"All the Things She Gave Me" Released: September 1984
A Pagan Place is the second studio album by the Waterboys, released by Ensign Records on 28 May 1984.[1] It was the first Waterboys record with Karl Wallinger as part of the band and also includes Roddy Lorimer's first trumpet solo for the band on the track "A Pagan Place".
The album shares a title with the book A Pagan Place, written by Irish novelistEdna O'Brien. According to a post at the official Waterboys forum, Mike Scott, who chose the album name, has never read the book,[2] and neither the album nor the title track share any other similarities with the novel.
Production history
Recording for A Pagan Place was begun before either the band's first single, "A Girl Called Johnny", or album, The Waterboys, were released. The album comprises two recording sessions. The first, in November 1982 at Redshop Studio in London, involved Mike Scott, Anthony Thistlethwaite and Kevin Wilkinson. The second session, held September 1983 at Rockfield Studio in Wales, included contributions from Wallinger, who had joined the band that year.[3] The four, the early band's core membership, were joined by Lorimer, Tim Blanthorn, and Eddi Reader, among others, for later overdubbing of the sessions to add full instrumentation to the recordings.
A remastered, edited and expanded version of A Pagan Place was issued in 2002 by Chrysalis Records. It added the song "Some of My Best Friends Are Trains", not present on the original LP release, as track 5, and replaced the original versions of "All the Things She Gave Me" and "The Thrill Is Gone" with their full, unedited versions. "The Thrill Is Gone" also features a different vocal take. In the sleeve notes, Scott explained that edited versions of the two songs were included to keep the duration of each side of the LP to around 20 minutes for sound quality reasons, although he has always considered the full, unedited versions to be the "real" ones.[4]
Songs
Cover for the single of "The Big Music", the title of which would define the Waterboys' early sound.
A Pagan Place expanded the Waterboys' treatment of spiritual themes beyond the Christian beliefs of "December" from The Waterboys. "A Church Not Made With Hands" is an ode to a woman who "is everywhere and no place / Her church not made with hands".
Both "All the Things She Gave Me" and "The Thrill is Gone" discuss the end of a romantic relationship. "Rags" and "Somebody Might Wave Back" discuss despair and optimism in loneliness. Scott's songwriting has been criticized as being overly introspective, and all four tracks contain some element of self-reflection. Wallinger later chose "The Thrill Is Gone" as his favourite Waterboys track that he did not play on.[5]
"The Big Music" was released as a single, and became a descriptor of the sound of the album, the preceding debut The Waterboys and the following album This Is the Sea. Waterboys chronicler Ian Abrahams described the song as the album's defining track, with New Musical Express' Andrew Collins stating, "What a concept and what an albatross. A lilting anthem with grand cymbal slashes, soulful backing... a lazy, meandering essay." [6] For the Waterboys' gig at London's Town & Country Club in 1985, backing vocals to the song were provided by Sinéad O'Connor, marking her first UK live appearance.[7] Usage of the term "The Big Music" spread to include other bands with a similar sound. The single included "Bury My Heart" and "The Earth Only Endures". "Bury My Heart", a reference to "Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee", is described by Anderson as "a lament to the decimated American Red Indians".[8] "The Earth Only Endures" is a traditional Sioux song arranged by Scott.
The final track of the original release, "A Pagan Place", featuring a trumpet solo from Lorimer, is an ambiguous questioning of the process of Christianising a Pagan culture.
The song "Cathy", included on the album's re-issue, was originally a Nikki Sudden song. Sudden writes about an evening in 1982 when he was staying in Scott's apartment: "Late that night– around midnight– Mike recorded a lead vocal to the backing track for my song, Cathy. We did a quick mix and that was that until twenty years ago [sic] when he includes the number on the reissue of his A Pagan Place album".[10] This 2002 reissue credits Sudden as the song's author.
Peter Anderson, writing in Record Collector, asserts that there was "unanimous critical acclaim".[8] Upon its release, Fife Free Press wrote, "Theirs is music on the grand scale with Mike Scott vocalising his superb word pictures over widescreen arrangements which at times are quite breathtaking in their scope and imagination." The reviewer noted the album "contains no fillers", but highlighted the "striking epic ballad" "Red Army Blues", the "superb single" "The Big Music", the "impassioned" "Rags", with its "soaring guitar riffs", and the "utterly contagious" "Church Not Made with Hands". He recommended the album "unreservedly" and added it was a "certain choice for my top 20 albums of 1984".[15]
Peter Anderson of the Torquay Herald Express called it "quite simply the best album" since U2's Boy and concluded, "If the Waterboys are not the band of 1984 I will eat my Biro."[16] James Belsey of the Bristol Evening Post praised it as a "big, rich album full of powerful sounds, vocal and instrumental, and attractive songs" and added, "Terrific self-confidence... they sound as if they were already a megogroup."[17] Alan McQuillan of the Western Daily Press considered it a "strong, determined album, a sort of Sixties Scots-born Springsteen, if that is possible, with lots of soaring sax and piano over simple guitar, bass and drums".[18]
Eurotipsheet commented on the "inspired and almost possessed music and lyrics which will please the Dylan, Patti Smith and New York Dolls' fans". They picked "The Big Music" and "Somebody Might Wave Back" as the "strongest" tracks.[19] In Canada, Kevin C. Wynne of RPM called it "nothing short of outstanding" and "perhaps destined to be the finest record of 1984". He noted Scott as the "focal point" and the "intelligent use of brass and pseudo-orchestral effects", which creates "a sense of majesty, of quests unfulfilled; that peculiar and pleasant sensation of longing and optimism which the truly great stuff induces".[20]
Track listing
All tracks written by Mike Scott, except "Cathy" on the reissued version of the album.
