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Last revision June 5, 1999

PART I: OFFICIALLY RELEASED ALBUMS
[Please send any catalog info you have for each album as it was released in your country (on CD, cassette, and/or vinyl)]

Album: WHITES OFF EARTH NOW!! (released 1986; re-released on 3/2/91) -
(From the liner notes) "Captured live at Studio 547 on June 28, 1986 on a digital two track using only a Calrec Ambisonic Microphone".  Additional info: this album was re-released on RCA after the success of "The Trinity Session" and "The Caution Horses"; approximately only 3000 copies were printed the first time around on The Junkies "Latent" label.  The album is reported to have been recorded in a single 6 hour session direct to a 2-track tape machine

Producer: Peter Moore

Line-up:
Bass: Alan Anton
Vocals: Margo Timmins
Guitar: Michael Timmins
Drums: Peter Timmins

Austria: RCA (CD: PD 82380)
Canada: Latent Recordings (Vinyl: LATEX 4)
Germany: RCA (CD: *?*)
U.S.: RCA/BMG (CD: 2380-2-R)
U.S.: RCA/BMG (Vinyl: *?*)
U.S.: RCA/BMG (Cassette: 2380-4-R)
U.S.: RCA (advance promo cassette, white cover & black text)

Album: THE TRINITY SESSION (released on 11/15/88) -
(From the liner notes) "Captured live at the Church of the Holy Trinity in Toronto, Canada on November 27, 1987... a digital R-DAT recording using only a Calrec Ambisonic Microphone".  Additional info: this is the major label debut of the band, yet the cost to record the album is reported to be only about $250/Canadian! Note: `Blue Moon Revisited' and `Working on a Building' appear on the CD & cassette versions only)

Producer: Peter Moore

Line-up:
Bass: Alan Anton
Vocals: Margo Timmins
Guitar: Michael Timmins
Drums: Peter Timmins

Additional musicians:
John Timmins (guitar, backup vocals)
Jeff Bird (fiddle, mandolin; harmonica on `200 More Miles' & `Misguided Angel')
Kim Deschamps (pedal steel guitar, dobro, bottleneck slide guitar)
Jaro Czerwinec (accordion)
Steve Shearer (harmonica on `I Don't Get It', `Postcard Blues', `Walking After Midnight')

Brazil: RCA (Vinyl: 1507004)
Canada: Latent Recordings (Vinyl: LATEX 5)
Canada: BMG (Cassette: 8568-4-R)
Germany: RCA (CD: *?*)
Japan: BMG Victor (R32P-1188)
U.K.: Cooking Vinyl (Vinyl: COOK 011; Note: `I'm So Lonesome...' and `I Don't Get It' are swapped)
U.K.: Cooking Vinyl (CD: COOKCD 011)
U.S.: RCA (Vinyl: 8568-1-R)
U.S.: RCA (CD: 8568-2-R)
U.S.: RCA (Cassette: RCA 8568-4-R)
country?*: RCA (8568-2-R?; a possible promo album reported to have an alternate booklet and different cover artwork; includes excerpts from critical reviews)

Album: THE CAUTION HORSES (released on 3/13/90) -
(From the liner notes) "Recorded and Mixed December 1989 at Eastern Sound, Toronto, Canada"

Producers: Peter Moore and Michael Timmins

Line-up:
Bass: Alan Anton
Vocals: Margo Timmins
Guitar: Michael Timmins
Drums: Peter Timmins

Additional musicians:
Jeff Bird (mandolin, harmonica, fiddle)
Jaro Czerwinec (accordion)
Kim Deschamps (pedal steel guitar, lap steel guitar)
David Houghton (percussion)

Germany: RCA (CD: PD 90450)
Japan: BMG Victor (CD: R32P-1252) Rel.04/04/90
U.S.: RCA (Vinyl: 2058-1-R)
U.S.: RCA (CD: 2058-2-R)
U.S.: RCA (Cassette: 2058 4-R)

