Four Chords & Several Years Ago
Encyclopedia
Four Chords & Several Years Ago is the seventh album
by American rock
band Huey Lewis and the News
, released in 1994 (see 1994 in music
). The title is a play on the first sentence in Abraham Lincoln
's Gettysburg Address
("Four score and seven years ago ...").
It is a collection of 1960s rhythm & blues covers influential to the members of the group during their early years. It is the last album to feature founding member and bassist, Mario Cipollina, who left the band after the subsequent tour.
Additional personnel
Singles - Billboard (United States)
Album
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
by American rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
band Huey Lewis and the News
Huey Lewis and the News
Huey Lewis and the News is an American rock band based in San Francisco, California. They had a run of hit singles during the 1980s and early 1990s, eventually scoring a total of 19 top-ten singles across the Billboard Hot 100, Adult Contemporary and Mainstream Rock charts...
, released in 1994 (see 1994 in music
1994 in music
This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1994.-January–February:*January 25 – Alice in Chains release their Jar of Flies album which debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, becoming the first ever EP to do so....
). The title is a play on the first sentence in Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...
's Gettysburg Address
Gettysburg Address
The Gettysburg Address is a speech by U.S. President Abraham Lincoln and is one of the most well-known speeches in United States history. It was delivered by Lincoln during the American Civil War, on the afternoon of Thursday, November 19, 1863, at the dedication of the Soldiers' National Cemetery...
("Four score and seven years ago ...").
It is a collection of 1960s rhythm & blues covers influential to the members of the group during their early years. It is the last album to feature founding member and bassist, Mario Cipollina, who left the band after the subsequent tour.
Track listing
- "Shake, Rattle and RollShake, Rattle and Roll"Shake, Rattle and Roll" is a prototypical twelve bar blues-form rock and roll song, written in 1954 by Jesse Stone under his assumed songwriting name Charles E. Calhoun. It was originally recorded by Big Joe Turner, and most successfully by Bill Haley & His Comets...
" (Charles E. Calhoun) – 3:07 - "Blue MondayBlue Monday (Fats Domino song)"Blue Monday" is a song originally written by Dave Bartholomew, and first recorded by Smiley Lewis in 1954.It was later popularized in a recording by Fats Domino in 1956, on Imperial Records , on which the songwriting credit was shared between Bartholomew and Domino. Most later versions have...
" (Bartholomew, Domino) – 2:41 - "Searching for My Love" (R. Moore) – 2:50
- "(She's) Some Kind of WonderfulSome Kind of Wonderful (Soul Brothers Six song)"Some Kind of Wonderful" is a song written by John Ellison. It was first recorded in 1967 by the American group Soul Brothers Six, peaking at number ninety-one on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100...
" (John Ellison) – 3:06 - "But It's Alright" (J.J. Jackson, Pierre TubbsPierre TubbsPierre Tubbs is a British songwriter and music producer. One of his biggest successes is "Right Back Where We Started From" recorded by Maxine Nightingale. He also co-wrote the J.J...
) – 2:54 - "If You Gotta Make a Fool of Somebody" (Clark) – 2:32
- "Mother in LawMother-in-Law (song)"Mother-in-Law" is the name of a hit 1961 single by Ernie K-Doe. The song was a number-one hit in the U.S. on both the Billboard Hot 100 and R&B charts.. The song was written and produced by Allen Toussaint who also played the piano solo. It was issued by Minit Records...
" (Allen ToussaintAllen ToussaintAllen Toussaint is an American musician, composer, record producer, and influential figure in New Orleans R&B.Many of Toussaint's songs have become familiar through numerous cover versions, including "Working in the Coalmine", "Ride Your Pony", "Fortune Teller", "Play Something Sweet ", "Southern...
) – 2:43 - "Little Bitty Pretty OneLittle Bitty Pretty One"Little Bitty Pretty One" is a rock and roll song written and originally recorded by Bobby Day, and popularized by Thurston Harris in 1957. His version reached #6 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. It has most notably been covered by Frankie Lymon in 1958, Clyde McPhatter in 1962, the Jackson Five in...
" (ByrdBobby DayBobby Day , was an early African American rock and roll and R&B musician.Born Robert James Byrd, , in Fort Worth, Texas, he moved to Los Angeles, California, at the age of 15...
) – 2:04 - "Good Morning Little School GirlGood Morning, School Girl"Good Morning, School Girl" or "Good Morning Little Schoolgirl" is a blues standard that has been "covered countless times across the decades"...
