''Flying Cowboys'' is fourth full-length studio album by
Rickie Lee Jones
Rickie Lee Jones (born November 8, 1954) is an American singer, musician, and songwriter. Over the course of a career that spans five decades and 15 studio albums, she has recorded in various musical styles including rock, R&B, pop, soul, an ...
. It was released in September 1989 and produced by
Walter Becker
Walter Carl Becker (February 20, 1950 – September 3, 2017) was an American musician, songwriter, and record producer. He was the co-founder, guitarist, bassist, and co-songwriter of the jazz rock band Steely Dan.Russonello, Giovanni,Listen to ...
of
Steely Dan
Steely Dan is an American rock band formed in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York, in 1971 by Walter Becker (guitars, bass, backing vocals) and Donald Fagen (keyboards, lead vocals). Originally having a traditional band lineup, Becker and Fagen cho ...
.
Background
After the release of ''
The Magazine
A magazine is a kind of periodical publication.
Magazine may also refer to:
Storage
*Magazine (artillery), a place to store ammunition in warships and fortifications
*Gunpowder magazine, buildings formerly used for storing gunpowder in wooden ...
'' in 1984, Jones retreated from the limelight. She married Pascal Nabet Meyer and gave birth to daughter Charlotte Rose in 1988 while working on her fourth full-length studio album.
Jones and Nabet Meyer had been writing and working together on new material for several years before the recording work commenced in 1988, with Walter Becker as producer. Jones had expressed admiration for the work of Steely Dan, particularly their album ''
The Royal Scam
''The Royal Scam'' is the fifth studio album by American rock band Steely Dan, released in May 1976, by ABC Records; reissues have been released by MCA Records since ABC's acquisition by the former in 1979. Like all of the band's previous albums, ...
'' (1976).
Promotional copies of ''Flying Cowboys'' were packaged with an interview with Jones conducted by Carl Arrington (previously misidentified as
LeVar Burton
Levardis Robert Martyn Burton Jr. (born February 16, 1957) is an American actor, director, and television host. He played Geordi La Forge in '' Star Trek: The Next Generation'' (1987–1994), Kunta Kinte in the ABC miniseries ''Roots'' (1977 ...
). This interview is the source for a passage that is extensively sampled on British electronic group
the Orb
The Orb are an English electronic music group founded in 1988 by Alex Paterson and Jimmy Cauty. Known for their psychedelic sound, the Orb developed a cult following among clubbers "coming down" from drug-induced highs. Their influential ...
's 1990 hit "
Little Fluffy Clouds
"Little Fluffy Clouds" is a single released by the British ambient house group the Orb. It was originally released in November 1990 on the record label Big Life and peaked at number 87 on the UK Singles Chart. The Orb also included it on thei ...
".
Reception
''St. Petersburg Times'', Oct. 13, 1989 (4/5) – "
heembraces adulthood and real life without sacrificing her cool, bohemian edge."
''Time'', Oct. 23, 1989 – "In ''Flying Cowboys''...she sets down a kind of mystical confessional, full of allusive autobiography and reflective nonchalance. It has the breadth of an important book and the emotional impact of great rock 'n' roll."
''Rolling Stone'', Nov. 2, 1989 (4/5) – "While it explores a wealth of themes and musical styles, the album unfolds with the ongoing grace of one long song. What provides unity to the album's varied elements is its seductive rhythmic flow, the down-home surrealism of Jones's lyrics, the clarity and intelligence of Walter Becker's production and, of course, the sensual elasticity of Jones's extraordinary singing."
''The New York Times'', Dec. 24, 1989 – Best of 1989 – "Ms. Jones's newest suite of enigmatic dream songs drenched in personal mythology is an eccentric tour de force, as rich in imagery as it is self-dramatizing."
Track listing
All songs written by Rickie Lee Jones, except where noted. Side two of the vinyl release of the album begins with the title track.
Personnel
Musicians
* Rickie Lee Jones – synthesizer, string synthesizer, organ, guitar, steel drums, drum programming, vocals; all instruments (4)
*
John Robinson – drums (1, 3, 5, 9)
*
Peter Erskine
Peter Clark Erskine (born June 5, 1954) is an American jazz drummer who was a member of the jazz fusion groups Weather Report and Steps Ahead.
Early life and education
Erskine was born in Somers Point, New Jersey, U.S. He began playing the d ...
– drums (7, 11)
*
Buzz Feiten
Howard "Buzz" Feiten II (born November 4, 1948) is an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, session musician, and luthier. He is a lead and rhythm guitarist and patented a tuning system for guitars and similar instruments. Feiten also manufactu ...
– guitar (1, 3, 5, 9)
*
Dean Parks
Weldon Dean Parks (born December 6, 1946) is an American session guitarist and record producer from Fort Worth, Texas. Parks has one Grammy nomination.
Albums
Parks was member of the North Texas State One O'clock Lab Band before moving to Los A ...
– guitar (1–3, 5, 7, 10, 11)
*
Greg Phillinganes
Gregory Arthur Phillinganes (born May 12, 1956) is an American keyboardist, vocalist, and arranger. A session musician, Phillinganes has contributed to numerous albums over a broad array of artists and genres. He has toured with artists includin ...
– keyboards (1, 3, 5)
*
Neil Stubenhaus
Neil Stubenhaus is an American bass guitarist.
