Swing the Statue!
Studio album by
Victoria Williams
ReleasedJune 1990
Recorded1990
StudioSunset Sound Factory, Hollywood, California
Length43:58
LabelRough Trade
ProducerMichael Blair, Victoria Williams
Victoria Williams chronology
Happy Come Home
(1987)		 Swing the Statue!
(1990)		 Loose
(1994)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
Christgau's Consumer Guide(choice cut)[2]
Select4/5[3]

Swing the Statue! is the second album by American singer/songwriter Victoria Williams, released in 1990 by Rough Trade Records.

Background

Williams’ debut, 1987's Happy Come Home, received some good critical reviews but made zero commercial impact, selling only fourteen thousand copies.[4] Her original label Geffen was unimpressed by the nonexistent sales and dropped Victoria,[5] after she fired her manager by mail.[6] Early in 1989 her marriage to Peter Case also fell apart.

After her split with Geffen, Victoria would record “Don't Let It Bring You Down” for the Neil Young tribute album The Bridge. She would record her second album in four days early in 1990,[6] focusing on the more joyful of the dozens of songs she had written over the three years since the debut album.

Williams would sign with Rough Trade Records early in 1990, as one of that label's last ever signings.[7] Despite many positive critical reviews, the collapse of Rough Trade would mean Swing the Statue! fared even worse commercially that its predecessor, selling a mere eleven thousand copies.[4]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Victoria Williams, unless otherwise noted

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Why Look at the Moon" 2:30
2."Boogieman" 3:50
3."Clothesline Song/Swing Little Girl""Swing Little Girl" - Charlie Chaplin4:32
4."Tarbelly and Featherfoot" 4:30
5."On Time" 3:12
6."Holy Spirit" 4:38
7."Summer of Drugs" 4:50
8."I Can't Cry Hard Enough"David Williams, Marvin Etzioni3:38
9."Wobbling" 3:15
10."Vieux Amis" 2:10
11."Weeds" 3:36
12."Lift Him Up"Traditional3:17

Personnel

  • Victoria Williams - vocals, acoustic guitar, piano, dulcimer
  • Willie Aron - electric and acoustic guitar, organ, backing vocals
  • Andrew Williams - acoustic guitar
  • Don Falzone - upright double bass, acoustic bass
  • Marty Rifkin - pedal steel guitar
  • Steven Soles - mandolin, trombone
  • Byron Berline - fiddle, mandolin
  • John Philip Shenale - Hammond organ, Kurzweil horns
  • Michael Blair - drums, Chinese drums, marimba, cowbell, vibraphone, glockenspiel, accordion, organ pedals, washboard, checkerbox, tambourine, backing vocals
  • David Williams - piano, backing vocals
  • Melissa Hasin - cello on "Wobbling"
  • Buddy Miller - vocals, guitar on "Lift Him Up"
  • Julie Miller - vocals on "Lift Him Up"

References

  1. ↑ Planer, Lindsay. "Swing the Statue! – Victoria Williams". AllMusic. Retrieved October 20, 2021.
  2. ↑ Christgau, Robert. "Victoria Williams [extended]". The Dean of American Rock Critics.
  3. ↑ O'Connell, Clodagh (July 1990). "Victoria Williams: Swing The Statue". Select. p. 118.
  4. 1 2 Bell, Carrie (1997-12-13). "Williams' "Musings" on Atlantic". Billboard.
  5. ↑ Prime, John Andrew (1990-07-01). "Local Group, Soloist, Release Latest Efforts". The Times. Shreveport, Louisiana. p. 66.
  6. 1 2 Hochman, Steve (1990-05-29). "Williams Finds New Joy After Some Sad Years". Los Angeles Times. pp. F1, F10.
  7. ↑ Young, Rob; Rough Trade, p. 176 ISBN 1904772471
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