''Some Devil'' is the only studio album by musician
Dave Matthews. It was released on September 23, 2003 on
RCA Records
RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also ...
. It has been certified platinum by the
RIAA
The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/ ...
, signifying over a million copies sold. The album features several guest musicians, including long-time
Dave Matthews Band
Dave Matthews Band (also known by the initials DMB) is an American rock band formed in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 1991. The band's founding members were singer-songwriter and guitarist Dave Matthews, bassist Stefan Lessard, drummer and back ...
collaborator guitarist
Tim Reynolds
Tim Reynolds (born 15 December 1957) is an American guitarist and multi-instrumentalist known as both a solo artist and as a lead guitarist for the Dave Matthews Band. AllMusic critic MacKenzie Wilson has called Reynolds "an under-rated master". ...
and
Phish
Phish is an American rock band formed in Burlington, Vermont, in 1983. The band is known for musical improvisation, extended Jam session#Rock, jams, blending of Music genre, genres, and a dedicated Fandom, fan base. The band consists of guitari ...
frontman and guitarist
Trey Anastasio
Ernest Joseph "Trey" Anastasio III (born September 30, 1964) is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter, best known as the lead guitarist of the rock band Phish, which he co-founded in 1983. He is credited by name as composer of 152 Phish o ...
. The album's first single, "
Gravedigger
A gravedigger is a cemetery worker who is responsible for digging a grave prior to a funeral service.
Description
If the grave is in a cemetery on the property of a church or other religious organization (part of, or called, a churchyard), ...
," won a
Grammy Award
The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pre ...
in 2004. ''Some Devil'' was recorded at Studio Litho in
Seattle
Seattle ( ) is a port, seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the county seat, seat of King County, Washington, King County, Washington (state), Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in bo ...
,
Washington, and produced by
Stephen Harris, who had previously worked with the
Dave Matthews Band
Dave Matthews Band (also known by the initials DMB) is an American rock band formed in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 1991. The band's founding members were singer-songwriter and guitarist Dave Matthews, bassist Stefan Lessard, drummer and back ...
on their 2002 album ''
Busted Stuff''.
Of the album, Matthews said:
"I hadn't really been thinking about doing a solo album until I had a handful of songs that didn't really fit with the band, so I started with those and it just grew into a full record," Matthews said. "I kind of thought it'd be fun to put it out."
Many fans, while at first skeptical of Matthews' desire to release a solo album, quickly praised his efforts. The album is noted for its moodier tone and the fresh direction shown in Matthews' songwriting.
Since 2003, Matthews has performed ''Some Devil'' material in concert with a group coined
Dave Matthews & Friends, which consisted mainly of musicians that appear on the album. He has also played album material solo and with long-time acoustic duo partner
Tim Reynolds
Tim Reynolds (born 15 December 1957) is an American guitarist and multi-instrumentalist known as both a solo artist and as a lead guitarist for the Dave Matthews Band. AllMusic critic MacKenzie Wilson has called Reynolds "an under-rated master". ...
. During the 2008 summer tour,
Dave Matthews Band
Dave Matthews Band (also known by the initials DMB) is an American rock band formed in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 1991. The band's founding members were singer-songwriter and guitarist Dave Matthews, bassist Stefan Lessard, drummer and back ...
played "
Gravedigger
A gravedigger is a cemetery worker who is responsible for digging a grave prior to a funeral service.
Description
If the grave is in a cemetery on the property of a church or other religious organization (part of, or called, a churchyard), ...
" and "
So Damn Lucky" regularly, with "
Stay or Leave
Stay may refer to:
Places
* Stay, Kentucky, an unincorporated community in the US
Law
* Stay of execution, a ruling to temporarily suspend the enforcement of a court judgment
* Stay of proceedings, a ruling halting further legal process in a tri ...
" following suit during the 2009 summer tour.
The song "Some Devil" featured in the ''
House
A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air ...
'' episode "
Love Hurts
"Love Hurts" is a song written and composed by the American songwriter Boudleaux Bryant. First recorded by the Everly Brothers in July 1960, the song is most well known from the 1974 international hit version by Scottish hard rock band Nazaret ...
", the Freeform show ''
Pretty Little Liars
''Pretty Little Liars'' is an American mystery teen drama television series based on the novel series of the same name written by Sara Shepard. Developed by I. Marlene King, the series was broadcast on Freeform between June 8, 2010, and June ...
'', and the closing credits to the 2003 film ''
21 Grams
''21 Grams'' is a 2003 American psychological drama film directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu from a screenplay by Guillermo Arriaga. The film stars Sean Penn, Naomi Watts, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Danny Huston and Benicio Del Toro. The sec ...
''. Finally, the song "So Damn Lucky" is in
The CW
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in ...
show ''
Privileged''.
The limited edition version of the album includes a 7-track bonus CD featuring songs from the Dave Matthews/Tim Reynolds 2003 tour. These are Grey Street (4-3-03, Elliott Hall of Music, Purdue University); When the World Ends (3-28-03, Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum); Jimi Thing (3-22-03, Radio City Music Hall); Stay or Leave (4-3-03, Elliott Hall of Music, Purdue University); Seek up (3-20-03, Ryan Center, University of Rhode Island); Crush (3-28-03, Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum) and Drive In Drive Out (3-20-03, Ryan Center, University of Rhode Island).
