T Bone Burnett
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| T-Bone Burnett | |
|---|---|
 T-Bone Burnett, 2007
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Joseph Henry Burnett |
| Born | January 14, 1948 |
| Origin | Born St. Louis, Missouri Raised Fort Worth, Texas |
| Genres | Rock & roll Alternative Country Country |
| Occupations | Singer-songwriter, Producer |
| Years active | 1972–present |
| Labels | Universal (1972–1976; 1986–1988) Arista (1976–1980) Takoma (1980–1982) Warner Bros. (1982–1984) Demon (1984–1986) Columbia (1988–present) DMZ (2006–present) |
| Website | Official Website |
Joseph Henry Burnett (born January 14, 1948), widely known as T-Bone Burnett, is an American award-winning musician, songwriter, and soundtrack and record producer.
In addition to his solo work, Burnett has produced artists such as the Los Lobos, Counting Crows, Tony Bennett and k.d. lang on the A Wonderful World album and The Wallflowers on Bringing Down the Horse. Burnett won Grammy Awards for the O Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack and for his work with Alison Krauss and Robert Plant. He was nominated for an Academy Award for his songwriting contribution to the film Cold Mountain, and won an Academy Award for Best Original Song for "The Weary Kind from Crazy Heart.
He founded the record label DMZ, an imprint of Columbia, and was involved with Mark Heard and Tonio K in the short-lived What? Records. He also oversaw the music for the films Walk the Line and The Big Lebowski.
Burnett's songs have been covered by such artists as k.d. lang ("Till the Heart Caves In"), Los Lobos, Sixpence None the Richer ("Carry You"), Tonio K, Emmylou Harris, Mark Heard ("Power of Love"), Arlo Guthrie, Warren Zevon, Peter Case, and B. J. Thomas.
Contents |
Early life and musical career
Burnett was born in St. Louis, Missouri in 1948, and raised in Fort Worth, Texas.[1]
In 1972, he moved to Los Angeles and recorded his first album, The B-52 Band and the Fabulous Skylarks.[1] In 1975 and 1976, he toured with Bob Dylan's Rolling Thunder Revue.[1] When the Revue ended, Burnett and two other members of Dylan's band, David Mansfield and Steven Soles, formed The Alpha Band,[1] which released three albums. The Alpha Band and Spark In The Dark were both released in 1977, while The Statue Makers of Hollywood was released in 1978.
Solo career
In 1980, Burnett released his first post-Alpha Band solo album, Truth Decay on the Takoma Records label. Truth Decay was a roots rock album described by the Rolling Stone Record Guide as "mystic Christian blues".[cite this quote]
In 1982, his Trap Door EP, released on the Warner Brothers label, yielded the FM radio hit "I Wish You Could Have Seen Her Dance". Burnett toured after the release of Trap Door, opening several dates for The Who, leading a band that featured Mick Ronson on guitar.
His 1983 album Proof Through the Night, whose song "When the Night Falls" got some FM airplay, and his 1987 album The Talking Animals were more in the vein of 1980s new wave music, while his self-titled 1986 album was an album of acoustic country music. His 1992 album The Criminal Under My Own Hat, tended toward adult album alternative music. All were critically acclaimed but not big sellers commercially.
Proof Through the Night was reissued by Rhino Records' Handmade Music in a limited-edition of 5,000 on May 29, 2007, in an expanded version. The double CD also included the EPs Trap Door and Behind the Trap Door.[2]
In 2006, Burnett released two albums. The True False Identity was his first album of new songs since 1992, and Twenty Twenty – The Essential T-Bone Burnett was a 40-song career retrospective.
