The Harrow & the Harvest

The Harrow & the Harvest is the fifth studio album by American singer-songwriter Gillian Welch. Released on 28 June 2011, it was Welch's first album in eight years. The album was nominated for Best Folk Album for the 54th Grammy Awards.^[3]

The Harrow & the Harvest
Studio album by Gillian Welch
Released	June 28, 2011
Recorded	February 2011[1]
Studio	Woodland (Nashville, Tennessee)[2]
Genre	Folk
Label	Acony
Producer	David Rawlings
Gillian Welch chronology
Soul Journey (2003) The Harrow & the Harvest (2011) All the Good Times (Are Past & Gone) (2020)

Background

The eight years since the release of 2003's Soul Journey marked the longest period of time between album releases for Welch. In explaining the relatively long recording absence, Welch said, "The sad truth is we never liked anything enough to put it out, which is not a pleasant place to be." She added, "over the course of that time that we were quiet we probably had enough songs to put out two or three records. Actually we made a few tentative steps at trying to record, but inevitably the heart would go out of it when we realised that we simply didn't like the material enough to go on with it."^[4] Welch frequently performed the song "The Way It Will Be" in years prior to the release of the album.^[5] Welch explains that this tense time period inspired the album title: "Our songcraft slipped and I really don't know why. It's not uncommon. It's something that happens to writers. It's the deepest frustration we have come through, hence the album title."^[4] The writing process involved "this endless back and forth between the two of us," Welch said, stating that "It’s our most intertwined, co-authored, jointly-composed album."^[6] John Dyer Baizley provided artwork for the album.^[7]

Recording

According to Welch, "The songs are mostly first and second takes, and Dave composed some of the music spontaneously in the studio. It was very freeing. We learned to accept mistakes and rough edges, because those didn't impede what the heart of the matter was."^[6]

Reception

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
AnyDecentMusic?	8.5/10[8]
Metacritic	85/100[9]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[10]
The A.V. Club	C+[11]
The Daily Telegraph	[12]
The Guardian	[13]
The Independent	[14]
Los Angeles Times	[15]
Mojo	[16]
The Observer	[17]
Rolling Stone	[18]
Uncut	[19]

The Harrow & the Harvest was met with "universal acclaim" reviews from critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, this release received an average score of 85 based on 28 reviews.^[9] Aggregate website AnyDecentMusic? gave the release an 8.5 out of 10 based on a critical consensus of 27 reviews.^[8]

Uncut placed it at 2 on their "Top 50 albums of 2011" list,^[20] while Q, Mojo, and Paste placed it at number 28, 34, and 39, respectively.^[21][22][23]

Track listing

The Harrow & the Harvest track listing

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Scarlet Town"	3:38
2.	"Dark Turn of Mind"	4:07
3.	"The Way It Will Be"	4:47
4.	"The Way It Goes"	4:01
5.	"Tennessee"	6:35
6.	"Down Along the Dixie Line"	4:49
7.	"Six White Horses"	3:38
8.	"Hard Times"	4:52
9.	"Silver Dagger"	3:23
10.	"The Way the Whole Thing Ends"	6:11

All tracks are written by Gillian Welch and David Rawlings

Charts

Weekly charts Weekly chart performance for The Harrow & the Harvest Chart (2011) Peak position Australian Albums (ARIA)[24] 11 Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[25] 75 Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[26] 25 Irish Albums (IRMA)[27] 22 New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[28] 14 Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[29] 7 Scottish Albums (OCC)[30] 14 Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[31] 31 UK Albums (OCC)[32] 25 US Billboard 200[33] 20 US Folk Albums (Billboard)[34] 1 US Independent Albums (Billboard)[35] 3 US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)[36] 5

Year-end charts Year-end chart performance for The Harrow & the Harvest Chart (2011) Position US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)[37] 68

