Under the Table and Dreaming | ||||
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Studio album by Dave Matthews Band | ||||
Released | September 27, 1994 | |||
Recorded | May 1994 | |||
Studio | Bearsville Studios, New York | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 62:52 | |||
Label | RCA | |||
Producer | Steve Lillywhite | |||
Dave Matthews Band chronology | ||||
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Singles from Under the Table and Dreaming | ||||
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Professional ratings | |
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Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | |
Encyclopedia of Popular Music | |
Entertainment Weekly | C+ |
The Rolling Stone Album Guide | |
The Village Voice | C+ |
Under the Table and Dreaming is the debut studio album from the Dave Matthews Band, released on September 27, 1994.
The album's first single was "What Would You Say", featuring John Popper of Blues Traveler on harmonica. Two other singles from the album followed, "Ants Marching" and "Satellite". By March 16, 2000, the album had sold six million copies, and was certified 6× platinum by the RIAA.
The acoustic guitar tracks on the album were played by Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds. During the recording sessions, Matthews and Reynolds would sit face-to-face with a piece of glass between them, playing the same guitar part. This was done twice for each song, resulting in four acoustic guitar tracks (two from Matthews, two from Reynolds) all playing the same part on each song. Producer Steve Lillywhite frequently turned down the volume on Matthews' parts and turned up the volume on Reynolds' parts, resulting in Reynolds' guitar playing being more prominent on the final album. Reynolds then overdubbed additional acoustic and electric guitar parts.
Matthews has stated during performances that the harmonica solo performed by John Popper on "What Would You Say" was done in only five to ten minutes, while Matthews was in the bathroom.
One of Dave Matthews Band's most popular live songs, "Granny", was recorded in the studio sessions for this album and was originally intended to be the first single before being cut from the album.
"#34" is the only instrumental track on the album although it was played with lyrics on 9 occasions in 1993, prior to the band taking it to the studio. The band originally recorded the song with lyrics, but they were removed from the final album cut. On some pressings of the album there are 22 blank tracks between "Pay for What You Get" and "#34", so that the latter appears as track number 34. Other pressings simply have the 12th track pre-pended by a period of silence.