Description

The Embarrassing Young is the debut album by the American singer and songwriter John Austin, released on Glasshouse Records in 1992, manufactured and distributed by Word. (Glasshouse actually was a short-lived indie label formed and run by members of The Choir.) The album was produced, recorded, and mixed by Mark Heard at Fingerprint in Los Angeles, California. (Heard oversaw the five sixteen-hour workdays into which the entire recording process was crammed before his untimely death August 1992). Tracks 9 and 10 were recorded by Dave Hackbarth and Derri Daugherty at Neverland Studios in Los Alamitos, California; with Steve Hindalong, Daugherty, and Heard producing. All songs written by John Austin. Background/harmony vocals provided by Erin Echo.

“The album was meant to be a demo tape to shop to major labels. I hooked up with Dan Russell, who’s a publicist on the U2 tour right now, and he set me up with Mark Heard. I borrowed six thousand dollars and flew out to L.A. for a week to make a demo, and we did ten songs. But by week’s end we were in a position to avoid further debt, I thought it would be the smartest thing just to sell it to Glasshouse. They reimbursed me for the money I borrowed, and that was fine with me.”

“Glasshouse was pretty happy with the first ten songs,” says Austin, “but they said, ‘We need two more songs to sort of justify this album being in our market. We need a radio single.'” So Austin flew back to Los Angeles and recorded the plaintive «We All Need Love» and the infectiously upbeat «Back to the Garden». [Excerpt from an interview with John Austin featured in Harvest Rock Syndicate, 1992]

John Austin’s debut album serves as a window of perception into the thoughts and feelings of a 23-year old singer/songwriter who is young, restless, and wise beyond years. He reveals here a natural ability to match perceptively personal lyrics with post-modern rockabilly rhythms, which come off sounding familiar, without being derivative. Credit producer Mark Heard for cushioning these literate tunes with musical accompaniment, which gives momentum to Austin’s ideas, without ever overshadowing them. Austin segues easily from songs about romantic love, to philosophical contemplations on the eternal questions about the meaning of life. Austin’s music – a cross between the youthful exuberance of early Altar Boys and Choir-like thoughtfulness – can be heady stuff for some listeners, but his uncontrolled enthusiams is what ultimately carries this project, and makes ‘The Embarrassing Young’ nothing for this precocious newcomer to be ashamed of at all. [Dan MacIntosh, CCM, September 1992]

> Apple Music (https://music.apple.com/us/album/the-embarrassing-young-30th-anniversary-remastered/1660170098)

CD tracklist:

01. The Embarrassing Young – 3:39
02. Island Girl – 3:51
03. Fallout – 2:50
04. Mercy Squeeze – 3:32
05. Tellulah – 2:58
06. Farthest Thing From Love – 3:47
07. Under The Bed – 2:51
08. Miss Nebula Jones – 3:42
09. We All Need Love – 3:32
10. Back To The Garden – 4:02
11. Say Goodbye – 3:54
12. Awake, Alone – 4:46

Note: Simultaneously released on cassette and CD by Glasshouse Records. A 30th Anniversary Remastered/Expanded version of album was released in December 2022. (The album was remastered by Christopher Colbert. Chris ran the original master through tubes and transformers to rediscover the original analog/tape vibe that often got lost with early digital mastering. Bonus track: The 1990 demo version of “Island Girl” – the song that Mark Heard said was the reason he wanted to work with John. This version of the song was also included in the infamous Cornerstone ’91 music sampler. Bandcamp also offers a special commemorative digital version of the CD booklet – expanded with new full-color time capsule photos, plus a letter written from John about the making of the album and what it means to him today.) Available at Bandcamp: https://johnaustin.bandcamp.com/album/the-embarrassing-young
https://johnaustin.bandcamp.com/album/the-embarrassing-young-30th-anniversary-remastered-expanded-edition

An advertisement for the Glasshouse Records label – featuring Just Keep Goin’ On by Reverend Dan Smith and The Embarrassing Young by John Austin – was published in the July 1992 issue of CCM Magazine.

CREDITS. Produced by Mark Heard with tracks 9 and 10 co-produced by Derri Daugherty, Steve Hindalong, and Heard. Executive Producers: Dan Russell and Steve Hindalong. Engineered and Mixed by Mark Heard. Tracks 9 and 10 recorded by Dave Hackbarth and Derri Daugherty at Neverland Studios in Los Alamitos, CA. Mastered by Doug Doyle at Digital Brothers in Orange County, CA. All songs written by John Austin.

Musicians: John Austin (Acoustic Guitar, Harmonica, Lead Vocals), Erin Echo (Vocals), Mark Heard (Gretsch Guitar, Mandolin, Accordion, Drum Programming, Whistle, Various Noises), Buddy Miller (Electric Twelve-String Guitar), Derri Daugherty (Guitar on tracks 9 and 10), Andrew “Hank” Crawford (Electric Guitar on track 10), David Miner (Stand-up Bass, Electric Bass), Tim Chandler (Bass on tracks 9 and 10), Steve Hindalong (Drums, Percussion).