Kindness of the World

The album was produced by Henry, with Brian Paulson helping to engineer.{{cite magazine |title=Album reviews — Kindness of the World by Joe Henry |magazine=Billboard |date=Oct 23, 1993 |volume=105 |issue=43 |page=90}}{{cite news |last1=Walsh |first1=Jim |title=Producing Is Music to His Ears |work=St. Paul Pioneer Press |date=December 31, 1993 |page=1B}} He was backed by members of the Jayhawks, as well as by Mike Russell.{{cite news |last1=Morrison |first1=Jim |title=CD Reviews |work=The Virginian-Pilot |date=October 15, 1993 |department=Preview |page=8}} Kindness of the World was recorded at Daniel Lanois's studio, in New Orleans.{{cite book |title=The Rough Guide to Rock |date=2003 |publisher=Rough Guides Ltd |page=462 |edition=2}} "I Flew Over Our House Last Night" is a cover of the Tom T. Hall song.{{Cite news|url=https://indyweek.com/api/content/1771c986-d31f-5e4b-8771-84adedf4765d/|title=Singer-Songwriter and Producer Joe Henry Shares in Durham|first=Jim|last=Allen|date=November 29, 2017|work=Indy Week}} The title track is a duet with Victoria Williams. Henry wrote the originals as they came to him, and tried not to overwork them.{{cite news |last1=Miller |first1=Michael |title=Henry Meshes Poetic Images – with Folky, Roots-Rock Music |work=The State |date=November 5, 1993 |page=11D}} The album includes an unlisted track.{{cite news |last1=Daly |first1=Mike |title=Ballads are best in Henry's offering |work=The Age |date=March 10, 1994 |department=Green Guide |page=14}}

{{music ratings

|rev1 = AllMusic

|rev1score = {{rating|4.5|5}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/kindness-of-the-world-mw0000111719|title=Kindness of the World|website=AllMusic}}

|rev2 = The Encyclopedia of Popular Music

|rev2score = {{rating|3|5}}{{cite book |last1=Larkin |first1=Colin |title=The Encyclopedia of Popular Music |date=2006 |publisher=MUZE |volume=4 |page=253}}

|rev3 = Entertainment Weekly

|rev3score = A−{{Cite magazine|url=https://ew.com/article/1993/11/19/kindness-world/|title=Kindness of the World|work=Entertainment Weekly}}

|rev4 = MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide

|rev4score = {{rating|4|5}}{{cite book |title=MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide |date=1999 |publisher=Visible Ink Press |page=545}}

|rev5 = (The New) Rolling Stone Album Guide

|rev5score = {{rating|3.5|5}}{{cite book |title=(The New) Rolling Stone Album Guide |date=2004 |publisher=Simon & Schuster |pages=376–377}}

}}

Entertainment Weekly wrote that Henry's "plain-sung, pedal-steel-pierced vignettes ... plumb America’s psyche with a classicist’s, not a provocateur’s, perspective." Trouser Press thought that "the songs are so fine that such eclecticism doesn’t call attention to itself; Kindness of the World sounds completely organic and thought-out."{{cite web |title=Joe Henry |url=https://trouserpress.com/reviews/joe-henry/ |website=Trouser Press |access-date=29 January 2022}} The New York Times concluded that "Henry is fond of waltzes and ballads; it's easy to imagine Willie Nelson singing 'She Always Goes', and waltzes like 'This Close to You' could be last-call honky-tonk anthems."{{cite news |last1=Pareles |first1=Jon |title=A Turn Toward Country |work=The New York Times |date=2 Oct 1993 |page=19}}

Stereo Review noted that "in spare but telling language Henry evokes the romantic fatalism at the heart of the country-music mythos in 'She Always Goes'."{{cite magazine |title=Popular music – Kindness of the World by Joe Henry |magazine=Stereo Review |date=Feb 1994 |volume=59 |issue=2 |page=138}} The Austin American-Statesman considered the album to be one of 1993's best, writing that, where Henry's songwriting "formerly flirted with the elliptical and oblique, his material has become as elemental and direct on the surface as it is multilayered beneath it."{{cite news |last1=McLeese |first1=Don |title=Joe Henry Kindness of the World |work=Austin American-Statesman |date=12 Oct 1993 |page=E5}} The Atlanta Journal-Constitution determined that the songs "have a lived-in, rustic feel, a sustained understatement that throws the singer's mature narratives and life sketches to the forefront."{{cite news |last1=Dollar |first1=Steve |title='Kindness' Rings with Rare Authenticity |work=The Atlanta Journal-Constitution |date=October 9, 1993 |page=L28}} The News & Observer listed it as the tenth best album of 1993.{{cite news |last1=Menconi |first1=David |title=Rewind: the best albums of '93 |work=The News & Observer |date=January 7, 1994 |department=What's Up |page=10}}

Reviewing Henry's Trampoline, Spin deemed Kindness of the World "mellow to a fault."{{cite magazine |last1=Kreilkamp |first1=Ivan |title=Spins |magazine=Spin |date=Jul 1996 |volume=12 |issue=4 |page=92}} (The New) Rolling Stone Album Guide labeled it Henry's "first consistently compelling collection."

{{Track listing

| all_writing = Joe Henry, except where noted.

| title1 = One Day When the Weather Is Warm

| length1 = 5:06

| title2 = Fireman's Wedding

| length2 = 4:24

| title3 = She Always Goes

| length3 = 4:21

| title4 = This Close to You

| length4 = 4:24

| title5 = Kindness of the World

| length5 = 4:50

| title6 = Third Reel

| length6 = 5:04

| title7 = Dead to the World

| length7 = 3:36

| title8 = I Flew Over Our House Last Night

| writer8 = Tom T. Hall

| length8 = 5:18

| title9 = Some Champions

| length9 = 4:32

| title10 = Buckdancer's Choice

| length10 = 7:11

| title11 = Who Would Know

| length11 = 7:27

}}

The band

• Joe Henry – vocals, acoustic piano, acoustic guitar, electric guitar
• Phil Kelly – acoustic piano, Hammond B3 organ, pump organ
• Gary Louris – acoustic guitar, electric lead guitar, backing vocals
• Mike Russell – mandolin, tenor banjo, violin, razzbone, backing vocals
• Marc Perlman – bass
• Mark Lafalce – drums, percussion, backing vocals

Special guest musicians

• Bill Dillon – acoustic guitar, dobro, pedal steel guitar, guitorgan
• Victoria Williams – vocals

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{{Joe Henry}}

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Category:Joe Henry albums

Category:1993 albums

Category:Mammoth Records albums