''The Witness Tree'' is the third solo

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 ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

n singer

Wendy Matthews Wendy Joan Matthews (born 13 January 1960) is a Canadian-born Australian singer-songwriter who has been a member of Models (band), Models and Absent Friends (band), Absent Friends and is a solo artist. She released Top 20 hit singles in th ...

, released in Australia by

rooArt rooArt was an Australian independent record label, founded in 1988 by INXS's then-manager, Chris Murphy, label owner Sebastian Chase and Murphy's former employee, Justin Van Stom. The label's roster included several well-known Australian ban ...

on 14 November 1994. It is a non-traditional

gospel Gospel originally meant the Christianity, Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the second century Anno domino, AD the term (, from which the English word originated as a calque) came to be used also for the books in which the message w ...

album, with Matthews stating "the spirit of gospel is so uplifting, I have a lot of faith, but for me it's more nature and the elements." ''The Witness Tree'' debuted inside the Australian

ARIA Albums Chart The ARIA Charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling songs and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA became the offici ...

top twenty, but sales fell considerably short of those of Matthews's 1992 album ''

Lily ''Lilium'' ( ) is a genus of herbaceous flowering plants growing from bulbs, all with large and often prominent flowers. Lilies are a group of flowering plants which are important in culture and literature in much of the world. Most species are ...

''. The album was nominated for an

ARIA Award The Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards (commonly known informally as ARIA Music Awards, ARIA Awards, or simply the ARIAs) is an annual series of awards nights celebrating the Australian music industry, put on by the Austra ...

in 1995 for "Best Adult Contemporary Album" and yielded three singles; "Standing Strong", "Love Will Keep Me Alive" and "Say a Prayer". ''The Witness Tree'' debuted at number sixteen on the Australian

, becoming Matthews's fourth top twenty album."The Witness Tree - Australian chart run"
''Australian-charts.com''. Retrieved 5 June 2009. The album dropped out of the top fifty after two months, and spent a total of twenty-one weeks in the top one hundred. The

Australian Recording Industry Association The Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) is a trade association representing the Australian recording industry which was established in the 1970s by six major record companies, EMI, Festival Records (Australia), Festival, Sony Music ...

awarded the album a platinum certification for shipping 70,000 copies."Wendy Matthews ~ From Émigré to Stepping Stones ~"
. Wendymatthews.com.au. Retrieved 5 June 2009. At the

ARIA Music Awards of 1995 The Ninth Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards (generally known as the ARIA Music Awards or simply The ARIAs) was held on 20 October 1995 at the Sydney Convention & Exhibition Centre. There had been a 18-month gap since the ...

, the album was nominated for Best Adult Contemporary Album but lost the award to "I've Got a Plan" by

My Friend The Chocolate Cake My Friend the Chocolate Cake are an Australian chamber pop group formed in 1989 by mainstays David Bridie on vocals and keyboards and Helen Mountfort on cello and backing vocals (both ex- Not Drowning, Waving). They have released seven studio ...

."1995: 9th Annual ARIA Awards"
. ''

s''. Retrieved 5 June 2009.

Background and content

''The Witness Tree'' was recorded in 1994 at The Plant in

Sausalito, California Sausalito ( Spanish for "small willow grove") is a city in Marin County, California, United States, located southeast of Marin City, south-southeast of San Rafael, and about north of San Francisco from the Golden Gate Bridge. Sausalito's ...

and produced by Booker T. Jones. Matthews states she chose Jones for the producer because "we got along very, very well and he's just steeped in music and rhythm and soul. He was the first person I thought of with this slight gospel, for want of a better word, flavoured album, and he was really into it.""Wendy Matthews, with a little help from God and Elvis" by Polle Coufos. ''X-Press''. 25 June 1996. Retrieved 5 June 2009. The idea for the album came about as Matthews found her interests and motivations "have a connection to the things that I'm feeling are very important as I get older, which are family, the seasons and our connections to the earth." She explaines "I've got a lot of trust in myself and in something higher, so I wanted to make a non-traditional gospel album. The spirit of gospel is so uplifting. They celebrate, y'know? I have a lot of faith, but for me it's more nature and the elements. My grandfather taught me that every question you've ever had can be answered in nature but we have lost the ability to look, let alone ask." Matthews admitted that a few people from her label

had tried to dissuade her from creating the album but she remained firm. She explains "I suppose people tend to be scared off by that kind of stuff. Having said that I wasn't trying to make a traditional gospel album at all. I mean I'm very interested in all kinds of spiritual matters, but I'm not a traditionally religious person at all. I don't know ... maybe they got a little bit thrown by that one."

Track listing

#"Quiet Joys of Brotherhood" (

Richard Fariña Richard George Fariña (; March 8, 1937 – April 30, 1966) was an American Folk music, folksinger, songwriter, poet and novelist. Early years and education Fariña was born in Brooklyn, New York, United States, the son of an Irish mother, Ther ...

