Name: Stories
Brand: Hannibal Records
SKU: 168615
Price: 5.56 GBP
Availability: InStock

Performer Notes

Personnel: Maura O'Connell, James Taylor, Cheryl Wheeler, Andrea Zonn, Harry Stinson (vocals); Zane Baxter, Richard McLaurin (vocals, guitar); Paul Brady (guitar); Gerry O'Beirne (12-string guitar); Jerry Douglas (dobro, lap steel guitar, background vocals); Tim O'Brien (mandolin); David Davidson, Clare Olson, Connie Heard, Mary Kathryn Vanosdale (violin); Stuart Duncan (fiddle); Kris Wilkinson (viola); Grace Bahng (cello); Edgar Meyer (arco bass, bass); John Mock (whistle, tin whistle); Steve Conn (accordion, keyboards); Craig Nelson, Michael Rhodes, Dave Pomeroy (bass); Fran Breen (drums); Mac Bennett, Lou Deen, Mary Flanagan, Leila Montague, Ronna Rubin, Paul Ward (background vocals).
Recorded at Music Row Audio, Nashville, Tennessee.
Personnel: Maura O'Connell (vocals); Zane Baxter, Richard McLaurin (vocals, guitar); Jerry Douglas (vocals, steel guitar, dobro); Cheryl Wheeler, Harry Stinson, James Taylor , Andrea Zonn (vocals); John Mock (whistling); Paul Brady (guitar); Gerry O'Beirne (12-string guitar); Tim O'Brien (mandolin); Connie Heard, Mary Kathryn Van Osdale, David Davidson (violin); Stuart Duncan (fiddle); Kris Wilkinson (viola); Grace Bahng (cello); John O'Brien (tin whistle); Steve Conn (accordion, keyboards); Fran Breen (drums).
Audio Mixer: Bil VornDick.
Recording information: Music Row Audio, Nashville, TN.
Photographer: Gwendolen Cates.
1995's STORIES, Maura O'Connell's first album for Hannibal Records after an artistically successful though commercially unsatisfying three-album tenure at Warner Brothers, pulls back a bit from the increasingly blatant crossover attempts of her major-label years. Producer Jerry Douglas wisely keeps the country-star cameos to a bare minimum--only singer/songwriter Paul Brady, a longtime O'Connell fave, appears here, playing guitar on his own title track--so as to better focus the spotlight on O'Connell's stunning mezzo-soprano and unfailing ability not only to pick the right song, but also to sing it as if it were a exploration of her deepest thoughts and feelings. There are a few well-known covers here, ranging from the Beatles' winsome "If I Fell" to Shawn Colvin's ominous "Shotgun Down the Avalanche," but most of these songs are recorded here for the first time, gifts from the songwriters to this extraordinary interpretive singer. Highlights include John Gorka's dark "Blue Chalk" and Jimmy MacCarthy's springy "Love Divine."

Album: Stories
#	Song Title	Time
1)	Blue Chalk
2)	Hit the Ground Running
3)	Love Divine
4)	Poetic Justice
5)	Stories
6)	Half Moon Bay
7)	This Town Can't Get over You
8)	Rainmaker
9)	Shotgun Down the Avalanche
10)	Ordinary Day, An
11)	If I Fell
12)	Wall Around Your Heart

Album: Stories
#	Song Title	Time
1)	Blue Chalk
2)	Hit the Ground Running
3)	Love Divine
4)	Poetic Justice
5)	Stories
6)	Half Moon Bay
7)	This Town Can't Get over You
8)	Rainmaker
9)	Shotgun Down the Avalanche
10)	Ordinary Day, An
11)	If I Fell
12)	Wall Around Your Heart