Sex & Violins (also known on later US releases as Cotton Eye Joe (Sex & Violins)) is the debut studio album by Swedish Eurodance group Rednex, released on Jive Records in February 1995.
Content
Female vocals on the album are provided by Annika Ljungberg; due to a disagreement with the other band members, she left the band after the release of the album's fifth single, "Rolling Home", in 1996, to start a solo career. The album was a commercial success, including the hit dance single "Cotton Eye Joe".
For its US release, the album was retitled Cotton Eye Joe (Sex & Violins) and received new cover art – presumably due to the possible offensive nature of the original artwork, which depicted a person urinating into a cup. Initially, the album received an edited version of this cover, which removed both the person and the stream of urine. This would be substituted for wholly original artwork for a short time, which depicted a desert landscape warped by heat haze, but returned to the unedited original cover after a single pressing.
Critical reception
David Browne from Entertainment Weekly said, "For sheer audaciousness, it’s not surprising that the record is garnering such attention. Where else can you hear a barn-dance staple gone techno, complete with dance-diva wailing and manic banjos and fiddles?" Neil Spencer from The Observer wrote, "Swedish barn-dance disco: an initially amusing joke (chart-topping "Cotton Eye Joe") repeated to the point of inanity."
Track listing
Notes
signifies a co-producer
Personnel
Accordion – Ari Haatainen and Henrik Widén
Banjo – Gary Johansson, General Custer, and Kjell Johansson
Bass – Björn Lagberg
Drums – Anders Lövmark, Animal, and Heffa
Guitar – Anders Hellquist, Boba, Bonne Lövman, Clint Eastwood, and Henrik Jansson Steel guitar – Uffe Sterling Harmonica – Ove Sandberg Piano – Henrik Widén Violin – Bosse Nilsson Vocals – Anders Hansson, Annika Ljungberg, Björn Lagberg, Camena, Camilla Molinder, Chris Sylvan Stewart, Cool James, Currey, Göran Danielsson, Hanna Wannagárd, Henrik Widen, Hoss, Janne Ericsson, Jean-Paul Wall, Jeanette Söderholm, Joe Cartwright, Lotten Andersson, Ludde, Michelle Anenberg, Monte Reid, Pat Reiniz, Stefan Cevaco, Sir Een, Thomas Hegert, and Zeb Macahan Whistle – Jean-Paul Wall
Production
Producers – Pat Reiniz, Janne Ericsson, Anders Hansson, Denniz Pop, Max Martin, David Millington, Stefan Sir Een, L. Teijo, Anders Hellquist, and Thomas Hegert Engineering assistant – Jacob Schultze