Career
He started his musical training playing drums and switched to bass guitar at the age of 12. In one of his early bands, The Neighbourhood in 1969, he played with future Kiss guitarist Vinnie V ...
– bass (1, 3, 5, 9, 11)
* Sal Bernardi – guitar, backing vocals (7)
*
Jim Keltner
James Lee Keltner (born April 27, 1942) is an American drummer and percussionist known primarily for his session work. He was characterized by Bob Dylan biographer Howard Sounes as "the leading session drummer in America". Howard Sounes. ''Do ...
– drum machine effects (6)
*
Bob Sheppard
Robert Leo Sheppard (October 20, 1910 – July 11, 2010) was the long-time public address announcer for numerous New York area college and professional sports teams, in particular the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball (1951–2007), a ...
– saxophone (5, 8)
*
Rob Wasserman
Rob Wasserman (April 1, 1952 – June 29, 2016) was an American composer and bass player. A Grammy Award and NEA grant winner, he played and recorded with a wide variety of musicians including Bob Weir, Bruce Cockburn, Elvis Costello, Ani di ...
– bass (8)
*
Paulinho da Costa
Paulinho da Costa (, born Paulo Roberto da Costa on May 31, 1948) is a Brazilian percussionist. Beginning his career as a samba musician in Brazil, he moved to the United States in the early 1970s and worked with Brazilian bandleader Sérgio Me ...
– percussion (8)
*
William "Smitty" Smith
William Daniel "Smitty" Smith (August 30, 1944 – November 28, 1997) was a Canadian keyboardist and session musician.
Background
He had been playing together with Steve Kennedy, Eric Mercury, Eric "Mouse" Johnson, Terry Logan and Diane Brook ...
– organ (1)
*
Michael Omartian
Michael S. Omartian (born November 26, 1945) is an American singer-songwriter, arranger, keyboardist, and music producer. He produced number-one records in three consecutive decades. He has earned 11 Grammy Awards nominations and won three. H ...
– piano (1)
* Ed Alton – acoustic bass (2)
* Michael Fisher – percussion (2)
* Gary Coleman – vibraphone (2)
* Bob Zimmitti – percussion (3, 5)
* Chris Dickie – drum programming (4)
*
Walter Becker
Walter Carl Becker (February 20, 1950 – September 3, 2017) was an American musician, songwriter, and record producer. He was the co-founder, guitarist, bassist, and co-songwriter of the jazz rock band Steely Dan.Russonello, Giovanni,Listen to ...
– bass (7)
* Marty Krystall – English horn, clarinet (7), tenor saxophone (9)
*
Vince Mendoza
Vince Mendoza (born November 17, 1961) is an American composer, music arranger and conductor. He debuted as a solo artist in 1989, and is known for his work conducting the Metropole Orkest and WDR Big Band Köln, as well as arranging music f ...
– trumpet (7)
* Greg Mathieson – Hammond B3 organ (9)
*
Michael Boddicker
Michael Lehmann Boddicker (born January 19, 1953) is an American film composer and session musician, specializing in electronic music. He is a three times National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (N.A.R.A.S.) Most Valuable Player "Synthes ...
– string synthesizer (10)
* Pascal Nabet-Meyer – synthesizer, piano (7), percussion programming (11)
*
Randy Brecker
Randal Edward Brecker (born November 27, 1945) is an American trumpeter, flugelhornist, and composer. His versatility has made him a popular studio musician who has recorded with acts in jazz, rock music, rock, and R&B.
Early life
Brecker was ...
– trumpet (11)
*
Vonda Shepard
Vonda Shepard (born July 7, 1963) is an American singer, songwriter, music director, and actress. She is perhaps best known for her starring role as a fictionalized version of herself on the television series '' Ally McBeal'' (1997–2002), for w ...
– backing vocals
* Chris Smith – harmonica
* Kevin Dorsey, Michael Ruff – backing vocals (1)
* Leslie Smith, the Waters – backing vocals (3)
Production
*
Walter Becker
Walter Carl Becker (February 20, 1950 – September 3, 2017) was an American musician, songwriter, and record producer. He was the co-founder, guitarist, bassist, and co-songwriter of the jazz rock band Steely Dan.Russonello, Giovanni,Listen to ...
– producer
*
Gary Gersh
Gary Gersh is an American music industry executive who previously managed musical artists including Nirvana, Soundgarden and the Foo Fighters. As president of AEG's touring division he has worked with bands and musicians such as Luke Combs, Tyle ...
, Pascal Nabet Meyer – executive producers
*
Greg Penny
Greg Penny (born October 12, 1955) is an American record producer, recording engineer, mixing engineer, musician, songwriter and artist best known for his work as a producer for Elton John and k.d. lang. Career
The son of pop singer Sue Thomp ...
- recording and mixing - engineer
* Roger Nicols,
Mark Linett
Mark Linett is an American record producer and audio engineer who is best known for his remixing and remastering of the Beach Boys' catalog. Since 1988, he has been the engineer for Brian Wilson's recordings. He has also worked with Red Hot C ...
, Lavant Coppock, Roger Hart – engineer
*Stephen Marcussen – mastering engineer (Precision Lacquer)
*Jose Esteban Martinez – front cover painting entitled "I Am Singing at Your Window"
Charts
References
External links
{{Authority control
Rickie Lee Jones albums
1989 albums
Geffen Records albums
Albums produced by Walter Becker