''Honeycomb'' is the tenth

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

by American

alternative rock Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...

musician

Frank Black Charles Michael Kittridge Thompson IV (born April 6, 1965), better known by the stage name Black Francis, is an American singer, guitarist, and songwriter. He is the frontman of the alternative rock band Pixies. Following the band's break ...

, released in July 2005 on

Back Porch Records Back Porch Records was an Americana/ roots rock label owned by Universal Music Group. The label was started in 1997 as joint venture between Virgin Records and Milwaukee-based Narada Productions. The label's initial releases, including the I-1 ...

. His first original solo work since 1996's '' The Cult of Ray'', ''Honeycomb'' was recorded in

Nashville Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

, and features notable local session musicians, such as

Steve Cropper Steven Lee Cropper (born October 21, 1941), sometimes known as "The Colonel", is an American guitarist, songwriter and record producer. He was the guitarist of the Stax Records house band, Booker T. & the M.G.'s, which backed artists such as ...

and ex- Presley guitarist

Reggie Young Reggie Grimes Young Jr. (December 12, 1936 – January 17, 2019) was an American musician who was lead guitarist in the American Sound Studio house band, The Memphis Boys, and was a leading session musician. He played on various recordings with ...

Background

Frank Black had discussed making a ''Black on Blonde'' record for about ten years with producer

Jon Tiven Jon Tiven (born January 3, 1955) is an American composer, guitarist, record producer, and music journalist. He has produced albums by Wilson Pickett, Frank Black and Don Covay as well as a series of tribute albums paying tribute to the songwrit ...

, where he would travel to Nashville (like Dylan with ''

Blonde on Blonde ''Blonde on Blonde'' is the seventh studio album by the American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, released as a double album on June 20, 1966, by Columbia Records. Recording sessions began in New York in October 1965 with numerous backing musici ...

'') and record with local musicians. In 2005, Black eventually found the time to record such an album. He went to Nashville and met with musicians whom Tiven had selected for the record. Black said, "I knew he'd ask all stellar people, though I had no idea it was going to be guys like Steve Cropper. They were challenged... well, more amused than challenged. I don't think it was hard for them, but they had to think a little bit."

Covers

Unusually for a Frank Black album, it has 3 cover songs: "Song of the Shrimp," "

Sunday Sunny Mill Valley Groove Day ''Sunday Sunny Mill Valley Groove Day'' is an album by Frank Black and the Catholics, recorded in 2000. Because Black was not completely happy with the recording sessions, he decided against a commercial release. However, he did hand out several ...

" (by

Doug Sahm Douglas Wayne Sahm (November 6, 1941 – November 18, 1999) was an American musician, singer-songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist from San Antonio, Texas. He is regarded as a key Tejano music, Tex-Mex music and Music of Texas, Texan Music pe ...

) and "

Dark End of the Street "The Dark End of the Street" is a 1967 soul song, written by songwriters Dan Penn and Chips Moman and first recorded by James Carr. It became his trademark song, reaching number 10 on '' Billboard Magazine's'' R&B Chart, and crossing over to n ...

". Black said that, for the cover of "Song of the Shrimp," he took his cue from the version by

Townes Van Zandt John Townes Van Zandt (March 7, 1944 – January 1, 1997) was an American singer-songwriter.

, adding that he had never heard

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977) was an American singer and actor. Referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one of the most significant cultural figures of the ...

's version.

Track listing

Personnel

Credits adapted from the album's liner notes. ;Musicians *

–

vocals Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define sing ...

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

Buddy Miller Steven Paul "Buddy" Miller (born September 6, 1952) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, recording artist and producer, currently living in Nashville Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in T ...

– guitar *

Spooner Oldham Dewey "Spooner" Lindon Oldham Jr. (born June 14, 1943) is an American songwriter and session musician. An organist, he recorded in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, at FAME Studios as part of the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section on such hit R&B songs as Percy ...

– keyboards, bells, vocals *

David Hood David Hood (born September 21, 1943) is an American musician, hailing from Muscle Shoals, Alabama, He is known for playing the bass guitar and trombone, and is a member of the Alabama Music Hall of Fame. Early life and education Hood was b ...

–

bass guitar The bass guitar (), also known as the electric bass guitar, electric bass, or simply the bass, is the lowest-pitched member of the guitar family. It is similar in appearance and construction to an Electric guitar, electric but with a longer nec ...

* Billy Block,

Anton Fig Anton Fig (born 8 August 1952) is a South African session drummer perhaps best known as the drummer and second-in-command for Paul Shaffer and the World's Most Dangerous Band. David Letterman, for whom the band served as house band on his lat ...

, Akil Thompson,

Chester Thompson Chester Thompson (born December 11, 1948) is an American drummer best known for his tenures with Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention, Weather Report, Santana (band), Santana, Genesis (band), Genesis and Phil Collins. Thompson has performed ...

–

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

*Jean Black – duet vocal (8) *James Griffin – vocals * Ellis Hooks – vocals *

Dan Penn Dan Penn (born Wallace Daniel Pennington, November 16, 1941) is an American songwriter, singer, musician, and record producer, who co-wrote many soul hits of the 1960s, including " The Dark End of the Street" and " Do Right Woman, Do Right Man" ...

– vocals *

–

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 incl ...

;Technical *Jon Tiven – producer, additional mixing *Dann Penn – engineer, additional mixing * Ben Mumphrey – additional engineer *Earl Drake – mixing *Jim DeMain – mastering *Elizabeth Parr – cover art *Violet Clark – package design *Nora Hagerty – package layout

References

{{Authority control 2005 albums Black Francis albums