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With These Hands (Alejandro Escovedo album)

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1996 studio album by Alejandro Escovedo
With These Hands
Studio album by Alejandro Escovedo
Released1996
StudioThe Hit Shack, Austin, Texas
GenreRock
LabelRykodisc
ProducerT.S. Bruton
Alejandro Escovedo chronology
Thirteen Years
(1993) 		With These Hands
(1996) 		More Miles Than Money: Live 1994–96
(1998)

With These Hands is the third album by the American roots rock musician Alejandro Escovedo, released in 1996. It was his only solo album for Rykodisc.

Production

The album was produced by T.S. Bruton. "Tugboat" is a tribute to Sterling Morrison; Escovedo knew him from their days working at the University of Texas. Willie Nelson duets with Escovedo on "Nickel and a Spoon". The title track includes contributions from several Escovedos, including Alejandro's brother Pete and niece Sheila E. Jennifer Warnes sang backing vocals on "Pissed Off 2AM". Charlie Sexton also contributed to With These Hands.

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic
The Austin Chronicle
Calgary Herald
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music
MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide
(The New) Rolling Stone Album Guide
Uncut
Vancouver Sun

The Chicago Reader stated that Escovedo's "warm, slow-bubbling melodies are given alternately dense, sumptuous, and spare treatments that help the ballads flutter and the rockers rock." Trouser Press praised the duet with Nelson, labeling it "classical-folk balladry." Miami New Times called the album "a grim and sprawling masterpiece that weds his rough-hewn baritone with classic rock and roll riffs and the elegiac ambiance of vintage country weepers." The New York Times considered the album to be the best of Escovedo's first three, writing that it "doesn't try for comfort, but for stoic acceptance."

The Philadelphia Inquirer determined that Escovedo "employs a blunt rock attack softened by the calm, considered observations of a natural poet." Entertainment Weekly opined that the "multi-textured roots-pop ... would be utterly beguiling if it weren’t for his unresonant, plain-as-dough voice." The Calgary Herald declared that "Alejandro is on a roll, arguably the most original voice in America today, a man whose heart and soulful music aches with a sense of being that is a beauty, however bruised, to behold."

AllMusic wrote that, "if With These Hands doesn't break much new ground for him, it shows he's still in full command of his considerable gifts as a musician, and it's an impressive achievement." Reviewing the 2003 reissue, The Austin Chronicle called the album "dense with guests, guitars, and every musical spicing save for mortar and pestle." Uncut thought that "it’s a suitably raucous affair, though the full band tends to swamp Escovedo’s dusky timbre occasionally."

Track listing

No.TitleLength
1."Put You Down" 
2."Slip" 
3."Crooked Frame" 
4."Pissed Off 2AM" 
5."Nickel and a Spoon" 
6."Little Bottles" 
7."Sometimes" 
8."Guilty" 
9."Tired Skin" 
10."With These Hands" 
11."Tugboat" 

References

  1. Koster, Rick (May 8, 2000). Texas Music. Macmillan.
  2. "Alejandro Escovedo Biography, Songs, & Albums". AllMusic.
  3. "Alejandro Escovedo". The New Yorker.
  4. ^ (The New) Rolling Stone Album Guide. Simon & Schuster. 2004. pp. 282–283.
  5. Morris, Chris (Feb 10, 1996). "Rykodisc's Escovedo rocks out". Billboard. Vol. 108, no. 6. p. 15.
  6. "The Flying Nun". SF Weekly. May 1, 1996.
  7. Wolff, Kurt (January 4, 2000). Country Music: The Rough Guide. Rough Guides.
  8. Armstrong, Gene. "A Family Affair". Tucson Weekly.
  9. McLeese, Don (15 Feb 1996). "3 songwriters, 1 attitude; Salas-Humara, Hall and Escovedo pursue solo projects as they regroup for second Setters album". Austin American-Statesman. p. 5.
  10. ^ Monk, Katherine (4 Apr 1996). "Just let yourself go with Alejandro Escovedo – you will never regret it". Vancouver Sun. p. D10.
  11. ^ "With These Hands". AllMusic.
  12. ^ "Alejandro Escovedo: With These Hands Album Review". The Austin Chronicle.
  13. ^ Muretich, James (31 Mar 1996). "New Releases". Calgary Herald. p. C2.
  14. Larkin, Colin (2006). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Vol. 3. MUZE. p. 309.
  15. MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide. Visible Ink Press. 1999. p. 394.
  16. ^ "Alejandro Escovedo – With These Hands". Uncut. February 1, 2004.
  17. Margasak, Peter (June 20, 1996). "Alejandro Escovedo/Cheri Knight". Chicago Reader.
  18. "Alejandro Escovedo". Trouser Press. Retrieved 4 January 2022.
  19. "Rotations". Miami New Times.
  20. Pareles, Jon (9 Apr 1996). "Choosing the Solo Alternative". The New York Times. p. C13.
  21. Moon, Tom (17 Mar 1996). "Celebrating Dual Heritage with Culture-Mixing Music". The Philadelphia Inquirer. p. F1.
  22. "With These Hands". Entertainment Weekly.
Alejandro Escovedo
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