''Useful Music'' is a studio album initially released in May 1999 under the SMG Records label by

Josh Joplin Band Josh Joplin Group was an Atlanta, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia-based rock band led by singer-songwriter Josh Joplin. Initially a trio, Joplin hired Geoff Melkonian (bass/viola/vocals) and Jason Buecker (drums/percussion/vocals) to accompany him ...

, and again in January 2001 through Artemis Records after the band had renamed itself Josh Joplin Group following a change in its line-up. While the album did not enjoy widespread commercial success, it peaked at #22 on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

Independent Albums The Independent Albums chart (previously titled Top Independent Albums) ranks the highest-selling independent music albums and extended plays (EPs) in the United States, as compiled by Nielsen SoundScan and published weekly by '' Billboard'' maga ...

chart and spawned a moderate hit with its first single, "Camera One", which quickly reached #1 on the Triple A airplay chart, the highest position ever achieved by an independent release at that point (February 2001). Featuring a more rock-edged, radio-friendly sound than most of the other material on ''Useful Music,'' the song was also featured in an episode of the comedy series ''

Scrubs Scrub(s) may refer to: * Scrub, low shrub and grass characteristic of scrubland * Scrubs (clothing), worn by medical staff * ''Scrubs'' (TV series), an American television program * Scrubs (occupation), also called "scrub tech," "scrub nurse," o ...

'' (season 1, episode 7, " My Super Ego").

Track listing

Original release (1999)

All songs written by

Josh Joplin Josh Joplin (born Joshua David Blum on January 1, 1972) is an American singer, songwriter, as well as music and film producer. He has founded the bands Josh Joplin Group and Among The Oak & Ash. His song " Camera One" was the first independen ...

Re-release (2001)

All credits are the same as the original release except where noted. # "Matter" # "Gravity" # "Here I Am" # "Undone" # "Camera One" – 4:33 #* Producer: Jerry Harrison #* Engineer: Karl Derfler #* Mixer: Tom Lord-Alge #* Mastering: Ted Jensen # "I've Changed" # "Trailways" # "Who's Afraid of Thomas Wolfe?" # "Phil Ochs" # "Superstar" # "Human" # "Dutch Wonderland" # "I've Changed (alternate version)" – 4:21 #* Producer: Peter Collins #* Engineer: F. Reid Shippen #* Mastering: Greg Calbi

Album credits

Personnel

* Kenny Aronoff –

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

* Allen Broyles –

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are use ...

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...

organ Organ may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a part of an organism Musical instruments * Organ (music), a family of keyboard musical instruments characterized by sustained tone ** Electronic organ, an electronic keyboard instrument ** Hammond ...

accordion Accordions (from 19th-century German ''Akkordeon'', from ''Akkord''—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a reed ...

, harmonium,

keyboards Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

Wurlitzer electric piano The Wurlitzer electronic piano is an electric piano manufactured and marketed by Wurlitzer from the mid-1950s to mid-1980s. Sound is generated by striking a metal reed with a hammer, which induces an electric current in a pickup. It is conceptua ...

* Jason Buecker –

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

, drums, backing vocals * Ani Cordero – backing vocals * Deb Davis –

electric guitar An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar (however combinations of the two - a semi-acoustic guitar and an electric acoustic gui ...

("Trailways") * Joe Gore – electric guitar * Carl Herrgesell – electric guitar * Danny Howes – electric guitar * Clay Johnson – backing vocals *

–

lead Lead is a chemical element with the symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metal that is denser than most common materials. Lead is soft and malleable, and also has a relatively low melting point. When freshly cu ...

and backing vocals,

Rhodes electric piano The Rhodes piano (also known as the Fender Rhodes piano) is an electric piano invented by Harold Rhodes, which became popular in the 1970s. Like a conventional piano, the Rhodes generates sound with keys and hammers, but instead of strings, t ...

harmonica The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica inclu ...

acoustic guitar An acoustic guitar is a musical instrument in the string family. When a string is plucked its vibration is transmitted from the bridge, resonating throughout the top of the guitar. It is also transmitted to the side and back of the instrument, ...

