As/Is Explained

As/Is
Type:Live album
Artist:John Mayer
Cover:John Mayer As Is cover.jpg
Caption:As/Is Volume Six Cover
Released:October 19, 2004
Recorded:July 16 – August 14, 2004
Genre:Pop rock, blues rock
Length:96:17
Label:Columbia (Cat: C2K 93542)
Aware
Producer:Chad Franscoviak
John Mayer
Prev Title:Heavier Things
Prev Year:2003
Next Title:Try!
Next Year:2005

As/Is is a live album by John Mayer, released October 19, 2004, available for download from iTunes and also available as a double-CD release. The albums were released from live concert performances across the United States from the tour following the release of Mayer's second album, Heavier Things. The recordings include five albums-worth of material as sold on iTunes. As of July 2009, the four concert-specific albums were still available on iTunes in the United States, though Volume One is no longer available; Each album has its own artwork. A two-disc compilation was released physically and digitally which features the "best" of the iTunes series, plus an additional song, "Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler)", a Marvin Gaye cover. In "Inner City Blues", Mayer called upon DJ Logic, the support act of the Heavier Things tour, to join him to perform a turntable solo.

Performing band

The songs all feature Mayer's touring band of the time:

Cover art for the series

Volume one features a cut-out silhouette version of Mayer (from the cover of Heavier Things) with two tones of blue. As it is separate from the other volumes, its artwork is rather distinct from the rest.

Artwork for the covers of volumes two, three, four, and five is by the artist Kozyndan. They feature bunnies in out-of-character situations on their covers, including hanging from helium balloons (two) and in washing machines (three). The bunnies on the cover of four begin as amoeba and diagonally evolve into bunnies. The cover of volume five has several bunnies with their midsections replaced with springs.

The CD release continued the use of bunnies, using the artwork 'Uprisings' by Kozyndan, which has hundreds of bunnies in formation to appear like revered Japanese artwork The Great Wave off Kanagawa. The artwork was originally created as a cover for issue 28 of the magazine Giant Robot.[1] Notably, the CD is considered volume six (the last) of the series, and The Great Wave woodblock printing is the first of a 36-part series of art.

Track listings

As/Is iTunes EP

Volume one
Released:
December 1, 2003
  1. "Come Back to Bed"
  2. "Your Body Is a Wonderland"
  3. "Neon"
  4. "St. Patrick's Day"
  5. "83"
  6. "Bigger Than My Body"

As/Is iTunes concert releases

Volume twoVolume threeVolume fourVolume five
Cleveland
Ohio
Cincinnati
Ohio
Philadelphia
Pennsylvania
Hartford
Connecticut
Shoreline AmphitheatreC.W. Mitchell PavilionBlossom Music CenterRiverbend Music CenterTweeter CenterMeadows Music Theatre
Recorded:
July 16, 2004
Released:
August 10, 2004
Recorded:
July 24, 2004
Released:
August 17, 2004
Recorded:
August 3–4, 2004
Released:
August 24, 2004
Recorded:
August 14–15, 2004
Released:
August 31, 2004
  1. "No Such Thing"
  2. "Come Back to Bed"
  3. "Something's Missing
  4. "Split Screen Sadness"
  5. "New Deep"
  6. "Why Georgia"
  7. "Bigger Than My Body"
  8. "Home Life"
  9. "Tracing"
  10. "Comfortable"
  1. "Clarity"
  2. "No Such Thing"
  3. "Back to You"
  4. "Daughters"
  5. "Blues Intro"
  6. "Come Back to Bed"
  7. "Your Body Is a Wonderland"
  8. "Bigger Than My Body"
  9. "Comfortable"
  10. "Neon"
  1. "Only Heart"
  2. "New Deep"
  3. "No Such Thing"
  4. "Something's Missing"
  5. "My Stupid Mouth"
  6. "Daughters"
  7. "Clarity"
  8. "Quiet"
  9. "3x5"
  10. "Wheel"
  1. "Your Body Is a Wonderland"
  2. "Only Heart"
  3. "Something's Missing"
  4. "New Deep"
  5. "Daughters"
  6. "My Stupid Mouth"
  7. "Covered in Rain"
  8. "Come Back to Bed"
  9. "83"
  10. "Hummingbird"

As/Is CD release

Volume Six
TitleComposer(s)DateVenue
Disc one
1. "Only Heart"John MayerAugust 3, 2004Blossom Music Center
2."My Stupid Mouth"MayerAugust 14, 2004Tweeter Center
3."No Such Thing"Mayer
Clay Cook
July 24, 2004C.W. Mitchell Pavilion
4."Covered in Rain"MayerAugust 14, 2004Tweeter Center
5."Split Screen Sadness"MayerJuly 16, 2004Shoreline Amphitheater
6."Blues Intro"MayerJuly 24, 2004C.W. Mitchell Pavilion
7."Come Back to Bed"MayerJuly 24, 2004C.W. Mitchell Pavilion
Disc two
1."Your Body Is a Wonderland" MayerJuly 24, 2004C.W. Mitchell Pavilion
2."Something's Missing"MayerAugust 4, 2004Riverbend Music Center
3."Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler)"
Featuring DJ Logic
Marvin Gaye
James Nyx
July 27, 2004Sandstone Amphitheater,
Bonner Springs, Kansas
4."Clarity"MayerAugust 3, 2004Blossom Music Center
5."3x5"MayerAugust 3, 2004Blossom Music Center
6."Home Life"Mayer
David LaBruyere
July 16, 2004Shoreline Amphitheater
7."Comfortable" Mayer
Cook
July 24, 2004C.W. Mitchell Pavilion
8."Neon"Mayer
Cook
July 24, 2004C.W. Mitchell Pavilion

Notes and References

  1. http://www.kozyndan.com/art/uprisings Kozyndan - Uprisings