Gas Food Lodging
Studio album by
Green on Red
Released1985
LabelEnigma
ProducerPaul B. Cutler
Green on Red chronology
Gravity Talks
(1983)		 Gas Food Lodging
(1985)		 No Free Lunch
(1985)

Gas Food Lodging is an album by the American band Green on Red, released in 1985.[1][2] It was the band's only album for Enigma Records.[3] George Pelecanos references the album in his novel A Firing Offense.[4]

Production

Recorded in five days, Gas Food Lodging was produced by Paul B. Cutler.[5][6] Chuck Prophet joined the band prior to the recording sessions for the album.[7] The band incorporated a more pronounced country sound on many of the songs.[8] "We Shall Overcome" is a cover of the gospel anthem.[9] "Sixteen Ways" is about an old man who outlives his many children.[10]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[11]
Robert ChristgauB−[12]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music[13]
Entertainment WeeklyB+[14]
MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide[6]
Martin C. Strong8/10[15]

Robert Palmer, in The New York Times, wrote that, "musically it's perhaps the most distinctive and accomplished of all the recent 60's-rooted albums"; he later listed the album among the best of 1985.[16][17] The Ottawa Citizen determined that "the roughness lends the music a measure of down-homeiness, but its stories do not reflect down-home attitudes... This is a bleak view of the American heartland."[18]

The Sunday Times called the album "clanging road music, the driven sounds of Californian boredom."[19] The Omaha World-Herald noted that "the bleak power of a record like Gas Food Lodging [is] akin to New York art bands like Television or the Velvet Underground."[9]

AllMusic concluded: "Gas Food Lodging is too loose and deliberately ramshackle to support the title of masterpiece, but calling it Green on Red's best album will do nicely."[11] Reviewing a reissue, Entertainment Weekly opined that the music could be likened to "garage Americana."[14]

Track listing

No.TitleLength
1."That's What Dreams" 
2."Black River" 
3."Hair of the Dog" 
4."This I Know" 
5."Fading Away" 
6."Easy Way Out" 
7."Sixteen Ways" 
8."The Drifter" 
9."Sea of Cortez" 
10."We Shall Overcome" 

References

  1. ↑ Palmer, Robert (9 Sep 1985). "Green on Red, Rock as American Folk". The New York Times. p. C17.
  2. ↑ DeLuca, Dan (8 July 2018). "Mix Picks". The Philadelphia Inquirer. p. H7.
  3. ↑ "Green on Red Biography by Denise Sullivan". AllMusic. Retrieved 13 May 2023.
  4. ↑ Pelecanos, George (2011). A Firing Offense. Little, Brown.
  5. ↑ Vaziri, Aidin (November 1, 2009). "S.F.'s Chuck Prophet looks back". San Francisco Chronicle. p. Q34.
  6. 1 2 MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide. Visible Ink Press. 1999. p. 507.
  7. ↑ Gilbert, Barry (29 May 2008). "'Every song like a movie' Chuck Prophet sees his songs as cinema". Get Out. St. Louis Post-Dispatch. p. 6.
  8. ↑ "Green on Red". Trouser Press. Retrieved 13 May 2023.
  9. 1 2 Catlin, Roger (June 2, 1985). "One of the most solid bands...". Entertainment. Omaha World-Herald.
  10. ↑ Tomashoff, Craig (Sep 1985). "Spins". Spin. 1 (5): 27.
  11. 1 2 "Gas Food Lodging Review by Mark Deming". AllMusic. Retrieved 13 May 2023.
  12. ↑ "Green on Red". Robert Christgau. Retrieved 13 May 2023.
  13. ↑ Larkin, Colin (2006). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Vol. 3. MUZE. p. 886.
  14. 1 2 Brunner, Rob. "Gas Food Lodging/Green on Red". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 13 May 2023.
  15. ↑ Strong, Martin C. (2003). The Great Indie Discography (2nd ed.). Canongate. p. 355.
  16. ↑ Palmer, Robert (2 June 1985). "Psychedelic Rock Stages a Comeback". The New York Times. p. A23.
  17. ↑ Palmer, Robert (29 Dec 1985). "The Year's Best: Rock Flexed Its Social and Political Muscles". The New York Times. p. A23.
  18. ↑ Erskine, Evelyn (3 Apr 1987). "Rock". Ottawa Citizen. p. F5.
  19. ↑ Frith, Simon (July 14, 1985). "Rock". The Sunday Times.
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