Rufus Wainwright spent two years recording dozens of songs for his sensuous and sophisticated eponymous debut. The son of singer/songwriters Kate McGarrigle and Loudon Wainwright III, Rufus was a child prodigy who toured with his musical family and won awards in his native Canada. Wainwright reflects: "There are pictures of me with my hands reaching up to the piano as soon as I could stand up ... Growing up, I hardly saw my father at all. I saw him, like, twice a year for, like, a week each time. I hated him for years, and part of it was fueled by my mother, who had no qualms about telling me she hated him for years. But he really, really helped me, in his own way, and it was very important to have him around, even though it was much less. Now that I'm actually making it and doing quite well, I think it's a little harder for him, because he's still making records, and he's still touring and doing his thing. I just think it's hard, and there's still a side of me that wants to conquer him in a certain way...I think with my mom, I'm affected a lot by her chords and stuff, her sort of really dark sensibility and romanticism which she likes to portray. Whereas my father, I think I picked up a little of his sort of wit, his stage persona ... My father demonizes and satirizes love. I just pursue it.''
After college he made a demo tape with record producer Pierre Marchand at his studio in Morin-Heights, Quebec. Rufus' father gave the demo to Van Dyke Parks brought them to DreamWorks executive Lenny Waronker, who signed him immediately. Waronker paired Wainwright with producer Jon Brion who worked with him for most of 1996 and 1997 recording fifty-six songs on sixty-two rolls of tape and spending over seven hundred thousand dollars. 'Rufus Wainwright' was recorded primarily in Los Angeles at Ocean Way Three & Seven, Sunset Sound Factory, Sunset Sound, Media Vortex, Hook Studios, Groove Masters, Red Zone, Sony, The Palindrome Recorder, and NRG Recording Services with some sessions taking place at Marchand's Wild Sky in Morin-Heights. Van Dyke Parks conducted his orchestrations at Studio B in the Capitol Studios complex. The sessions included Jon Brion on chamberlin, accordion, marimba, vibes, bass, baritone guitar, optigan, S-6, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, background vocals, percussion, timpani, crotales, celeste, temple blocks, assorted bells, tuned toms, mandolin, drums, and tack piano; Randy Brion on horn arrangements and conducting; Yves Desrosiers on guitar and slide bass; Marty Grebb on alto saxophone; Glen Hollman on upright and mandolin bass; Jim Keltner on drums; Pierre Marchand on bass and keyboards; Van Dyke Parks on string arrangements and conducting; Ash Sood on drums and percussion; Benmont Tench on piano and Hammond organ; Martha Wainwright on background vocals; and Rufus Wainwright on vocals, background vocals, piano, chamberlin, tack piano, acoustic guitar, castanets, half-speed piano, S-6, and humming.
Wainwright considers: "All the songs are about boys, and there are some that mention it. But it's not at all political. I want straight people to be able to listen to it and have the same emotions, so it's not really about sexuality, it's about love...One of the things I love is beautiful piano playing and fun singing on top of it, and I love when those things collide. I wanted to create that synthesis when the background is just important as the foreground. So, I just worked my ass off. I don't want to sound, 'My music is like this...' or whatever, but that's what I'm trying to do anyway...Anything I have accomplished and the record being good or any of that, I definitely deserve it, because I put a lot of work into it...There's a certain legacy which you inherit. In a weird way, the thing about the 'son of' thing is I'm not surprised at all. I don't think it should be looked upon like some weird phenomenon...That's the way it's always happened. Up until the 60s, when everybody could write their own songs, music was a family tradition and often times if your father was an organ player, you were an organ player. So, that's... why am I talking about this? What was the question?...I don't want to fashion myself as any crusader, but I think people appreciated that when the record came out, I knew what I was doing and knew what I wanted," he said. "I knew I was gay, there wasn't any word about that. I know what I want to convey and I just want to write a really good song and have an interesting background to it, and it's very simple and I think that's why people enjoyed it."
'Rufus Wainwright' never charted; but it won considerable critical acclaim. Wainwright was named Best New Artist by Rolling Stone and the Gay & Lesbian American Music Awards and the album was awarded Outstanding Music Album by the GLAAD Media Awards as well as the Juno Award for Best Alternative Album. Wainwright looks back: "I love early Rufus, and there are brilliant moments on the first and second albums where it is complete and a kind of monolithic message. But there’s a lot of it also where you can hear me learning and developing and trying to do things, and not really accomplishing them. I stepped out as this working artist who is going to let you see all of the different facets, even if they’re not totally ready yet."
http://www.rufuswainwright.com/
"Foolish Love" – 5:46
"Danny Boy" – 6:12
"April Fools" – 5:00
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2EQis2p3jo
"In My Arms" – 4:08
http://vimeo.com/53708996
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJa4T3mE1F8
"Millbrook" – 2:11
pays homage to his old boarding school.
http://vimeo.com/11551820
Rufus Wainwright - Millbrook - Southampton - 11 April 2010 from Studio54 on Vimeo.
"Baby" – 5:13
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iM9hitXlr58
"Beauty Mark" – 2:14
is about his mother.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TBM23sN5_tk
"Barcelona" – 6:53
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XfFZViMVaRk
"Matinee Idol" – 3:08
was inspired by the death of River Phoenix.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HgfE2tkNklg
"Damned Ladies" – 4:07
"In the song, I lament how these women are constantly dying brutal deaths, which I can see coming but cannot stop. It gets me every time."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ny4MTxON94I
"Sally Ann" – 5:01
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AYU95wbANSI
http://www.last.fm/music/Rufus+Wainwright/_/Sally+Ann
"Imaginary Love" – 3:28
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qu6gIJjcXZ4
bonus track
"A Bit of You" – 5:00
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IazxkdyCE0s
'Rufus Wainwright'
full album:
All songs written by Wainwright.
"Foolish Love" – 5:46
"Danny Boy" – 6:12
"April Fools" – 5:00
"In My Arms" – 4:08
"Millbrook" – 2:11
"Baby" – 5:13
"Beauty Mark" – 2:14
"Barcelona" – 6:53
"Matinee Idol" – 3:08
"Damned Ladies" – 4:07
"Sally Ann" – 5:01
"Imaginary Love" – 3:28
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