My Life (Iris DeMent album)

My Life
Studio album by Iris DeMent
Released 1994
Recorded The Cowboy Arms Hotel & Recording Spa, Nashville
Genre Country Folk
Length 42:29
Label Warner Bros.
Producer Jim Rooney
Iris DeMent chronology
Infamous Angel
(1992)Infamous Angel1992
My Life
(1994)
The Way I Should
(1996)The Way I Should1996

My Life is the second album released by singer-songwriter Iris DeMent. Released in 1994 on Warner Bros., it peaked at number 16 on the Billboard Heatseekers chart.

The album was dedicated to her father, Patric Shaw DeMent, who died in 1992.

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[1]
The Austin American-Statesman[2]
Chicago Tribune[3]
Christgau's Consumer GuideA+[4]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music[5]
Entertainment WeeklyA[6]
Los Angeles Times[7]
The New Rolling Stone Album Guide[8]
Rolling Stone[9]
Spin Alternative Record Guide9/10[10]

Spin ranked My Life as the 3rd best album of 1994. Writing in Spin, Eric Weisbard described the album as "...unbreakable gentleness as a modern epiphany about rural values."[11]

The album was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Album at the 37th Annual Grammy Awards.

Track listing

All songs by Iris DeMent except as indicated.

Side one

  1. "Sweet Is the Melody" – 3:41
  2. "You've Done Nothing Wrong" – 4:22
  3. "Calling for You" – 3:18
  4. "Childhood Memories" – 4:38
  5. "No Time to Cry" – 6:49

Side two

  1. "Troublesome Waters" (Maybelle Carter, Ezra J. Carter, Dixie Deen) – 5:15
  2. "Mom and Dad's Waltz" (Lefty Frizzell) – 2:37
  3. "Easy's Gettin' Harder Every Day" – 5:01
  4. "The Shores of Jordan" – 3:18
  5. "My Life" – 3:30

Personnel

  • Iris DeMent – vocals, acoustic guitar, harmony vocal, piano on "My Life"
  • Richard Bennett – acoustic guitar, electric guitar
  • John Catchings – cello
  • "Cowboy" Jack Clement – acoustic guitar
  • Charles Cochran – piano, keyboards
  • Stuart Duncan – fiddle, mandolin
  • Mark Howard – acoustic guitar
  • Roy Huskey, Jr. – upright bass
  • Kenny Malone – percussion
  • Pat McInerney – drums
  • Phil Parlapiano – accordion on "You've Done Nothing Wrong"
  • Al Perkins – dobro
  • Pete Wasner – keyboards, piano
  • Joy White – harmony vocal on "Childhood Memories"
  • Linda Williams – harmony vocal on "The Shores of Jordan"
  • Robin Williams – harmony vocal on "The Shores of Jordan"

References

  1. Smith, Jim. "My Life Review". AllMusic.
  2. Davis, John T. (1994-06-02). "The sounds of summer/step to semi-new songs". The Austin American-Statesman.
  3. Kot, Greg (1994-04-21). "Lessons In Life". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2018-03-26.
  4. Christgau, Robert (2000-10-15). "Iris DeMent: My Life". Christgau's Consumer Guide: Albums of the '90s. Macmillan Publishing. ISBN 9780312245603.
  5. Larkin, Colin (2011). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Omnibus Press. ISBN 9780857125958.
  6. Nash, Alanna (1994-04-15). "My Life". Entertainment Weekly.
  7. Lewis, Randy (1994-04-10). "Record Rack". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2018-03-26.
  8. Kot, Greg (2004). "Iris DeMent". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian David. The New Rolling Stone Album Guide. Simon and Schuster. p. 228. ISBN 9780743201698.
  9. Okamoto, David (1994-08-11). "Iris DeMent: My Life". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 2007-10-22.
  10. Weisbard, Eric; Marks, Craig (1995). Spin Alternative Record Guide. Vintage Books. ISBN 9780679755746.
  11. "20 Best Albums of '94". Spin. SPIN Media LLC. December 1994. p. 76.
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