Short Sharp Shocked

Short Sharp Shocked
Studio album by Michelle Shocked
Released	August 15, 1988 (1988-08-15)
Recorded	1988 (1988), Capitol Studio B, Hollywood, Larribee Sound, Los Angeles, Sound Castle, Los Angeles
Genre	Rock
Length	36:27
Label	Mercury Records Mighty Sound (2003 Reissue)
Producer	Pete Anderson
Professional reviews
Allmusic link Robert Christgau (A-) link Rolling Stone link
Michelle Shocked chronology
The Texas Campfire Tapes (1986) Short Sharp Shocked (1988) Captain Swing (1989)
Singles from Short Sharp Shocked
"Anchorage" Released: 1988 (1988) "If Love Was a Train" Released: December 19, 1988 (1988-12-19) "When I Grow Up" Released: 1989 (1989)
2003 Reissue Cover

Short Sharp Shocked is an album by Michelle Shocked. It is her second album, released in 1988 (see 1988 in music). It was remastered and reissued in 2003 as a two-CD set by Shocked's own label, Mighty Sound. The title is a combination of her pseudonym last name, and the British phrase Short, sharp shock meaning "punishment that is quick and severe." ^[1] The line is used as "a touch of the short sharp shock" from fellow musician/activist Billy Bragg's song "It Says Here" from the 1984 album Brewing Up with Billy Bragg. The album has a "hidden" (or at least unlisted) track, a version of The Texas Campfire Tapes' "Fogtown," recorded with the San Francisco hardcore punk band MDC.

Cover Artwork

The name of this album, along with a very similar cover photograph, was used by the UK hardcore punk band Chaos UK whose 1984 release, Lawless Britain, also called Short Sharp Shock, predated Shocked's release by four years. That album likewise has an image of a punk rocker being detained by the police against his will. The photograph used by for this album cover was taken at a protest in San Francisco during the 1984 Democratic National Convention by Chris Hardy of the San Francisco Examiner and credited as such. Nevertheless, it was a direct derivation of Chaos UK's album cover. While this practice of copying album cover designs is very common and usually unacknowledged by the later album designer, Chaos UK chose to take it to heart, naming their 1989 comeback album Chipping Sodbury Bonfire Tapes as a dig against Shocked. ^[2] It should be noted that the 2003 re-issue de-contextualized the original photograph by closely cropping it to Shocked's face.

Track listing

All songs written by Michelle Shocked except as noted.

1. "When I Grow Up" – 3:34
2. "Hello Hopeville" – 2:55
3. "Memories of East Texas" – 3:35
4. "(Making the Run to) Gladewater" – 3:05
5. "Graffiti Limbo" – 3:39
6. "If Love Was a Train" – 4:07
7. "Anchorage" – 3:24
8. "The L&N Don't Stop Here Anymore" (Jean Ritchie) – 4:10
9. "V.F.D." – 2:49
10. "Black Widow" – 2:44
11. "Fogtown" – 2:25 ("hidden" track)

Personnel

• Michelle Shocked – vocals, acoustic guitar
• Pete Anderson – electric guitar, six-string bass guitar on 2
• Jeff Donavan – drums
• Domenic Genova – acoustic bass, electric bass
• Skip Edwards – piano, Hammond organ
• Mike Tempo – percussion
• Al Perkins – dobro
• Byron Berline – mandolin
• Don Reed – fiddle
• Rod Piazza – harmonica
• Kristina Olson – hammered dulcimer
• Banjo Jim Croce – banjo
• Sophia Ramos – vocals
• MDC – vocals on 11

Technical personnel

• Pete Anderson – arrangements
• Peter Doell – engineer (Capitol Studio B)
• Leslie Anne Jones – additional Engineering
• David Leonard – mixing engineer (Larribee Sound)
• Andy Batwinds – second engineer
• Bobby Lacivita – second engineer (Sound Castle)
• Eddy Schreyer - mastering engineer (Capitol Studios)
• Michael Dumds - production assistant

Charts

Album

Single

References