Scar (Joe Henry album)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- September 7–10 & 27-29, 2000
- The Sound Factory (Hollywood, California)
- Sear Sound (New York City, New York)
| Scar | ||||
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | May 15, 2001 | |||
| Recorded |
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| Studio |
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| Genre | Alternative rock | |||
| Length | 57:59 | |||
| Label | Mammoth | |||
| Producer |
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| Joe Henry chronology | ||||
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| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [1] |
| Alternative Press | 8/10[2] |
| The Guardian | [3] |
| Los Angeles Times | [4] |
| Pitchfork | 4.0/10[5] |
| Q | [6] |
| Rolling Stone |  [7] |
| The Rolling Stone Album Guide | [8] |
| Spin | 8/10[9] |
| Uncut | [10] |
Scar is the eighth studio album by Joe Henry, released in May 2001 on Mammoth Records. Co-produced by Craig Street, it marked another shift in direction for Henry's music, and a foray into the genres of jazz and soul music. The opening track is a homage to comedian Richard Pryor (whom the album is also dedicated to), and according to Henry's essay "The Ghost in the Song," he was "called by a vision" to collaborate with free jazz artist Ornette Coleman. Henry wrote:
I had a dream. A "vision," I'm tempted to say. And the vision had a voice, and the voice spoke a word: Ornette. It didn't need to speak the other word, for I knew. I needed Ornette Coleman's musical voice to complete the song with which I was at that precise moment struggling.
Henry eventually convinced Coleman to record a solo for the track "Richard Pryor Addresses a Tearful Nation," and also contributed a reprise at the very end of the album as a hidden track. Henry discusses his interactions with Coleman at length as the last part of a 2016 interview.[11]
Another track of note is "Stop", a tango written by Henry. His wife, Melanie, sent an early demo of the track to her sister Madonna, who re-used the lyrics for "Don't Tell Me". Henry often quips during live gigs that "I recorded my version as a tango, and she recorded hers as a hit".
Lizz Wright recorded a jazzy take on "Stop" which she included in her 2005 release Dreaming Wide Awake, also an album produced by Craig Street and recorded by S. Husky Höskulds.
