''Don't It Drag On'' is an album by
American singer/songwriter
Chris Smither
William Christopher Smither (born November 11, 1944) is an American folk/ blues singer, guitarist, and songwriter. His music draws deeply from the blues, American folk music, and modern poets and philosophers.
Early life, influences and educa ...
, released in 1972. It was re-released on CD along with ''I'm a Stranger Too!'' in 2002.
Reception
Writing for
Allmusic
AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the dat ...
, critic Brett Hartenbach called Smither "a great writer who knows when to look elsewhere for material, a masterful guitarist who understands simplicity and a powerful singer with restraint.": and wrote of the album "while the bulk of Smither's material has a ruminative, melancholic tone, don't expect typical singer/songwriter fare."
''
Village Voice
''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newspaper, alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf (publisher), Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, th ...
'' critic
Robert Christgau
Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most well-known and influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and ...
also praised the album, writing "Smither writes tough-minded yet numinous post-folk songs that do justice to his adventurous taste in other people's... A smart record."
Track listing
All songs by Chris Smither unless otherwise noted.
# "Lonesome Georgia Brown"
# "
Down in the Flood
"Down in the Flood" is a song by Bob Dylan, originally recorded by Dylan in 1967 with the Band, and copyrighted that autumn. One of the 1967 recordings was released on the 1975 album ''The Basement Tapes'' and re-released in 2014 on '' The Bootl ...
" (
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...
)
# "I've Got Mine"
# "
Statesboro Blues
"Statesboro Blues" is a Piedmont blues song written by Blind Willie McTell, who recorded it in 1928. The title refers to the town of Statesboro, Georgia. In 1968, Taj Mahal recorded a popular blues rock adaptation of the song with a prominent sli ...
" (
Blind Willie McTell
Blind Willie McTell (born William Samuel McTier; May 5, 1898 – August 19, 1959) was a Piedmont blues and ragtime singer and guitarist. He played with a fluid, syncopated fingerstyle guitar technique, common among many exponents of Piedmont ...
)
# "Another Way to Find You"
# "
No Expectations
"No Expectations" is a song by English rock band the Rolling Stones featured on their 1968 album ''Beggars Banquet''. It was first released as the B-side of the " Street Fighting Man" single in August 1968. The song was recorded in May 1968. Bria ...
" (
Mick Jagger
Sir Michael Philip Jagger (born 26 July 1943) is an English singer and songwriter who has achieved international fame as the lead vocalist and one of the founder members of the rock band the Rolling Stones. His ongoing songwriting partnershi ...
,
Keith Richards
Keith Richards (born 18 December 1943), often referred to during the 1960s and 1970s as "Keith Richard", is an English musician and songwriter who has achieved international fame as the co-founder, guitarist, secondary vocalist, and co-princi ...
)
# "
Friend of the Devil
"Friend of the Devil" is a song recorded by the Grateful Dead. The music was written by Jerry Garcia and John Dawson and the lyrics are by Robert Hunter. It is the second track of the Dead's 1970 album '' American Beauty''.
The song is largel ...
" (
John Dawson,
Jerry Garcia
Jerome John Garcia (August 1, 1942 – August 9, 1995) was an American musician best known for being the principal songwriter, lead guitarist, and a vocalist with the rock band Grateful Dead, which he co-founded and which came to prominence ...
,
Robert Hunter Robert Hunter may refer to:
Arts
* Robert Hunter (painter) (died 1780), Irish portrait painter
* Robert Hunter (encyclopædist) (1823–1897), British editor of the ''Encyclopædic Dictionary''
*Robert Hunter (author) (1874–1942), American sociol ...
)
# "Don't It Drag On"
# "Every Mother's Son"
# "Mail Order Mystics"
# "I Feel the Same"
Personnel
*Chris Smither – vocals, guitar
*John Bailey - guitar, autoharp
*Rod Hicks - bass
*
Happy Traum
Happy Traum (born Harry Peter Traum, May 9, 1938, The Bronx, New York) is an American folk musician who started playing music in the 1950s and became a stalwart of the Greenwich Village music scene of the 1960s and the Woodstock music scene of t ...
- banjo
*
Bonnie Raitt
Bonnie Lynn Raitt (; born November 8, 1949) is an American blues singer and guitarist. In 1971, Raitt released her self-titled debut album. Following this, she released a series of critically acclaimed roots-influenced albums that incorporate ...
- background vocals
*
Maria Muldaur
Maria Muldaur (born Maria Grazia Rosa Domenica D'Amato; September 12, 1942) is an American folk and blues singer who was part of the American folk music revival in the early 1960s. She recorded the 1973 hit song " Midnight at the Oasis" and has ...
- background vocals
*Kathryn Rose - background vocals
*Roy Markowitz - drums
*
Eric Kaz
Eric Justin Kaz (born January 21, 1946)
is an American singer-songwriter born in Brooklyn, New York. Besides his solo work, Kaz was a member of Blues Magoos for their fourth and fifth albums, ''Never Goin' Back to Georgia'' and ''Gulf Coast Bound ...
- piano
*
Ben Keith
Bennett Keith Schaeufele (March 6, 1937 – July 26, 2010), better known by his stage name Ben Keith, was an American musician and record producer. Known primarily for his work as a pedal steel guitarist with Neil Young, Keith was a fixture of ...
- dobro, pedal steel guitar
*Stuart Schulman - violin
Production
*Produced by
Michael Cuscuna
Michael Cuscuna (born September 20, 1949 in Stamford, Connecticut, United States) is an American jazz record producer and writer. He is the co-founder of Mosaic Records and a discographer of Blue Note Records.
Cuscuna played drums, saxophone and ...
*Engineered by Nick Jameson
*
Milton Glaser
Milton Glaser (June 26, 1929June 26, 2020) was an American graphic designer. His most notable designs include the I Love New York logo, a 1966 poster for Bob Dylan, and the logos for DC Comics, Stony Brook University and Brooklyn Brewery. In 19 ...
- art direction, design
*
Duane Michals
Duane Michals ( "Michaels"; born February 18, 1932) is an American photographer. Michals's work makes innovative use of photo-sequences, often incorporating text to examine emotion and philosophy.
Education and career
Michals's interest in ar ...
- photography
*
Bill Wasserzieher
Bill Wasserzieher is an American writer who focuses on music, film and travel topics. He also writes fiction.
History
His earliest articles appeared during the late 1960s and early 1970s in the then Knight-Ridder-owned ''Independent'' and ''Pr ...
- reissue liner notes
References
{{Authority control
1972 albums
Chris Smither albums
Albums produced by Michael Cuscuna
Tomato Records albums