Naked
| Naked | ||||
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| Released | March 15, 1988 | |||
| Recorded | August–December 1987 | |||
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| Length | 52:17 (CD) 46:56 (LP) | |||
| Label | Fly/Sire | |||
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| Talking Heads chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Naked | ||||
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Naked is the eighth and final studio album by Talking Heads, released on March 15, 1988, by Sire Records. Following the more straightforward new wave and pop rock sound on Little Creatures (1985) and True Stories (1986), Naked marked a return to the worldbeat stylings of both Remain in Light (1980) and Speaking in Tongues (1983), blending elements of Afrobeat, Latin funk, and art pop. The album's songs were formed from improvisational jam sessions recorded in Paris, which featured the participation of numerous guest musicians such as former Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr and singer Kirsty MacColl. Lyrics and vocals were then added in New York City following the Paris recordings.
Naked was positively received by critics, who viewed it as a return to form for the band following the mixed responses to True Stories; retrospective assessments, however, have been more lukewarm. The album was also a moderate commercial success, peaking at No. 19 on the US Billboard 200 and No. 3 on the UK Albums Chart, later being certified gold by both the RIAA and BPI. Following the album's release, Talking Heads officially went on hiatus, with its members focusing on various side-projects over the course of the next few years; frontman David Byrne would eventually announce in December 1991 that the band had dissolved.
Recording
Wanting to try something different after their use of regional American music and the pop song format on their previous two albums Little Creatures (1985) and True Stories (1986), Talking Heads decided to record their next album in Paris with a group of international musicians. According to the album's liner notes, the decision to do so was in part a reaction to the foreign policy of the[Ronald Reagan administration, which had grown increasingly isolationist in approach. Prior to leaving for France, the band recorded about 40 improvisational tracks that would serve as the foundation for the sessions in Paris.
In Paris, the band, along with producer Steve Lillywhite, were joined by a number of other musicians in the recording studio where they would rehearse and play for the entire day. At the end of each day, one take was selected as being the ideal version of a particular tune. "Paris is a wonderful place to work," observed drummer Chris Frantz in the liner notes of Once in a Lifetime: The Best of Talking Heads. "We were really embracing world culture fully." In the interest of freedom for the musicians, it was decided that lyrics and melodies would be left until later. The lyrics were not overdubbed until the band returned to New York. Many of David Byrne's lyrics were improvisations sung along with the prerecorded tracks until he found something that he felt worked. In this way, the melodies and lyrics evolved in a similar fashion as the songs themselves. According to Lillywhite, the album's more organic, percussive sound was a deliberate move away from the bombastic production that he had helped make commonplace in the 1980s, stating that "It wasn't made so angular and mixed so loud as it might have been in the past. It was more of a warm sound with all for the beats compensated for."
Byrne told Record Mirror in 1988 that many of the songs on Naked are "about human beings stripped of their pretensions; stripped of their surface trappings", which in turn inspired putting a picture of a chimpanzee on the album cover.
Track listing
All lyrics written by David Byrne, all music composed by Byrne, Chris Frantz, Jerry Harrison, and Tina Weymouth.
