The Creek Drank the Cradle

The Creek Drank the Cradle is the debut studio album by the American singer-songwriter Sam Beam, better known by his stage name Iron & Wine. The album was released through Sub Pop on September 24, 2002. The vinyl LP release had a bonus 7" vinyl single. The promotional CD for this album was released in a cardboard sleeve with different artwork.

The Creek Drank the Cradle
Studio album by Iron & Wine
Released	September 24, 2002
Genre	Folk[1] lo-fi[2]
Length	39:26
Label	Sub Pop
Producer	Iron & Wine
Iron & Wine chronology
The Creek Drank the Cradle (2002) The Sea & The Rhythm (2003)

Background

The sparse lo-fi sound of the album is attributed to Beam recording the tracks at home on a four-track recorder, initially as demos. His intention was to pass these on to Joey Burns and John Convertino of the band Calexico who provided a rhythm section on the finished piece. However, the demos were released instead.^[3]

Reception

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	87/100[4]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[5]
The Austin Chronicle	[6]
Drowned in Sound	8/10[7]
Mojo	[8]
Pitchfork	8.1/10[9]
Q	[10]
Stylus	B+[11]
Tiny Mix Tapes	4.5/5[12]
Uncut	[13]

The Creek Drank the Cradle has received widespread critical acclaim since its release. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 87, based on 14 reviews, which indicates "universal acclaim".^[4]

Pitchfork placed The Creek Drank the Cradle at number 137 on its list of the top 200 albums of the 2000s.^[14] Tim Sendra of AllMusic called it "a stunning debut and one of the best records of 2002".^[5]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Sam Beam.

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Lion's Mane"	2:49
2.	"Bird Stealing Bread"	4:21
3.	"Faded from the Winter"	3:17
4.	"Promising Light"	2:49
5.	"The Rooster Moans"	3:24
6.	"Upward Over the Mountain"	5:56
7.	"Southern Anthem"	3:54
8.	"An Angry Blade"	3:48
9.	"Weary Memory"	4:01
10.	"Promise What You Will"	2:24
11.	"Muddy Hymnal"	2:43
Total length:		39:26

7" Vinyl Single

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Her Tea Leaves"	3:50
2.	"Carissa's Wierd [sic][15]"	2:07
Total length:		5:57