What About Regret
| What About Regret | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 1995 | |||
| Genre | Folk, pop | |||
| Label | Bar/None[1] | |||
| Producer | Kate Jacobs, Dave Schramm, James MacMillan, Charlie Shaw, Gary Arnold | |||
| Kate Jacobs chronology | ||||
| ||||
What About Regret, stylized as (What About Regret), is an album by the American musician Kate Jacobs, released in 1995.[2][3] Jacobs promoted the album with two tours, one with a full band and one with just a bass player.[4]
After an editor at Hyperion Books heard Jacobs perform "A Sister" on the radio, the song was adapted for an illustrated children's book.[5]
Production[edit]
The album was produced by Jacobs, Dave Schramm, James MacMillan, Charlie Shaw, and Gary Arnold.[6] As on Jacobs's first album, Schramm played guitar and many other instruments.[7] "3 Years in Nebraska" is about a Vietnam vet who turns to growing marijuana.[8]
Critical reception[edit]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [9] |
| The Indianapolis Star | [10] |
| MusicHound Folk: The Essential Album Guide |  [11] |
Stereo Review considered that, "while there's great warmth in Jacobs's songs, and a nice homemade quality, many of her offerings have an off-putting vagueness and an eccentricity-for-eccentricity's-sake quality about them."[12] The Indianapolis Star opined that "Jacobs' voice is light and lilting, but unwavering... Musically, she's akin to Nanci Griffith and Iris DeMent, but she's no clone."[10] The Philadelphia Inquirer determined that Schramm "decorates each tune beautifully with whatever acoustic or electric touches the songs demand."[13]
The Chicago Tribune concluded that the "brilliant lyrics continue to detonate long after these lovely, sometimes meandering, folk-pop tunes have finished."[14] Trouser Press wrote: "A moderately demanding emotional experience, (What About Regret) rewards careful listening with details and empathy, like a series of personal letters from close friends."[15] The Chicago Reader thought that "Jacobs sings her airy country-tinged folk rock with a slippery warble, sliding over clearly defined melodies with a palpable shyness."[16]
Will Hermes, in City Pages, listed the album as his fifth favorite of 1995, writing that "of all the country-rock sets this year, Jacobs's moved me the most... In a word, it was her stories—tales not of vague ennui, but of people I knew intimately"; The Star-Ledger also listed What About Regret among 1995's best albums.[17][18] MusicHound Folk: The Essential Album Guide praised "some of the richest, most complex songs written during the [1990s]."[11]
Track listing[edit]
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "George Says" | |
| 2. | "See the Moon" | |
| 3. | "Be Brave" | |
| 4. | "No Question" | |
| 5. | "My Old Haunts" | |
| 6. | "Oh Vagabond" | |
| 7. | "Indiana" | |
| 8. | "Love Comes and Goes" | |
| 9. | "In the Country" | |
| 10. | "3 Years in Nebraska" | |
| 11. | "Don't Watch Me Sleep" | |
| 12. | "A Sister" | |
| 13. | "Made My Bed" |
References[edit]
- ^ Rosen, Steven (December 22, 1995). "Like Freedy Johnston, who also started his career...". The Denver Post. p. F15.
- ^ "Kate Jacobs Biography, Songs, & Albums". AllMusic.
- ^ Robbins, Ira (19 Mar 1995). "Yes, Virginia, There IS Music for Grownups". Fanfare. Newsday. p. 8.
- ^ Nelson, Rick (June 23, 1995). "Kate Jacobs Uses Songs to Tell Some Terrific Tales". The News Tribune. p. SL5.
- ^ Crouch, Lisa Marie (17 May 1996). "A Children's Story to Sing About: Kate Jacobs Turns Lyrics into a Book". Lifestyle/Previews. The Record. p. 18.
- ^ "Album reviews — (What About Regret) by Kate Jacobs". Billboard. Vol. 107, no. 13. Apr 1, 1995. p. 56.
- ^ Caligiuri, Jim (Apr 1995). "Reviews". CMJ New Music Monthly. No. 20. p. 37.
- ^ Dickinson, Chris (28 Dec 1995). "(What About Regret) Kate Jacobs". Get Out. St. Louis Post-Dispatch. p. 12.
- ^ "What About Regret". AllMusic.
- ^ a b Penner, Diana (24 Apr 1995). "Kate Jacobs 'What About Regret'". The Indianapolis Star. p. D5.
- ^ a b MusicHound Folk: The Essential Album Guide. Visible Ink Press. 1998. p. 400.
- ^ Nash, Alanna (May 1995). "Popular music — What About Regret by Kate Jacobs". Stereo Review. Vol. 60, no. 5. p. 85.
- ^ DeLuca, Dan (31 Mar 1995). "Grant McLennan/Kate Jacobs". Features Weekend. The Philadelphia Inquirer. p. 15.
- ^ Dickinson, Chris (10 Mar 1995). "Kate Jacobs, The Schramms". Friday. Chicago Tribune. p. P.
- ^ "Kate Jacobs". Trouser Press. Retrieved 8 December 2021.
- ^ Margasak, Peter (March 9, 1995). "Kate Jacobs". Chicago Reader.
- ^ Hermes, Will (January 24, 1996). "FF/Rewind". Cover Story. City Pages.
- ^ Lustig, Jay (December 24, 1995). "Harvey to Harris: The Best of '95". The Star-Ledger.
