Big Whiskey & the GrooGrux King

Big Whiskey & the GrooGrux King

Big Whiskey & the GrooGrux King

Big Whiskey & the GrooGrux King

Vinyl LP(Long Playing Record)

$36.99 
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Overview

Tragedy has a way of putting everything into perspective, a truism that's brought into sharp relief by the Dave Matthews Band. LeRoi Moore, the group's saxophonist, died in 2008, something that shook the DMB to their core and they've responded as any working band does: by carrying on, playing gigs -- including one on the day of his passing -- and finishing the album they were recording at the time of his death, turning Big Whiskey & the GrooGrux King into a tribute to their fallen comrade. By saluting his spirit, DMB wind up returning to their roots, jettisoning any of the well-manicured crossover pop of Stand Up and reviving the loose-limbed jams that were their '90s specialty, a sound they've largely abandoned -- at least on record -- since 1998's Before These Crowded Streets. During that long, long decade between Before and Big Whiskey, DMB remained one of America's biggest bands even though much of those ten years found Matthews working through various existential crises -- things got too big so he pulled away from the band, turned out a dark solo record, then came back -- and his namesake band drifted along with him. Here, everything snaps back into focus: what was glossy is now clean and unvarnished; there is no avoidance of their rangy, loping rhythms or predilection for elastic solos; and these signatures -- shunned on record, not on-stage -- are embraced warmly, given muscle, and married to the dark undercurrents that have flowed throughout Matthews' new-millennium writing. Surely, Moore's early death weighs heavily here -- he is the GrooGrux King of the album's title and there are many allusions to him in lyrics -- but Matthews also ties in references to Hurricane Katrina and war, all as part of his wide-open meditations on mortality and morality. Not all of Big Whiskey is about death: there is an equal amount of love tunes, plus one of Matthews' casually vulgar sex songs, all celebrating enduring relationships, providing a counterpoint to the waves of melancholy. But what makes Big Whiskey & the GrooGrux King the Dave Matthews Band's richest, and quite possibly best, album is the implicit message that all the love and loss can be felt and shared through the music, that the creation of the music itself is the reason why they're here -- and that's not just a moving tribute to LeRoi Moore, it's a reason for the band to keep moving on. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Product Details

Release Date: 06/02/2009
Label: Rca
UPC: 0886974871217
Rank: 5252

Tracks

Disc 1

  1. Grux
  2. Shake Me Like a Monkey
  3. Funny the Way It is
  4. Lying In the Hands of God
  5. Why I Am
  6. Dive In
  7. Spaceman

Disc 2

  1. Squirm
  2. Alligator Pie
  3. Seven
  4. Time Bomb
  5. Baby Blue
  6. You & Me

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Dave Matthews   Primary Artist,Guitar,Vocals
Dave Matthews Band   Primary Artist
Natalie Leggett   Violin
Stefan Lessard   Bass,Guitar (Bass)
Sid Page   Violin
Boyd Tinsley   Violin
Rashawn Ross   Trumpet,Featured Artist
Robert Brophy   Viola
Jacqueline Brand   Violin
Carter Beauford   Drums,Percussion
Joel Derouin   Violin
Rob Cavallo   Organ,Piano
LeRoi Moore   Saxophone
Darrin McCann   Viola
Miwako Watanabe   Violin
Andrew Duckles   Viola
Alyssa Park   Violin
Tim Pierce   Guitar
Tim Reynolds   Guitar,Featured Artist
Josefina Vergara   Violin
Susan Chatman   Violin
Rudy Stein   Celli,Cello
Steve Richards   Celli,Cello
Roberto Cani   Violin
Dane Little   Celli,Cello
Suzie Katayama   Celli,Cello
Armen Ksadjikian   Celli,Cello
Nico Abondolo   Bass,Double Bass
Charlie Bisharat   Violin
Jamie Muhoberac   Organ,Keyboards
Jeff Coffin   Saxophone,Featured Artist
Danny Barnes   Banjo
Philip Vaiman   Violin
Alan Grunfeld   Violin
David Campbell   Strings
Joe Lawlor   Guitar
Laurence Greenfield   Violin
Timothy Eckert   Bass,Double Bass
Vladimir Polimatidi   Violin
Karen Elaine   Viola
Gerardo Hilera   Violin
Kim Scholes   Celli,Cello
David Paul Campbell   String Conductor
Matthew Funes   Viola
Mario de Leon   Violin
Michele Richards   Violin
Roger Manning   Keyboards
Chris Ermacoff   Celli,Cello
Sharon Jackson   Violin
Victoria Miskolczy   Viola

Technical Credits

Stefan Lessard   Composer
Ted Jensen   Mastering,Remastering
Boyd Tinsley   Composer
Rashawn Ross   Composer
Lars Fox   Audio Engineer,Digital Editing
Carter Beauford   Composer
Floyd Reitsman   Audio Engineer,Assistant Engineer
Doug McKean   Mixing,Engineer,Audio Engineer
Rob Evans   Audio Engineer
Rob Cavallo   Producer,Audio Production
LeRoi Moore   Composer
Sam Hofstedt   Audio Engineer,Assistant Engineer
Keith Armstrong   Audio Engineer
Tim Reynolds   Composer
Dave Matthews   Composer,Art Direction,Illustrations
Patrick G. Jordan   Product Manager
Suzie Katayama   Contractor
Chris Lord-Alge   Mixing
Craig Baker   Guitar Technician
Aaron Walk   Audio Engineer,Assistant Engineer
Daniel Chase   Audio Engineer,Digital Editing
Paul Suarez   Audio Engineer
Wesley Fontenot   Audio Engineer,Assistant Engineer
Nik Karpen   Audio Engineer,Mixing Assistant
David Campbell   Arranger
Bruce Flohr   A&R
Steve Rea   Audio Engineer,Assistant Engineer
Keith B. Armstrong   Mixing Assistant
Brad Townsend   Audio Engineer
Henry Luniewski   Drum Technician
Valerie Abbott   Original Photography
Robin Evans   Assistant Engineer
David Paul Campbell   String Arrangements
Mary Fagot   Package Design
Eric Roinestad   Package Design
Eric "Bigg EE" Porter   Bass Technician,Instrument Technician
Cheryl Jenets   Production Coordination
Jerry Ray Johnson   Sax Technician,Drum Technician
Sharon Lord   Product Manager
Russ Waugh   Audio Engineer,Assistant Engineer
Aaron Borns   Product Manager
Josh Evans   Audio Engineer
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