Production and other professional activities
Burnett has become best known as a music producer. He began producing albums for artists such as Counting Crows' August and Everything After; Los Lobos' How Will the Wolf Survive?; Elvis Costello's King of America and Spike; the Wallflowers' Bringing Down the Horse; Marshall Crenshaw's Downtown; Spinal Tap's Break Like The Wind; the BoDeans' Love & Hope & Sex & Dreams; Gillian Welch's Revival and Hell Among the Yearlings; David Poe's self-titled debut; the Roy Orbison tribute A Black & White Night Live; two albums for Bruce Cockburn; and nearly everything released by his former wife, Sam Phillips, who has also performed under the name Leslie Phillips.
In 1985, Burnett collaborated with Elvis Costello on a single titled "The People's Limousine," using the moniker "The Coward Brothers."
In 1987, Burnett produced Roy Orbison's two-record album, In Dreams: The Greatest Hits. After that, Burnett was the musical director and a guitarist for Orbison's HBO television special, Roy Orbison and Friends, A Black and White Night.
In 1997, Burnett created new songs for the Sam Shepard play, The Tooth of Crime: Second Dance, which premiered in New York City, during the same year in an off-Broadway production that featured Vincent D'Onofrio and Kirk Acevedo. A CD of these songs, Tooth of Crime, was released in May 2008, featuring guitarist Marc Ribot and backing vocals by Sam Phillips and singer/songwriter David Poe, whose self-titled debut Burnett also produced that year. According to Burnett, he was inspired by the music of Skip James, while composing the songs for the updated version of Shepard's play.[3]
In April 2006, he announced that his first concert tour in nearly two decades would begin on May 16 in Chicago at The Vic Theater. Around the same time, jazz singer Cassandra Wilson released an album of blues songs, Thunderbird (2006), which was produced by Burnett. He also wrote one of the album's songs and co-wrote another with Ethan Coen. Burnett also produced music for the remake of the film All the King's Men.
In 2006, Burnett produced Brandi Carlile's The Story album, the title song of which became a minor hit and was featured on a special broadcast of ABC-TV's Grey's Anatomy. Carlile's guitarist and bassist, twins Tim and Phil Hanseroth, respectively, used instruments from Burnett's private collection during the unique "live" recordings in Vancouver, B.C.
In early 2007, Burnett earned nominations for two 2006 Grammy Awards, one as Producer of the Year for his work on Cassandra Wilson's Thunderbird album, the soundtrack to Walk the Line and his own The True False Identity. Walk the Line was nominated for Best Compilation Soundtrack Album for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media. Burnett earned another nomination for his efforts as Executive Music Producer and Album Producer on that soundtrack.
In October 2007, the Grammy-winning, Burnett-produced Raising Sand, a collaborative album featuring Alison Krauss and Robert Plant was released. Burnett plays guitar on ten of the 13 tracks.
In early 2008, Pete Townshend announced that Burnett was to go into the studio that fall to help produce an all covers album for The Who.[4] However, on a May 15, 2008, episode of the NPR radio show, All Songs Considered, Burnett threw that project into question. He stated that in a blog, Townshend had indicated that he was putting all his projects on hold.[5]
In 2008, it was reported that Burnett "started a new venture called Code, which aims to do for music what THX did for movie-theater sound: set standards that ensure the best possible quality."[6] He is opposed to the trend of brighter and more compressed processing, sufficiently so, that he essentially retired from the music business around 1995–1996 and pursued an opportunity to work in theater with Sam Shepard, leading to his work on several films.[7]
The audio format known as Code, involves the simultaneous release of multiple sound formats, thus avoiding much of the processing which happens when sound is converted from one format to another. Burnett produced John Mellencamp's album Life, Death, Love and Freedom, which was the first Code album when it was released on July 15, 2008.[6] Burnett also produced Mellencamp's follow-up to Life, Death, Love and Freedom, titled No Better Than This.
