We Three Kings (The Roches album) explained

We Three Kings
Type:Album
Artist:the Roches
Cover:The Roches - wethreekings.gif
Released:1990
Genre:Folk, Christmas music
Label:Paradox/MCA;[1] rerelease by Rykodisc
Producer:The Roches, Jeffrey Lesser
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We Three Kings is an album by the American folk trio the Roches, released in 1990.[2] [3] It is a collection of Christmas songs.[4] [5] The sisters wrote two of the album's 24 tracks. We Three Kings is considered a classic of unconventional Christmas music.[6] [7] [8] [9]

MCA Records allowed the album to go out of print; it was reissued by Rykodisc in 1994, after the label had signed the trio.[10] [11] For years, the sisters performed selections of the songs at their annual Bottom Line shows.[12] [13]

Production

The album was produced by the Roches and Jeffrey Lesser.[14] It marked a return to the sisters' roots, as they had first sung together as carolers in Manhattan.[15] [16] Due to their familiarity with the carols, the sisters did many of the songs in one take.[17] We Three Kings was recorded in New York City during a July 1990 heat wave; the sessions were slightly delayed while Maggie Roche got over laryngitis.[18] [19]

Most of the tracks are sung a cappella; it took the Roches six weeks to obtain the vocal strength to get through "For Unto Us a Child Is Born".[20] "Star of Wonder", written by Terre Roche, was composed after a friend died in the Lockerbie bombing.[21] Suzzy Roche wrote "Christmas Passing Through".[22] "Winter Wonderland" is sung using stereotypical New Jersey accents; "Frosty the Snowman" employs a chorus of children.[23] [24] Other songs incorporate elements of Middle Eastern music and Caribbean music.[25]

Critical reception

The Globe and Mail thought that "the avant-garde folkies play it pretty straight this time out, using their sisterly harmonies to wade through a generous selection of Christmas favorites."[26] Newsday stated that the Roches "adorn two dozen yuletide standards with their trademark harmonies, skating vocal figure-eights around each other with the navigability of Dancer, Prancer and Vixen."[27]

The St. Petersburg Times deemed the album "wonderful listening" and "an instant classic."[28] The Boston Globe determined that "the sometimes silly sisters take their tongue out of their collective cheek and come up with a classic."[29] The Windsor Star noted that "We Three Kings, while containing the obvious, is definitely not-so-obvious in its arrangements."

AllMusic wrote that, "when they put their formidable vocal chops to work on tunes as potentially complex as 'Angels We Have Heard on High' and 'The Holly and the Ivy',' the results can be as gorgeous as they are unique." The Rolling Stone Album Guide concluded that the album "finds the group returning to its (true) roots as seasonal carolers in Greenwich Village." The Times called the title track "lushly gothic, augmented with a tender oboe and, yup, restless country guitars ... The swooning 'Oooohh' that leads up to the chorus is utterly thrilling."[30] The Seattle Post-Intelligencer deemed it "a perfect showcase for the trio's crystal-clear harmonies and offhand humor." Reviewing the 1994 reissue, the Rocky Mountain News opined: "No doubt about it: We Three Kings may well be the best holiday album of the year."[31]

Track listing

  1. "Break Forth O Beauteous Heavenly Light"
  2. "For Unto Us a Child Is Born"
  3. "Angels We Have Heard on High"
  4. "Deck the Halls"
  5. "Christmas Passing Through"
  6. "Sleigh Ride"
  7. "Away in a Manger"
  8. "Here We Come A-Caroling"
  9. "The Little Drummer Boy"
  10. "The Holly and the Ivy"
  11. "Frosty the Snowman"
  12. "Do You Hear What I Hear?"
  13. "We Three Kings"
  14. "Star of Wonder"
  15. "Winter Wonderland"
  16. "Joy to the World"
  17. "O Little Town of Bethlehem"
  18. "Good King Wenceslas"
  19. "Jingle Bells"
  20. "The First Noel"
  21. "God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen"
  22. "It Came Upon the Midnight Clear"
  23. "O Come, All Ye Faithful"
  24. "Silver Bells"

Personnel

Musicians[32]

Technical[32]