Album: BLACK EYED MAN (released on 2/11/92) -
(From the liner notes) "Recorded at Grant Avenue Studios, Hamilton, Canada, during the winter of 1991"

Producer: Michael Timmins

Line-up:
Bass: Alan Anton
Vocals: Margo Timmins
Guitar: Michael Timmins
Drums: Peter Timmins

Additional musicians:
Ken Myhr (lead guitar on `Southern Rain', `Murder, Tonight...', `Black Eyed Man', `Townes' Blues')
Jaro Czerwinec (accordion)
Jeff Bird (harmonica, mandolin)
David Houghton (percussion)
John Prine (vocals on `If You Were the Woman...')
Tony Quarrington (lead guitar on `Murder, Tonight...')
Don Rook (lap steel)
Dave Allen (fiddle)
Lewis Melville (banjo)
Spencer Evans (piano, clarinet)
Colin Couch (tuba)
Tom Walsh & Rob Summerville (trombones on `Oregon Hill')
Bob Doidge (acoustic guitar, cello)
The Maureen Doidge Tambourine Orkestrah (tambourines)

Germany: RCA (CD: PD 90620)
Japan: BMG (CD: BVCP-183) [Note: 2 bonus tracks: (Bob Dylan's) If You Gotta Go, Go Now', (David Wiffin's) Lost My Driving Wheel]
U.K.: RCA (Vinyl: PL 90620)
U.S.: RCA (CD: 07863 61049-2)
U.S.: RCA (Cassette: RCA 07863-61049-4)

Album: PALE SUN, CRESCENT MOON (released on 11/23/93) -
(From the liner notes) "Recorded at Studio 306, Toronto, April 1993" mixed at Sounds Interchange, Toronto July 1993

Producer: Michael Timmins

Line-up:
Bass: Alan Anton
Vocals: Margo Timmins
Guitar: Michael Timmins
Drums: Peter Timmins

Additional musicians:
Ken Myhr (lead guitar)
Jeff Bird (harmonica, mandolin, 8 string bass, percussion)
Richard Bell (piano, organ, accordion)

Germany: RCA (CD: 2116*?*)
Japan: BMG Victor (CD: BVCP-694)
U.S.: RCA (CD: RCA 07863-66344-2)
U.S.: RCA (CD: 07863-66344-2; pre-release promo of album in a white cardboard sleeve, the front has a circular picture of the album artwork and the back has a list of the "featured tracks" and catalog info for the first 4 albums)
U.S.: RCA (Cassette: RCA 07863 66344-4)

Promo Multi-album Set: COWBOY JUNKIES: THE COLLECTION (released 1993)
[Includes the first 5 studio albums ("Pale Sun, Crescent Moon" is a promotional copy) in a black vinyl 5-CD packet]

U.S.: RCA (CD: 66349-2)

Full-length Promo Album: ESSENTIAL JUNK (1994; Canada only)

Canada: BMG (CD: KCDP 51199)

Album: 200 MORE MILES: LIVE PERFORMANCES 1984-1994 (released on 10/10/95) -
[Useless, nit-picky info: `Blue Moon Revisited' is subtitled "(A Song for Elvis)" on this CD and "(Song for Elvis)" elsewhere]

DISC 1

DISC 2

PERSONNEL AND VENUE INFORMATION (broken down by track number):

Disk 1: 4
[Recorded at the Blue Note Cafe, Winnipeg, Manitoba 10/31/86]
Disk 2: 6
[Recorded at the Great American Music Hall, San Francisco, CA 4/14/94]

Disk 1: 1,2,3; Disk 2: 8,9
[Recorded at the Ontario Place Forum, Toronto, Ontario 7/25/89]

Disk 1: 5,6
[Recorded at the Royal Albert Hall, London, England 3/6/92]
Disk 2: 3
[Recorded at Berkeley Community Theatre, Berkeley, CA 5/15/92]
Disk 2: 7
[Recorded at Mountain Stage, Charleston, WV 2/2/92]