In 2009, Burnett produced albums for Moonalice and Grace Potter and the Nocturnals.[8] In that same year, he has also produced Elvis Costello's album, Secret, Profane & Sugarcane as well as co-writing the song "Sulfur to Sugarcane" with Costello.[9]
Burnett is producing a collaboration album by Elton John and Leon Russell. John, Russell, and Bernie Taupin (John's lyricist) wrote songs together in late 2009. The album, which is titled The Union, was recorded in January 2010.[citation needed]
Work in films
In 1992, Burnett worked on some songs with his friend River Phoenix, for the movie The Thing Called Love. He was the coach of Samantha Mathis.[citation needed]
In 2000, Burnett produced the soundtrack and wrote the score for the Coen Brothers film, O Brother, Where Art Thou?. The award-winning soundtrack featured music from Emmylou Harris, Alison Krauss, Ralph Stanley, Gillian Welch, and others performing traditional American folk music, blues and bluegrass — reminiscent of Burnett's 1986 self-titled release. The album was a hit, garnering numerous industry awards from the Grammys, Academy of Country Music,[further explanation needed] and the Country Music Association.[further explanation needed] The album was as much a commercial success as a critical one and has sold over seven million copies according to the Recording Industry Association of America.[citation needed]
A documentary film, Down from the Mountain, was made of a benefit concert of the soundtrack performed by the artists on the album; Burnett figures prominently in the film. His production on the soundtrack albums for these two films, combined with his wife Sam Phillips' Fan Dance album, led to his winning the 2002 Grammy Award for Producer of the Year, Non-Classical. Burnett went on to produce the less popular gospel soundtrack to the Coen's The Ladykillers.
In 2004, under his name "Henry Burnett", he wrote "I Wish My Baby Was Born", "Like a Songbird That Has Fallen", and "Scarlet Tide for the movie Cold Mountain. "Scarlet Tide", co-written with Elvis Costello and performed by Alison Krauss, was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Song and won BAFTA's Anthony Asquith Award for Achievement in Film Music.
In 2005, he composed the score for Wim Wenders' film Don't Come Knocking.
In 2005, he worked with actors Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon for their singing roles as Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash in the film Walk the Line. Witherspoon won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in the film, giving special thanks to Burnett in her speech for "helping her realize her lifelong dream of being a country music singer". He also produced that film's soundtrack album and wrote its score.
In 2009, Burnett collaborated on music for the movie Crazy Heart, winning both a Golden Globe and an Academy Award for the song "The Weary Kind" that he composed with Ryan Bingham. T-Bone was also a producer of the film, along with Jeff Bridges and Robert Duvall.[10]
Awards and accolades
Academy Awards
On January 27, 2004, Burnett was nominated for an Academy Award, along with Elvis Costello in the category of Best Original Song for "Scarlet Tide" from the film, Cold Mountain.
On March 7, 2010, Burnett and Ryan Bingham won an Academy Award for Best Original Song for "The Weary Kind" from Crazy Heart.
BAFTA Anthony Asquith Award
On January 26, 2010, Burnett and Crazy Heart collaborator Stephen Bruton received BAFTA's Anthony Asquith Award for Achievement in Film Music for their work on Cold Mountain.
Critics Choice Awards
On January 15, 2010, Burnett and Ryan Bingham were awarded the prize for Best Song at the 15th annual Critics Choice Awards on Friday night. The awards are bestowed annually by the Broadcast Film Critics Association to honor the finest in cinematic achievement. Burnett and Bingham won the award for writing "The Weary Kind" from Crazy Heart.
Frederick Loewe Award
On December 10, 2009, Burnett was presented with the Frederick Loewe Award for Film Composing, for his work on Crazy Heart, at the Palm Springs International Film Festival.
Golden Globe Awards
On January 17, 2010, Burnett and Ryan Bingham were awarded a Golden Globe in the category of Best Original Song for "The Weary Kind" from Crazy Heart.
Grammy Awards
On January 7, 1993, Burnett was nominated for a Grammy in the category of Best Contemporary Folk Album for The Criminal Under My Own Hat.
