Announcing New Loudon Wainwright III Collection 'Years in the Making'

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LOUDON WAINWRIGHT III ANNOUNCES NEW TREASURY OF RARE AND UNISSUED LOUDONIANA ‘YEARS IN THE MAKING’ (SEPTEMBER 14 on STORYSOUND RECORDS)

2-DISC “AUDIO-BIOGRAPHY” FEATURES 42 SONGS: LIVE RECORDINGS, RADIO APPEARANCES, HOME DEMOS AND MORE FROM PAST 45 YEARS, PLUS HAND-DRAWN ARTWORK BY ED STEED

INCLUDES APPEARANCES FROM KATE MCGARRIGLE, SUZZY ROCHE, BILL FRISELL, VAN DYKE PARKS, LOUDON’S CHILDREN, AND MORE.

Today, Loudon Wainwright III announces ‘Years in the Making,’ a two-disc compendium of 45 years of Loudon’s offbeaten, rare and unissued tracks. Out September 14 on StorySound Records, ‘Years in the Making’ is a true “audio-biography” that boasts orphaned album cuts, live recordings, radio appearances, home demos, and more, that come together to offer a never-before-seen perspective on Loudon’s public and private selves. Notable figures from Loudon’s life pop up throughout as well: Kate McGarrigle, Suzzy Roche, Bill Frisell, Van Dyke Parks, Chaim Tannenbaum, David Mansfield, Steve Goodman, George Gerdes, and the Wainwright children Rufus, Martha, Lucy and Lexie.

From Loudon’s early folk efforts covering Woody Guthrie and Bob Dylan to his more recent years (including an a cappella rendition of 2017’s “Birthday Boy,” written on the occasion of Loudon’s 71st), “Years in the Making” is a treasury of the finest Loudoniana. 

The two-disc, 42-track set is divided into seven chapters and will be released in a 60-page hardbound book. The artwork was done by New Yorker cartoonist Ed Steed (who won a Grammy last year for creating the packaging for Father John Misty’s ‘Pure Comedy’). The package includes dozens of scans of documents, introspective musings and other artifacts from what Loudon calls his “swinging life,” in addition to paintings and drawings done by friends and fans.

Says Loudon, “'Years in the Making' covers a lot of ground, about half a century’s worth. Sonically it’s all over the place and, at times, noticeably low-fi, but my co-producer Dick Connette and I decided that didn’t matter as much as offering up something that was spirited and representational…The sources at our disposal came in various formats – hard drives, cassettes, reel-to-reel tapes, B-sides, bootlegs, and reference CDs. There was too much to choose from, and plenty wasn’t even listened to but we did our level best to pick and assemble what we think amounts to a diverting 2 hours of listening.”

“Years in the Making” is co-produced by Loudon and Dick Connette.

DISC ONE

  1. Rosin the Bow
  2. You Ain’t Going Nowhere
  3. Easy St. Louis Tweedle-Dee
  4. Everybody I know
  5. Philadelphia Lawyer
  6. Roll in My Sweet Baby’s Arms
  7. Love Gifts
  8. Stewball
  9. Floods of Tears
  10. Station Break
  11. Have You Ever Been To Pittsburgh
  12. 2 Song Set
  13. Cardboard Boxes
  14. Smokey Joe’s Café
  15. You Hurt Me Mantra
  16. Rambunctious
  17. I Wanna Be On MTV
  18. Birthday Poem / Happy Birthday / Animal Song
  19. Your Mother & I
  20. Button Nose
  21. The Ballad of Famous & Harper
  22. Teenager’s Lament
  23. Things

DISC TWO

  1. Unrequited to the Nth Degree
  2. Ulcer
  3. You Can’t Fail Me Now
  4. No
  5. Rowena
  6. Cheatin’
  7. IDTTYWLM
  8. Down Where the Drunkards Roll
  9. POW
  10. Meet the Wainwrights
  11. Liza Minnelli Interview
  12. Hollywood Hopeful
  13. Valley Morning
  14. Trailer
  15. God’s Got a Shit List
  16. Thank You, Mr. Hubble
  17. It Ain’t Gaza
  18. Out of This World
  19. Birthday Boy

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