[Dave Matthews & Tim Reynolds Live at...]
Track listing
All songs by Dave J. Matthews unless noted.
#"Dodo" – 4:57
#"So Damn Lucky" (Matthews, Harris) – 4:34
#"
Gravedigger
A gravedigger is a cemetery worker who is responsible for digging a grave prior to a funeral service.
Description
If the grave is in a cemetery on the property of a church or other religious organization (part of, or called, a churchyard), ...
" – 3:53
#"Some Devil" – 4:04
#"Trouble" (Matthews, Harris) – 5:44
#"Grey Blue Eyes" (Matthews, Anastasio, Harris) – 3:01
#"Save Me" – 4:33
#"Stay or Leave" – 4:02
#"An' Another Thing" – 5:30
#"Oh" – 2:48
#"Baby" – 2:19
#"Up and Away" – 4:19
#"Too High" – 5:38
#"Gravedigger" (acoustic) – 3:52
Personnel
Musicians
*
Dave Matthews — vocals, guitars , acoustic guitar , electric guitar , sitar guitar , baritone guitar , vocal percussion
with:
*
Brady Blade — drums , percussion
*
Tony Hall — bass guitar
*
Tim Reynolds
Tim Reynolds (born 15 December 1957) is an American guitarist and multi-instrumentalist known as both a solo artist and as a lead guitarist for the Dave Matthews Band. AllMusic critic MacKenzie Wilson has called Reynolds "an under-rated master". ...
— guitar , electric guitar , acoustic guitar , sitar guitar
*
Trey Anastasio
Ernest Joseph "Trey" Anastasio III (born September 30, 1964) is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter, best known as the lead guitarist of the rock band Phish, which he co-founded in 1983. He is credited by name as composer of 152 Phish o ...
— electric guitar , piano , intro guitar
*
Stephen Harris — keyboards , harmonium , programming , percussion
Additional musicians
*
Alex Veley — organ
*
Dirty Dozen Brass Band
The Dirty Dozen Brass Band is a brass band based in New Orleans, Louisiana. The ensemble was established in 1977, by Benny Jones and members of the Tornado Brass Band. The Dirty Dozen revolutionized the New Orleans brass band style by incorpor ...
— horns
** Roger Lewis – baritone saxophone
** Kevin Harris – tenor saxophone
** Efrem Towns – flugelhorn
** Sammy Williams – trombone
*
Audrey Riley
Audrey Riley is an English cellist and string arranger, based in the UK.
Career
Riley trained at the Guildhall School of Music with Leonard Stehn. She was a cellist for Virginia Astley from 1983 to 1986 and a one-time auxiliary member of The ...
– string arrangements , horn arrangements , orchestral arrangements
* Seattlemusic Group Strings – strings
** Leonid Keylin, Misha Keylin, Mikhail Schmidt, John Weller, Jean Wells Yablonsky, Peter Kaman, Paul Shure, Bonnie Douglas, Gennady Filimonov, Jennifer Bai, Karen Bentley, Anne Sokol, Steve Bryant, Jennifer Sokol, Clark Story, Mariel Bailey, Marcia Steel, Jamie Laval, Xiao-Po Fei – violin
** Vincent Comer, Susan Bryant, Cynthia Morrow, Dajana Hobson, Wes Dyring, Shari Link, Michael Lieberman, Eileen Swanson, Andrea Schuler, Heather Bentley – viola
** David Sabee, Walter Gray, Bruce Bailey, Roberta Downey, Theresa Benshoof, Jackie Robbins, Rajan Krishnaswami, Clare Garabedian – cello
** Jordan Anderson, Todd Gowers, Chuck Deardorf, Anna Doak – bass
* Seattlemusic Group Horns (Mark Robbins, Susan Carroll, James Weaver, Rodger Burnett) — horns
* Seattlemusic String Quartet – strings
** Leonid Keylin, Misha Keylin – violin
** Vincent Comer – viola
** David Sabee – cello
*
Total Experience Gospel Choir — backing vocals
** DeShe' Brooks-Wright, Tanisha Brooks, Gena Brooks, Lulu Strange, Mary Strange, Sherri Charleston-Johnson – choir
** Patrinell Wright – director
Technical personnel
* Mark Branch – second orchestral engineering
* Rob Haggett – mixing assistant , assistant mix Pro Tools engineer
*
Stephen Harris – producer, mixing
* Sam Hofstedt – additional assistant engineer
*
Ted Jensen
Ted Jensen (born September 19, 1954) is an American mastering engineer, known for having mastered many recordings, including the Eagles' '' Hotel California'', Green Day's '' American Idiot'' and Norah Jones' '' Come Away with Me''.
Biograp ...
– mastering
* Ric Levy – mixing assistant
* Floyd Reitsma – assistant engineer , mixing assistant
* John Schluckender – second orchestral engineering
*
Mark "Spike" Stent – mixing
* Dave Treahearn – assistant mix Pro Tools engineer
* Brian Valentino – assistant engineer , string Pro Tools engineering
* Paul "P-Dub" Walton – mix Pro Tools engineer
*
John Whynot – orchestral engineering
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
References
{{Authority control
2003 debut albums
RCA Records albums
Dave Matthews albums