Track Listing
1. Days of Wonder
2. Long Way Down
3. Love Me, Love Me Not
4. Too Many Memories
5. Awaiting Redemption
6. Slow Down Sunset
7. Tell Me
8. Unforgiven, The
9. When Blue Was Just a Color
10. Turn of the Wheel
11. Dear Anna Lee
12. Lonely Old Me
| Details | | Contributing Artists: | Anson Funderburgh, Delbert McClinton | | Producer: | Stephen Bruton | | Distributor: | WEA (Distributor) | | Recording Type: | Studio | | Recording Mode: | Stereo | | SPAR Code: | n/a |
Album Notes
Personnel: Hal Ketchum (vocals, acoustic guitar, mandolin); Jason Wilber (acoustic & electric guitar); Stephen Bruton (electric, slide & wah wah guitar, mandolin, background vocals); Anson Funderburgh (electric guitar); Delbert McClinton, Teddy Roddy (harmonica); Steven Conn (accordion); Kevin McEndree, Mike Utley (piano, Hammond B-3 organ); Keith Carper (bass, background vocals); Chris Nieto (drums); Chris Searles (percussion); Malford Milligan, Sir Harry Bowens, "Sweet Pea" Atkinson, Judy Tagt, Tracy Bartelle (background vocals).
Principally recorded at The Castle and Woodland Studios, Nashville, Tennessee. Includes liner notes by Jimmie Dale Gilmore.
Musicians who bought Hal Ketchum's 1998 album I SAW THE LIGHT may have noticed that the songs seemed to divide into two types: pop/country fare and grittier, more soulful numbers. That's because the soulful numbers were originally part of a completely different album, which Ketchum recorded in Texas in 1997. A rawer, rootsy album, called HAL YES, was never released. Re-titled AWAITING REDEMPTION, the album features five of the songs that seemed so out of place on I SAW THE LIGHT, but seem to find their perfect context on this disc.
Ketchum displays a bluesier, more emotional side on AWAITING REDEMPTION, stretching his voice until, at times, it becomes almost unrecognizable. This is especially true of the funky title track, as well as the slow-burning "When Blue Was Just A Color," which features burbling wah-wah guitar part courtesy of Ketchum's producer/co-writer Stephen Bruton. Other standouts include the wistful "Days of Wonder" and the excellent, yearning "Lonely Ol' Me." Aside from the beautiful writing and performances, the album is also a fascinating document of Ketchum's search for artistic fulfillment--a search that has paid off in spades.
Editorial Reviews
...a dark and passionate album a long way removed from the folk-tinged troubadour material that is Ketchum's usual stock-in-trade....it's an album that needs to be heard as a whole and treasured as something approaching a classic.
Mojo (10/01/1999)
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