Melissa Etheridge

Personnel: Melissa Etheridge (vocals, acoustic guitar); Waddy Wachtel, Johnny Lee Schell (guitar); Scott Thurston, Wally Badarou (keyboards); Kevin McCormick (bass); Craig Krampf (drums, percussion). Producers: Craig Krampf, Kevin McCormick, Melissa Etheridge, Niko Bolas. Recorded at Cherokee Studio I, Hollywood, California from October 19-23, 1987. This Deluxe Edition includes original album on disc one plus live performances and solo acoustic performances on disc two. Personnel: Melissa Etheridge (vocals, acoustic guitar); Waddy Wachtel, Johnny Lee Schell (guitar); Scott Thurston, Wally Badarou (keyboards); Kevin McCormick (bass); Craig Krampf (drums, percussion). Producers: Craig Krampf, Kevin McCormick, Melissa Etheridge, Niko Bolas. Recorded at Cherokee Studio I, Hollywood, California from October 19-23, 1987. Although Melissa Etheridge was immediately compared to Tracy Chapman when the two singer-songwriters released their self-titled debut albums in the same year, they in fact shared little other than gender. Kansas native Etheridge is a heartland rocker in the mold of Bruce Springsteen, John Mellencamp, or Tom Petty, blessed with a powerfully soulful voice that compares favorably to both Janis Joplin and, in her quieter moments, Margo Timmins of the Cowboy Junkies. On this album, Etheridge's songwriting talents are perhaps not quite as consistent as they would soon become, but producer Niko Bolas (Neil Young, Warren Zevon, etc.) gives the album a clean, muscular, and guitar-oriented sound that seems much less dated than many other albums from the period, and with the startlingly passionate "Bring Me Some Water" alone, Etheridge made her first claim as one of the pre-eminent singer/songwriters of her time.