References

1. "Gillian Welch & David Rawlings". Gillianwelch-davidrawlings.com.
2. Mulvey, John (August 31, 2011). "Gillian Welch and David Rawlings: "Until a song is right, we basically exist in a state of misery"". Uncut. Retrieved September 25, 2024.
3. "Kanye West Tops 54th GRAMMY Nominations". The Recording Academy. Retrieved November 18, 2011.
4. Shedden, Iain (June 18, 2011). "Harvest time after long journey for Gillian Welch". The Australian. Retrieved June 18, 2011.
5. Kiefer, Kate (November 20, 2009). "Catching Up With... David Rawlings". Paste Magazine. Retrieved January 13, 2010.
6. Leahey, Andrew (June 29, 2011). "Gillian Welch Comes Down From The Mountain". American Songwriter. Retrieved June 30, 2011.
7. ^{[dead link]}
8. "The Harrow & The Harvest by Gillian Welch reviews". AnyDecentMusic?. Retrieved December 28, 2019.
9. "Reviews for The Harrow and the Harvest by Gillian Welch". Metacritic. Retrieved October 17, 2018.
10. Jurek, Thom. "The Harrow & the Harvest – Gillian Welch". AllMusic. Retrieved November 16, 2019.
11. Mincher, Chris (June 28, 2011). "Gillian Welch: The Harrow & The Harvest". The A.V. Club. Retrieved July 16, 2011.
12. Chilton, Martin (June 21, 2011). "Gillian Welch: The Harrow & The Harvest, CD review". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved October 17, 2018.
13. Denselow, Robin (June 23, 2011). "Gillian Welch: The Harrow & the Harvest – review". The Guardian. London. Retrieved July 16, 2011.
14. Gill, Andy (June 24, 2011). "Album: Gillian Welch, The Harrow and the Harvest (Warner Bros)". The Independent. London. Archived from the original on July 1, 2011. Retrieved October 17, 2018.
15. Barton, Chris (June 28, 2011). "Album review: Gillian Welch's 'The Harrow & the Harvest'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved July 16, 2011.
16. "Gillian Welch: The Harrow & The Harvest". Mojo (213): 94. August 2011.
17. Empire, Kitty (June 26, 2011). "Gillian Welch: The Harrow & the Harvest – review". The Observer. London. Retrieved July 16, 2011.
18. Hermes, Will (June 28, 2011). "The Harrow & The Harvest". Rolling Stone. Retrieved July 16, 2011.
19. Mueller, Andrew (July 2011). "Gillian Welch: The Harrow & The Harvest". Uncut (170): 74.
20. "Uncut's Top 50 Albums Of 2011". Stereogum.com. November 29, 2011.
21. "Q's 50 Best Albums Of 2011". Stereogum.com. November 29, 2011.
22. "MOJO's Top 50 Albums Of 2011". Stereogum.com. December 2, 2011.
23. "The 50 Best Albums of 2011". Pastemagazine.com. November 22, 2011.
24. "Australiancharts.com – Gillian Welch – The Harrow & The Harvest". Hung Medien. Retrieved December 13, 2020.
25. "Ultratop.be – Gillian Welch – The Harrow & The Harvest" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved December 13, 2020.
26. "Dutchcharts.nl – Gillian Welch – The Harrow & The Harvest" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved December 13, 2020.
27. "Irish-charts.com – Discography Gillian Welch". Hung Medien. Retrieved December 13, 2020.
28. "Charts.nz – Gillian Welch – The Harrow & The Harvest". Hung Medien. Retrieved December 13, 2020.
29. "Norwegiancharts.com – Gillian Welch – The Harrow & The Harvest". Hung Medien. Retrieved December 13, 2020.
30. "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved December 13, 2020.
31. "Swedishcharts.com – Gillian Welch – The Harrow & The Harvest". Hung Medien. Retrieved December 13, 2020.
32. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved December 13, 2020.
33. "Gillian Welch Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved December 13, 2020.
34. "Gillian Welch Chart History (Top Americana/Folk Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved December 13, 2020.
35. "Gillian Welch Chart History (Independent Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved December 13, 2020.
36. "Gillian Welch Chart History (Top Rock Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved December 13, 2020.
37. "Top Rock Albums – Year-End 2011". Billboard. Retrieved December 13, 2020.