Time (The Revelator) is the third studio album by American singer-songwriter Gillian Welch, co-written with David Rawlings. It was recorded at RCA Studio B,Production notes within the booklet accompanying the album. except one track ("I Want to Sing That Rock and Roll") recorded live at Ryman Auditorium for the concert film Down from the Mountain.
Recording Welch said of recording "Revelator," "It was a mic test – the version on the record. Dave just said, 'play 'Revelator' and it was okay, let's try it and we used the mic test." Rawlings added, "We played it once and it was great because we hadn't played it in months. We got that first take feeling."
According to Rawlings, "I Dream a Highway" had never been played before it was recorded. "So, we played it twice and I edited both versions together. But, I wanted that because I knew it was a minor song that had ... There was a lot that could happen with the harmonies and the guitar playing than if we'd done it a lot of times, so we could just travel through a lot more of it than if we knew where we were supposed to start and where we were supposed to end."
Critical reception
Welch and Rawlings received a great deal of recognition for their work on Time. The album received many award nominations and was included on many "best album of the year" lists by critics. It has since been included on a number of "best of all time" lists.
In 2009, the album was ranked number 7 on Pastes "The 50 Best Albums of the Decade" list. It was also included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. The album was ranked 64 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 100 greatest albums of the decade, and in 2020 the album was ranked number 348 in their updated list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.
Awards Although Welch and Rawlings did not win in any category, the duo received four nominations at the first annual awards for the Americana Music Association in 2002.Andrew Dansby, "Welch Leads Americana Nominees", Rolling Stone.com, August 5, 2002 Time (The Revelator) was nominated for Album of the Year, and "I Want to Sing That Rock and Roll" was nominated for Song of the Year (prizes that went to Buddy and Julie Miller's Buddy & Julie Miller and "She's Looking at Me" by Jim Lauderdale, Ralph Stanley and the Clinch Mountain Boys). Welch and Rawlings together were nominated for Artist of the Year while Rawlings was nominated for Instrumentalist of the Year (awarded to Jim Lauderdale and Jerry Douglas respectively).
The album was nominated for Best Contemporary Folk Album at the 2002 Grammy Awards, but lost out to Bob Dylan's Love and Theft."2002 Grammy Awards", CNN.com
Best album of the year lists +Appearances on best album of the year lists Publication List title Rank Addicted to Noise (US) 2002: Fifth Annual International Music Writers Poll"2002: Fifth Annual International Music Writers Poll", Addicted to Noise (with 30 votes link to list 10 Amazon.com (US) Top 100 Editors' Picks: Music"Top 100 Editors' Picks: Music", Amazon.com (link--no longer available) 57 Barnes & Noble.com (US) Albums of the Year 52 BigO (Singapore) Albums of the Year 12 E! Online (US) Top 25 CDs"Top 25 Cds", E! Online, December 2001 ( or original list) no order Heaven (Netherlands) Albums of the Year 3 Les Inrockuptibles (France) Albums of the Year 15 Mojo (UK) Albums of the Year 4 The New Yorker (US) Twelve Favorites from our 2001 CD Rotation"Pop Roundup: Twelve Favorites from our 2001 CD Rotation", The New Yorker, January 7, 2002 no order OOR (Netherlands) Albums of the Yearoriginally in Oorlijsten copy of list from muzieklijstjes.nl 25 Rock's Back Pages Best of the Year: RBP's Albums of 2001"Best of the Year: RBP's Albums of 2001 ", Rock's Back Pages ( of original list) 10 Uncut (UK) Albums of the Yearoriginally in Uncut, 33 Village Voice (US) Annual Pazz & Jop Critic's Poll"Pazz & Jop Critic's Poll", The Village Voice (link to 2001 album list) 14 Washington City Paper (US) The CP Top 20 of 2001"The CP Top 20 of 2001" , Washington City Paper, December 21, 2001 (actually a nine way tie for 16th place with 15 points) 33 WFUV, New York City (US) Best of 2001 FUV staff Picks"Best of 2001 FUV Staff Picks", WFUV.org (named by 5 out of 16 staff members) no order WUMB, Boston (US) Top Ten 2001"Top 10 Cds 2001" , WUMB.org 3
Track listing All songs written by Gillian Welch and David Rawlings. "Revelator" – 6:22 "My First Lover" – 3:47 "Dear Someone" – 3:14 "Red Clay Halo" – 3:14 "April the 14th Part 1" – 5:10 "I Want to Sing That Rock and Roll" – 2:51 "Elvis Presley Blues" – 4:53 "Ruination Day Part 2" – 2:36 "Everything Is Free" – 4:48 "I Dream a Highway" – 14:39
Credits
Musicians Gillian Welch – banjo, guitar, vocals David Rawlings – guitar, vocals
Production Recorded at RCA Studio B, Nashville, Tennessee Produced by David Rawlings Engineered by Matt Andrews except "I Want to Sing That Rock and Roll": Recorded live at the Ryman Auditorium, Nashville, Tennessee Produced by T-Bone Burnett Engineered by Mike Piersante and Matt Andrews Also available on Down from the Mountain (2001, Lost Highway) Mastered by Steve Marcussen at Marcussen Mastering, Los Angeles, California
Artwork Design by Frank Olinsky Photography by Mark Seliger
Charts +Chart performance for Time (The Revelator) Chart (2021) Peakposition US Billboard 200 157 US Billboard Heatseekers[ Gillian Welch] entry at AllMusic 5 US Billboard Independent Albums 7 US Billboard Top Internet Albums 4
References
External links Melissa Block, "Gillian Welch and David Rawlings" (live in-studio interview), All Things Considered, NPR, August 10, 2001 Nick spitzer, "Words and Music", American Routes, PRI, January 9, 2002 (episode playlist, audio segment with Gillian Welch{requires RealPlayer})