) – 3:18 #"God Watch Over You" (

Paddy McAloon Patrick Joseph McAloon (born 7 June 1957) is an English singer-songwriter and a founder of the band Prefab Sprout. Early life McAloon was born and grew up in Witton Gilbert in County Durham, England. He was trained to be a Catholic priest be ...

) – 4:31 #" Love Will Keep Me Alive" (

Jim Capaldi Nicola James Capaldi (2 August 1944 – 28 January 2005) was an English singer-songwriter and drummer. His musical career spanned more than four decades. He co-founded the progressive rock band Traffic in 1967 with Steve Winwood with whom he c ...

Paul Carrack Paul Melvyn Carrack (born 22 April 1951) is an English singer, musician, songwriter and composer who has recorded as both a solo artist and as a member of several popular bands. The BBC dubbed Carrack "The Man with the Golden Voice", while '' ...

, Peter Vale) – 4:14 #"

Standing Strong "Standing Strong" is a song by Australian recording artist Wendy Matthews. It was released in September 1994 as the lead single from her third studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium suc ...

" (Matthews, Glenn Skinner) – 4:54 #"Hymn of the Big Wheel" (

Horace Andy Horace Andy (born Horace Keith Hinds, 19 February 1951) is a Jamaican roots reggae songwriter and singer, known for his distinctive vocals and hit songs such as " Skylarking", as well as "Government Land", "Angel", "Spying Glass", and "Five Ma ...

Neneh Cherry Neneh Mariann Karlsson (; born 10 March 1964), better known as Neneh Cherry, is a Swedish singer, songwriter, rapper, occasional disc jockey, and broadcaster. Her musical career started in London in the early 1980s, where she performed in a numb ...

, Grantley Marshall, A. Vowles, Del Naja) – 5:22 #"

If I Can Dream "If I Can Dream" is a song made famous by Elvis Presley, written by Walter Earl Brown of The Skylarks for the singer and notable for its similarities with Martin Luther King Jr.'s 1963 "I Have a Dream" speech. The song was published by Elvis Pr ...

" (Walter Earl Brown) – 3:47 #" O Happy Day" ( Edwin Hawkins) – 4:48 #"Standback" (

Tim Finn Brian Timothy Finn (born 25 June 1952) is a New Zealand singer, songwriter, musician, and composer. He is best known as a founding member of Split Enz. Finn founded the band in 1972 with Phil Judd and served as lead singer and principal songw ...

, Matthews) – 3:05 #"It Ain't Wrong" ( Booker T. Jones, Matthews, Don Walker) – 3:56 #"Happy" (Finn, Matthews) – 3:26 #"Ride" (McAloon) – 4:41 #"Say a Prayer" (Jordan Knutson) – 3:20 #"Ruins (Jesu, Joy of Man's Desire)" (Robbie James, Matthews) – 4:20

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Personnel

The following people contributed to ''The Witness Tree'': *Johnnie Bamont —

baritone saxophone The baritone saxophone (sometimes abbreviated to "bari sax") is a member of the saxophone family of instruments, larger (and lower-pitched) than the tenor saxophone, but smaller (and higher-pitched) than the bass saxophone, bass. It is the lowe ...

. *Kitty Beethoven — voice. *Marquinho Brazil — shaker, caxixi,

udu The ''kim-kim'' or Udu is a plosive aerophone (in this case implosive) and an idiophone of the Igbo people, Igbo of Nigeria. In the Igbo language, ''ùdù'' means 'vessel' or 'pot'. This is a hand percussion instrument and it is one of the mos ...

. *Ndugu Chancler —

drum The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophone. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a ...

s. *Jeff Cressman —

trombone The trombone (, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the Brass instrument, brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's lips vibrate inside a mouthpiece, causing the Standing wave, air c ...

. *Louis Fasman —

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz musical ensemble, ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest Register (music), register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitche ...

flugelhorn The flugelhorn (), also spelled fluegelhorn, flugel horn, or flügelhorn, is a brass instrument that resembles the trumpet and cornet, but has a wider, more conical bore. Like trumpets and cornets, most flugelhorns are pitched in B♭, though ...

. *

— voice. *Nikita Germaine — voice. * Booker T. Jones — keyboards,

organ Organ and organs may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a group of tissues organized to serve a common function * Organ system, a collection of organs that function together to carry out specific functions within the body. Musical instruments ...

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

. *John Lacey —

didgeridoo The didgeridoo (;()), also spelt didjeridu, among other variants, is a wind instrument, played with vibrating lips to produce a continuous Drone (music), drone while using a special breathing technique called circular breathing. The didgerido ...

. *Tony Lindsay — voice. *Bennie Reitvelo —

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

. *Marc Russo —

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to p ...

. *Larry Sampson — voice. *Rick Wilson —

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 ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Witness Tree, The 1994 albums Wendy Matthews albums