Maps of Music

Any Given Thursday (2003)

Where the lyrics of Any Given Thursday take you, and where it was really made.

Two songs on this live album, 'Covered in Rain' and 'Man on the Side', had never been released on a studio recording by John Mayer.

Key places

Oak Mountain Amphitheater, Birmingham, 12 September 2002 (2002)

Recording site Oak Mountain Amphitheater — The album was recorded at the Oak Mountain Amphitheater in Birmingham, Alabama, on 12 September 2002, during the Room for Squares tour. The point marks the venue's coordinates. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Any Given Thursday: live CD/DVD by John Mayer
• Recorded in Birmingham, Alabama, at the Oak Mountain Amphitheater on September 12, 2002
• Captured during the Room for Squares tour
• Most songs come from the debut album Room for Squares
• Several covers included, among them 'Lenny' by Stevie Ray Vaughan and 'Message in a Bottle' by The Police
• Peaked at number 17 on the Billboard 200
• Released in early 2003

Background

• Room for Squares was released in June 2001 as Mayer's first album
• 'Covered in Rain' and 'Man on the Side' had never been released on a studio recording by Mayer at the time
• 'Something's Missing' appeared later on his following album, Heavier Things
• 'Comfortable' comes from his earlier EP, Inside Wants Out
• '3x5', a song Mayer had newly recorded at that time, is also included
• Covers have since become a regular feature of Mayer's live shows

Recording

• Taken from one concert night in Birmingham on September 12, 2002
• The DVD adds 'Jóga' by Björk as an interlude; it was left off the CD because of copyright trouble
• Between songs, the CD carries brief comments from Mayer, while the DVD comments run longer
• DVD extras include an audio commentary by Mayer and his friend Scotty Crowe, a photo gallery from the tour, and a documentary interview titled The Morning After

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · www.discogs.com · pt.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Disc 1

Disc 2

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Formation

• John Clayton Mayer, born October 16, 1977, in Bridgeport, Connecticut, American singer, songwriter, and guitarist.
• Attended Berklee College of Music in 1997, then left for Atlanta with guitarist Clay Cook to form the short-lived duo Lo-Fi Masters.
• Released the independent EP Inside Wants Out (1999) and was later signed by Aware Records, a Columbia Records imprint.

Career

• Debut album Room for Squares (2001) produced hits including "Your Body Is a Wonderland", which won Best Male Pop Vocal Performance at the 45th Grammy Awards.
• Heavier Things (2003) peaked atop the Billboard 200.
• Shifted toward blues and rock, forming the John Mayer Trio; Continuum (2006) won Best Pop Vocal Album at the 49th Grammy Awards.
• Withdrew from public life in 2010 after controversial interviews; later albums include Born and Raised (2012), Paradise Valley (2013), The Search for Everything (2017), and Sob Rock (2021).
• Member of Dead & Company since 2015 alongside surviving Grateful Dead members.
• Ranked number 61 on Rolling Stone's 250 Greatest Guitarists of All Time (2023).
• Sold over 20 million albums worldwide by 2014.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Critics gave the CD/DVD steady, measured praise, torn between Mayer's pop-idol image and his emerging guitar skill
• Erik Crawford of AllMusic asked whether Mayer was a consummate guitar hero or a teen idol
• Billboard called the DVD a great introduction to a rising star
• David Browne of Entertainment Weekly gave the album a B−
• Browne wrote that he wished Mayer were a more convincing rebel

Reappraisal

• Reviews in the source stay within the release-period response; no later reappraisal is recorded

Records

• Billboard Albums Top 100: debuted at number 34
• Billboard Albums Top 100: peaked at number 23 for one week, spending 12 weeks on the chart in total
• Billboard 200: peaked at number 17
• Australia: DVD certified 3× platinum by ARIA for sales of 45,000 copies

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• Before playing 'Your Body Is a Wonderland', Mayer told the audience that he wrote it in Birmingham
• Björk's 'Jóga' appears only on the DVD because of copyright problems
• The DVD includes an audio commentary by Mayer and his friend Scotty Crowe, whose blog was once hosted on Mayer's site
• On the DVD, Mayer's comments between songs grow into long monologues, which he called 'John's Story Time'
• Covers from this show became a regular feature of Mayer's live performances afterward

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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