Hootie & the Blowfish is an American rock band that was formed in Columbia, South Carolina, in 1986. The band’s lineup for most of its existence has been the quartet of Darius Rucker, Mark Bryan, Dean Felber, and Jim Sonefeld. The band went on hiatus in 2008 until they announced plans for a full reunion tour in 2019 and released their first new studio album in fourteen years, Imperfect Circle.
As of 2019, the band had landed sixteen singles on various Billboard singles charts and recorded six studio albums. Their debut album, Cracked Rear View (1994), is the 19th-best-selling album of all time in the United States, and was certified platinum 21 times. The group was also popular in Canada, having had three number-one singles in the country.
Cracked Rear View is the debut studio album by Hootie & the Blowfish, released on July 5, 1994 by Atlantic Records. Released to positive critical reviews, it eventually sold an equivalent of 21 million copies in the US, becoming one of the best-selling albums of all time.
Don Gehman was chosen by A&R man Tim Sommer as a producer because of his previous work with John Mellencamp and R.E.M.
Cracked Rear View is Hootie & the Blowfish’s most successful album. It was the best-selling album of 1995, with 10.5 million shipments that year alone, eventually achieving 21 million album equivalent units by May 21, 2018. It is the joint 19th-best-selling album of all time in the United States. Cracked Rear View reached number one on the Billboard 200 five times over the course of 1995. The album also reached number one in Canada and New Zealand. Three million copies were sold through the Columbia House mail-order system. (wikipedia)
Hootie & the Blowfish’s debut album, Cracked Rear View, was the success story of 1994/1995, selling over 12 million copies. It’s a startling, large number, especially for a new band, but in some ways, the success of the record isn’t that surprising. Although Hootie & the Blowfish aren’t innovative, they deliver the goods, turning out an album of solid, rootsy folk-rock songs that have simple, powerful hooks. “Hold My Hand” has a singalong chorus that epitomizes the band’s good-times vibes. None of the tracks transcend their generic status, but they are strong songs for their genre, with crisp chords and bright melodies. Still, the songs wouldn’t be convincing without the emotive vocals of Darius Rucker, whose gruff baritone has more grit than the actual songs. At their core, Hootie & the Blowfish are a bar band, but they managed to convince millions of listeners that they were the local bar band, and that’s why Cracked Rear View was a major success. (by Stephen Thomas Erlewine)
What a strong and powerful album !!!
Pesonnel:
Mark Bryan (guitar, vocals, percussion, mandolin on 04., piano on 10.)
Dean Felber (bass, clavinet, vocals, piano on 04.)
Darius Rucker (vocals, guitar, percussion)
Jim “Soni” Sonefeld (drums, percussion, vocals, piano on 09. + 11.)
+
David Crosby (background vocals on 02.)
Lili Haydn (violin on 05. + 09.)
John Nau (organ, piano on 06.)
Tracklist:
01. Hannah Jane 3.34
02. Hold My Hand 4.16
03. Let Her Cry 5.08
04. Only Wanna Be With You 3.47
05. Running From An Angel 3.37
06. I’m Goin’ Home 4.11
07. Drowning 5.01
08. Time 4.53
09. Look Away 2.38
10. Not Even The Trees 4.37
11. Goodbye 4.05
12. Sometimes I Feel Like A Motherless Child (hidden track) (Traditional) 0.54
All songs written by Mark Bryan, Dean Felber, Darius Rucker and Jim Sonefeld
except 04. Mark Bryan, Dean Felber, Darius Rucker, Jim “Soni” Sonefeld and Bob Dylan
The official website:
ManyFantasticColors 