CA -- (ENP Newswire) -- 09/01/06 -- Premier vocalist and songwriter, JoanOsborne, will be releasing her Vanguard Records debut, "Pretty LittleStranger," on November 14th.

Recorded in Nashville and produced by Grammy winner, Steve Buckingham,"Pretty Little Stranger" highlights the soulful sound of Joan Osborne withelements of country blues and Americana. This 12 song collection features six original tunes written by Joan including the first single, "Who Divided," "Shake That Devil," "After Jane" and the title track and also compositions by Kris Kristofferson ("Please Don't Tell Me How The Story Ends"), Jerry Garcia/Robert Hunter ("Brokedown Palace") and Patty Griffin("What You Are").

Joan stated, "I would call this my version of a country record -- some of it very traditional, some less so. It tells feelings and stories in very simple language, and I wanted to focus on that simple way of communicating, rather than be flowery and poetic. I needed to get down to the bare bonesand I feel like we did a good job of doing that."

"Pretty Little Stranger" features some of music's finest performers lendingtheir talents including Vince Gill on "Time Won't Tell," Alison Krauss,"Holy Waters," Sonny Landreth playing slide guitar on "Dead Roses" and Rodney Crowell providing harmony vocals on his own "When The Blue Hour Comes."

Joan Osborne had one of the biggest releases of the mid-90s with "Relish"and participated in the historic and successful Lilith Fair Tour. She has worked with a myriad of artists like Bob Dylan, Stevie Wonder, TheChieftains and Bonnie Raitt. She toured with The Dead in the summer of2004 and recently finished a tour with Phil Lesh & Friends.

[Nick]

I've always liked her voice.

I loved "One Of Us" and "Ladder" from her debut.

[MusicMan88]

Oh wow, this sounds like it could be fantastic. I'm really excited to hear it.

[Devil Marlena Nylund]

I'm surprised it took 4 replies before someone even mentioned 'One Of Us'! LOL! ;)

I'll keep my ears open. I've reintroduced 'Right Hand Man' and 'St. Teresa' into my playlist.

[SHOOTER]

I LOVE "St. Teresa" and her cover of "What Becomes of the Brokenhearted?"

[Damage]

This came out today!



I heard Pretty Little Things and it sucked!

But maybe it's more for country fans?

[reception]

kevin59 said:

NOV 14, 2006

Joan Osborne
"Pretty Little Stranger"
(Vanguard Records)

Listen to FULL stream of CD (Courtesy of CMT Website)

www.cmt.com/artists/az/osborne_joan/1353318/album.jhtml

alex81979 said:

But maybe it's more for country fans?

Possibly, but it's way more appropriate to keep it here in Music News.

[cwfultz]

I'm a huge fan of "Right Hand Man" and "Let's Just Get Naked".

[giovannina]

Anyone know how Joan's album is doing in sales?

I saw her perform with Bo Bice on an Oxygen channel Christmas special last year and was impressed with her jazz stylings. The only other work of hers I'm familiar with is "One Of Us," which I didn't like much at first but now do.

[Damage]

Buy it, then she'll have one more sale, since you're so concerned about sales.

[giovannina]

Hey, if I spent my entire income on CDs, it wouldn't make a dent in anyone's SoundScan standings. LOL
Anyway, I usually buy albums second-hand or download individual songs from iTunes. But it would seem that being curious about artists' sales isn't exactly unusual among Pulse Board members. ;-D

[Damage]

This is decent. It's not as heartfelt to me as some of her previous stuff. It's more storytelling, where I really felt the emotions in some of her other work and felt they had personal meaning for her. Still nice though.

[giovannina]

kevin59 said:

NOV 14, 2006

Joan Osborne
"Pretty Little Stranger"
(Vanguard Records)

Listen to FULL stream of CD (Courtesy of CMT Website)

www.cmt.com/artists/az/osborne_joan/1353318/album.jhtml

alex81979 said:

But maybe it's more for country fans?

Thanks, Kevin.

(Damned dial-up!! >:( Hafta wait till next week when I have DSL to get to listen to it!)

[reception]

Reviewed by Brian Mansfield
USA Today

Joan Osborne, Pretty Little Stranger
(* * * out of four)
Country soul

On 2002’s How Sweet It Is, Osborne covered ‘60s and ‘70s soul. Here, she does a fairly convincing job of reinventing herself as a country singer. Osborne gets material from country’s core songwriters (Kris Kristofferson, Harlan Howard, Red Lane) and others at the periphery (Patty Griffin, the Grateful Dead), flanking them with originals that, at their best, sound like late-’80s Rosanne Cash

[reception]

Week Of: November 20, 2006

Joan Osborne
Pretty Little Stranger
(Vanguard/Welk)
Producer: Steve Buckingham
Release Date: Nov. 14

Pop-rockers who take a stab at country music are often doomed before they start simply because the sides of country's back roads are virtually littered with stories of rejection by the Nashville establishment, country radio or both. Although Osborne's first crack at the country market is delivered by the independently distributed Vanguard imprint, an indie label is hardly the liability it once was for aspiring country acts. Now that country radio has welcomed the more progressive sounds of The Wreckers (led by former popster Michelle Branch), just the right combination of luck and perseverance might yield similar results for Osborne. The music is certainly worthy of a second look by programmers seeking hits, regardless of label size or musical pedigree.

If programmers heard the entire album without knowing who the artist is or which label it's on, quick trips to the control room would likely be the result. Choice cuts include "Please Don't Tell Me How the Story Ends," "Till I Get It Right" and "Time Won't Tell." Collaborators include Alison Krauss, Vince Gill, Dan Tyminski and others.

-Wade Jessen
Radio & Records

[areyoureadytojump]

MTV.com:

Joan "One of Us" Osbourne's Breakfast in Bed comes in at #160 on sales of 4,500.

Please move to Artist Discussion. Thanks.

[SHOOTER]

Wow. She did that well?

[areyoureadytojump]

6/16 chart

188 Joan Osborne “Breakfast In Bed” 3,711 4,474 -17 8,246

[areyoureadytojump]

6/23 chart

Falls off the BB200.