Hell Among the Yearlings, released in 1998 on Almo Sounds, is Gillian Welch's second album and her starkest record. Produced by T Bone Burnett, it strips Welch's sound to the bone: two voices and two guitars, with Welch on vocals, guitar, and banjo and David Rawlings on guitar, harmony, and co-writing. The arrangements set dark narratives — murder ballads, mining disasters, morphine addiction — against unrelenting spareness. "Caleb Meyer," the opener about a woman killing her rapist with a broken bottle, became a Welch signature and a bluegrass-festival staple within a year of release. The record is the moment Welch and Rawlings hardened the duo aesthetic that would carry through Time (The Revelator) and the rest of their catalog.
Tracklist
- 1 Caleb Meyer Source Recording 3:05
- 2 Good Til Now 3:56
- 3 The Devil Had A Hold Of Me 4:31
- 4 My Morphine 5:54
- 5 One Morning 2:42
- 6 Miner's Refrain 3:57
- 7 Honey Now 1:52
- 8 I’m Not Afraid To Die 3:28
- 9 Rock of Ages alt version 2:52
- 10 Whiskey Girl 4:15
- 11 Winter’s Come and Gone Source Recording 2:14