Disk 1: 7
[Recorded at The Chance, Poughkeepsie, NY 6/3/94]
Disk 1: 8,9,10,11
[Recorded at The Fox Theatre, Boulder, CO 4/16/94]
Disk 2: 1
[Recorded at the El Mocambo, Toronto, Ontario 12/3/93]
Disk 2: 4,5
[Recorded at CBGB's, New York, NY 12/13/93]

Disk 2: 2
[Recorded at Berkeley Community Theatre, Berkeley, CA 5/15/92]

Germany: RCA (DBL-CD: 2129*?*)
U.S.: RCA (DBL-CD: 66780-2)
U.S.: RCA (DBL-Cassette: 6678*?*)

Producer: Michael Timmins

Album: LAY IT DOWN (released on 2/27/96) -
Recorded in Athens, GA in June and July of 1995

Producers: John Keane and Michael Timmins

Line-up:
Bass: Alan Anton
Vocals: Margo Timmins
Guitar: Michael Timmins
Drums: Peter Timmins

Additional musicians:
Jeff Bird (Organ)
John Keane (Guitar/pedal steel guitar and arpeggiated guitar on `Come Calling (his song)'
Andy Carlson (Violin/string arrangements)
Tim White (Organ)
Dave Henry (Cello) (note: Dave also toured with the band for this album)
Peter Schab (Violin)
Carl Schab (Viola)

Brazil: Geffen (CD: 24952)
Germany: Geffen (CD: 249*?*)
Japan: MCA Victor (CD: MVCG-195)
U.S.: Geffen (CD: GEFD-24952)
U.S.: Geffen (Advance CD: GEFD-A-24952)
U.S.: Geffen (Cassette: GEFC-24952)

Album: STUDIO: SELECTED STUDIO RECORDINGS (1986-1995) (released on 11/12/96) -
[a "Best of..." collection]

Producers: Peter Moore, Michael Timmins and John Keane.

U.S.: RCA (CD: 67412)

Album: MILES FROM OUR HOME (released on 6/30/98) -
Recorded at McClear/Pathé Studios, Chemical Sound and Studio 306, Toronto, Ontario and at Maiden's Mill in Warkworth, Ontario in September/October 1997; the album was also be released in an alternate "clean" (as in, Wal-Mart) version because the song "Someone Out There" contains the word "fucker"

Producer: John Leckie.

Japan: Universal Victor (CD: MVCF-24038)
U.S.: GEFFEN (CD: GEFD-25201)
U.S.: GEFFEN (Cassette: GEFC-25201)

Line-up:
Bass: Alan Anton
Vocals: Margo Timmins
Guitar: Michael Timmins
Drums: Peter Timmins

Additional musicians:
Gavin Wright: leader
Greg Clarke: guitars
Lewis Melville: pedal steel guitar
Vince Jones: organ, piano, harmonium
David Houghton: percussion

Album: RARITIES, B-SIDES AND SLOW, SAD WALTZES (released on 06/01/99) -
Back on Latent, CJ's own label of the first two albums, and distributed only on the Net, it is a collection of b-sides, rarities, and previously unreleased songs.

Line-up:
Bass: Alan Anton
Vocals: Margo Timmins
Guitar: Michael Timmins
Drums: Peter Timmins

Canada: Latent Recordings

HERE'S A LITTLE INSIGHT TO MILES FROM OUR HOME FROM DAVID HOUGHTON (AS POSTED IN CJfan's GUESTBOOK)

Two Days In The Studio With Cowboy Junkies

I spent September 30th and October 1st at Chemical Studios in Toronto laying down percussion tracks for `Miles From Our Home'. A couple of weeks earlier, Michael Timmins sent me a cassette of rough versions of the songs and some suggestions as to what he had in mind for each. Some of his instructions were very specific, but for the most part, Mike gave me lots of latitude to come up with a wide range of options which we could try in the studio before settling on specific parts and instruments.

