True Blood Soundtrack (2009)

Product Summary Label: Elektra/asylum Records UPC: 00075678965715 Release Date: 5/19/2009 Buy.com Sku: 210977842 Item#: M4MHRM Buy.com Sales Rank: 2010 Format:  CD Song Listing Disc 1 Song Title Sample 1. Bad Things - Jace Everett ~ Original Soundtrack 2. Bleed To Feed - C.C. Adcock ~ Original Soundtrack 3. Lake Charles - Lucinda Williams ~ Original Soundtrack 4. Give It Up - Lee Dorsey ~ Original Soundtrack 5. Swampblood - The Legendary Shack Shakers ~ Original Soundtrack 6. Play With Fire - Cobra Verde ~ Original Soundtrack 7. Just Like Heaven - The Watson Twins ~ Original Soundtrack 8. Christine'S Tune (Devil In Disguise) - Flying Burrito Brothers ~ Original Soundtrack 9. Two - Ryan Adams ~ Original Soundtrack 10. Strange Love [Single Version] - Slim Harpo ~ Original Soundtrack 11. From a Whisper To a Scream - Allen Toussaint ~ Original Soundtrack 12. I Don'T Wanna Know - Dr. John ~ Original Soundtrack 13. Golden State, The - John Doe ~ Original Soundtrack 14. Bones - Little Big Town ~ Original Soundtrack   Album Notes and Credits Notes & Personnel Info Liner Note Author: Gary Calamar. Arranger: Allen Toussaint. Released just in time to entice fans back for the second season of the runaway hit HBO television program, TRUE BLOOD, Elektra Records unveils a soundtrack featuring key songs which were heard throughout Season One. Based on the novels by Charlaine Harris, TRUE BLOOD chronicles the adventures (and sometimes horrors) of having vampires dwell alongside the living in the deep South. Kicking off with the unmistakable swagger of the theme song, Jace Everett's "Bad Things," the soundtrack consists largely of country-soaked rockabilly and quirky, bluesy folk rock songs. Featured artists include Lucinda Williams, the Flying Burrito Brothers, Ryan Adams, and Dr. John. True Blood's sexy, swampy, and sometimes campy Louisiana atmosphere plays nearly as big a part in the show as Sookie Stackhouse and her vampire lover, Bill Compton. Fans of the HBO TV series know that music played a huge part in creating that atmosphere -- so much so that all of the episodes of its first season were named after songs that appeared in them. And while director/producer Alan Ball's previous HBO series, Six Feet Under, also had an expertly crafted soundtrack that often blended indie and alternative rock with classic vocal pop, True Blood's music runs deeper and wider, often spanning artists like Japanther and the Cowboy Junkies in a single episode and still sounding cohesive. And though the show is steeped in vampire and other kinds of supernatural lore, this collection of songs couldn't be further from stereotypically dark, gothy music: the closest it comes (and it's a stretch) is either the Watson Twins' Mazzy Star-like cover of the Cure's "Just Like Heaven" or the Southern Gothic of Little Big Town's "Bones," which, with its backwoods menace and beautiful harmonies, is a kissin' cousin of Fleetwood Mac's "The Chain." True Blood moves seamlessly from classic swamp blues and soul to contemporary country to alt-country and rock, and though decades separate some of these songs, common threads run through them. There's a real twang to most of these tracks, most brashly on Jace Everett's "Bad Things," which wraps temptation and longing in roadhouse swagger that makes it one of the most memorable TV theme songs of the late 2000s, especially paired with the show's vividly gritty title sequence. It's also no surprise that many tracks are about Louisiana or by artists from there, including Lucinda Williams' softly Cajun-tinged "Lake Charles," Allen Toussaint's "From a Whisper to a Scream," and Dr. John's brooding "I Don't Wanna Know." True Blood mixes moods as easily as it does musical styles: C.C. Adcock's "Bleed 2 Feed" and Th' Legendary Shack Shakers' "Swampblood" embody late-night hedonism with snaky blues-rock and wild-eyed psychobilly; the Flying Burrito Brothers' "Christine's Tune" nods to the magical reality lurking around the show's edges with cosmic country-rock; and Lee Dorsey's "Give It Up" is just plain funky and sexy. True Blood's songs capture the feel of the show rather than focusing just on tracks that scored the series' key moments, and this approach feels more cohesive and listenable (although it has to be said that Slim Harpo's "Strange Love," which soundtracks the first conversation Bill and Sookie have, is a standout). True Blood geeks will nitpick about some omissions, like Lynyrd Skynyrd's "That Smell" or Joan Baez's "Plaisir d'Amour," but the soundtrack is so of the show and so enjoyable that it feels like spending some quality time with the jukebox at Merlotte's Bar and Grill. ~ Heather Phares Producer: Dave Way; Don Depew; Jay Miller; Greg Droman; Henry Lewy; John Leckie; Larry Marks; Allen Toussaint; Mark Robertson; Mark Wright; Mike Napolitano; Roy Bittan; Russ Pollard; Wayne Kirkpatrick; Jamie Candiloro; Gary Calamar; Charles Greene   Associated Artists and Works California Dreams Original Soundtrack Original Soundtrack   Technical Info Release Date : 05/19/2009 Original Release Date : 2009 Catalog ID : 519381 Label : Elektra Number of Discs : 1 Studio/Live : Studio Mono/Stereo : Stereo SPAR Code : n/a UPC : 00075678965715    Related Videos 500 Days of Summer: Sound...