Four Chords & Several Years Ago

Four Chords & Several Years Ago
Studio album by
Released May 10, 1994
Recorded October 1993-February 1994
Studio The Site (San Rafael, California)
Studio D Recording (Sausalito, California)
Genre Rock, R&B
Length 48:52
Label Elektra
Producer Stewart Levine
Huey Lewis and the News chronology
Hard at Play
(1991)
Four Chords & Several Years Ago
(1994)
Time Flies... The Best of Huey Lewis & the News
(1996)
Singles from Four Chords & Several Years Ago
  1. "(She's) Some Kind of Wonderful"
    Released: April 1994
  2. "But It's Alright"
    Released: August 1994
  3. "Little Bitty Pretty One"
    Released: January 1995
Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
AllMusic

Four Chords & Several Years Ago is the seventh album by American rock band Huey Lewis and the News, released in 1994. The title is a play on the first sentence in Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address ("Four score and seven years ago ...").

It is a collection of 1950s and 1960s rhythm & blues covers influential to the members of the group during their early years. It is the last album to feature founding member and bassist, Mario Cipollina, who left the band after the subsequent tour.

Track listing

  1. "Shake, Rattle and Roll" (Charles E. Calhoun) – 3:07
  2. "Blue Monday" (Dave Bartholomew, Fats Domino) – 2:41
  3. "Searching for My Love" (Bobby Moore) – 2:50
  4. "(She's) Some Kind of Wonderful" (John Ellison) – 3:06
  5. "But It's Alright" (J.J. Jackson, Pierre Tubbs) – 2:54
  6. "If You Gotta Make a Fool of Somebody" (Rudy Clark) – 2:32
  7. "Mother in Law" (Allen Toussaint) – 2:43
  8. "Little Bitty Pretty One" (Robert Byrd) – 2:04
  9. "Good Morning Little School Girl" (Sonny Boy Williamson) (credited as "S.L. Hopkins")– 4:02
  10. "Stagger Lee" (Harold Logan, Lloyd Price) – 2:36
  11. "She Shot a Hole in My Soul" (Mac Gayden, Chuck Neese) – 2:38
  12. "Surely I Love You" (James Bracken, Marion Oliver) – 2:51
  13. "You Left the Water Running" (Oscar Franck, Rick Hall, Dan Penn) – 3:06
  14. "Your Cash Ain't Nothin' But Trash" (Charles E. Calhoun) – 2:57
  15. "Function at the Junction" (Edward Holland, Jr. Shorty Long) – 3:13
  16. "Better to Have and Not Need" (Don Covay, Erskin Watts) – 3:32
  17. "Going Down Slow" (St. Louis Jimmy Oden) – 2:00

Personnel

Huey Lewis & The News

Additional personnel

  • Marvin McFadden – trumpet (4-7, 10, 11, 13)
  • Linda Tillery – backing vocals (4, 6, 10, 11, 15, 16)
  • Jeanie Tracy – backing vocals (4, 6, 10, 11, 15, 16)

Production

  • Producer – Stewart Levine
  • Executive Producer – Bob Brown
  • Engineer – Daren Klein
  • Assistant Engineers – Jim Champagne, Kevin Scott and Jim "Watts" Vereecke.
  • Recorded at The Site (San Rafael, CA) and Studio D Recording (Sausalito, CA).
  • Mixed by Daren Klein at Ocean Way Recording (Hollywood, CA).
  • Mastered by Bernie Grundman at Bernie Grundman Mastering (Hollywood, CA).
  • Technicians – Ralph Arista and Jim Moran
  • Art Direction – Robin Lynch
  • Design – JoDee Stringham
  • Photography – Dennis Keeley
  • Management – Bob Brown Management

Charts

Chart (1994) Peak
position
European Top 100 Albums 61
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100) 46
Japanese Albums (Oricon) 19
Japanese International Albums (Oricon) 2
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade) 21
US Billboard 200 55

Singles - Billboard (United States)

Year Single Chart Position
1994 "(She's) Some Kind of Wonderful" Adult Contemporary 7
The Billboard Hot 100 44
"But It's Alright" Adult Contemporary 5
The Billboard Hot 100 54
1995 "Little Bitty Pretty One" Adult Contemporary 27