A number of the rough demos had been recorded with sequenced percussion as a click track. My first task was to replace those parts with real percussion and then add any other layers which were appropriate. I tried each part in turn, playing it against the track until we decided if it fit the song or not. If it was working, producer John Leckie would hit the record button and we would go through the song from start to finish.

John has incredible ears; after a take, he'd often pipe up through the headphones, `Alright, that was very nice, let's just go back and fix the third bar in the first chorus and the second-last bar in the solo section.' And dammit, he was always right. I littered the studio floor with instruments and then foraged for whatever I needed for a particular track. John created a headphone mix with lots of Peter's drums, lots of click track and smattering of guitars, bass and vocals. Michael, John and the assistant engineer were in the control room. Bottled water and tea were the beverages of choice.

NEW DAWN COMING  We tried adding bell tree, cymbal swells, talking drum and tbilat (hand drums). None of those parts were quite right for the track, so we focused on shakers to support the groove. Maracas play 16th notes throughout the song. We added a bongo pattern in the choruses, then dropped in 16th notes on tambourine in the choruses. Recording the tambourine track gave me blisters on my hand that lasted for a week afterward.

BLUE GUITAR  From the first time I heard it, this was favourite song on the new record. Michael's suggestion to me was to "experiment with whatever", so I did. We tried bongos, camel bells, goat hooves, egg shaker, ensense and a key scraped on a cymbal. But the part that worked best was played on kalimba, an African thumb piano. I set the kalimba down on top of the congas, we miked it and recorded the track on the first take. I think it nicely complements Mike's finger-picking guitar parts.

MILES FROM OUR HOME  I tried shaker, tambourine, caxixi and bongos. But ultimately, Michael didn't feel any of the parts were necessary. Oh well.

GOOD FRIDAY Although we tried a shekere, cabasa, sleigh bells, tbilat and bongos, they ultimately didn't make the cut. We added a shaker all the way through the song and piccolo wood blocks and tambourine in the last verse.

DARKLING DAYS  This gentle song needed only a couple of parts to embellish the rhythm. We first recorded an ensense (an African shaker) playing eighth notes and then a smaller shaker playing sixteenth notes. You'll hear one in either channel if you listen to the track with headphones.You'll also hear Michael making his vocal debut at the end section of the song.

HOLLOW AS A BONE  Michael didn't feel any percussion was necessary. Oh well.

SOMEONE OUT THERE  A delicate track, this song needed only light touches to supplement the existing tracks. We added a shaker which enters halfway through the song, playing 16th notes. If you listen closely, you can hear Alan playing vibraphone in the choruses.

SUMMER OF DISCONTENT  The song is rhythmic but at the same time dark and unsettling. The first thing I tried was an eighth-note pattern on balafon, a rough-hewn African marimba. As much as I wanted the pattern to work, it ended up sounding like a coffee percolator. After Michael and I stopped laughing, I experimented with tbilat (hand drums), ultimately putting a conga track down throughout the song. We then a shaker part in the choruses, playing an ahatse rhythm (based, incidentally, on the rhythm of a horse's hooves).

NO BIRDS  I tried kokiriko, bongos and tambourine. We kept the tambourine part, then doubled it with a smaller tambourine.

THOSE FINAL FEET This song has the same bluesy resignation found in some of The Band's songs. Because of its marchlike feel, I suggested a snare drum phrase which alternated eighth notes with a 32nd note double-stroke roll. But the roll sounded too busy for the languid feel of the song, so I changed to an eighth-note triplet, or 12th note roll. This phrase sat back more rhythmically and alternated between a quarter-note and triplet feel. Only one thing gave us a problem; the third beat of the second chorus. We had to have several tries at it before it was totally in sync. See if you can spot it. After we had recorded the snare part all the way through, I lowered the tuning of the drum and we doubled the part. Both parts were played with a sweater over the drum to muffle the sound; a dark green sweater, to be exact. A red sweater obviously would have had the wrong sound.

The CD is out on June 30th. Hope you enjoy the sounds. David Houghton


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