On February 27, 2002, Burnett won four Grammys for his work on the soundtrack to O Brother Where Art Thou, in the categories of Album of the Year, Best Traditional Folk Album and Best Compilation Soundtrack Album for Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media. He was also awarded the Grammy as Producer of the Year, Non-Classical.
On February 23, 2003, Burnett won a Grammy in the category of Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album for his work on A Wonderful World from Tony Bennett and k.d. lang.
On February 8, 2006, Burnett won a Grammy in the category of Best Compilation Soundtrack Album for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media, for his work on Walk The Line.
On February 8, 2009, Burnett was awarded Grammys for Album of the Year and Best Contemporary Folk Album for his work on the Robert Plant and Alison Krauss album, Raising Sand; Record of the Year for his work on "Please Read The Letter, also from Raising Sand; and Best Traditional Blues Album for his work on B.B. King's One Kind Favor.
On December 2, 2009, Burnett was nominated for a Grammy in the categories of Best Contemporary Folk Album and Producer of the Year, Non-Classical, for his work on Elvis Costello's Secret, Profane & Sugarcane.
Independent Spirit Awards
On March 5, 2010, Burnett and fellow Crazy Heart producers Robert Duvall, Rob Carliner and Judy Cairo, along with director Scott Cooper, received Best First Feature honors at the 25th Annual Independent Spirit Awards.
Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award
On January 16, 2010, Burnett and his longtime friend and collaborator on Crazy Heart, Stephen Bruton, were awarded Best Music Score honors for their work on that film by The Los Angeles Film Critics Association at their 35th Annual Awards Ceremony. Bruton died on May 9, 2009, shortly after completing work on the film.[citation needed]
Satellite Award
On December 20, 2009, Burnett won a Satellite Award from the International Press Academy in the category of Original Song for writing "The Weary Kind", from Crazy Heart, with Ryan Bingham.
Artist discography
| Project | Release Date |
|---|---|
| Tooth of Crime | 2008 |
| Twenty Twenty – The Essential T-Bone Burnett | 2006 |
| The True False Identity | 2006 |
| The Criminal Under My Own Hat | 1992 |
| The Talking Animals | 1987 |
| T-Bone Burnett | 1986 |
| Behind the Trap Door (EP) | 1984 |
| Proof Through the Night | 1983 |
| Trap Door (EP) | 1982 |
| Truth Decay | 1980 |
| The B-52 Band & The Fabulous Skylarks | 1972 |
Compilations
| Project | Song | Release Date |
|---|---|---|
| Until the End of the World | Humans from Earth | 1991 |
| Where the Pyramid Meets the Eye - Tribute to Roky Erickson | Nothing In Return | 1990 |
Alpha Band discography
| Project | Release Date |
|---|---|
| The Statue Makers of Hollywood | 1978 |
| Spark in the Dark | 1977 |
| Alpha Band | 1977 |
Record production discography
| Project | Artist | Credit | Release Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ghost Brothers of Darkland County | Soundtrack | Producer | 2010 |
| No Better Than This | John Mellencamp | Producer | 2010 |
| TBD | Steve Earle | Producer | 2010 |
| TBD | Gregg Allman | Producer | 2010 |
| We Walk This Road | Robert Randolph & The Family Band | Producer, Guitar, Songwriting | 2010 |
| The Union | Elton John and Leon Russell | Producer | 10/19/2010 |
