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Humour Me

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Humour Me
Studio album by
Released1988
LabelSugar Hill/Attic[1][2]
ProducerJesse Winchester
Jesse Winchester chronology
Talk Memphis
(1981)
Humour Me
(1988)
The Best of Jesse Winchester
(1989)

Humour Me is an album by the American-Canadian musician Jesse Winchester, released in 1988.[3][4] It was his first album in seven years.[5] Humour Me was nominated for a Juno Award, in the "Best Roots or Traditional Album" category.[6] "Well-a-Wiggy" had been a minor hit for the Weather Girls.[7]

Production

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Winchester preferred to play live or to work as a songwriter; his manager and Sugar Hill Records head encouraged him to record again.[8] Produced by Winchester, the album was recorded in Nashville.[2][9] Jerry Douglas played dobro on the album; Dave Pomeroy, Jim Horn, and Béla Fleck also contributed.[10][11][12][13]

Critical reception

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Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[14]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music[15]
MusicHound Folk: The Essential Album Guide[13]
Windsor StarB+[16]

The Globe and Mail panned the "romantic cliche and kitschy arrangements."[10] The Toronto Star wrote: "Warm, lean, smooth, the singer's voice is a marvellous, communicative instrument, never overwhelmed by fancy arrangements or star instrumentalists."[17] The Windsor Star considered "Too Weak to Say Goodbye" to be the album's best song.[16]

The Washington Post called the album "strictly mid-level stuff," but conceded that it was "nevertheless chock-full of songs that combine insinuating melodies and rhythms with tender sentiments so deftly handled that they never sound as trite as they might appear on paper."[18] The Ottawa Citizen stated that the music ranges from "earthy front porch blues and cafe folk to the odd lounge lizard croon."[19]

AllMusic wrote that "Humour Me lacked the depth of Winchester's best work, but it was easily on a par with his substantial body of craftsmanlike music of the mid-'70s... His voice remained warm and supple."[14]

Track listing

[edit]
No.TitleLength
1."If I Were Free" 
2."Thanks to You" 
3."They Just Can't Help Themselves" 
4."Too Weak to Say Goodbye" 
5."Let's Make a Baby King" 
6."Well-a-Wiggy" 
7."I Don't Think You Love Me Anymore" 
8."Willow" 
9."Humour Me" 
10."I Want to Mean Something to You" 

References

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  1. ^ "Jesse Winchester Returns to Folk Scene". MTV News. Archived from the original on April 17, 2022.
  2. ^ a b Burliuk, Greg (11 Mar 1989). "Humour Me Jesse Winchester". Magazine. The Kingston Whig-Standard. p. 1.
  3. ^ "Jesse Winchester Biography, Songs, & Albums". AllMusic.
  4. ^ Pareles, Jon (April 11, 2014). "Jesse Winchester, Writer and Singer of Thoughtful Songs, Dies at 69". The New York Times.
  5. ^ Blackstock, Peter (28 Jan 1989). "Best bets". Austin American-Statesman. p. A18.
  6. ^ "Up for Junos". Edmonton Journal. 8 Feb 1990. p. C1.
  7. ^ MacInnis, Craig (15 Apr 1989). "Jesse Winchester looking back South". Toronto Star. p. J3.
  8. ^ Dudley, Wendy (2 Mar 1989). "Jesse's under country's spell". Calgary Herald. p. F1.
  9. ^ Griffin, John (6 May 1988). "A rare look at Jesse". The Gazette. p. C1.
  10. ^ a b Dafoe, Chris (9 Feb 1989). "Humour Me Jesse Winchester". The Globe and Mail. p. C9.
  11. ^ Morris, Edward. "Songwriter Jesse Winchester Dies at Age 69". CMT News. Archived from the original on September 28, 2015.
  12. ^ Gilbert, Calvin (January 20, 1989). "Southern upbringing evident in Winchester's songwriting". Fun. The Advocate. p. 11.
  13. ^ a b MusicHound Folk: The Essential Album Guide. Visible Ink Press. 1998. p. 853.
  14. ^ a b "Humour Me". AllMusic.
  15. ^ Larkin, Colin (2006). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Vol. 8. MUZE. p. 724.
  16. ^ a b Shaw, Ted (15 Apr 1989). "Record Review". Windsor Star. p. C2.
  17. ^ Quill, Greg (3 Feb 1989). "Humour Me Jesse Winchester". Toronto Star. p. D12.
  18. ^ Joyce, Mike (10 Feb 1989). "Jesse Winchester: Tunes That Tug". The Washington Post. p. N19.
  19. ^ Erskine, Evelyn (17 Feb 1989). "Jesse: Rebel with cause". Ottawa Citizen. p. B6.