Cassette/CD versions
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Blind" | 4:58 |
| 2. | "Mr. Jones" | 4:18 |
| 3. | "Totally Nude" | 4:10 |
| 4. | "Ruby Dear" | 3:48 |
| 5. | "(Nothing But) Flowers" | 5:31 |
| 6. | "The Democratic Circus" | 5:01 |
| 7. | "The Facts of Life" | 6:25 |
| 8. | "Mommy Daddy You and I" | 3:58 |
| 9. | "Big Daddy" | 5:37 |
| 10. | "Bill" | 3:21 |
| 11. | "Cool Water" | 5:10 |
| Total length: | 52:17 | |
LP version
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Blind" | 4:58 |
| 2. | "Mr. Jones" | 4:18 |
| 3. | "Totally Nude" | 4:03 |
| 4. | "Ruby Dear" | 3:48 |
| 5. | "(Nothing But) Flowers" | 5:14 |
| Total length: | 22:21 | |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 6. | "The Democratic Circus" | 5:01 |
| 7. | "The Facts of Life" | 6:25 |
| 8. | "Mommy Daddy You and I" | 3:58 |
| 9. | "Big Daddy" | 4:01 |
| 10. | "Cool Water" | 5:10 |
| Total length: | 24:35 (46:56) | |
2005 DualDisc reissue bonus track
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 12. | "Sax and Violins" | 5:51 |
| Total length: | 58:08 | |
Notes
- Track 8, "Mommy Daddy You and I", was listed as "Mommy Daddy" on the vinyl label
- Track 12 originally appeared on the soundtrack to the film Until the End of the World (1991)
Personnel
Talking Heads
- David Byrne – vocals, guitar, keyboards, toy piano, slide guitar
- Chris Frantz – drums, keyboard percussion
- Jerry Harrison – piano, keyboards, guitar, slide guitar, tambourine, backing vocals
- Tina Weymouth – bass, keyboards, organ, backing vocals
Recording
- Nick Delre – assistant overdubbing engineer; mixing on "Mommy Daddy You and I"
- James Farber – mixing on "The Facts of Life", "Totally Nude", "The Democratic Circus", "Big Daddy", "Mr. Jones"
- Fernando Kral – overdubbing engineer; mixing on "Cool Water"
- Richard Manwaring – recording engineer
- Jean Loup Morette – assistant engineer
- Joseph Williams – assistant engineer
- Jack Skinner – mastering
- Mark Wallis – mixing on "Blind", "The Democratic Circus", "Ruby Dear", "(Nothing But) Flowers"
Additional musicians
- Johnny Marr – guitars on "Ruby Dear", "(Nothing But) Flowers", "Mommy Daddy You and I" and "Cool Water"
- Brice Wassy – percussion on "Ruby Dear", "(Nothing But) Flowers", "The Facts of Life" and "Big Daddy"
- Abdou M'Boup – percussion, talking drums, congas, cowbell on "Blind", "Mr. Jones", "Totally Nude" and "(Nothing But) Flowers"
- Yves N'Djock – guitar on "Blind", "Totally Nude" and "(Nothing But) Flowers"
- Eric Weissberg – pedal steel guitar on "Totally Nude" and "Bill", Dobro on "The Democratic Circus"
- Mory Kanté – kora] on "Mr. Jones" and "The Facts of Life"
- Wally Badarou – keyboard on "Blind" and "The Facts of Life"
- Manolo Badrena – percussion, congas on "Mr. Jones" and "Mommy Daddy You and I"
- Sydney Thiam – congas on "The Democratic Circus", percussion on "Bill"
- Lenny Pickett – saxophones on "Blind" and "Big Daddy"
- Broken English (band)|Steve Elson – saxophones on "Blind" and "Big Daddy"
- Robin Eubanks – trombone on "Blind", "Big Daddy" and "Mr. Jones"
- Laurie Frink and Earl Gardner] – trumpets on "Blind" and "Big Daddy"
- Stan Harrison – alto saxophone on "Blind" and "Big Daddy"
- Al Acosta – tenor saxophone on "Mr. Jones"
- Steve Gluzband – trumpet on "Mr. Jones"
- Jose Jerez – trumpet on "Mr. Jones"
- Bobby Porcelli – alto saxophone on "Mr. Jones"
- Steve Sacks – baritone saxophone on "Mr. Jones"
- Charlie Sepulveda – trumpet on "Mr. Jones"
- Dale Turk – bass trombone on "Mr. Jones"
- Arthur Russell – cello on "Bill"
- Moussa Cissokao – percussion on "Ruby Dear"
- Nino Gioia – percussion on "The Facts of Life"
- Philippe Servain – accordion on "Totally Nude"
- James Fearnley – accordion on "Mommy Daddy You and I"
- Phil Bodner – cor anglais on "Cool Water"
- Don Frank Brooks|Don Brooks – harmonica on "Big Daddy"
- Kirsty MacColl – backing vocals on "(Nothing But) Flowers" and "Bill"
- Alex Haas – whistling on "Bill"