Product Description

This 1996 release not only went platinum, it won two Grammyawards for singer/songwriter Shawn Colvin. Clearly her breakthrough album, A FEW SMALL REPAIRS combines folk with elegant pop and a healthy dose of Texas rock. The result is a unique alternative-country vibe that roots itself in rural America. However, this disc is also influenced by later Beatles albums, most notably ABBEY ROAD and LET IT BE.
Overall, AFEW SMALL REPAIRS is marked by probing lyrics, beautiful refrains, and deep-pocketed grooves. The record's hit, "Sunny Came Home", makes obtuse reference to women's autonomy and spiritual transcendence using fire as a metaphor for burning away the pain of the past. However, the most poignant track on this disc is "If I Were Brave", a song about relentless self-doubt. Colvin sings with unbridled venerability on this tune, and her folksy lyric recalls the confessional writing style of Don McLean. Other tracks such as "Get Out of This House" and "I Want It Back" are more guitar-driven and upbeat. These contrast with the darker, more brooding compositionswritten by Colvin, often with assistance from producer JohnLeventhal.

Track Listing

1. Sunny Came Home
2. Get Out Of This House
3. Facts About Jimmy
4. You And The Mona Lisa
5. Trouble
6. I Want It Back
7. If I Were Brave
8. Wichita Skyline
9. 84000 Different Delusions
10. Suicide Alley
11. What I Get Paid For
12. New Thing Now
13. Nothin' On Me

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #24373 in Music
• Released on: 2000-05-01
• Number of discs: 1

Amazon.co.uk Review
Spawning an international Top 10 single--the laconic, deceptively lightweight "Sunny Came Home"--Shawn Colvin's first album of original material in four years was as eclectic and as wayward as its predecessor, 1992's critically acclaimed Fat City. While she undeniably owed much of her appeal to her talents as a vocalist--her interpretations of other people's compositions on 1994's Cover Girl proved her to be a shrewd judge of a song's inherent strengths--her popular success remained somewhat surprising. For one thing, her world view was significantly darker than many of her contemporaries: few female singer-songwriters of her generation would write so pitiless an account of human weakness as "The Facts About Jimmy" (on which Colvin duets with another friendly misanthrope, Lyle Lovett), much less utter the dark pronouncements of "Suicide Alley". It just goes to show: if the tune's pretty enough, most people don't listen to the words at all. --Andrew McGuire

Customer Reviews

An essential for any record collection
This and Steady On are two albums I have listened to over and over. Great melodies, thoughtful lyrics--both albums are consistently good.

a mellow folk/rock award winner
"A Few Small Repairs" has been Shawn Colvin's most successful album, and won her the coveted Grammy Record of the Year and Song of the Year in 1998 with "Sunny Came Home", which was a Top 10 hit for her, and the album also received a Grammy nomination in '97, as well as one for Best Female Pop Vocal for "Get Out of This House".
It's a mellow, easy going collection of songs co-written by Shawn and producer John Leventhal, and the musicianship is excellent, with John also playing most of the instruments.

Shawn's voice is not strong, but has a charming quality to it, with a soft huskiness and warmth that makes this CD very pleasant listening; its main substance is in its lyrics, which have a raw toughness to them...little intimate stories wrapped up in a melody.
Favorites for me are "Get Out of This House", "The Facts About Jimmy", and the dreamy quality of "Wichita Skyline".
It was the fabulous cover art that caught my eye and the reason I picked this CD up...the exquisite painting is by one of America's most inspired artists, Julie Speed.
All the lyrics are printed in the fold-out insert, and the sound is nice and clean.

Shawn�s fourth studio album (Revised)
This album has John Leventhal as producer again, (just like Shawn's debut album "Steady On") he has also co-written most of the songs as well.

The overall sound of this album is an improvement on the previous 2 (and the sound quality was good on those) as the album was mixed by the very talented Bob Clearmoutain (who has worked with the likes of David Bowie in the past) and mastered by the amazin' Bob Ludwig (he did the re-mastering on the Roxy Music and Bryan Ferry re-issues the sound on both sets of albums is incredible).

The album itself opens with a typical Shawn Colvin song "Sunny came home" with the story contained in the lyrics autobiographic in nature; she even sneaks the album title in 1 line, "It's time for a few small repairs she said".

A stand out track for me is the song "The facts about Jimmy" this track is made special by the inclusion of a Lyle Lovett harmony track whose sweet vocals against Shawn's make it a delight to hear.

It is worth noting that the following track "You and the Mona Lisa" has a couple of famous guest as well, on bass Mark Plati (who has played for David Bowie in his more recent career) and the trumpet player Chris Botti (who has made numerous appearances on other artists albums from Sting to Nathalie Merchant)

For me the key track for the whole collection is the song "Wichita Skyline" for the middle verse has the line "But I must have been dreaming again 'cause there's nothing around the bend except for that flat line, the Wichita skyline" sounds like she is talking about herself, and the track closes with the sound of crickets in a field and off in the distance a train pulling away, this sound melts away and with no track gap the next song "84,000 different delusions" starts.

The next song of note for me is the cut "What I get paid For" which was co- written by ex "Crowded House" front man "Neil Finn" this track also has playing guitar on it "Charlie Sexton".

To close this album "Ms Colvin" has kept the best till last with the upbeat "Nothin' on me" she written the closest thing to a POP song on this collection, this track was even used in the titles of an American situation comedy called "Suddenly Susan" starring Brooke Shields, Shawn Colvin even made a guest appearance playing herself of course.

With each release in her recording career she sets the bar higher each time for others and herself to follow, a superb recording artist who deserves more attention....