Building on the tentative steps into Americana on her Bela Fleck-produced major label debut, 1989's HELPLESS HEART, 1991's A REAL LIFE STORY drops the Irish elements of Maura O'Connell's music almost entirely.
Although her vocals still have a recognizable Celtic lilt to them, her song selection and Greg Penny's alterna-folkie production--not that far from his earlier work for Rickie Lee Jones and k.d.
lang--give this album a much different flavor.
The songs are a well-chosen lot--O'Connell's a strictly interpretive singer who doesn't write--featuring gems like Shawn Colvin's delicate "I Don't Know Why," John Hiatt's wry "When We Ran" and a fearless take on Tom Waits's difficult "Broken Bicycles." The arrangements, featuring contributions from Penny, Jane Siberry sideman Teddy Borowiecki on accordion and lang's longtime musical partner Ben Mink on fiddle, strike a balance between rustic simplicity and art-pop complexity without tipping too far in either direction.
A REAL LIFE STORY is probably the best starting point for the Maura O'Connell novice.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | When Your Heart Is WeakPeter Kingsbery | Maura O'Connell | Play | 04:05 | 9 MB | 0 MB |
| 2 | Burning My RowboatLarry Tagg | Maura O'Connell | Play | 03:11 | 7 MB | 0 MB |
| 3 | A Family TieHugh Prestwood | Maura O'Connell | Play | 03:16 | 7 MB | 0 MB |
| 4 | IrelandGreg Trooper | Maura O'Connell | Play | 04:32 | 10 MB | 0 MB |
| 5 | UnwindingKye Fleming, Janis Ian | Maura O'Connell | Play | 03:56 | 9 MB | 0 MB |
| 6 | Guns of LoveMichael Caruso, John Keller, Randy Sharp | Maura O'Connell | Play | 03:50 | 8 MB | 0 MB |
| 7 | I Don't Know WhyShawn Colvin | Maura O'Connell | Play | 03:55 | 8 MB | 0 MB |
| 8 | For No OneJohn Lennon, Paul McCartney | Maura O'Connell | Play | 03:14 | 7 MB | 0 MB |
| 9 | When We RanJohn Hiatt | Maura O'Connell | Play | 04:02 | 9 MB | 0 MB |
| 10 | Broken BicyclesTom Waits | Maura O'Connell | Play | 03:14 | 7 MB | 0 MB |
| 37 mins | 85 MB | |||||
| 0 mins | 0 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chris Bellman | Mastering |
| 2 | Teddy Borowiecki | Accordion |
| 3 | David Campbell | Fiddle |
| 4 | Michael Caruso | Composer |
| 5 | Mary Coller | Production Coordination |
| 6 | Shawn Colvin | Composer |
| 7 | Jerry Douglas | Dobro |
| 8 | E.J. | Assistant Engineer |
| 9 | Ken Felton | Assistant Engineer |
| 10 | Kye Fleming | Composer |
| 11 | Darren Grahn | Assistant Engineer |
| 12 | John Hiatt | Composer |
| 13 | Janis Ian | Composer |
| 14 | Terry Jackson | Bass |
| 15 | John Keller | Composer |
| 16 | Jim Keltner | Drums, Percussion |
| 17 | Peter Kingsbery | Composer |
| 18 | Doug Lacy | Accordion |
| 19 | Robin Laine | Assistant Engineer |
| 20 | John Lennon | Composer |
| 21 | Laura LiPuma | Art Direction, Design |
| 22 | Paul McCartney | Composer |
| 23 | Ben Mink | Fiddle |
| 24 | Peter Nash | Photography |
| 25 | Maura O'Connell | Keyboards, Primary Artist, Vocal Harmony, Vocals, Vocals (Background) |
| 26 | Aileen O'Connell | Vocals (Background) |
| 27 | Aine OConnell | Vocals (Background) |
| 28 | Alisheen OConnell | Vocals (Background) |
| 29 | Carole Parks | Vocals (Background) |
| 30 | Dean Parks | Guitar |
| 31 | Greg Penny | Engineer, Keyboards, Producer |
| 32 | Hugh Prestwood | Composer |
| 33 | Marc Ramaer | Engineer |
| 34 | Steve Royea | Assistant Engineer |
| 35 | Joe Gruvtek Seta | Engineer, Mixing |
| 36 | Randy Sharp | Composer, Keyboards |
| 37 | Neil Stubenhaus | Bass |
| 38 | Larry Tagg | Composer |
| 39 | Greg Trooper | Composer |
| 40 | Tom Waits | Composer |
Maura O'Connell
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | MP3 | 320kps 44.1kHz | MP3 is an audio coding format which uses a form of lossy data compression. The highest bitrate of this format is 320kbps (kbit/s). MP3 Digital audio takes less amount of space (up to 90% reduction in size) and the quality is not as good as the original one. |