Maps of Music

Forever Blue (1995)

Where the lyrics of Forever Blue take you, and where it was really made.

Forever Blue was released in 1995, and its opening track, Baby Did a Bad Bad Thing, was later used in Stanley Kubrick's final film, Eyes Wide Shut.

Key places

Studio D, Sausalito (1995)

Recording site Plant Recording (Sausalito) — The album credits Studio D in Sausalito, California, as a recording location. The point marks the city centre, not the studio building itself. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Dave Wellhausen Recording, San Francisco (1995)

Recording site Soapbox West — The album credits Dave Wellhausen Recording in San Francisco as a recording location. The point marks the city centre, not the studio building itself. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Forever Blue: fifth studio album by American rock and roll musician Chris Isaak
• Released May 23, 1995
• Three singles: "Somebody's Crying," "Baby Did a Bad Bad Thing," and "Graduation Day"
• All 13 tracks written by Chris Isaak
• Opens with "Baby Did a Bad Bad Thing" (2:54) and closes with "The End of Everything" (3:05)

Background

• Written after a serious breakup in late 1993
• Lyrics more personal and melancholy than earlier work
• Themes of disappointment, regret and loss
• "Graduation Day" has touches of country music
• "Go Walking Down There," "There She Goes," "Goin' Nowhere" and "I Believe" bring in faster rockabilly

Recording

• Recorded at Studio D, Sausalito, California
• Also recorded at Dave Wellhausen Recording, San Francisco
• Mixed at Record Plant, Los Angeles
• Personnel: Chris Isaak (vocals, guitar), Rowland Salley (bass, vocals), Kenney Dale Johnson (drums, vocals), Bruce Kaphan (pedal steel guitar), Jimmy Pugh (Hammond B3 organ), Johnny Reno (saxophone, vocals), Jeff Watson (lead guitar), Gregg Arreguin (guitar)

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

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Formation

• Christopher Joseph Isaak, born June 26, 1956, in Stockton, California.
• After college he formed his first band, Silvertone, a rockabilly group; the name came from the Silvertone guitar brand popular in the 1950s.
• The group remained his permanent backing band.

Members

• Original Silvertone members included James Calvin Wilsey (guitar), Jamie Ayres (bass), and John Silvers (drums).
• Ayres and Silvers were later replaced by Rowland Salley (bass) and Kenney Dale Johnson (drums).

Career

• Signed with Warner Bros. Records in 1985 and released the debut album Silvertone to critical acclaim.
• Known for a reverb-heavy rockabilly revivalist style and a wide vocal range; often compared to Roy Orbison, Elvis Presley, Ricky Nelson, and Duane Eddy.
• His breakthrough and signature song is "Wicked Game" (1989 album Heart Shaped World), which became a national top 10 hit in 1991.
• Other international hits include "Blue Hotel", "Baby Did a Bad Bad Thing", and "Somebody's Crying".
• Has released 13 studio albums over four decades.
• Worked closely with director David Lynch, who used his music in several films; Isaak acted in Lynch's Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me.
• Starred in the sitcom The Chris Isaak Show (2001-2004) and hosted the talk show The Chris Isaak Hour (2009).

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Released May 23, 1995 with three singles
• "Somebody's Crying" was the Grammy-nominated single of the set
• "Baby Did a Bad Bad Thing" was later featured in Stanley Kubrick's final film, Eyes Wide Shut
• "Graduation Day" was featured in the 1996 film Beautiful Girls

Records

• 1996 Grammy Awards: nominated for Best Rock Album
• Lost the category to Alanis Morissette's Jagged Little Pill
• "Somebody's Crying" also nominated in the Best Male Rock Vocal Performance category
• Album released through Reprise Records
• Fifth studio album in Chris Isaak's catalogue

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · es.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• "Baby Did a Bad Bad Thing" was featured in Stanley Kubrick's final film, Eyes Wide Shut, years after the album came out
• An MTV article compared "Somebody's Crying" with Isaak's earlier version of "Solitary Man", published a few years before
• The album was mixed at Record Plant in Los Angeles

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

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