La Peste

by Alabama 3

Overview

Most Americans' introduction to A3 came via the use of the group's "Woke Up This Morning" at the start of episodes of the television series The Sopranos. The odd combination of gutbucket rhythms, gospel harmonies, electronic bleeps, and Robb Spragg's gravely voice intoning, "Woke up this morning with a blue moon in your eye," as the camera records a passenger-seat view of a car emerging from the Lincoln Tunnel and making its way through the industrial wasteland of northern New Jersey is now an indelible TV experience. But Sopranos fans might be surprised to know that the song is the work of an odd musical collective from the Brixton district of London who sport such pseudonyms as the Empiricist (guitarist Mark Sams) and The Spirit (keyboard player Orlando Harrison). It's no wonder that placing them is difficult. They seem to have spent most of their time absorbing media depictions of America, minus any cultural context, and then mixing these undigested references up with dance music. Though the beats rarely flag on the group's second album, La Peste, elements of folk, country, blues, and gospel come and go in incongruous profusion. Similarly, the lyrics, sung largely by Spragg (sorry, he also calls himself Larry Love), name-drop endlessly and even borrow phrases and titles from other songs -- "Mansion on the Hill" is also the title of a Hank Williams song, for example, and "Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlife" recycles Bob Dylan's "Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands." The result is at best gimmicky and at worst pretentious. And speaking of pretentious, Charles Harrison's liner notes acknowledge the band's music to be "flagrantly inauthentic," then speculate whether "their American audience" realizes this and, if so, what they make of it. The answer, so far, is that A3's American audience is confined to Sopranos fans who don't have a clue who they are, anyway. Those fans are likely to enjoy La Peste, if they find out about it, since much of it sounds like "Woke Up This Morning," though they may well wonder what the band is on about. That's a good question. ~ William Ruhlmann

Product Details

Release Date:	08/04/2023
Label:	One Little Indian
UPC:	5016958099084
Rank:	67183

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Alabama 3   Primary Artist
Segs   Bass,Guitar,Vocals (Background)
Bobby Valentino   Violin,Mandolin
Simon Limbrick   Drums (Steel)
Mountain of Love   Harmonica,Synthesizer
Ned Morant   Triangle
Bernie Clarke   Organ (Hammond)
Ray Mascarenas   Vocals (Background)
Jenna Spencer   Vocals,Vocals (Background)
Delrig   Vocals (Background)
Dwayne Love   Vocals
L.B. Dope   Drums
Paddy Hill   Vocals
S.P.I.R.I.T.   Keyboards
Empiricist   Guitar
Sir "Real" Love   Percussion
Delridg JC   Vocals (Background)
Steve Dub   Synthesizer
Steve Roberts   Vocals (Background)
Larry Love   Vocals
Dub   Synthesizer
Eileen Rose   Vocals,Vocals (Background)
Valerie Harrison   Vocals (Background)
Treat   Vocals
Spirit   Keyboards

Technical Credits

Dub   Producer,Programming
Ben Chapman   Cut,DJ
Don Felder   Composer
Charles Harrison   Composer,Liner Notes
Alabama 3   Composer
Tim Young   Mastering
Steve Dub   Mixing,Engineer,Producer,Programming
Segs   Mixing,Producer
John Delafons   Composer
Orlando Harrison   Composer
Mountain of Love   Programming
Piers Marsh   Composer
Think 1   Design
Bernie Clarke   Arranger
Rev. D. Wayne Love   Composer
Ray Mascarenas   Mixing
Simon Edwards   Composer
Guralnick   Management
Jake Black   Composer
Empiricist   Composer
Riviera   Management
Johnson   Management
Rob Spragg   Composer
Mark Sams   Composer
Lushlife Horns   Overdubs
Larry Love   Producer
John Collyer   Engineer
Don Henley   Composer
John "Big JW" Wilkinson   Engineer
Nigel Bennett   Photography
Anthony Hamilton   Composer
Glenn Frey   Composer