Freedom Highway (Rhiannon Giddens album)

Freedom Highway is the second solo studio album of Folk/Americana musician and Carolina Chocolate Drops front woman Rhiannon Giddens. It was released via Nonesuch Records on February 24, 2017.[13] Freedom Highway was nominated for Album of the Year at the 2017 Americana Music Honors & Awards. The title track "Freedom Highway" is a 1965 civil rights protest song written by Roebuck Staples and title track of The Staple Singers' album of the same name.

Freedom Highway
Studio album by
ReleasedFebruary 24, 2017 (2017-02-24)
GenreAmericana, Folk, Old-time
Length49:53
LabelNonesuch
ProducerDirk Powell
Rhiannon Giddens chronology
Tomorrow Is My Turn
(2015)
Freedom Highway
(2017)
There Is No Other
(2019)
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
AnyDecentMusic?7.7/10[1]
Metacritic80/100[2]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[3]
The Guardian[4]
The Independent[5]
The Irish Times[6]
Mojo[7]
The Observer[8]
Pitchfork7.6/10[9]
Rolling Stone[10]
The Times[11]
Uncut8/10[12]

Track listing

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Freedom Highway track listing
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."At the Purchaser's Option"Rhiannon Giddens/Joey Ryan4:15
2."The Angels Laid Him Away"Mississippi John Hurt2:32
3."Julie"Rhiannon Giddens4:29
4."Birmingham Sunday"Richard Fariña6:15
5."Better Get It Right the First Time"Rhiannon Giddens/Dirk Powell/Justin Harrington3:24
6."We Could Fly"Rhiannon Giddens/Dirk Powell4:52
7."Hey Bébé"Rhiannon Giddens/Dirk Powell3:19
8."Come Love Come"Rhiannon Giddens5:19
9."The Love We Almost Had"Rhiannon Giddens/Bhi Bhiman4:18
10."Baby Boy"Rhiannon Giddens/Lalenja Harrington4:28
11."Following the North Star"Rhiannon Giddens1:55
12."Freedom Highway"Roebuck Staples4:47
Total length:49:53

Personnel

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  • Eric Adcock – engineering, Hammond B3, Wurlitzer
  • Patrick Bartley – tenor saxophone
  • Bhi Bhiman – electric guitar, background vocals (track 12)
  • David Bither – executive producer
  • Desiree Champagne – Rubboard
  • Rowan Corbett – percussion, harmony vocals
  • Jamie Dick – drums, percussion
  • Rhiannon Giddens – vocals, banjo, handclapping, production
  • Lalenja Harrington – harmony vocals
  • Jeri Heiden – design
  • Alphonso Horne – trumpet
  • Hubby Jenkins – banjo, mandolin
  • Robert C. Ludwig – mastering
  • Leyla McCalla – cello, harmony vocals
  • Malcolm Parson – cello
  • John Peets – photography
  • Amelia Powell – handclapping
  • Dirk Powell – electric bass, bells, engineer, fiddle, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, mandolin, mixing, piano, producer, harmony vocals
  • Ina Powell – handclapping
  • Sophie Powell – handclapping
  • Jason Sypher – bass
  • Nolan Theis – horn engineer
  • Corey Wilcox – trombone

Charts

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Chart performance for Freedom Highway
Chart (2017) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[14] 49
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[15] 60
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[16] 88
French Albums (SNEP)[17] 114
Irish Albums (IRMA)[18] 52
Scottish Albums (OCC)[19] 14
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[20] 94
UK Albums (OCC)[21] 39
US Billboard 200[22] 124
US Folk Albums (Billboard)[23] 8

References

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  1. ^ "Freedom Highway by Rhiannon Giddens reviews". AnyDecentMusic?. Retrieved September 14, 2019.
  2. ^ "Reviews for Freedom Highway by Rhiannon Giddens". Metacritic. Retrieved December 30, 2015.
  3. ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Freedom Highway – Rhiannon Giddens". AllMusic. Retrieved November 16, 2019.
  4. ^ Denselow, Robin (February 23, 2017). "Rhiannon Giddens: Freedom Highway review – powerful and timely". The Guardian. Retrieved September 10, 2018.
  5. ^ Gill, Andy (February 22, 2017). "Album reviews: Sleaford Mods – English Tapas, Stormzy – Gang Signs & Prayer, Thundercat – Drunk, and more". The Independent. Retrieved September 10, 2018.
  6. ^ Breen, Joe (February 23, 2017). "Rhiannon Giddens – Freedom Highway album review: Personal voice with a political edge". The Irish Times. Retrieved September 14, 2019.
  7. ^ Nelson, Chris (February 23, 2017). "Rhiannon Giddens – Freedom Highway". Mojo. Retrieved September 10, 2018.
  8. ^ Spencer, Neil (February 19, 2017). "Rhiannon Giddens: Freedom Highway review – timely and arresting". The Observer. Retrieved September 10, 2018.
  9. ^ Bernstein, Jonathan (February 23, 2017). "Rhiannon Giddens: Freedom Highway". Pitchfork. Retrieved September 10, 2018.
  10. ^ Hermes, Will (March 23, 2017). "The New Protest Singers". Rolling Stone: 49–50.
  11. ^ Hodgkinson, Will (February 24, 2017). "Pop: Rhiannon Giddens: Freedom Highway". The Times. Retrieved September 14, 2019.
  12. ^ Deusner, Stephen (March 8, 2017). "Rhiannon Giddens – Freedom Highway". Uncut. Archived from the original on March 11, 2017. Retrieved September 10, 2018.
  13. ^ "First Listen: Rhiannon Giddens, 'Freedom Highway'". NPR.org. Retrieved 20 February 2017.
  14. ^ "Australiancharts.com – Rhiannon Giddens – Freedom Highway". Hung Medien. Retrieved September 10, 2018.
  15. ^ "Ultratop.be – Rhiannon Giddens – Freedom Highway" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved March 11, 2017.
  16. ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – Rhiannon Giddens – Freedom Highway" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved March 4, 2017.
  17. ^ "Lescharts.com – Rhiannon Giddens – Freedom Highway". Hung Medien. Retrieved September 10, 2018.
  18. ^ "Irish-charts.com – Discography Rhiannon Giddens". Hung Medien. Retrieved March 4, 2017.
  19. ^ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved March 4, 2017.
  20. ^ "Swisscharts.com – Rhiannon Giddens – Freedom Highway". Hung Medien. Retrieved March 8, 2017.
  21. ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved March 4, 2017.
  22. ^ "Rhiannon Giddens Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved March 7, 2017.
  23. ^ "Rhiannon Giddens Chart History (Top Americana/Folk Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved March 7, 2017.