Pirates by Rickie Lee Jones

Pirates

Rickie Lee Jones

1981

Pirates is a Rock album by Rickie Lee Jones, originally released in 1981. On Gatefold: 94 pressings tracked, owned by 9 collectors.

Sound DNA

  • Rock
  • Art Rock
  • polished
  • wistful
  • urban

About

<i>Pirates</i> found Rickie Lee Jones following up her 1979 GRAMMY®-winning debut by building on her love of jazz, R&B, and pop and her uncanny ability to spin literate little yarns inside songs. Her sweeping metaphors here use wild-eyed character sketches to show yearnings of lost love, often between flawed dreamers. They're sometimes based loosely around Jones’ own breakup with Tom Waits, particularly on the beautiful “We Belong Together.” You can see rain-speckled night sidewalks reflecting neon bar signs or be-bop journeymen junkies searching for “Stax and Sun.” But what casts the longest shadow is "Skeletons," a (true) story about cops who mistakenly shoot a man escorting his pregnant wife to the hospital to give birth; Jones' graceful croon and airy piano accompaniment betray a sadness as profound as any you’ll likely ever hear in a song. Jones’s voice often bears a childlike whimsy, though she’s very much her own temple of beat cool. Wrapped in Russ Titelman and Lenny Waronker’s perfectly spacious and cinematic production, rich with strings and horns, this album’s a masterpiece.

via Apple Music

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Tracklist

Side A

  1. A1We Belong Together4:59
  2. A2Living It Up6:23
  3. A3Skeletons3:37
  4. A4Woody And Dutch On The Slow Train To Peking5:15

Side B

  1. B1Pirates (So Long Lonely Avenue)3:50
  2. B2A Lucky Guy4:14
  3. B3Traces Of The Western Slopes8:00
  4. B4The Returns2:20

Credits

Performers

9 collectors on Gatefold own this · 94 pressings tracked on Gatefold