" (Sonny Boy Williamson ISonny Boy Williamson ISonny Boy Williamson was an American blues harmonica player and singer, and the first to use the name Sonny Boy Williamson.-Biography and career:...
) (credited as "S.L. Hopkins")– 4:02 - "Stagger LeeStagger Lee (song)"Stagger Lee", also known as "Stagolee", "Stackerlee", "Stack O'Lee", "Stack-a-Lee" and several other variants, is a popular folk song based on the murder of William "Billy" Lyons by Stagger Lee Shelton...
" (Logan, Price) – 2:36 - "She Shot a Hole in My Soul" (Gayden, Neese) – 2:38
- "Surely I Love You" (Bracken, Oliver) – 2:51
- "You Left the Water RunningYou Left the Water Running"You Left the Water Running" is a soul music song written by Dan Penn, Rick Hall and Oscar Franks. It has been recorded by Wilson Pickett, Barbara Lynn, Maurice and Mac and Otis Redding....
" (Frank, Hall, Penn) – 3:06 - "Your Cash Ain't Nothin' But Trash" (Calhoun) – 2:57
- "Function at the Junction" (Holland, Shorty LongShorty LongFrederick Earl "Shorty" Long was an American soul singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer for Motown's Soul Records imprint...
) – 3:13 - "Better to Have and Not Need" (Don CovayDon CovayDon Covay is an American R&B/rock and roll/soul music singer and songwriter most active in the 1950s and 1960s, who received a Pioneer Award from the Rhythm and Blues Foundation in 1994...
, Watts) – 3:32 - "Going Down SlowGoin' Down Slow"Goin' Down Slow" or "Going Down Slow" is a blues song written by St. Louis Jimmy Oden, originally released in 1941. Howlin' Wolf included the song on his 1962 Rocking Chair Album.The song alternates between sung and spoken passages...
" (St. Louis Jimmy OdenSt. Louis Jimmy OdenJames Burke "St. Louis Jimmy" Oden was an American blues vocalist and songwriter.Born in Nashville, Tennessee, United States, Oden sang and taught himself to play the piano in childhood. In his teens, he left home to go to St. Louis, Missouri where piano-based blues was prominent...
) – 2:00
Personnel
Huey Lewis & The News- Huey LewisHuey LewisHuey Lewis is an American musician, songwriter and occasional actor.Lewis sings lead and plays harmonica for his band Huey Lewis and the News, in addition to writing or co-writing many of the band's songs...
- lead vocals, harmonicaHarmonicaThe harmonica, also called harp, French harp, blues harp, and mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used primarily in blues and American folk music, jazz, country, and rock and roll. It is played by blowing air into it or drawing air out by placing lips over individual holes or multiple holes... - Mario Cipollina - bassBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
- Johnny CollaJohnny CollaJohnny Colla is one of the founding members of the American rock band, Huey Lewis and the News. He is the guitarist and saxophonist. He has been heavily involved in the San Francisco Bay Area music scene for more than 25 years.-Brief history:The first bands that Colla was involved with were the...
- rhythm guitarRhythm guitarRhythm guitar is a technique and rôle that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with singers or other instruments; and to provide all or part of the harmony, ie. the chords, where a chord is a group of notes played together...
, saxophoneSaxophoneThe saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...
, background vocals - Bill Gibson - drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
, percussionPercussion instrumentA percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration...
, background vocals - Chris Hayes - lead guitarLead guitarLead guitar is a guitar part which plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs within a song structure...
, background vocals - Sean Hopper - keyboardsKeyboard instrumentA keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
, background vocals
Additional personnel
- Marvin McFadden - trumpetTrumpetThe trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
- Linda Tillery - background vocals
- Jeanie Tracy - background vocals
Production
- Producer: Stewart Levine
- Executive producer: Bob Brown
- Engineer: Daren Klein
- Assistant engineers: Jim Champagne, Kevin Scott, Jim "Watts" Vereecke
- Mixing: Daren Klein
- Mastering: Bernie Grundman
- Art direction: Robin Lynch
- Design: JoDee Stringham
- Photography: Dennis Keeley
Charts
| Chart (1994) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| German Albums Chart | 46 |
| Swiss Albums Chart | 21 |
| US Billboard 200 | 55 |
Singles - Billboard (United States)
| Year | Single | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | "(She's) Some Kind of Wonderful" | Adult Contemporary | 7 |
| The Billboard Hot 100 | 44 | ||
| "But It's Alright" | Adult Contemporary | 5 | |
| The Billboard Hot 100 | 54 | ||
| 1995 | "Little Bitty Pretty One" | Adult Contemporary | 27 |