Boys in the Trees
Appearance
Boys in the Trees | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Studio album by | ||||
Released | April 1978 | |||
Recorded | Atlantic and A & R, New York City | |||
Genre | Rock • pop • blue-eyed soul • disco | |||
Length | 35:46 | |||
Label | Elektra | |||
Producer | Arif Mardin | |||
Carly Simon chronology | ||||
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Singles from Boys in the Trees | ||||
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Boys in the Trees is the seventh studio album by American singer-songwriter Carly Simon, released by Elektra Records in April 1978.
The lead single, "
Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on August 7, 1978, for sales of over one million copies in the United States alone.[2]
Reception and packaging
Review scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [3] |
Christgau's Record Guide | C+[4] |
The Rolling Stone Album Guide | [5] |
You Belong to Me", Maslin went on to write, "It's a number that could easily have been belted out or growled à la "You're So Vain", but this time Simon prefers to sound more like a cat who's been dining on canary. Somehow, she's a lot more compelling using a gently chiding tone than she is striking a come-hither-or-else pose."[6]
In a retrospective review for
Cash Box said of the single "Tranquillo (Melt My Heart)" that a "funky arrangement of guitars, horns and strings follow a stepping beat" and praised Simon's "clean" vocal.[7] "Boys in the Trees" is often played live by Tori Amos. "I used to listen to this song over and over, wishing I'd wrote it," Amos once said of the track.[8]
The photo featured on the front cover of the album was expertly airbrushed to paint a Danskin top on what was a topless photo of Simon. The album won the Grammy Award for Best Album Package, the Grammy went to Johnny Lee and Tony Lane.[9]
Awards
Year | Award | Category | Work | Recipient(s) | Result | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1979 | Grammy Awards | Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female | "You Belong to Me" | Carly Simon | Nominated | [10] |
Best Album Package | Boys in the Trees | Johnny Lee and Tony Lane | Won | [9] |
Track listing
Credits adapted from the album's liner notes.[11]
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | " Boudleaux Bryant | 2:29 | |
5. | "De Bat (Fly in Me Face)" | Simon | 2:28 |
6. | "Haunting" | Simon | 2:28 |
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "Tranquillo (Melt My Heart)" | 4:02 | |
2. | "You're the One" | Simon | 3:38 |
3. | "In a Small Moment" | Simon | 3:08 |
4. | "One Man Woman" | Taylor | 3:39 |
5. | "For Old Times Sake" |
| 3:41 |
Total length: | 35:46 |
Personnel
Musicians
- Carly Simon – lead vocals, backing vocals (1, 7, 8, 11), acoustic guitar (2, 3, 11)
- Cornell Dupree – electric guitar (1, 8, 10)
- Eric Gale – electric guitar (1)
- Jeff Mironov – acoustic guitar (2), electric guitar (3)
- John Hall – electric guitar (3), backing vocals (5)
- Hugh McCracken – electric guitar solo (4)
- Hamish Stuart – guitar (7), backing vocals (7, 8)
- Onnie McIntyre – guitar (7)
- Stuart Scharf – electric guitar (9), acoustic guitar (11), autoharp (11)
- Gordon Edwards– bass (1, 8, 10)
- Will Lee – bass (3, 4)
- Tony Levin – bass (7, 8, 9)
- Fender Rhodes, (1, 4), acoustic piano (3, 8, 10)
- ARP synthesizer(9)
- Don Grolnick – Fender Rhodes (7), ARP String Ensemble (7)
- Steve Gadd – drums (1-4, 6-10)
- David Carey – marimba (2)
- Rubens Bassini – percussion (5)
- Errol "Crusher" Bennett – bass drum (5), congas (5), percussion (10)
- David Sanborn – alto saxophone (1)
- Harvey Estrin – soprano and tenor recorders (2)
- George Marge – soprano and tenor recorders (2)
- Phil Bodner – oboe (6)
- Gloria Agostini – harp (6)
- Margaret Ross – harp (6)
- Joe Farrell – flute (9)
