Hootie & The Blowfish - Fairweather Johnson (1996)

“Fairweather Johnson” is the second studio album by the band Hootie & the Blowfish, released on April 23, 1996.
An air of melancholy and isolation hangs over Hootie & The Blowfish's second major-label album. A similar air hangs over many follow-ups to whopping commercial succeses like Hootie's CRACKED REAR VIEW. But this South Carolina foursome is both too smart to follow that tired path in which stardom begets ennui, and a few miles on the road beget resentment and resignation. The darkness in their existential-pop love songs derives not from the world without, but from souls within. Meanwhile, they craft R&B-soaked folk-rock with the confidence of a band that's as popular as they wanna be. Propelled both inward and onward by their fame, they continue to cast for sad fish with happyish hooks. The prevalent sound of FAIRWEATHER JOHNSON is dark folk-rock, with jangly guitars and melodies rooted in '60s rock. The country-gospel swing of "So Strange," awash in the sound of a Hammond organ, sounds like vintage Rolling Stones; "Silly Little Pop Song," which isn't silly at all, is Beatlesque down to an ooh-la-la-la backing chorus. The song structures themselves are also dizzyingly '60s-ish, many clocking in at three and a half minutes or less. But the band's tangle of Southern roots separates this from any other classic-rock homage. On the gorgeous "Earth Stopped Cold At Dawn," they invite country singer Nanci Griffith to join them in a country-rock ballad that could pass for acoustic R.E.M.; "Fool" is nearly Cajun (with an accordion played by former R.E.M. sideman Peter Holsapple); and "She Crawls Away" bounces to an island beat. The arrangements cannily and cleanly incorporate cellos, violins and even a mandolin. They're topped and set off by Darius Rucker's nearly reckless vocal performance. Alternately slurring phrases and spitting them out with venomous love, Rucker's voice abandons reason in favor of pure emotion, as if to parry away the complaints that Hootie's art was based on craft alone.
Three songs from the album were released as singles: "Old Man & Me", "Tucker's Town", and "Sad Caper".


01.  "Be the One"  - 3:25
02.  "Sad Caper"  - 2:49
03.  "Tucker's Town"  - 4:02
04.  "She Crawls Away"  - 4:09
05.  "So Strange"  - 4:03
06.  "Old Man & Me (When I Get To Heaven)"  - 4:27
07.  "Earth Stopped Cold at Dawn"  - 3:29
08.  "Fairweather Johnson"  - 0:51
09.  "Honeyscrew"  - 3:36
10.  "Let It Breathe"  - 3:53
11.  "Silly Little Pop Song"  - 2:56
12.  "Fool"  - 3:05
13.  "Tootie"  - 3:04
14.  "When I'm Lonely"  - 5:34

Credits
Hootie & The Blowfish:
Darius Rucker - vocals, guitar, dobro
Mark Bryan - guitar, mandolin, piano, background vocals
Jim "Soni" Sonefeld - piano, drums, percussion, background vocals
Dean Felber - bass, background vocals

Lili Haydn - violin, viola
Michael Severens - cello
Peter Holsapple - accordion, piano, Hammond organ
John Nau - piano, Fender Rhodes piano, Hammond B-3 organ
Randy Guss - tambourine
Nanci Griffith & Band, Dean Dinning, Glen Phillips & Band - background vocals
Jim Sonefeld - piano, drums, percussion, background vocals
John Nau - piano

Audio Mixer: Don Gehman
Photographers: John Clark ; Ethan Hill
Producer - Don Gehman

Notes
Includes liner notes by Mark Bryan, Dean Felber, Darius Rucker, Jim "Soni" Sonefeld & Paul Graham.
Recorded At The Site, Marin County, California.
Genre: Rock
Length: 49:23

© 1996 Atlantic Records