''A Man Called E'' is

Mark Oliver Everett Mark Oliver Everett, also known by his stage name E (born April 10, 1963) is an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and the frontman of the rock band Eels (band), Eels. He is known for writing songs tackling subjects such as dea ...

's 1992 major-label debut album, and the first on which he used the

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true meaning ( orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individual's o ...

"E". (As Mark Everett, he had previously self-released the limited edition LP ''Bad Dude in Love'' in 1985.) "Hello Cruel World" was released as a one-track single in 1992. "Nowheresville"/"Strawberry Blonde" was released in March of that year.

Background

In 1987, Everett moved from his family home in

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

and resettled in

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. There, in 1991, he signed a contract with

Polydor Records Polydor Limited, also known as Polydor Records, is a British record label that operates as part of Universal Music Group. It has a close relationship with Universal's Interscope Geffen A&M Records label, which distributes Polydor's releases in ...

and released ''A Man Called E'' under the name E a year later. The single "Hello Cruel World" was a minor success. Touring to support the album, E opened for

Tori Amos Tori Amos (born Myra Ellen Amos; August 22, 1963) is an American singer-songwriter and pianist. She is a classically trained musician with a mezzo-soprano vocal range. Having already begun composing instrumental pieces on piano, Amos won a full ...

. Everett became known as "E" because there were several people in his life at the time who had the same first name. While it may have caused some confusion in record stores and radio stations, the single-letter name gave the press a playful handle. This playfulness was evident in a review of the album by the eminent writer

Daniel Levitin Daniel Joseph Levitin, FRSC (born December 27, 1957) is an American-Canadian polymath, cognitive psychologist, neuroscientist, writer, musician, and record producer. He is the author of four ''New York Times'' best-selling books, including '' T ...

which began: "Excellent eponymous effort, energizingly eclectic. Early enthusiasm effectively ensures E's eminence." Everett released one further solo album, 1993's '' Broken Toy Shop'', before forming the band

Eels Eels are ray-finned fish belonging to the order (biology), order Anguilliformes (), which consists of eight suborders, 20 Family (biology), families, 164 genus, genera, and about 1000 species. Eels undergo considerable development from the earl ...

in 1995.

Critical reception

Michael Zwirn, in ''

Trouser Press ''Trouser Press'' was a rock and roll magazine started in New York in 1974 as a mimeographed fanzine by editor/publisher Ira Robbins, fellow fan of the Who, Dave Schulps, and Karen Rose under the name "Trans-Oceanic Trouser Press" (a reference ...

'', wrote that "the production is uncluttered, 'ssinging is unforced and the tunes are eminently hummable, with a sense of cockeyed humor and periodic wistful optimism that is noteworthy in the later context of the Eels' pronounced bitterness." MacKenzie Wilson of

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

praised Everett's talent and said the album was filled with "heavenly pop music", noting it containing "typical quirky melodies and mind-boggling lyrics, but E hits upon lush harmonies similar to the likes of

Elton John Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, songwriter and pianist. His music and showmanship have had a significant, lasting impact on the music industry, and his songwriting partnership with l ...

the Beach Boys The Beach Boys are an American Rock music, rock band formed in Hawthorne, California, in 1961. The group's original lineup consisted of brothers Brian Wilson, Brian, Dennis Wilson, Dennis, and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and their f ...

, and

Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained global fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and the piano, and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John ...

." concluding, "He's thoughtful and almost touching. He's real. Now that's pretty refreshing."

Track listing

All songs written by E, except where noted #"Hello Cruel World" (E, Parthenon Huxley) – 3:50 #"Fitting In with the Misfits" – 3:09 #"Are You & Me Gonna Happen" – 3:00 #"Looking Out the Window with a Blue Hat On" – 2:17 #"Nowheresville" (E, Huxley) – 3:21 #"Symphony for Toy Piano in G Minor" – 0:34 #"Mockingbird Franklin" – 3:03 #"I've Been Kicked Around" – 3:24 #"Pray" – 2:46 #"E's Tune" – 2:53 #"You'll Be the Scarecrow" – 3:21

Personnel

* E – lead & background vocals, electric & acoustic guitars, piano,

Hammond B-3 The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert, first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding #Drawbars, drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, sound was created ...

, keyboards, harmonica, accordion, drums, percussion,

melodica The melodica is a handheld free-reed instrument similar to a pump organ or harmonica. It features a musical keyboard on top, and is played by blowing air through a mouthpiece that fits into a hole in the side of the instrument. The keyboard usu ...

toy piano The toy piano, also known as the ( in German), is a small piano-like musical instrument. Most modern toy pianos use round metal rods, as opposed to strings in a regular piano, to produce sound. The U.S. Library of Congress recognizes the toy pia ...

, programming Additional musicians * Parthenon Huxley – acoustic & electric guitars, bass guitar, percussion, fingersnaps, programming * Jennifer Condos – bass guitar * Jim Lang – accordion, Hammond B-3, piano, keyboards,

cuckoo clock A cuckoo clock is a type of clock, typically pendulum clock, pendulum driven, that striking clock, strikes the hours with a sound like a common cuckoo call and has an automated cuckoo bird that moves with each note. Some move their wings and ope ...

, programming *Eric Williams –

mandolin A mandolin (, ; literally "small mandola") is a Chordophone, stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally Plucked string instrument, plucked with a plectrum, pick. It most commonly has four Course (music), courses of doubled St ...

("Nowheresville") *Danny Davis Jr. – electric guitar ("Are You & Me Gonna Happen") *Rockenspiel –

glockenspiel The glockenspiel ( ; or , : bells and : play) or bells is a percussion instrument consisting of pitched aluminum or steel bars arranged in a Musical keyboard, keyboard layout. This makes the glockenspiel a type of metallophone, similar to the v ...

Production *Parthenon Huxley – co-producer *E – co-producer *Jim Lang – conductor (The Knobworld Symphony Orchestra), engineer, mixing *Bill Gable – additional engineer *Mikal Reid – additional engineer *Fen – additional engineer *Jesse Kanner – additional engineer *Opie – additional engineer *

Stephen Marcussen Stephen Marcussen is the founder and chief mastering engineer at Marcussen Mastering in Hollywood, California Hollywood, sometimes informally called Tinseltown, is a List of districts and neighborhoods in Los Angeles, neighborhood and distri ...

– mastering *David Lau – artwork *Rick Dobbis – design *Bradford Walker Evans Hitz – photography *Thomas Nelson – photography *Lex – pin design

References

External links