With the unexpected hit "Lullaby" throwing Shawn Mullins into the limelight after almost ten years of performing and recording as an independent artist, Columbia picked up Mullins' fourth full-length, Soul's Core, and released its follow-up, Beneath the Velvet Sun.
This collection culls half of its tracks from those two releases, three tracks from Columbia's 1999 compilation The First Ten Years, two unreleased songs (a solo acoustic version of "Joy Terrell Brown" and a live take of "Lonesome, I Know You Too Well"), and two additional tracks previously unreleased in the United States (a duet with Elton John called "Border Song" and an acoustic runthrough of "Lullaby").
This collection serves as a decent introduction for the curious (although it covers nothing from the 1996 effort Eggshells) and the unreleased songs make it a nice addition for collectors, but one can't help but think that The Essential Shawn Mullins serves as the death rattle to his far-reaching contributions to popular music.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | LullabyShawn Mullins | Shawn Mullins | Play | 05:30 | 12 MB | 40 MB |
| 2 | LatelyShawn Mullins | Shawn Mullins | Play | 04:22 | 10 MB | 30 MB |
| 3 | Canyons & CavernsShawn Mullins | Shawn Mullins | Play | 04:19 | 9 MB | 24 MB |
| 4 | The Gulf of MexicoShawn Mullins | Shawn Mullins | Play | 03:44 | 8 MB | 23 MB |
| 5 | Anchored in YouShawn Mullins | Shawn Mullins | Play | 03:21 | 7 MB | 20 MB |
| 6 | ShimmerShawn Mullins | Shawn Mullins | Play | 04:09 | 9 MB | 28 MB |
| 7 | Everywhere I GoShawn Mullins | Shawn Mullins | Play | 03:52 | 8 MB | 29 MB |
| 8 | Somethin' to Believe InShawn Mullins | Shawn Mullins | Play | 03:44 | 8 MB | 26 MB |
| 9 | Santa FeShawn Mullins | Shawn Mullins | Play | 03:50 | 8 MB | 27 MB |
| 10 | I KnowShawn Mullins | Shawn Mullins | Play | 04:01 | 9 MB | 28 MB |
| 11 | Border SongElton John, Bernie Taupin | Shawn Mullins, Elton John | Play | 03:24 | 7 MB | 22 MB |
| 12 | LullabyShawn Mullins | Shawn Mullins | Play | 05:30 | 12 MB | 40 MB |
| 13 | This Time-Last Time | Shawn Mullins | Play | 03:01 | 6 MB | 21 MB |
| 14 | Joy Terrell Brown (Solo Acoustic Version) | Shawn Mullins | Play | 02:46 | 6 MB | 13 MB |
| 15 | Lonesome, I Know You Too Well (Live) | Shawn Mullins | Play | 03:13 | 7 MB | 19 MB |
| 16 | Lullaby (Acoustic Version) | Shawn Mullins | Play | 05:05 | 11 MB | 29 MB |
| 63 mins | 146 MB | |||||
| 63 mins | 428 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Taj Artis | Vocals (Background) |
| 2 | Steven Berkowitz | A&R |
| 3 | Curt Bisquera | Shaker, Tambourine |
| 4 | Bill "Luigi" Bonk | Mandolin, Vocals (Background) |
| 5 | Kim Bullard | Keyboards, Loop, Mellotron, Programming, Wurlitzer |
| 6 | Brandon Bush | Claves, Drum Loop, Organ, Piano, Wurlitzer |
| 7 | Christy Bush | Photography |
| 8 | Walter Carter | Vocals (Background) |
| 9 | Vinnie Colaiuta | Drums |
| 10 | Shawn Colvin | Vocals |
| 11 | Luis Conte | Percussion |
| 12 | Dennis Farias | Trumpet |
| 13 | Juanita Flemister | Vocals (Background) |
| 14 | Josh Freese | Drums |
| 15 | Howard Fritzson | Art Direction |
| 16 | Rob Gal | Drum Loop, Guitar (Electric) |
| 17 | Alfreda Gerald | Vocals (Background) |
| 18 | David Henderson | Bass, Vocals (Background) |
| 19 | Scott Hull | Mastering |
| 20 | David Immerglück | Mandolin |
| 21 | Elton John | Composer, Guest Artist, Piano, Primary Artist, Vocals |
| 22 | Jan Joyce | Guitar, Guitar (Baritone), Guitar (Electric), Talk Box |
| 23 | Matthew Kahler | Congas |
| 24 | Marty Kearns | Organ (Hammond) |
| 25 | Ricky Keller | Contractor, String Arrangements |
| 26 | Mickey King | Drums |
| 27 | David LaBruyere | Bass |
| 28 | Nick Lane | Trombone |
| 29 | Mike Lawler | Clavinet, Organ (Hammond) |
| 30 | Kevin Leahy | Drums |
| 31 | Shelby Lynne | Vocals |
| 32 | John Madgett | Vocals (Background) |
| 33 | Jeff Magid | Compilation Producer |
| 34 | Mitch Maketansky | Producer |
| 35 | Patti Matheny | Artist Coordination |
| 36 | Don McCollister | Bass, Producer, Vocals (Background) |
| 37 | James Minchin | Photography |
| 38 | Shawn Mullins | Clay Drums, Composer, Guitar (Acoustic), Horn Arrangements, Percussion, Piano, Piano (Electric), Primary Artist, Producer, Synthesizer, Tambourine, Vocals |
| 39 | David Patterson | Guitar, Guitar (12 String), Guitar (Classical), Guitar (Electric), Slide Guitar, Strings, Vocals (Background) |
| 40 | John Pierce | Bass |
| 41 | Tim Pierce | Guitar |
| 42 | Julian Raymond | Producer, Vocals (Background) |
| 43 | Cheryl Renee | Vocals (Background) |
| 44 | Anthony J. Resta | Chamberlin, Drums, Guitar, Keyboards, Programming, Strings, Synthesizer, Turntables |
| 45 | Marty Rifkin | Dobro |
| 46 | Stephen Sadler | Guitar (12 String), Guitar (Electric), Lap Steel Guitar, Mandolin |
| 47 | Darren Salmieri | Artist Coordination |
| 48 | Bennett Salvay | Harpsichord, Organ |
| 49 | Garret Savluk | Trumpet |
| 50 | Fred Sawyers | Vocals (Background) |
| 51 | Lisa Sparagano | Design |
| 52 | Rob Sumowski | Percussion |
| 53 | Bernie Taupin | Composer |
| 54 | Lee R. Thomburg | Trumpet |
| 55 | Amanda Tozzi | Production Coordination |
| 56 | Mark Unterberger | Packaging Manager |
| 57 | Myra Walker | Vocals (Background) |
| 58 | Michael Ward | Guitar (Acoustic), Guitar (Electric), Soloist |
| 59 | Oliver W. Wells | Arranger, Conductor |
| 60 | Shelley Yankus | Vocals (Background) |
| 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. |
| CD Quality | FLAC | 16bit 44.1kHz | FLAC is an audio coding format which uses lossless compression. Digital audio in FLAC format has a smaller size and retains the same quality of the original Compact Disc (CD). |