From the Ladle to the Grave

For the The Venture Bros. episode, see From the Ladle to the Grave: The Story of Shallow Gravy.

From the Ladle to the Grave is the third album by Minneapolis folk punk band Boiled in Lead. It was the band's first recording with drummer Robin Adnan Anders, whose influence helped push the band further beyond Celtic rock into explorations of other world traditions. These included Bulgarian, Russian-Jewish, and Turkish music, as well as their version of The Hollies’ “Stop! Stop! Stop!” which interpolated a traditional Egyptian melody.^[13] The song "Cuz Mapfumo" simultaneously paid tribute to Chicago-based Irish musician Cuz Teahan and Zimbabwean Thomas Mapfumo.^[4]

From the Ladle to the Grave
Studio album by Boiled in Lead
Released	1989
Genre	Celtic rock/Celtic punk, folk punk, gypsy punk
Label	Atomic Theory/Cooking Vinyl
Producer	Willie Murphy and Boiled in Lead
Boiled in Lead chronology
Hotheads (1987) From the Ladle to the Grave (1989) Orb (1990)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]
Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music	[2]
MusicHound Folk	[3]
Chicago Tribune	[4]
The Guardian	(positive)[5]
Washington Post	(positive)[6]
St. Paul Pioneer Press Dispatch	[7]
Folk Roots	(positive)[8]
Irish Voice	(positive)[9]
New Musical Express	[10]
Q	[11]
Puncture Magazine	(positive)[12]
Green Man Review	(positive)[13]

Previous Boiled in Lead albums had consisted entirely of traditional folk songs, though the band often arranged the songs in nontraditional, harder-rocking ways. Ladle contained Boiled in Lead's first original compositions, "The Microorganism" and "Pig Dog Daddy." Both were written by lead singer Todd Menton, who cited the influence of Billy Bragg and Richard Thompson as songwriters who had successfully fused folk and rock/pop.^[14] Menton began writing "The Microorganism," a mournful ballad about the devastation of AIDS, six years before its appearance on Ladle.^[15]

The song "My Son John" is a variant of the traditional Irish antiwar ballad "Mrs. McGrath."^[16] In an article on the history of the Napoleon-era song, Sing Out! critic Steven L. Jones singled out Boiled in Lead's rendition as a skillful modernization that also stayed true to the song's politics and "underlying rage and terror."^[16] The band's version of the song is dedicated to antiwar activist S. Brian Willson, whose legs were cut off when he was struck by a munitions train during a Reagan-era protest of arms shipments to Central America.^[16]

The album won a Minnesota Music Award for Album/CD of the Year in 1989.^[1]

Personnel

• Robin "Adnan" Anders: Trap kit, tambourine, cabasa, log drum, tapan, doumbek, sufi drum, davul, darabouka, tar, gong, def. chimes, beladi, Simmons,
• Todd Menton: Electric guitar, vocals, tin whistle, acoustic guitar, mandolin, whistle
• Drew Miller: Bass guitar, tuners, turntable
• David Stenshoel: Fiddle, electric mandolin, scat, zurna, saxophone

