Beulah (album)

Beulah
Studio album by
John Paul White
ReleasedAugust 19, 2016 (2016-08-19)
Studio
Length37:55
LabelSingle Lock
Producer
John Paul White chronology
The Long Goodbye
(2008) 		Beulah
(2016) 		The Hurting Kind
(2019)

Beulah is the second solo studio album by American musician John Paul White. It was released on August 19, 2016, via Single Lock Records. Recording sessions took place at Single Lock Studios in Florence and FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals. Produced by Ben Tanner and John Paul White, it features guest appearances from the Secret Sisters.

The album peaked at number 97 on the Scottish Albums chart and number 136 on the US Billboard 200 albums chart.

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic74/100[1]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[2]
American Songwriter[3]
The Guardian[4]
The Independent[5]
The Standard[6]

Beulah was met with generally favorable reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 74, based on seven reviews.[1]

Andy Gill of The Independent praised the album, stating: "on John Paul White's Beulah, the dark emotions of tracks like "Fight For You" and "Hope I Die" mingle with the bitterness of "The Once And Future Queen" and the low self-esteem of "I'll Get Even" to create a strangely subdued portrait of emotional turmoil, couched in Southern folk and country modes".[5] AllMusic's Thom Jurek wrote: "it's chock-full seductive, attractive melodies and sweet singing, but its lyrics are searing enough in their emotional and spiritual honesty, that they cut to the bone. Great".[2] Jonathan Bernstein of American Songwriter declared: "the record is, in many ways, the very project longtime fans of the Alabama singer-songwriter might have been hoping for for years: a direct collection of sharply-written originals that place White's vulnerable vocals front and center".[3] Alexis Petridis of The Guardian determined: "it's hard not to hope White explores this direction further in future, but for now Beulah will do: mainstream and commercial, but odd and cranky with it, an album that sounds like it wasn't so much written and recorded as got off his chest".[4]

Track listing

All tracks are written by John Paul White.

No.TitleLength
1."Black Leaf"2:59
2."What's So"4:17
3."The Once and Future Queen"3:53
4."Make You Cry"3:23
5."Fight for You"3:56
6."Hope I Die"3:58
7."I've Been Over This Before" (featuring The Secret Sisters)3:17
8."The Martyr"3:28
9."Hate the Way You Love Me"4:04
10."I'll Get Even"4:40
Total length:37:55

Personnel

  • John Paul White – lyrics, vocals, acoustic guitar (tracks: 1–5, 7–10), electric guitars (tracks: 1, 6, 8), baritone guitar (tracks: 3, 4, 7, 10), producer, package design
  • Laura Rogers – vocals (tracks: 2–4, 7–9)
  • Lydia Slagle – vocals (tracks: 2–4, 7–9)
  • Jon Estes – piano (tracks: 1, 4), bass (tracks: 3–5, 7, 9, 10), mandolin (track 9)
  • Jason Goforth – lap steel (tracks: 1, 3, 4, 6), harmonica (tracks: 2, 5)
  • Ben Tanner – pump organ (tracks: 1, 4, 9), electric guitar (tracks: 2, 6), B3 (tracks: 2, 5, 8), Wurlitzer (track 3), producer, recording, mixing
  • David Hood – bass (track 1)
  • Ken Lewis – percussion
  • Jonathan Oliphant – vibraphone (tracks: 1, 4, 7, 10), package design
  • Bryan Farris – electric guitar (tracks: 2, 5)
  • Zac Cockrell – bass (tracks: 2, 6, 8)
  • Jeremy Gibson – drums (tracks: 2, 5, 6)
  • Kimi Samson – violin (tracks: 4, 6, 10)
  • Caleb Elliott – cello (tracks: 4, 6, 10)
  • Elizabeth Estes – fiddle (tracks: 7, 9)
  • Reed Watson – drums (track 8)
  • Richard Dodd – mastering
  • Browan Lollar – artwork
  • Rachel Briggs – package design

Charts

Chart (2016) Peak
position
Scottish Albums (OCC)[7] 97
UK Americana Albums (OCC)[8] 5
UK Independent Albums (OCC)[9] 26
US Billboard 200[10] 136
US Top Album Sales (Billboard)[11] 40
US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)[12] 13
US Folk Albums (Billboard)[13] 4
US Top Current Album Sales (Billboard)[14] 34
US Independent Albums (Billboard)[15] 9
US Vinyl Albums (Billboard)[16] 6

References

  1. ^ a b "Critic Reviews for Beulah - Metacritic". Metacritic. Retrieved June 29, 2025.
  2. ^ a b Jurek, Thom. "Beulah - John Paul White | Album | AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved June 29, 2025.
  3. ^ a b Bernstein, Jonathan (August 19, 2016). "John Paul White: Beulah". American Songwriter. Retrieved June 29, 2025.
  4. ^ a b Petridis, Alexis (August 11, 2016). "John Paul White: Beulah review – spectacularly gloomy and bitter". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved June 29, 2025.
  5. ^ a b Gill, Andy (August 18, 2016). "Album reviews round-up: Lisa Hannigan, Dolly Parton, Nels Cline and more". The Independent. Retrieved June 29, 2025.
  6. ^ Smyth, David (August 19, 2016). "John Paul White – Beulah, review: 'a musical exorcism'". The Standard. Retrieved June 29, 2025.
  7. ^ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved June 29, 2025.
  8. ^ "Official Americana Albums Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company. Retrieved June 29, 2025.
  9. ^ "Official Independent Albums Chart Top 50". Official Charts Company. Retrieved June 29, 2025.
  10. ^ "John Paul White Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved June 29, 2025.
  11. ^ "John Paul White Chart History (Top Album Sales)". Billboard. Retrieved June 29, 2025.
  12. ^ "John Paul White Chart History (Top Rock Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved June 29, 2025.
  13. ^ "John Paul White Chart History (Top Americana/Folk Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved June 29, 2025.
  14. ^ "John Paul White Chart History (Top Current Album Sales)". Billboard. Retrieved June 29, 2025.
  15. ^ "John Paul White Chart History (Independent Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved June 29, 2025.
  16. ^ "John Paul White Chart History (Vinyl Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved June 29, 2025.
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