John Henry
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Studio album by They Might Be Giants | |||||
| First released | September 13, 1994 Release details / collectors: Show | Hide |
Tracks | 20 | Last album | Apollo 18 | |
| Label | Elektra <61654> | Length | 57:06 | Next album | Factory Showroom | |
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John Henry is They Might Be Giants' fifth studio album, released in 1994 on Elektra.
Purchase[edit]
| Seller | Format | Price | Link
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| AAC | $9.99 | 
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Description[edit]
Background[edit]
Feeling that John and John had taken the band as far as it could go with reel-to-reel tape recordings and drum machines, Susan Drew of the band's label Elektra persuaded them to recruit a live band for the second phase of their year long tour in support of Apollo 18. For their first live band, the Giants recruited Pere Ubu bassist Tony Maimone, Kurt Hoffman of The Ordinaires on keyboards and reeds and Jonathan Feinberg on drums.
John Henry would be the band's first studio album recorded with their touring band. The sound was quite different from previous albums, many of the tracks were guitar-heavy and live horns were used on several tracks, creating a harder-rocking feel and allowing them to better mold the moods of the songs. Drums on the album were handled by new band member Brian Doherty, Jon Feinberg having left after the end of Apollo 18 tour, and two tracks feature Maimone's replacement on bass, Joe Jackson Band veteran Graham Maby. Paul Fox co-produced the album with the band. According to former TMBG tour manager Mike Kelly in the Gigantic (A Tale Of Two Johns) documentary, some longtime fans of the band became upset by the changes and even went so far as to stage boycotts of the band's live shows,[1] though John Flansburgh states he did not witness this happening at the time and believes it may be apocryphal.[2]
Sampler and Demos[edit]
To generate excitement for the album, John Linnell created a HyperCard stack for Apple Macintosh that was released in May 1994 and distributed on alt.music.tmbg, the original They Might Be Giants website and Elektra's TMBG page. It contained previews described as "interpretive snippets in extremely crappy lo-fidelity" of the album's 20 songs, which consisted of short instrumental and vocal samples pitch-modulated and played in sequence to resemble melodies of the album tracks. A web recreation of the HyperCard stack can be played with here.
In an event that would repeat with TMBG's next album (Factory Showroom), a bootlegged demo tape of eight tracks from John Henry's studio sessions was eventually leaked among fans. These demos existed only in cassette form prior to the release of Podcast 27A in 2007, which included high-fidelity versions of seven of the tracks. Full-band studio demos were recorded with Pat Dillett for all of the songs on the album, with the exception of "Stomp Box". In 2012, all these demos were collected and released officially as John Henry Demos to the Instant Fan Club, followed later by a CD and vinyl release in 2018.
Release[edit]
John Henry peaked at No. 64 on the Billboard 200, and was the band's highest placement on that chart until Join Us debuted at No. 32 in July 2011, though it only spent four weeks on the chart. At the time, this was the shortest span for which any They Might Be Giants album had charted with the exception of the debut album, which failed to chart.
"Snail Shell" had a successful run on the Billboard Hot Modern Rock Tracks chart, peaking at #19, and spending 8 weeks overall on the chart. In addition, "AKA Driver" was released as a promotional single, but did not chart.
Originally released on CD and cassette, John Henry was the first They Might Be Giants album not to receive a vinyl pressing upon its initial release (though the prior album Apollo 18's initial vinyl release was EU exclusive). Nearly two decades later in 2013, John Henry received a 2LP vinyl pressing of 1,500 copies on Asbestos Records, which became a collector's item in the years that followed after going out-of-print.
In October 2025, They Might Be Giants released a new 2LP vinyl pressing of the album on Idlewild Recordings, featuring six live tracks on side D: four from Live!! New York City 10/14/94, one from Severe Tire Damage and one from the IFC-exclusive album 2018 Live. Its initial numbered run of 1,000 copies in "evergreen" color sold out around three hours after going live on the TMBG Shop, where it was available alongside new themed merch including a T-shirt, beanie, tote bag and engraved sledgehammer. A second pressing with violet-colored discs was announced immediately after the sell-out.
