Album III

Album III is the third full-length album from Loudon Wainwright III. It was originally released in 1972 on Columbia Records. Album III would spawn Loudon Wainwright's most popular hit single, "Dead Skunk", one of the many 'novelty songs' sprinkled throughout Wainwright's career. Although Wainwright has maintained an ironic, sometimes sepulchral sense of humor, "Dead Skunk", despite its commercial success, has dogged him ever since, as he comments on 1985's album I'm Alright, "Were you embarrassed about 'Dead Skunk'"?

Album III
Studio album by Loudon Wainwright III
Released	June 15, 1972 (June 15, 1972)
Studio	Marquee Studios, London
Genre	Folk
Length	32:19
Label	Columbia
Producer	Thomas Jefferson Kaye
Loudon Wainwright III chronology
Album II (1971) Album III (1972) Attempted Mustache (1973)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]
Christgau's Record Guide	A−[2]
Rolling Stone	(favorable)[3]

This is the first of his albums to feature a full backing band, on many tracks, which was named White Cloud. Wainwright mostly eschewed a rocking sound for a stripped down acoustic one from the early-1980s onwards.

Track listing

All tracks composed by Loudon Wainwright III except where noted.

1. "Dead Skunk" – 3:05
2. "Red Guitar" – 1:49
3. "East Indian Princess" – 2:56
4. "Muse Blues" – 2:53
5. "Hometeam Crowd" – 1:49
6. "B Side" – 2:26
7. "Needless To Say" – 3:14
8. "Smokey Joe's Cafe" (Jerry Leiber, Mike Stoller) – 2:31
9. "New Paint" – 3:00
10. "Trilogy (Circa 1967)" – 3:11
11. "Drinking Song" – 2:55
12. "Say That You Love Me" – 2:30

Personnel

• Loudon Wainwright III – guitar, vocals
• David Amram – French horn
• Charlie Brown III – guitar, electric guitar
• Richard Crooks – drums
• Richard Davis – bass
• Thomas Jefferson Kaye – guitar, arranger, rhythm guitar, producer
• Bill Keith – banjo, steel guitar
• Kenny Kosek – fiddle, violin
• Hugh McCracken – guitar
• Don Payne – electric bass
• Elliott Randall – electric guitar
• Jimmy Ryan – guitar
• David Sanborn – saxophone
• "Sailor" Bob Schmidt – harmonica
• Tom Watson – electric bass
• Eric Weissberg – dobro, guitar
• Teddy Wender – piano

White Cloud consisted of Charles Brown III, Richard Crooks, Thomas Jefferson Kaye, Kenneth Kosek, Don Payne and Teddy Wender

Technical

• Brooks Arthur – engineer, mixing
• Milton Kramer – executive producer
• Fred Lombardi – cover photography

Charts

Chart (1973)	Peak position
Australia (Kent Music Report)[4]	62

Release history

• LP: Columbia KC 31462 (US)
• LP: CBS 65238 (UK)
• CD: Sony CK31462 (August 20, 1990, re-release)

References

1. Album III at AllMusic
2. Christgau, Robert (1981). "Consumer Guide '70s: W". Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies. Ticknor & Fields. ISBN 089919026X. Retrieved March 21, 2019 – via robertchristgau.com.
3. Rolling Stone^{[dead link]}
4. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 331. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.