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Additional musicians	Length
1.	"The Pinch Of Snuff"			4:15
2.	"Madman Mora Blues"	John Van Orman	Susan Esbjornson: Backing vocals John Van Orman: Concertina, backing vocals	3:10
3.	"Cuz Mapfumo"	Arrangement of "Shumba" by Thomas Mapfumo and "All My Grandchildren" and "The Teahan" by Terence P. Teahan	Laura MacKenzie: Flute, tin whistle Celso Maldonado: Congas Willie Murphy: Sequencer programming Steve Tibbetts: Electric guitar Marcus Wise: Tablas	4:54
4.	"Step It Out Mary"		Susan Esbjornson: Backing vocals John Van Orman: Hurdy-gurdy	3:17
5.	"Shopetski Kopanitsa"		Arlene Samsel: Accordion Tim Wahl: Keval	5:23
6.	"The Microorganism"	Todd Menton	Mark Black: Propane-o-phone Susan Esbjornson: Backing vocals John Van Orman: Hurdy-gurdy, backing vocals	3:15
7.	"Sher"			2:30
8.	"The Spanish Lady"			5:05
9.	"Dilley Delaney's/Cherish The Ladies"			3:20
10.	"Bahcevanci (O Ya)"		Rick O'Dell: Saxophone	3:24
11.	"Stop! Stop! Stop!"	Allan Clarke, Tony Hicks, Graham Nash	Jane Dauphin: Backing vocals Cassandra Shore: Stereo dance orientale	2:27
12.	"Pig Dog Daddy"	Todd Menton	Mark Black: hubcaps Susan Esbjornson: Backing vocals John Van Orman: backing vocals	1:26
13.	"The Guns Of The Magnificent Seven"	Fintan MacManus	Laura MacKenzie: Flute	3:06
14.	"My Son John"		Mark Black: Electric springs	5:07

Credits

• Recorded on the winter solstice in 1987 at Blackberry Way, Minneapolis
• Produced by Boiled in Lead and Willie Murphy
• Engineered by Mike Owens and Kevin Glynn
• Mixed March-June 1988 at Scott Malchow Productions
• Graphics: Margaret McDermott
• Photos: Dan Corrigan
• Technical assistance: Bill Kubeczko
• Type by Luke at Great Faces, Inc.^[17]

References

1. Raggett, Ned. "Boiled in Lead: From the Ladle to the Grave" at AllMusic. Retrieved 20 May 2015.
2. Larkin, Colin, ed. (1995). "Boiled in Lead". The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Vol. 5. Middlesex, England: Guinness Publishing. pp. 727–728.
3. Walters, Neal; Mansfield, Brian; Walters, Tim (1998). MusicHound Folk: The Essential Album Guide. Visible Ink Press. p. 75. ISBN 1-57859-037-X.
4. Heim, Chris (6 July 1989), "From the Ladle to the Grave (Atomic Theory)", Chicago Tribune, retrieved 23 April 2015
5. Denselow, Robin (17 March 1989). "Rock/Pop: Boiled in Lead: From the Ladle To The Grave". The Guardian. London: Guardian News and Media.
6. Himes, Geoffrey (16 August 1989). "Timeless Songs, Up to the Minute". Washington Post. Washington, D.C.
7. Mason, Rick (26 April 1989). "Boiled in Lead seethes with molten energy". St. Paul Pioneer Press Dispatch. St. Paul.
8. Jones, Simon (March 1989), "Reviews: Boiled in Lead: From the Ladle To The Grave", Folk Roots (69), London: Southern Rag Ltd.
9. Rohan, Brian (21 July 1990). "Boiling Over". Irish Voice.
10. Williams, Simon (15 April 1989). "Boiled in Lead: From the Ladle To The Grave". New Musical Express.
11. Clarke, Jeremy (May 1989). "Boiled in Lead: From the Ladle To The Grave". Q.
12. Meyer, Bill (Spring 1991). "Molten music: Boiled in Lead". Puncture: A Magazine of Music and the Arts.
13. Lipsig, Chuck (17 January 2011). "Boiled in Lead: The Not Quite Complete Recordings". Green Man Review. Archived from the original on 21 January 2011. Retrieved 26 April 2015.
14. Jones, Simon (March 1989), "On the Boil: Simon Jones Investigates Boiled in Lead", Folk Roots (69), London: Southern Rag Ltd.: 20–22
15. Kot, Greg (3 August 1989), "Tradition twisters: Minneapolis band brings ethnic music to a boil", Chicago Tribune
16. Jones, Steven L. (20 June 2015). "You Can't Win a Race with a Cannonball: Goya, Guernica & My Son John". SingOut!. Archived from the original on 9 September 2018. Retrieved 21 June 2015.
17. From the Ladle to the Grave (booklet). Boiled in Lead. Minneapolis: Atomic Theory Records. 1989.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)