In celebration of the ten-year anniversary of Okkervil River’s iconic album Black Sheep Boy, Jagjaguwar is presenting the Black Sheep Boy 10th Anniversary Edition, a three-LP set combining the classic Black Sheep Boy album and its counterpart the Black Sheep Boy Appendix with an all new unreleased album of covers entitled There Swims A Swan: full-band recordings made six months prior to the release of Black Sheep Boy which illuminate the album’s roots in the traditional American songbook. Featuring beautiful, emotional readings of songs popularized by such artists as Washington Phillips, Lead Belly, the Louvin Brothers, and Roscoe Holcomb, There Swims A Swan takes the listener through the songs that inspired Will Sheff while composing Black Sheep Boy and plays like a run-through of that album’s themes.
Black Sheep Boy is celebrated for its album artwork as well as its music, and the 10th Anniversary Edition collects that artwork in a meticulously reworked packaged, combining every previous element of (longtime Okkervil River illustrator) William Schaff’s imagery – not to mention a large new piece by Schaff depicting an updated Black Sheep Boy. The release also includes lengthy liner notes by Will Sheff walking the listener through the circumstances surrounding the album. Later this year Okkervil River will perform both Black Sheep Boy and Black Sheep Boy Appendix albums at a handful of shows. Will Sheff will have a short run of West Coast solo performances. Full list of dates below.
Okkervil River’s Black Sheep Boy (10th Anniversary Edition) Tracklisting:
Volume I: Black Sheep Boy
1. Black Sheep Boy
2. For Real
3. In A Radio Song
4. Black
5. Get Big
6. A King And A Queen
7. A Stone
8. The Latest Toughs
9. Song Of Our So-Called Friend
10. So Come Back, I Am Waiting
11. A Glow
Volume II: Black Sheep Boy Appendix
1. Missing Children
2. No Key, No Plan
3. A Garden
4. Black Sheep Boy #4
5. The Next Four Months
6. Another Radio Song
7. A Forest
8. Last Love Song For Now
Volume III: There Swims A Swan
1. Goodnight Irene
2. I’m In Love With Susan Smith
3. See See Rider
4. Knoxville Girl
5. Satan is Real
6. Good Liquor Gonna Carry Me Down
7. Willow Tree
8. Moonshiner
9. Oh, The Wind And Rain
10. What are They Doing in Heaven Today
11. Trouble in Mind
Okkervil River Tour Dates:
Fri. Nov. 20 – Washington, DC @ Black Cat ^
Sat. Nov. 21 – New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom ^
Tues. Nov. 24 – Cambridge, MA @ The Sinclair ^
Mon. Dec. 14 – Seattle, WA @ Columbia City Theater &
Tues. Dec. 15 – Portland, OR @ Doug Fir Lounge &
Fri. Dec. 18 – San Francisco, CA @ Swedish American Hall &
Sat. Dec. 19 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Masonic Lodge at Hollywood Forever &
^ = An Evening With Okkervil River
& = Okkervil River (solo)
