Here Come the Snakes is an album by the American band Green on Red, released in 1989.[2][3] The album cover photo, titled "Afterward from the Democratic Forest", is by William Eggleston.[4]

Here Come the Snakes
Studio album by
Released1989
StudioSam C. Phillips Recording Studio, Memphis, Tennessee
GenreAlternative rock
LabelRestless[1]
ProducerJim Dickinson, Joe Hardy
Green on Red chronology
The Killer Inside Me
(1987)
Here Come the Snakes
(1989)
Live at the Town and Country Club
(1989)

Production

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Recorded in Memphis, the album was produced by Jim Dickinson and Joe Hardy.[5][6][7] Band members Dan Stuart and Chuck Prophet were backed by local musicians.[8] Stuart and Prophet used the Sam C. Phillips Recording Studio, where they worked with Roland Janes.[9] "We Had It All" is a cover of the song made popular in part by Keith Richards.[10]

Critical reception

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Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic     [11]
Chicago Tribune    [12]
Robert ChristgauB+[13]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music     [14]
MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide     [6]

Trouser Press wrote: "Again switching easily among rock, blues and country idioms, what's left of Green on Red sounds relaxed and confident, a warm and boozy vehicle for Stuart's amusingly wry regrets and social observations."[5] Robert Christgau said that "Stuart reemerges on Jim Dickinson's shoulder as Neil Young and Mick Jagger fried into one bar singer."[13]

The Chicago Tribune opined that "things bottom out on 'Tenderloin', a roiling, bluesy affair with a spoken monolog about failed love that, if it were delivered from a barstool by a tavern patron, would lead any saloonkeeper to close up early."[12] The Vancouver Sun noted that "Stuart is still at the top of his art—it's just a little too disturbing for mass consumption."[15] In 1990, The Times deemed Here Come the Snakes the best album of 1989, writing that Green on Red was "the most scandalously overlooked band of the last decade."[16]

AllMusic wrote that, "from the get-go, Prophet's guitar is the cornerstone to the Let It Bleed mood that fires this record."[11]

Track listing

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All tracks are written by Chuck Prophet and Dan Stuart; except where noted.

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Keith Can't Read" 3:22
2."Rock n Roll Disease" 3:08
3."Morning Blue" 3:58
4."Zombie for Love" 3:53
5."Broken Radio" 3:52
6."Change" 5:01
7."Tenderloin" 5:02
8."Way Back Home" 2:29
9."We Had It All"Donnie Fritts, Troy Seals3:33
10."D.T. Blues" 2:52

Personnel

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Green on Red

with:

  • René Coman - bass
  • Jim Dickinson - drums
  • Paul Ebersold - piano
  • Ed Kollis - harmonica
  • The Zombie Choir - vocals

References

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  1. ^ The Encyclopedia of Record Producers. Billboard Books. 1999. p. 184.
  2. ^ "Green on Red Biography, Songs, & Albums". AllMusic.
  3. ^ Smith, Mat (Apr 8, 1989). "Green on Red: Snake Charmers". Melody Maker. Vol. 65, no. 14. p. 26.
  4. ^ O'Hagan, Sean (19 Nov 2017). "William Eggleston: 'The music's here then it's gone—like a dream'". Art and Design. The Observer. p. 6.
  5. ^ a b "Green on Red". Trouser Press. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
  6. ^ a b MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide. Visible Ink Press. 1999. p. 507.
  7. ^ III, Albin J. Zak (November 20, 2001). The Poetics of Rock: Cutting Tracks, Making Records. University of California Press.
  8. ^ Buckley, Peter (January 17, 2003). The Rough Guide to Rock. Rough Guides.
  9. ^ "Recording remains an adventure for Prophet". The Commercial Appeal. 22 Oct 2010. p. G6.
  10. ^ Schoemer, Karen (Jun 1989). "Spins". Spin. Vol. 5, no. 3. p. 102.
  11. ^ a b "Here Come the Snakes". AllMusic.
  12. ^ a b Popson, Tom (28 Apr 1989). "Indie LPs: Green on Red, Pylon and more". Friday. Chicago Tribune. p. J.
  13. ^ a b "Green on Red". Robert Christgau.
  14. ^ Larkin, Colin (2006). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Vol. 3. MUZE. p. 886.
  15. ^ Mackie, John (25 Mar 1989). "Recordings". Vancouver Sun. p. D2.
  16. ^ Sinclair, David (March 24, 1990). "A-Z Guide to Rock". Features. The Times.