Black Letter Days

Black Letter Days is the first of two albums by Frank Black and the Catholics simultaneously released in 2002 (along with Devil's Workshop). The title implies the opposite of the term "Red Letter Days" which are holidays – a "black letter day" being all the ordinary days in a given month.^[12]

Black Letter Days
Studio album by Frank Black and the Catholics
Released	August 20, 2002
Recorded	October 2001 – January 2002
Studio	Frank Black and the Catholics' mobile recording studio, Los Angeles
Genre	Alternative rock
Length	65:16
Label	SpinART (US) Cooking Vinyl (Europe)
Producer	Nick Vincent
Frank Black and the Catholics chronology
Dog in the Sand (2001) Black Letter Days (2002) Devil's Workshop (2002)

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	60/100[1]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[2]
Alternative Press	7/10[3]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music	[4]
The Guardian	[5]
Pitchfork	6.9/10[6]
Q	[7]
Rolling Stone	[8]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide	[9]
Uncut	[10]
The Village Voice	[11]

Background

When asked by writer and podcaster Jonathan Ball in 2002 if Black Letter Days and Devil's Workshop were meant to be companion pieces or stand-alone albums, Frank Black said, "Either/or, I guess. You can buy one, you can buy both. I made two records this year, so I'm releasing two records." Black added, "It's two different sections, two different lineups, two different producers. So it's sort of out of deference to some of the people involved. I didn't mix and match, I just kind of left them separate."

Black Letter Days is bookended with two covers of the same Tom Waits song, "The Black Rider". Black explained that he and the band started to play the song on tour and during recording sessions: "We tried a couple of different covers when we were recording, but that was the one that we did the best. Even then, I wasn't happy with the way we were doing it . . . so we started to fool around with it a bit and have some fun, and the result was one reel of tape with probably seven different versions of "The Black Rider," one devolving into the next and getting sillier, so what you hear is the first take and the last take. It wasn't meant to be taken seriously, we're just doing the song because we like it."^[13]

Track listing

All tracks composed by Black Francis, except where noted.

1. "The Black Rider" (Tom Waits) – 2:37
2. "California Bound" – 3:24
3. "Chip Away Boy" – 2:57
4. "Cold Heart of Stone" – 3:19
5. "Black Letter Day" – 3:26
6. "Valentine and Garuda" – 3:13
7. "How You Went So Far" – 4:05
8. "End of Miles" – 3:49
9. "1826" – 6:40
10. "The Farewell Bend" – 3:23
11. "Southbound Bevy" – 3:07
12. "I Will Run After You" – 3:58
13. "True Blue" – 1:49
14. "Jane the Queen of Love" – 5:10
15. "Jet Black River" – 1:51
16. "21 Reasons" – 5:40
17. "Whispering Weeds" – 3:39
18. "The Black Rider" (Waits) – 3:09

Personnel

Frank Black and the Catholics

• Frank Black – vocals, guitar
• Scott Boutier – drums
• Eric Drew Feldman – keyboards, synthesizer, additional vocals
• Rich Gilbert – guitar, pedal steel guitar, keyboards, saxophone, additional vocals
• David McCaffery – bass, backing vocals
• Dave Phillips – guitar, pedal steel guitar, additional vocals

Additional musicians

• Moris Tepper – guitar, vocals
• Nick Vincent – maracas

Technical

• Nick Vincent – producer
• Ben Mumphrey – engineer
• Robert Vosgien – mastering
• Sammy Zax – photography
• Butter x 10 – cover design

Notes and references

1. "Black Letter Days by Frank Black & The Catholics". Metacritic. Retrieved 5 September 2017.
2. Phares, Heather. "Frank Black and the Catholics: Black Letter Days". Allmusic. Retrieved 5 September 2017.
3. "Frank Black and the Catholics: Black Letter Days". Alternative Press: 77. October 2002.
4. Larkin, Colin (2011). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th concise ed.). Omnibus Press. ISBN 0-85712-595-8.
5. Aizlewood, John (23 August 2002). "Frank Black and the Catholics: Black Letter Days". The Guardian. Retrieved 5 September 2017.
6. Bowers, William (3 September 2002). "Frank Black & the Catholics: 'Black Letter Days' and 'Devil's Workshop'". Pitchfork. Retrieved 5 September 2017.
7. "Frank Black and the Catholics: Black Letter Days". Q: 100. September 2002.
8. "Frank Black: Black Letter Days". Archived from the original on 17 August 2003. Retrieved 10 June 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
9. Wolk, Douglas (2004). "Frank Black and the Catholics". The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). New York: Simon & Schuster. pp. 74. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
10. "Frank Black and the Catholics: Black Letter Days". Uncut: 103. September 2002.
11. Christgau, Robert (2003-02-11). "The Prelude". The Village Voice.
12. "Features:Frank Black". Splendid. Archived from the original on 2006-12-15. Retrieved 2007-03-25.
13. Ball, Jonathan (13 May 2002). "Interview with Frank Black". jonathanball.com. Retrieved 9 July 2020.