| Country Music | Willie Nelson | Producer | 4/13/2010 |
| Women and Country | Jakob Dylan | Producer | 4/6/2010 |
| Crazy Heart | Soundtrack | Producer | 1/19/2010 |
| Secret, Profane & Sugarcane | Elvis Costello | Producer | 6/2/2009 |
| Moonalice | Moonalice | Producer | 4/14/2009 |
| One Kind Favor | B.B. King | Producer | 8/26/2008 |
| akiko | Akiko Yano | Producer | 10/22/2008 |
| Life, Death, Love and Freedom | John Mellencamp | Producer | 7/15/2008 |
| Still | BoDeans | Producer | 3/4/2008 |
| Raising Sand | Robert Plant and Alison Krauss | Producer | 10/23/2007 |
| Across the Universe | Soundtrack | Producer | 9/14/2007 |
| The Story | Brandi Carlile | Producer | 4/3/2007 |
| Thunderbird | Cassandra Wilson | Producer | 4/4/2006 |
| Walk the Line | Soundtrack | Producer | 11/15/2005 |
| Future Perfect | Autolux | Producer | 10/26/2004 |
| A Boot and a Shoe | Sam Phillips | Producer | 4/27/2004 |
| The Ladykillers | Soundtrack | Producer | 3/23/2004 |
| Ollabelle | Ollabelle | Producer | 3/9/2004 |
| Cold Mountain | Soundtrack | Producer | 12/16/2003 |
| The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood | Soundtrack | Producer | 5/28/2002 |
| Ralph Stanley | Ralph Stanley | Producer | 6/11/2002 |
| A Wonderful World | Tony Bennett and k.d. lang | Producer | 11/5/2002 |
| Motherland | Natalie Merchant | Producer | 11/13/2001 |
| Fan Dance | Sam Phillips | Producer | 7/31/2001 |
| Down from the Mountain | Soundtrack | Producer | 7/24/2001 |
| O Brother, Where Art Thou? | Soundtrack | Producer | 12/5/2000 |
| Come to Where I'm From | Joseph Arthur | Producer | 4/11/2000 |
| Blue Days Black Nights | Freedy Johnston | Producer, Optigan | 7/20/1999 |
| Songs from the Pipe | The Surfers | Producer | 7/21/1998 |
| Hell Among the Yearlings | Gillian Welch | Producer | 7/28/1998 |
| Horse Whisperer | Soundtrack | Producer | 6/2/1998 |
| Clay Pigeons | Clay Pigeons | Producer | 9/22/1998 |
| Ole' | Tonio K | Producer | 12/23/1997 (recorded 1990) |
| David Poe | David Poe | Bass, Ukulele, Producer, Fuzz bass, Drones | 9/23/1997 |
| Omnipop (It's Only a Flesh Wound Lambchop) | Sam Phillips | Producer, Loops | 8/20/1996 |
| Stealing Beauty | Soundtrack | Producer | 5/28/1996 |
| Bringing Down the Horse | Wallflowers | Producer | 5/21/1996 |
| Revival | Gillian Welch | Producer | 4/9/1996 |
| Sweetie | Daniel Tashian | Guitar, Producer | 3/26/1996 |
| Braver Newer World | Jimmie Dale Gilmore | Guitar, Producer, Mixing | 6/25/1996 |
| Jackopierce | Jackopierce | Producer | 2/14/1995 |
| Pretty Little Lonely | Michael Petak | Producer | 8/16/1994 |
| Martinis & Bikinis | Sam Phillips | Producer | 3/8/1994 |
| Dart to the Heart | Bruce Cockburn | Producer | 3/1/1994 |
| Go Slow Down | BoDeans | Producer, Engineer, Executive Producer | 10/12/1993 |
| August and Everything After | Counting Crows | Guitar, Producer | 9/14/1993 |
| A. J. Croce | A. J. Croce | Producer | 5/25/1993 |
| Five Easy Pieces | Dirty Looks | Producer | 11/10/1992 |
| Lily | Wendy Matthews | Producer | 9/28/1992 |
| Break Like the Wind | Spinal Tap | Producer, Mixing | 3/17/1992 |
| Until the End of the World | Soundtrack | Vocals, Producer | 12/10/1991 |
| Cruel Inventions | Sam Phillips | Guitar, producer, Chamberlin | 5/28/1991 |
| Live Two Five | Nitty Gritty Dirt Band | Producer | 7/16/1991 |
| Nothing but a Burning Light | Bruce Cockburn | Producer | 11/5/1991 |
