| Arkansas | |
| Type: | album |
| Artist: | Col. Bruce Hampton |
| Cover: | Bruce_Hampton_Arkansas.jpg |
| Released: | 1987 |
| Studio: | Southern Living Studios, Atlanta, Georgia |
| Genre: | Southern rock |
| Length: | 45:58 |
| Label: | Landslide Records LD-1012 |
| Producer: | Col. Bruce Hampton, Ricky Keller |
| Chronology: | Bruce Hampton |
| Prev Title: | Isles of Langerhan |
| Prev Year: | 1982 |
| Next Title: | Col. Bruce Hampton & the Aquarium Rescue Unit |
| Next Year: | 1992 |
Arkansas is an album by Col. Bruce Hampton. It was recorded at Southern Living Studios in Atlanta, Georgia, and was released on LP in 1987 by Landslide Records. In 2000, Terminus Records reissued the album on CD. On the album, Hampton is joined by a large group of guest musicians.[1] [2] [3]
The editors of AllMusic awarded the album 4½ stars. Reviewer Robert Gordon wrote: "This 'Southern Captain Beefheart' misses, but this Colonel (Ret.) is original."
A writer for Billboard stated: "Hampton's dadaist vision of rock with duo the Late Bronze Age earned him fans on the outer fringes. This solo album is more assorted weirdness aimed at listeners from the Beefheart school, and it boasts a strong cast of support players."[4]
Byron Coley, writing for Spin, called the album "a sweet mom of a thing to hear," and commented: "Like a screwier version of Van Dyke Parks, Hampton delves into all sortsa cultural rootage... This is the sorta record that should appeal to anybody who gave up on Zappa after Weasels Ripped My Flesh."[5]
Swamplands James Calemine remarked: "Colonel Bruce's relentless humor and protean variety place him in the pantheon of American oddball geniuses like Frank Zappa and John Cage. Arkansas—like a horrific picture or a beautiful face—lingers in the mind and haunts the memory long after it is heard."[6]
All compositions by Bruce Hampton