* David Kostiner – drums * Diana Mangano – backing vocals * Geoff Melkonian – backing vocals, electric bass,

double bass The double bass (), also known simply as the bass () (or #Terminology, by other names), is the largest and lowest-pitched Bow (music), bowed (or plucked) string instrument in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding unorthodox addit ...

viola The viola ( , also , ) is a string instrument that is bow (music), bowed, plucked, or played with varying techniques. Slightly larger than a violin, it has a lower and deeper sound. Since the 18th century, it has been the middle or alto voice of ...

* Shawn Mullins – guitar, piano, backing vocals * Pamela Sixfin –

violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

* Eric Taylor – drums ("Camera One") * Kris Wilkinson – string

arrangement In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orches ...

Production

* John Bentham –

photography Photography is the art, application, and practice of creating durable images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is employed ...

* Chris Bilheimer –

art direction Art director is the title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to supervise and unify the visi ...

* Allen Broyles –

producer Producer or producers may refer to: Occupations *Producer (agriculture), a farm operator *A stakeholder of economic production *Film producer, supervises the making of films **Executive producer, contributes to a film's budget and usually does not ...

("Phil Ochs") * Greg Calbi – mastering (all tracks except "Matter" and "Camera One") * Matt Chiaravalle – mixer ("Here I Am", "Trailways", and "Superstar") * Peter Collins – producer ("I've Changed (alternate version)") * Karl Derfler –

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the l ...

("Matter" and "Camera One") * Russ Fowler – engineer (all tracks except "Matter", "Camera One", and "I've Changed (alternate version)"), mixer ("Far Away", "Phil Ochs", "Who's Afraid of Thomas Wolfe?", "Human", and "Dutch Wonderland") *

Daniel Glass Daniel Glass is an American music industry executive whose output has included work with artists Billy Idol, Wilson Phillips, Sinéad O'Connor, Jon Secada, Warren Zevon, Blur, Huey Lewis and the News, Goldfinger, Reel Big Fish, Erykah Badu ...

– executive producer * Jerry Harrison – producer ("Matter" and "Camera One") * J. Reid Hunter – legal *

Ted Jensen Ted Jensen (born September 19, 1954) is an American mastering engineer, known for having mastered many recordings, including the Eagles' ''Hotel California'', Green Day's '' American Idiot'' and Norah Jones' ''Come Away with Me''. Biography Ted ...

– mastering ("Matter" and "Camera One") * Josh Joplin – producer ("Phil Ochs") * Matt Lively –

illustration An illustration is a decoration, interpretation or visual explanation of a text, concept or process, designed for integration in print and digital published media, such as posters, flyers, magazines, books, teaching materials, animations, vid ...

Tom Lord-Alge Tom Lord-Alge (born January 17, 1963) is an American music engineer and mixer. He began his career at The Hit Factory in New York. Subsequently, he was the resident mixer at what used to be known as "South Beach Studios", located on the ground f ...

– mixer ("Matter" and "Camera One") * Alex Lowe – engineer ("Gravity") * Shawn Mullins – producer (all tracks except "Matter", "Phil Ochs", "Camera One", and "I've Changed (alternate version)") * Phil Nicolo – mixer ("Gravity," "Undone," and "I've Changed") * Charles “Chicky” Reeves – engineer ("Phil Ochs") *

Anthony J. Resta Anthony J. Resta is a Canadian record producer and musician. A multi-instrumentalist, he is a known for his use of vintage audio equipment. He has earned twelve RIAA certification, RIAA certified gold and multi-platinum awards and has been featur ...

– drum and keyboard programmer * F. Reid Shippen – engineer ("I've Changed (alternate version)")

Sources

* * * * *

External links

*
Useful Music
' at

Discogs Discogs (short for discographies) is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. While the site was originally created with a goal of becoming the la ...

*
Useful Music
' at Billboard.com {{Authority control Josh Joplin albums 1999 albums Artemis Records albums Albums produced by Shawn Mullins Albums produced by Jerry Harrison