Campfire Songs: The Popular, Obscure & Unknown Recordings

Performer: 10,000 Maniacs
Artist: David Byrne; Michael Stipe; Don Grolnick; Paulinho Da Costa
Engineer: Ed Thacker; Frank Filipetti; George Massenburg; Jay Vicari; Gina Tampio; Bill Waldman; Mary Van Houten; Albert Garzon; Jerry Boys; Mike Scott; Tony Harris
Distributor: WEA (Distributor)

Notes: Includes five previously unreleased tracks. 10,000 Maniacs: Natalie Merchant (vocals, piano); Robert Buck (guitar, banjo, mandolin, synthesizer); John Lombardo (guitar, bass, background vocals); Steven Gustafson (guitar, bass); Dennis Drew (accordion, piano, organ); Jerome Augustyniak (drums, percussion). Additional personnel: Michael Stipe, David Byrne (vocals); Don Grolnick (piano); Paulinho DaCosta (percussion). Producers include: 10,000 Maniacs, Bill Waldman, Albert Garzon, Joe Boyd, Peter Asher. Compilation producers: 10,000 Maniacs, Natalie Merchant. Recorded between 1982 & 1993. Includes liner notes by Anthony DeCurtis. Personnel: John Lombardo (vocals, guitar); Natalie Merchant (vocals, piano); Robert Buck (guitar, banjo, mandolin, synthesizer); Steve Gustafson (guitar); Bill Dillon (acoustic guitar, slide guitar, mandolin); Richie Stearns (banjo); Mary Ramsey (violin, viola, background vocals); Morgan Fichter (violin, background vocals); Bruce Dukov, Ralph Morrison (violin); Pamela Goldsmith, Novi (viola); Dennis Karmazyn, Jane Scarpantoni, Larry Corbett (cello); Dennis Drew (accordion, piano, organ); Kim Laskowski, Atsuko Sato (bassoon); Maceo Parker (alto saxophone); Pee Wee Ellis (tenor saxophone); Fred Wesley (trombone); Amanda Kramer (piano, pump organ); Don Grolnick (piano); Jerome Augustyniak (drums, percussion); Jim Foti (drums); Paulinho DaCostam, Jerry Marotta (percussion). Audio Mixers: Ed Thacker; Frank Filipetti; Frank Wolf; George Massenburg. Audio Remasterers: Dan Hersch; Bill Inglot. Audio Remixer: Joe Barbaria. Liner Note Authors: Dennis Drew; Jerome Augustyniak; John Lombardo; Natalie Merchant; Steve Gustafson; Anthony DeCurtis; Steve Woolard. Photographers: Pam Taylor; Laura Lavine; Rob Marinissen; Ebet Roberts; Jo�lle Dep�nt; Andrew Catlin; Natalie Merchant. Arranger: Paul Buckmaster. Spanning 31 songs and two discs, one covering "The Most Popular Recordings" (aka "The Hits") and one covering "The Obscure & Unknown Recordings" (aka "The B-Sides and Cover Versions"), Rhino/Elektra's 2004 compilation Campfire Songs: The Popular, Obscure & Unknown Recordings of 10,000 Maniacs is as good a career overview as could be assembled. The hits disc may miss a minor charting single like "Few and Far Between," but it has all the songs of note, from the hits to album tracks. Meanwhile, the rarities are devoted pretty much to B-side covers in addition to four previously unreleased demos, the early outtake "Poppy Selling Man," plus their cover of Cat Stevens' "Peace Train," which was removed from latter-day editions of In My Tribe. There's enjoyable stuff on both discs -- the singles "Like the Weather," "What's the Matter Here?," "Trouble Me," "Candy Everybody Wants," and "These Are Days" are very good indeed, laying the groundwork for adult alternative pop/rock, while the early demos on the second disc are livelier than most Maniacs material and the Michael Stipe duet on "To Sir With Love" is a priceless artifact from the height of Clinton optimism (which faded quite quickly). But even these moments have the Achilles' heel of a production that is far too big for the group's gentle simple songs. Overall this expertly assembled collection -- which is as good as a 10,000 Maniacs anthology could be -- is best as a time capsule, capturing the earnest, precious optimism and PC nature of American college rock before grunge came along and dirtied everything up. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Entertainment Weekly (1/23/04, p.101) - "10,000 Maniacs' literate folk-pop sounds better now than it did in their late-'80s heyday." - Rating: B+ Q (4/04, p.128) - 3 stars out of 5 - "[T]hey possessed a capacity to beguile that had listeners convinced, temporarily at least, the world was indeed pastel-hued." Dirty Linen (p.45) - "[Their] early work blended bristling-punkish electric guitar work with Merchant's sometimes dreamy, sometimes intense vocal magic..."

Led by vocalist Natalie Merchant, 10,000 Maniacs combined danceable rhythms, jangly guitars, catchy melodies, and liberal politics to create a super-accessible version of 1980s college rock. The band broke into the mainstream with a cover of Cat Stevens's classic "Peace Train," and followed up with a string of successful, well-crafted albums. In 1993 the act scored a massive pop hit with a live cover of Bruce Springsteen's "Because the Night," off their MTV UNPLUGGED album. After Merchant left the band for a successful solo career, 10,000 Maniacs soldiered on with former member Mary Ramsey at the helm, never quite achieving the same level of success, but scoring a top 40 hit in 1997 with another cover (Roxy Music's "More Than This").

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