| Shuffletown | Joe Henry | Guitar, Percussion, Producer, Drums | 8/31/1990 |
| My Father's Face | Leo Kottke | Organ, Guitar, Producer | 10/25/1990 |
| Third World Warrior | Kris Kristofferson | Guitar, Arranger | 3/6/1990 |
| Mystery Girl | Roy Orbison | Guitar, Producer | 2/1/1989 |
| Spike | Elvis Costello | Guitar, Bass, Producer | 2/14/1989 |
| Black & White Night: Live | Roy Orbison | Guitar, Producer | 10/23/1989 |
| The Indescribable Wow | Sam Phillips | Guitar, Producer | 8/9/1988 |
| By the Light of the Moon | Los Lobos | Producer | 7/7/1987 |
| The Turning | Leslie Phillips | Guitar, Producer | 1987 |
| Love & Hope & Sex & Dreams | BoDeans | Guitar, Producer | 5/1/1986 |
| King of America | The Costello Show | Guitar, Producer | 2/21/1986 |
| Romeo Unchained | Tonio K. | Guitar, Drums, Producer | 1986 |
| Peter Case | Peter Case | Guitar, Producer | 1986 |
| Downtown | Marshall Crenshaw | Sitar, Producer | 9/16/1985 |
| How Will the Wolf Survive? | Los Lobos | Organ, Guitar, Producer | 1/1/1984 |
| Time Step | Leo Kottke | Producer | 5/1/1983 |
| Delbert & Glen | Delbert McClinton and Glen Clark | Producer | 1972 |
| Live at the New Bluebird Nightclub | Robert Ealey and His Five Careless Lovers | Producer | 1970 |
| The Legendary Stardust Cowboy | The Legendary Stardust Cowboy | Producer and Drums | 1968 |
| The Van Dykes | The Van Dykes | Producer | 1966 |
Film and television discography
| Project | Medium | Credit | Release Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tough Trade | TV Series | Executive Producer, Music Producer, Composer | 2010 |
| Crazy Heart | Film | Producer, Songwriter, Composer | 12/19/2009 |
| Across The Universe | Film | Music Producer | 10/12/2007 |
| All the King's Men | Film | Executive Music Producer | 9/22/2006 |
| Walk the Line | Film | Executive Music Producer, Composer | 11/18/2005 |
| Don't Come Knocking | Film | Executive Music Producer, Composer | 8/25/2005 |
| The Ladykillers | Film | Executive Music Producer | 3/26/2004 |
| Cold Mountain | Film | Executive Music Producer | 12/25/2003 |
| The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood | Film | Composer | 6/7/2002 |
| O Brother, Where Art Thou? | Film | Music Producer, Original Music | 12/22/2000 |
| The Big Lebowski | Film | Musical Archivist | 3/6/1998 |
| Roy Orbison and Friends: A Black and White Night | TV Special | Musical Director | 1/3/1988 |
References
- ^ a b c d Gill, Andy (20 February 2010). "Melody maker: T-Bone Burnett". The Independent. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/melody-maker-tbone-burnett-1905172.html. Retrieved 20 February 2010.
- ^ T-Bone Burnett- Proof Through The Night & The Complete Trap Door - Press Release
- ^ http://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2006/05/t-bone-burnett.html
- ^ The Who preps Covers Album
- ^ NPR All Songs Considered featuring T-Bone Burnett
- ^ a b Brian Hiatt (20 May 2008). "Artists Fight for New Hi-Fi Formats". RollingStone.Com. http://www.rollingstone.com/rockdaily/index.php/2008/05/20/artists-fight-for-new-hi-fi-formats/. Retrieved 2008-06-11.
- ^ WNYC - Soundcheck: T-Bone Burnett (June 09, 2008)
- ^ Grace Potter - News
- ^ http://www.azcentral.com/thingstodo/music/articles/2009/05/29/20090529cdspinelvis.html
- ^ Schneider, Jason Conversations: T-Bone Burnett at Exclaim! March 2010.
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