The Trinity Session
Studio album by Cowboy Junkies
Released 1988
Recorded 27 November 1987, Church of the Holy Trinity, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Genre Country rock
Length 52:36
Label Latent
Producer Peter Moore
The Trinity Session is a 1988 album by Cowboy Junkies, their second album.
The music was recorded at Toronto, Ontario's Church of the Holy Trinity on November 27, 1987 (1987-11-27), with the band circled around a single microphone. The album includes a mixture of original material by the band and covers of classic pop, rock and country songs, including the band's most famous single, a cover of The Velvet Underground's "Sweet Jane", based on the early version found on 1969: The Velvet Underground Live, rather than the well-known studio version from Loaded. Also included is "Blue Moon Revisited (Song for Elvis)", which is both a cover and an original, combining a new song by the band with the pop standard "Blue Moon".
The album was released in early 1988 on Latent Records in Canada, and rereleased worldwide later in the year on RCA Records. "Working on a Building" and "Blue Moon Revisited (Song for Elvis)" did not appear on the Latent Records release. "Blue Moon Revisited" was originally released on It Came from Canada, Vol. 4, a compilation of Canadian independent bands.
In 2007 the album was performed live in its entirety as part of the All Tomorrow's Parties-curated Don't Look Back series. Also in that year, the band released a new 20th anniversary edition of the album, Trinity Revisited, with guest musicians Natalie Merchant, Vic Chesnutt and Ryan Adams.
According to website Acclaimed Music [1], the album is the 893rd most acclaimed album ever released. It was named the 42nd best album of the 1980s by Pitchfork Media in 2002 and the 36th best Canadian album by Chart in 2000. It was also ranked 62nd in Bob Mersereau's book The Top 100 Canadian Albums in 2007.
The recording sessions
According to the band's website [2], the direction of The Trinity Sessions was influenced by music they heard while touring the southern United States in support of Whites Off Earth Now!!. The lyrics and instrumentation of the album were lifted from the classic country groups the band was exposed to, and the song "200 More Miles" was written in reference to their life on the road.
As they had on Whites, the band wanted to record live with one stereo microphone direct to tape. Peter Moore was enlisted and suggested the Church of the Holy Trinity in Toronto for its natural reverb. To better persuade the officials of the historic church, the band claimed to be The Timmins Family Singers and said they were recording a Christmas special for radio. The session began on the morning of November 27, 1987. The group first recorded the songs with the fewest instruments and then the songs with gradually more complex arrangements. In this way Moore and the band were able to solve acoustic problems one by one. To better balance Margo Timmins's vocals against the electric guitars and drums, she was recorded through a PA system that had been left behind by a previous group. By making subtle changes in volume and placement relative to the microphone over six hours, Moore and the band had finally reached the distinctive sound of the album by the time the last of the guest musicians arrived at the church.
The band was unable to rehearse with most of the guest musicians before the day of the session. Considering the method of recording and time constraints, this could have been disastrous for the numbers which required seven or more musicians, but after paying a security guard twenty five dollars for an extra two hours, the band was able to finish, and even recorded the final song of the session, "Misguided Angel", in a single take.
Contrary to popular myth, the album was not entirely recorded in one day. In the hustle of the first recording session, the band forgot to record "Mining for Gold". Margo and Moore recorded the song a few days later during the Toronto Symphony Orchestra's lunch break.