Notes and References

  1. News: Caro . Mark . Carols with a twist . Chicago Tribune . 23 Dec 1990 . Arts . 2.
  2. Web site: The Roches Biography, Songs, & Albums. AllMusic.
  3. Book: No Depression # 78: Family Style. Grant. Alden. Peter. Blackstock. September 15, 2009. University of Texas Press.
  4. News: The Roche Sisters Reunited, with Christmas in the Air. Laura. Sinagra. December 17, 2005. The New York Times.
  5. Book: Buckley, Peter. The Rough Guide to Rock. December 11, 2003. Rough Guides.
  6. News: Bledsoe . Wayne . Sibiling harmony: Sisters' unique blend charms critics, fans . Knoxville News Sentinel . 14 July 2006 . Preview . 5.
  7. News: Roches Holiday Twist . New Jersey Herald . December 6, 2012 . Entertainment.
  8. News: Ross . Curtis . The Roches Bring Harmony to Holidays . The Tampa Tribune . December 21, 2007 . Friday Extra . 15.
  9. News: Smith . Andy . Roches have to work at family harmony . The Providence Journal . March 15, 1996 . E1.
  10. News: Wilonsky . Robert . Chestnuts and lumps of coal - Bennett, Buttholes, and John Tesh—these are a few of our favorite, and least favorite, things . Dallas Observer . December 8, 1994 . Music.
  11. News: Germain . David . Roches Remain 'Weird Sisters' of Folk-Pop . Times Union . Associated Press . February 29, 1996 . P3.
  12. News: Conan . Neal . Neal Conan Interviews Two of the Roches . Morning Edition . NPR . December 9, 1994.
  13. Roche Motets . The New Yorker . December 26, 1994 . 70 . 43 . 20.
  14. News: Waldman . Amy . Eclectic Roches crawl all over the musical spectrum . The Milwaukee Journal . 26 Apr 1991 . D1.
  15. News: Ayers . Anne . The Roches, We Three Kings . USA Today . 26 Nov 1990 . 5D.
  16. News: Rawls . Alex . Roches' reunion one that sounds just right . The San Diego Union-Tribune . November 30, 2006 . Entertainment . 22.
  17. News: Valois . Diana . Listening Easy to Bright Sound of Christmas . The Morning Call . 14 Dec 1990 . D1.
  18. News: Okamoto . David . Musical Mistletoe – Newest Christmas albums embrace romance of holiday in quirky as well as traditional renditions . The Gazette-Telegraph . December 7, 1990 . Scene . 1.
  19. News: Widner . Ellis . Here we go a-caroling – Roches do songs for season . Tulsa World . November 30, 1990 . 1B.
  20. News: Holden . Stephen . The Roches' Noel . The New York Times . 19 Dec 1990 . C19.
  21. News: Kornelis . Chris . Beyond Bing — Christmas music for people who are getting tired of Christmas music . The Wall Street Journal . 20 Dec 2018 . A15.
  22. News: Boren . Ray . Wadley . Carma . Christmas Music: No Other Holiday Inspires a Broader Range of Melodies . Deseret News . December 14, 1990 . W1.
  23. News: Nutt . Bill . Sister act . Asbury Park Press . 7 Dec 2012 . Entertainment.
  24. News: Johnson . Robert . Holiday albums run the gamut from blues to folk . San Antonio Express-News . December 13, 1991 . 16C.
  25. News: Mason . Rick . The Roches We Three Kings . Lexington Herald-Leader . Herald-Leader wire services . December 14, 1990 . Weekender . 4.
  26. News: Niester . Alan . We Three Kings The Roches . The Globe and Mail . 17 Dec 1990 . C3.
  27. News: Anderson . John . Putting Soul Back into Yule: The Roches get serious about the holidays . Newsday . 16 Dec 1990 . Part II . 15.
  28. News: Stark . Judy . They're Playing a Few New Tunes . St. Petersburg Times . 30 Nov 1990 . Weekend . 18.
  29. News: Sullivan . Jim . The Songs of Christmas Old and New . The Boston Globe . 13 Dec 1991 . Arts & Film . 67.
  30. News: Moran . Caitlin . The first Noel that isn't more like Liam . The Times . December 6, 1996 . Features . 38.
  31. News: Seasonal Sounds . Rocky Mountain News . November 24, 1994 . 40D.
  32. We Three Kings . 1990 . booklet . MCA.

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