- Michael Brecker – tenor saxophone (10)
- Arif Mardin – horn and string arrangements, conductor, glass harmonica (11)
- Gene Orloff – concertmaster
- James Taylor – backing vocals (1, 2, 5, 7), acoustic guitar (2-5), vocal arrangement (5), horn arrangements (7)
- Harvey Estrin – alto saxophone
- George Young – alto saxophone
- Ronnie Cuber – baritone saxophone
- Jaroslav Jakubovič – baritone saxophone
- Eddie Bert – trombone
- Barry Rogers – trombone
- Randy Brecker – trumpet
- James Buffington – French horn
- Brooks Tillotson – French horn
- Roderick George – backing vocals (5)
- Luther Vandross – backing vocals (5)
- Ken Williams – backing vocals (5)
- Steven Dickson – backing vocals (6)
- Marc Embree – backing vocals (6)
- Alyia Orme – backing vocals (6)
- Joanna Simon – backing vocals (6)
- Lucy Simon – backing vocals (6)
- Cissy Houston – backing vocals (7)
- Alex Ligertwood – backing vocals (8)
- Jonathan Abramowitz, Lamar Alsop, Julien Barber, Alfred Brown, Fredrick Buldrini, Paul Gershman, Ted Hoyle, Theodore Israel, Harold Kohon, Jesse Levy, Charles Libove, Guy Lumia, Joe Malin, Yoko Matsuo, Homer Mensch, Kermit Moore, Marvin Morgenstern, Alan Shulman, Mitsue Takayama and Gerald Tarack – strings
Production
- Producer – Arif Mardin
- Recorded and Mixed by Lew Hahn
- Engineer – Bobby Warner
- Assistant Engineers – Ollie Cotton, Bill Dooley, Tom Heid and Mike O'Reilly.
- Mastered by George Piros at Atlantic Studios (New York, NY).
- Art Direction and Design – Tony Lane and Johnny Lee
- Photography – Deborah Turbeville
Charts
Album -
Billboard (United States)[12]
Year | Chart | Position |
---|---|---|
1978 | Billboard 200 | 10 |
Album - International
Year | Country | Position |
---|---|---|
1978 | Australia[13] | 27 |
Canada[14] | 4 |
Singles - Billboard (United States)[12]
Year | Single | Chart | Position |
---|---|---|---|
1978 | "You Belong to Me" | Adult Contemporary | 4 |
Hot 100 | 6 | ||
"Devoted to You" | Adult Contemporary | 2 | |
Country Singles | 33 | ||
Hot 100 | 36 |
Certifications
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
United States (RIAA)[15] | Platinum | 1,000,000^ |
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. |
References
- ^ "Cash Box Top Singles". Cash Box. Retrieved August 27, 2015.
- ^ "American certifications – Carly Simon". Recording Industry Association of America. Archived from the original on May 24, 2022. Retrieved January 25, 2014.
- ^ a b Ruhlmann, William. "Boys in the Trees". AllMusic. Archived from the original on October 21, 2022. Retrieved July 12, 2007.
- ISBN 089919026X. Retrieved March 12, 2019 – via robertchristgau.com.
- ^ The Rolling Stone Album Guide. Random House. 1992. p. 635.
- ^ Maslin, Janet (June 15, 1978). "Boys in the Trees review". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on May 6, 2016. Retrieved May 2, 2014.
- ^ "CashBox Singles Reviews" (PDF). Cash Box. November 11, 1978. p. 19. Retrieved January 1, 2022.
- ^ Vallese, Joe (October 1, 2012). "The Top Tori Amos Covers". PopMatters. Archived from the original on July 23, 2017. Retrieved May 20, 2015.
- ^ a b "Awards". Carlysimon.com. Archived from the original on February 20, 2007. Retrieved September 5, 2016.
- ^ "Carly Simon". The Recording Academy. Archived from the original on March 20, 2022. Retrieved October 19, 2018.
- ^ Boys in the Trees (booklet). Carly Simon. Elektra. 1978.
{{cite AV media notes}}
: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link) - ^ a b "Carly Simon – Chart history". Billboard. Archived from the original on October 21, 2022. Retrieved January 4, 2015.
- ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
- ^ "CAN Charts > Carly Simon". RPM. Archived from the original on January 4, 2015. Retrieved January 4, 2015.
- ^ "American album certifications – Carly Simon – Hotcakes". Recording Industry Association of America.