Track listing[edit]
| # | Title | Length | Lyrics | Guitar Tab |
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| 1 | Subliminal | 2:45
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| 2 | Snail Shell | 3:20
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| 3 | Sleeping In The Flowers | 4:30
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| 4 | Unrelated Thing | 2:30
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| 5 | AKA Driver | 3:14
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| 6 | I Should Be Allowed To Think | 3:09
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| 7 | Extra Savoir-Faire | 2:48
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| 8 | Why Must I Be Sad? | 4:08
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| 9 | Spy | 3:06
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| 10 | O, Do Not Forsake Me | 2:30
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| 11 | No One Knows My Plan | 2:37
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| 12 | Dirt Bike | 3:05
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| 13 | Destination Moon | 2:27
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| 14 | A Self Called Nowhere | 3:22
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| 15 | Meet James Ensor | 1:33
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| 16 | Thermostat | 3:11
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| 17 | Window | 1:00
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| 18 | Out Of Jail | 2:38
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| 19 | Stomp Box | 1:55
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| 20 | The End Of The Tour | 3:18
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2025 vinyl bonus tracks[edit]
| # | Title | Length | Lyrics | Guitar Tab |
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| 21 | O, Do Not Forsake Me (Live NYC) | 2:23
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N/A |
| 22 | AKA Driver (Live NYC) | 3:06
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N/A |
| 23 | Sleeping In The Flowers (Live NYC) | 4:16
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N/A |
| 24 | Snail Shell (Live NYC) | 3:12
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N/A |
| 25 | Meet James Ensor (Live STD) | 1:30
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N/A |
| 26 | A Self Called Nowhere (Live 2018) Recorded in Antwerp, Belgium |
3:22
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Australian bonus disc[edit]
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Live Album by They Might Be Giants | |||||
| First released | 1995 Release details / collectors: Show | Hide |
Tracks | 6 | |||
| Label | Elektra / WEA <7559618282> | Length | 17:26 | |||
Special-edition Australian releases of John Henry issued between 1995 and January 1996 included a bonus disc, Live!! New York City, containing a selection of tracks from Live!! New York City 10/14/94.
| # | Title | Length | Lyrics | Guitar Tab |
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| 1 | Don't Let's Start | 2:42
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N/A |
| 2 | Ana Ng (Alternate Version) | 3:24
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| 3 | Particle Man | 2:17
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| 4 | The Statue Got Me High | 3:29
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N/A |
| 5 | Birdhouse In Your Soul | 3:14 |
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N/A |
| 6 | Twistin' | 2:30 |
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N/A |
Trivia[edit]
- From tmbg.com:
John Henry is a legendary black railroad worker from the middle of the nineteenth century. He figures in a number of American folk songs, including one simply called John Henry. The story describes a competition between John Henry, the strongest human, and a new machine built to smash rocks. They compete to break through a mountain. The machine breaks down in the tunnel, while John Henry comes out the other side, only to die from exhaustion. Since this was the first album where we worked with a live band instead of a drum machine it seemed an apt title.
- Also from tmbg.com:
"What does the skull mean on Back To Skull and John Henry?
We generally prefer not to decide what things like that mean. The skull was chosen as an element on the cover art partly to offset the adorable cuteness of the kids. The effect of the whole thing seemed right, for reasons hard to put into words."
Half are friends' kids, and the other half are professional model kids we cast for the shoot.
- Artwork and layout by graphic designer Mike Mills.
- In an interview appearing in the Apr. 15, 1994 Wisconsin State Journal, Flansburgh said the working title of the album was "They Might Be Giants Have Been Set Free."
- This is TMBG's longest studio album, clocking in at 57 minutes and 6 seconds.
Gallery[edit]
CD tray artwork
CD artwork
Top of the booklet
Bottom of the booklet
Promo art
Promo CD
Sticker from CD wrap
Cover art shoot
Cassette cover
Promotional cassette
Fact sheet
UK magazine ad
HyperCard stack credits
Cassette Full Insert
Cassette Full Insert Reverse
