''Necessary Angels'' is the third album by the American singer-songwriter

Sara Hickman Sara Hickman (born March 1, 1963) is an American singer, songwriter, and artist.Houston Folk Music Archive(Woodson Research Center, Fondren Library, Rice University)Guide to the Houston Folk Music Archive(Woodson Research Center, Fondren Library ...

, released in 1994 (see

1994 in music This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1994. Specific locations * 1994 in British music * 1994 in Norwegian music * 1994 in South Korean music Specific genres * 1994 in country music * 1994 in heavy metal musi ...

). After Hickman was dropped by her label,

Elektra Records Elektra Records (or Elektra Entertainment) is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group, founded in 1950 by Jac Holzman and Paul Rickolt. It played an important role in the development of contemporary folk and rock music between the ...

, her fans contributed to allow her to buy back the unreleased tapes that made up the album.

Critical reception

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 ...

called the album Hickman's "boldest, most mature, and most musically sophisticated offering to date." ''

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

'' called it an "enormously rich album." ''

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 advertis ...

'' wrote that Hickman "eschews some of her earlier wordplay for lyrics that are cleaner and sharper ... Lovely."

Track listing

#"Pursuit of Happiness" (Hickman) – 4:55 #"Shadowboxing" (Hickman) – 4:24 #"The Best of Times" (Hickman) – 4:41 #"Sister and Sam" (Hickman) – 5:33 #"Time Will Tell" (Hickman) – 1:59 #"Eye of the Storm" (Hickman) – 6:15 #"Oh, Daddy" (Hickman,

David Batteau David Hurst Batteau (born June 25, 1949) is an American singer-songwriter. Batteau is the son of Blanca Batteau and Dr. Dwight Wayne Batteau, of Harvard University and Tufts University. He is the brother of singer-songwriters Robin Batteau an ...

) – 4:24 #"Room of One's Own" (Hickman,

Gerald O'Brien John Gerald O’Brien (2 December 1924 – 13 December 2017), known as Gerald O'Brien, was a New Zealand politician of the New Zealand Labour Party, Labour Party. Early life O'Brien was born in Wellington on 2 December 1924, the son of John T ...

) – 5:26 #"Tiger in a Teacup Town" (Hickman) – 4:32 #"Slippery" (Hickman) – 4:10 #"Joy" (Hickman) – 5:23 #"The Place Where the Garage Used to Stand" (Hickman) – 4:06

Personnel

*Sara Hickman –

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, ...

, flute, guitar, percussion, electric guitar, vocals, background vocals, choir, harmony vocals *Amy Atchley – choir *

– guitar, background vocals *

Adrian Belew Robert Steven "Adrian" Belew (born December 23, 1949) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. A multi-instrumentalist primarily known as a guitarist and singer, he is noted for his unusual approach to the instrument, his ...

– acoustic guitar, guitar,

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 ...

calliope In Greek mythology, Calliope ( ; ) is the Muse who presides over eloquence and epic poetry; so called from the ecstatic harmony of her voice. Hesiod and Ovid called her the "Chief of all Muses". Mythology Calliope had two famous sons, OrpheusH ...

, electric guitar, background vocals *Jim Cocke – organ, keyboards *Mike Daane – bass guitar *Carl Finch –

accordion Accordions (from 19th-century German language, German ', from '—"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 (mou ...

*Glenn Fukunaga – bass guitar *Rafael Gayol – drums *

Mark Hallman Mark Hallman (born August 1, 1951) is an American producer, songwriter, engineer and multi-instrumentalist. He has worked with Carole King (appearing on six of her albums as a performer and producer), Ani DiFranco, and Eliza Gilkyson. In the m ...

– percussion, background vocals, choir, shaker, tambo drums *Ethridge Hill – trumpet *Bradley Kopp – electric guitar *Danny Levin – cello *

Tony Levin Anthony Frederick Levin (born June 6, 1946) is an American musician and composer specializing in electric bass guitars, Chapman Stick and upright bass. He also sings and plays synthesizer. Levin is best known for his work with King Crimson (19 ...

– bass guitar *Mitch Marine – drums *

Jerry Marotta Jerome David Marotta (born February 6, 1956) is an American drummer who resides in Woodstock, New York. He is the younger brother of Rick Marotta; Rick is also a drummer and composer. Career Marotta was a member of the bands Arthur, Hurley & ...

– percussion, drums *Darcy Matthews – background vocals, choir *Dominic Matthews – choir *Genevieve Matthews – choir *Ian Matthews – choir *Kris McKay – choir *Brad McLemore – electric guitar *Pamela Miller – choir *Paul Pearcy – percussion, drums *Pierce Pettis – acoustic guitar *Mark Rubin –

upright bass The double bass (), also known as the upright bass, the acoustic bass, the bull fiddle, or simply the bass, is the largest and lowest-pitched string instrument, chordophone in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding rare additions ...

David Sancious David Sancious (born November 30, 1953) is an American musician. He was an early member of Bruce Springsteen's backing group, the E Street Band, and contributed to the first three Springsteen albums, and again on '' Human Touch'' (1992), '' Tr ...

– piano, keyboards *Chris Searles – percussion, sound effects,

tambourine The tambourine is a musical instrument in the percussion family consisting of a frame, often of wood or plastic, with pairs of small metal jingles, called "zills". Classically the term tambourine denotes an instrument with a drumhead, thoug ...

, noise *

Tommy Taylor Thomas Taylor (29 January 1932 – 6 February 1958) was an English association football, footballer, who played as a Forward (association football), centre-forward and was known for his aerial ability. He was one of the eight Manchester United ...

– drums *Richard Weiss – choir *Morgan Wommack – choir *Brad Young – background vocals

Production

*Producers: Sara Hickman, Paul Fox, Mark Hallman *Engineers: Mark Hallman, Marty Lester, Kevin Smith, Ed Thacker *Assistant engineers: Marty Lester, Allan Queen, Mike Reiter *Arranger: Sara Hickman, Paul Fox *String arrangements: Sara Hickman, Danny Levin *Mixing: Sara Hickman, Mark Hallman, Marty Lester, Kevin Smith, Ed Thacker *Remixing: Sara Hickman, Mark Hallman, Marty Lester, Kevin Smith *Mastering: Joe Gastwirt *Art direction: Sara Hickman *Illustrations: Sara Hickman *Photography: Lynn Sugarman *Hair stylist: Tony Fielding *Make-up: Tony Fielding *Clothing/wardrobe: Cyndy Goodman

References

{{Authority control Sara Hickman albums 1994 albums Albums produced by Paul Fox (record producer) Discovery Records albums