August and Everything After
1993 studio album by Counting Crows
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August and Everything After is the debut studio album by American rock band Counting Crows, released September 14, 1993, on DGC Records. The album was produced by T Bone Burnett and featured the founding members of the band: Steve Bowman (drums), David Bryson (guitar), Adam Duritz (vocals), Charlie Gillingham (keyboards), and Matt Malley (bass). Among the several session musicians used for the album was multi-instrumentalist David Immerglück, who later joined the band as a full-time member in 1999, as well as Burnett, who also provided additional guitar work.
| August and Everything After | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | September 14, 1993 | |||
| Recorded | February−June 1993 | |||
| Studios | Counting Crows' home studio, Kiva West Recording Studios, Conway Recording Studios, Village Recorders, and Sunset Sound Recorders, Los Angeles | |||
| Genres | ||||
| Length | 51:42 | |||
| Label | DGC | |||
| Producers |
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| Counting Crows chronology | ||||
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| Singles from August and Everything After | ||||
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Four singles were released from the album, the highest charting of which was "Mr. Jones", which peaked at number 5 on the Billboard US Radio Songs Chart and number 2 on several genre-specific Billboard charts.[3] The album itself was well received by critics and has gone multi-platinum in several countries, including the U.S. where it has sold over seven million copies, and peaked at number 4 on the Billboard 200 album chart.
The album cover depicts handwritten lyrics to the titular song, but the band decided against featuring the song on the album; it was not until over a decade later that it was played as part of one of their live concerts. The song "August and Everything After" was released on January 24, 2019, as an Amazon Original.[4]
On September 18, 2007, a two-disc deluxe edition of the album was issued. The first disc contains the original album, remastered by Adam Ayan at Gateway Mastering, with six demos added as bonus tracks. The second disc is taken from the band's penultimate performance during the August tour, recorded at Élysée Montmartre in Paris, France, on December 9, 1994.
The album August & Everything After: Live at Town Hall was released on August 29, 2011, featuring live recordings of the songs from this album. More than 6 million copies of the album have been sold by February 2002 in the US.[5]
Critical reception
| Initial reviews (in 1993/1994) | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Calgary Herald | B[6] |
| Entertainment Weekly | D[7] |
| NME | 6/10[8] |
| Rolling Stone |   [9] |
| Select |   [10] |
| The Village Voice | B−[11] |
| Retrospective reviews (after 1993/1994) | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic | [12] |
| The Encyclopedia of Popular Music | [13] |
| MusicHound Rock | [14] |
| The Rolling Stone Album Guide |  [15] |
| Uncut | [16] |
The Washington Post wrote: "Enlisting accordions, mandolin, pedal steel, and harmonica to flavor the usual rock instrumentation, the Crows play transliterated Celtic-rock not unlike the Hooters'. Such music seems to require a sense of self importance, and the quintet is not lacking".[17]
Rolling Stone placed the album at 67 on its list of the "100 Best Albums of the ’90s", published in October 2019.[18]
Track listing
Original release
All tracks are written by Adam Duritz unless otherwise indicated.
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Round Here" |
| 5:32 |
| 2. | "Omaha" | 3:40 | |
| 3. | "Mr. Jones" |
| 4:33 |
| 4. | "Perfect Blue Buildings" | 5:01 | |
| 5. | "Anna Begins" |
| 4:32 |
| 6. | "Time and Time Again" |
| 5:13 |
| 7. | "Rain King" |
| 4:16 |
| 8. | "Sullivan Street" |
| 4:29 |
| 9. | "Ghost Train" | 4:01 | |
| 10. | "Raining in Baltimore" | 4:41 | |
| 11. | "A Murder of One" |
| 5:44 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12. | "Shallow Days" (Acoustic Demo) |
| 4:50 |
| 13. | "Mean Jumper Blues" (Acoustic Demo) | Blind Lemon Jefferson | 4:24 |
| 14. | "Love and Addiction" (Demo) |
| 4:21 |
| 15. | "Omaha" (Demo) | 3:18 | |
| 16. | "Shallow Days" (Demo) |
| 4:41 |
| 17. | "This Land Is Your Land" (Acoustic Demo) | Woody Guthrie | 3:44 |
2007 deluxe edition bonus disc
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Anna Begins" |
| 5:21 |
| 2. | "Omaha" | 3:43 | |
| 3. | "Jumping Jesus" |
| 3:01 |
| 4. | "Margery Dreams of Horses" | Duritz[19] | 4:13 |
| 5. | "Perfect Blue Buildings" | 5:24 | |
| 6. | "Round Here" |
| 11:45 |
| 7. | "Rain King" |
| 4:49 |
| 8. | "Time and Time Again" |
| 6:16 |
| 9. | "Ghost Train" | 5:38 | |
| 10. | "Children in Bloom" | 5:27 | |
| 11. | "A Murder of One" |
| 14:42 |
| 12. | "Sullivan Street" |
| 5:10 |
| 13. | "The Ghost in You" | 3:36 |
Personnel
Counting Crows
- Steve Bowman – drums, vocals
- David Bryson – guitars, vocals
- Adam Duritz – vocals, piano, harmonica
- Charlie Gillingham – piano, Hammond B3, accordion, Chamberlin, vocals
- Matt Malley – bass, guitar, vocals
Additional personnel
- Bill Dillon – guitar, guitorgan
- Denny Fongheiser – percussion, drums on track 3
- David Immerglück – guitars, mandolins, pedal steel guitar, mandocello, vocals
- Gary Louris – backing vocals
- Maria McKee – backing vocals
- Mark Olson – backing vocals
- T Bone Burnett – guitar, producer
- Stephen Marcussen – mastering at Precision Mastering, Los Angeles, CA
- Adam Ayan – 2007 Deluxe Edition mastering at Gateway Mastering, Portland, Maine
Charts
Weekly charts
|
Year-end charts
Decade-end charts
|
Certifications
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| Australia (ARIA)[44] | Platinum | 70,000^ |
| Canada (Music Canada)[45] | 7× Platinum | 831,000[46] |
| Denmark (IFPI Danmark)[47] | Platinum | 20,000‡ |
| New Zealand (RMNZ)[48] | Platinum | 15,000^ |
| Spain (Promusicae)[49] | Gold | 50,000^ |
| United Kingdom (BPI)[50] | Platinum | 300,000^ |
| United States (RIAA)[51] | 7× Platinum | 7,000,000^ |
| Summaries | ||
| Worldwide | — | 10,000,000[52] |
|
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. | ||