Rufus Wainwright

Rufus Wainwright
Studio album by Rufus Wainwright
Released	May 19, 1998
Recorded	1996–1997
Genre	Pop
Length	53:26
Label	DreamWorks
Producer	Jon Brion, Pierre Marchand
Professional reviews
Allmusic link Robert Christgau (B+) link NME 1998 Rolling Stone 1998
Rufus Wainwright chronology
Rufus Wainwright (1998) Poses (2001)

Rufus Wainwright is the self-titled debut album of Canadian-American singer-songwriter Rufus Wainwright, released in the United States on May 19, 1998 through DreamWorks Records.^[1]

The album was produced by Jon Brion, except "In My Arms" was produced and mixed by Pierre Marchand, and "Millbook" and "Baby" were produced by Jon Brion and Van Dyke Parks.^[2] Lenny Waronker was the executive in charge of production. Rufus Wainwright was recorded at Ocean Way Three & Seven, Sunset Sound Factory, Sunset Sound, Media Vortex, Hook Studios, Groove Masters, Red Zone, Sony, The Palindrome Recorder, and NRG Recording Services.^[2]

Background

Through weekly shows at Cafe Sarajevo, Wainwright became a fixture on the Montreal club circuit and eventually cut a series of demo tapes produced by Pierre Marchand, who also later produced Wainwright's sophomore album, Poses. The resulting tapes impressed Wainwright's folk singer father, Loudon Wainwright III, who passed them on to his friend Van Dyke Parks. Parks, a record producer, songwriter, and recording artist in his own right, sent the recordings to Lenny Waronker, the DreamWorks executive that eventually signed Wainwright to his label.^[3] Waronker stated the following of Wainwright: "When I was about to listen to his tape, I remember clearly I was thinking, 'Gee, if he has the mom's musicality and smarts, and the dad's smarts and voice, that'd be nice.' Then I put it on and I said, 'Oh, my God, this is stunning.'"^[3]

Wainwright moved to New York City in 1996 and began performing regularly at Club Fez, building a loyal local audience. He relocated to Los Angeles later that year and began recording his first studio album. Waronker paired Wainwright with producer Jon Brion, and the two spent most of 1996 and 1997 making the record. Wainwright recorded 56 songs in total, spread out over 62 rolls of tape. Costs for the recording sessions reached $700,000.^[3]

Track listing

All songs written by Wainwright.

1. "Foolish Love" – 5:46
2. "Danny Boy" – 6:12
3. "April Fools" – 5:00
4. "In My Arms" – 4:08
5. "Millbrook" – 2:11
6. "Baby" – 5:13
7. "Beauty Mark" – 2:14
8. "Barcelona" – 6:53
9. "Matinee Idol" – 3:08
10. "Damned Ladies" – 4:07
11. "Sally Ann" – 5:01
12. "Imaginary Love" – 3:28

Bonus tracks

• "A Bit of You" – 5:00 (Japan)^[4]

Chart performance and recognition

While the success of Rufus Wainwright was limited in sales, Wainwright reached #24 on Billboard's Top Heatseekers chart, and Rolling Stone named him 1998's Best New Artist.^[5][6] The album was nominated four times by the Gay & Lesbian American Music Awards, an organization that provided the foundation for the recognition of the excellence of LGBT artists. Wainwright won the title of Best New Artist, while the album was nominated for Album of the Year and "April Fools" was nominated for Video of the Year and Best Pop Recording.^[7] The GLAAD Media Awards, created by the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) to recognize and honor the mainstream media for their fair and accurate representations of the LGBT community, awarded Rufus Wainwright as the year's Outstanding Music Album.^[8] At the Juno Awards of 1999, Rufus Wainwright won the award for Best Alternative Album.^[9]

Personnel

References

External links

• Rufus Wainwright's official site