Scenes from the Southside is the second album by Bruce Hornsby and the Range. The single "The Valley Road" was Hornsby's third (and last) Top 10 U.S. hit, peaking at number five on the Billboard Hot 100, and also his first number one on the Billboard Album Rock Tracks chart. It became his third chart-topper on the Billboard adult contemporary chart, following "The Way It Is" and "Mandolin Rain".
Other notable tracks on the record were the single "Look Out Any Window", which reached the top 40 in the United States; "The Show Goes On", which was featured in Ron Howard's 1991 film Backdraft, as well as the pilot episode of Baywatch; and "Jacob's Ladder", which was written by Bruce and John Hornsby and became number-one hit for Huey Lewis and the News in March 1987. In addition, in 2023, "The Show Goes On" was used in The Bear season two premiere episode, "Beef."
Contents
Background
Following the commercial success of Bruce Hornsby and the Range's debut album, The Way It Is, Hornsby felt obligated to follow this up with a stronger album. He mentioned that his record label, RCA, gave him space to record Scenes from the Southside unimpeded. Hornsby wrote "The Valley Road" as a critique about his perception of people in Williamsburg, Virginia romanticizing the past, expressing his belief that "it's a place that looks back a lot." "The Road Not Taken" was inspired by Lee Smith's book Oral History. Hornsby described it as "a very folky song" that transitions into a jazzier section with more of a groove. All of the lyrics for "Defenders of the Flag" were written by Hornsby's brother, John Hornsby.
Billboard announced that Scenes From the Southside would be released by RCA Records on March 28, 1988 and that "The Valley Road" would be the album's first single. RCA later pushed the album's release date back to April 21, 1988. Music & Media said that the album would receive a release date of May 3, 1988 in Europe. Prior to its release, Hornsby also previewed songs from Scenes From the Southside at the 1988 NARM best-sellers awards banquet. By August 1988, Scenes from the Southside had sold more than one million units.
Critical reception
In their review of Scenes from the Southside, Billboard wrote that the album's "batch of songs-steeped with multiformat appeal underlines the formidable writing talents that his debut album promised." Cashbox characterized Hornsby's songs as "vivid stories" and compared them to the work of John Mellencamp. They also highlighted Hornsby's piano playing on the album, particularly on "The Valley Road" and "Look Out Any Window". Music Week said that the album "continues Hornsby's trademark piano-based sound" with a focus on issues related to "ecology, TV preachers, hypocrisy, etc." and "high class instrumental backing unlike any other competitor in the chart race." The Chicago Tribune felt that the material on Scenes from the Southside bore a close resemblance to his song "The Way It Is".
Personnel
The Range
Bruce Hornsby – lead vocals, piano, synthesizer, accordion
George Marinelli – guitar, mandolin, backing vocals
Peter Harris – guitar, mandolin
Joe Puerta – bass, backing vocals
John Molo – drums
Huey Lewis – harmonica (7)
Jeff Gerson – percussion
Steve Watson – guitar consultant
Jimmy Bralower – drum programming
David Roitstein – synthesizer programming
Technical
Produced by Neil Dorfsman and Bruce Hornsby
Engineered and mixed by Neil Dorftsman and Eddie King at The Grey Room (Hollywood, CA)
Additional engineers – Rob Jacobs, Brian Schueble, Julian Stoll, Andrew Udoff, Jim Dineen, Steve "Sound" Cormier, and Greg Bartheld
Digital editing – Bill Dooley at A&M Studios
Mastered by Bob Ludwig at Masterdisk (New York, NY)
A&R direction – Paul Atkinson
Production coordinator – Sharona Sabbag
Art direction – Ria Lewerke and Norman Moore
Cover photography – Dennis Keeley
Liner and inner sleeve photography – Robert Llewellyn
Design – Norman Moore
Management – Tim Neece