Give Out but Don't Give Up is the fourth studio album by Scottish rock band Primal Scream. It was released on 28 March 1994 in the United Kingdom by Creation Records and in the United States by Sire Records. It peaked at number 2 on the UK Albums Chart. Eggleston included the album in his 2017 Pitchfork list of "the Music That Made Him a Photography Legend."
The record's retro stylings, which were compared to the Rolling Stones and the music of Muscle Shoals Sound Studio, was received with dismay from fans of the acclaimed, genre-bending Screamadelica (1991), and was "one of the most reviled records in recent history" according to one critic, although Primal Scream had explored a similarly rootsy sound on their earliest albums.
The album peaked at number 22 on the US Billboard Heatseekers chart.
A second version of the album, featuring previously lost recordings, was released in 2018 as Give Out But Don’t Give Up: The Original Memphis Recordings.
Critical reception
Reviewing Give Out but Don't Give Up for Select, Adam Higginbotham praised the band for filtering their "homages, influences and straight-up rip-offs" into a unique album, and applauded them for embracing "such apparently alarmingly unfashionable rock 'n' roll and soul attitudes", which they said "indicates a wealth of exactly the kind of sneering insubordination needed in a year otherwise dominated by a lethal cocktail of slim leather ties, Blondie B-sides, an imminent BA Robertson revival and ambient house albums". Los Angeles Times writer Lorraine Ali criticised the group for mimicking the Rolling Stones and their formula of "blues-based acoustic ballads and sassy, strutting pop numbers, with an occasional country twang thrown in", writing that Primal Scream "should have stuck to its innovative blend of new and old. The band might have intended this derivative sound to be ironic, but it’s just mediocre rock 'n' roll with no soul or substance."
A month after release, NME called it "1994's MOST controversial LP – either a retro cop-out or an achingly sincere homage to the American Deep South's wellspring of boogie, blues and soul. It made more sense live, and the release of some ace, mournful singles from Give Out... should convince any floating voters." In June 1994, Steven Daly of Rolling Stone wrote that the record ("an unabashed celebration of rock's rich tapestry") had encouraged music critics to lampoon the group as "retro-rock turncoats peddling reheated boogie a la the 73 Rolling Stones and flying in the face of progress." He added: "What makes the band's alleged crime doubly egregious is its perceived abdication of its role as dance-rock avatar — one of the most innovative outfits of its era."
Retrospective
In 1999, Tom E. Wing of Freaky Trigger included "Rocks" at number 97 in his list of the "Top 100 Singles of the 90s", but noted his original distaste for the song and reflected on the initial reaction to the album:
Retrospectively, AllMusic reviewer Stephen Thomas Erlewine wrote: "What do you do when you redefine the parameters of modern music? If you're Primal Scream, you decide to head to Memphis to tap into the vein of Real American Music," comparing this move to U2's Rattle & Hum (1988). He considered the album to be misconceived and "hampered by the group's stylized idolization", criticising them for becoming "pastiche artists" and adding: "At this point, everything existed on the surface for Primal Scream ... So, Give Out But Don't Give Up is a mess, a record that suggests it's on the verge of delivering a good time but winds up being a dirgey bummer."
Colin Larkin of The Encyclopedia of Popular Music wrote that despite its "frosty" critical reception, Give Out showcased how "Gillespie had once again reinvented himself and his band." He did however note that "Jailbird" and "Rocks" were funkier than "any of the insipid indie competition around at that time", and noted that Gillespie's "epileptic handclap routine" was more endearing than typical rock posturing.
Track listing
Personnel
Credits adapted from liner notes.
- Bobby Gillespie – lead vocals
- Denise Johnson – vocals (4, 6, 10)
- George Clinton – vocals (4, 10)
- Jackie Johnson – vocals
- Susan Marshall – vocals
- Robert Young – guitar
- Andrew Innes – guitar
- Martin Duffy – keyboards
- Jim Dickinson – keyboards
- Amp Fiddler – keyboards
- Benmont Tench – keyboards
- David Hood – bass guitar
- George Drakoulias – bass guitar, drums
- Henry Olsen – bass guitar
- Marco Nelson – bass guitar
- Roger Hawkins – drums
- Tony Brock – drums
- Phillip "Toby" Tomanov – drums
- Greg Morrow – percussion
- David Minnick – percussion
- Andrew Love (The Memphis Horns) – horn section
- Wayne Jackson (The Memphis Horns) – horn section
- Charlie Jacobs – harmonica
- William Eggleston – cover photography
Charts
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!scope="col"| Chart (1994)
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The Original Memphis Recordings
In October 2018, the band released Give Out But Don’t Give Up: The Original Memphis Recordings featuring original mixes of tracks recorded by producer Tom Dowd at Ardent Studios, Memphis, with the Muscle Shoals rhythm section in 1993.
Aware of the success of Screamadelica, Creation Records' Alan McGee "thought the Memphis sessions too flat." As a result, the tracks were subsequently re-worked for the official 1994 release of the album, and the original recordings remained forgotten until guitarist Andrew Innes rediscovered the tapes in his basement.
Critical response to the Memphis release was positive, with God Is In The TV describing the collection as "a restrained, heartfelt, tearjerking tribute to the classic Muscle Shoals sound and very possibly the best album of [Primal Scream's] career."
The story behind the rediscovery of the tapes was explored in the documentary, Primal Scream: The Lost Memphis Tapes.