↑ "FAQ". mikescottwaterboys. Archived from the original on 11 April 2008. Retrieved 23 October 2005.
↑ Nikki Sudden. "A Few Mike Scott stories". Excerpts from Nikki Sudden's Autobiography. Archived from the original on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 23 October 2005.
World Party was a musical group, predominantly the solo project of its sole consistent member, the songwriter, producer and multi-instrumentalist Karl Wallinger. Wallinger started the band in 1986 in London after leaving the Waterboys. At various times, World Party also featured Guy Chambers, David Catlin-Birch, future Oasis drummer Chris Sharrock, Jeff Trott, Amanda Kramer and John Turnbull.
Karl Edmond De Vere Wallinger was a Welsh musician, songwriter and record producer. He was best known for leading the band World Party and for his mid-1980s membership of the Waterboys.
The Waterboys are a rock band formed in 1983 by Scottish musician and songwriter Mike Scott. The band's membership, past and present, has been composed mainly of musicians from Scotland, Ireland, Wales and England. Mike Scott has remained the only constant member throughout the band's career. They have explored a number of different styles, but their music is mainly a mix of folk music with rock and roll. They dissolved in 1993 when Scott departed to pursue a solo career. The group reformed in 2000, and continue to release albums and to tour worldwide. Scott emphasises a continuity between the Waterboys and his solo work, saying that "To me there's no difference between Mike Scott and the Waterboys; they both mean the same thing. They mean myself and whoever are my current travelling musical companions."
The Waterboys is the debut studio album by the Waterboys, released by Ensign Records in July 1983. The album was recorded in several studio sessions between December 1981 and November 1982. Allmusic describes the sound of the album as "part Van Morrison, part U2".
This Is the Sea is the third studio album by the Waterboys, released on 16 September 1985 by Ensign Records. The last of their "Big Music" albums, it is considered by critics to be the finest album of the Waterboys' early rock-oriented sound, described as "epic" and "a defining moment". It peaked at number 37 in the UK Albums Chart. Steve Wickham makes his Waterboys recording debut playing violin on "The Pan Within" and subsequently joined the band. This Is the Sea is the last Waterboys album with contributions from Karl Wallinger, who left the group to form his own band, World Party.
Fisherman's Blues is the fourth studio album by the Waterboys, released by Ensign Records in October 1988. The album marked a change in the band's sound, with them abandoning their earlier grandiose rock sound for a mixture of traditional Irish music, traditional Scottish music, country music, and rock and roll. Critics were divided on its release with some disappointed at the change of direction and others ranking it among the Waterboys' best work. The album was the Waterboys' best selling album, reaching a number 13 placing on the U.K. charts on release, and 76 on the Billboard 200.
Michael Scott is a Scottish singer, songwriter, and musician. He is the founding member, lead singer, guitarist and songwriter of rock band The Waterboys. He has also produced two solo albums, Bring 'Em All In and Still Burning. Scott is a vocalist, guitarist and pianist, and has played a large range of other instruments, including the bouzouki, drums, and Hammond organ on his albums. Scott is also a published writer, having released his autobiography, Adventures of a Waterboy, in 2012.
Room to Roam is the fifth studio album by the Waterboys, released by Ensign Records on 2 October 1990. It continued the folk rock sound of 1988's Fisherman's Blues, but was less of a commercial success, reaching #180 on the Billboard Top 200 after its release in October 1990. Critical response continues to be mixed. AllMusic describes it both as "not quite as [musically] successful" as Fisherman's Blues, but also as a "Celtic rock classic". The front and back covers were designed by Simon Fowler based upon photography by Stefano Giovannini and Sean Jackson.
Too Close to Heaven is a collection of outtakes, alternative versions, and unreleased tracks from The Waterboys' Fisherman's Blues period, released September 2001. The album was released as Fisherman's Blues, Part 2 in the United States with five additional tracks in July of that year.
The Secret Life of the Waterboys 81–85 is an album of outtakes, live tracks and demos by the Waterboys, released by Chrysalis on 24 October 1994.
The Live Adventures of the Waterboys is a concert recording, released by The Waterboys in 1998. Mike Scott refers to this album as an "unofficial release" or bootleg recording, but praises the recording period as a "classic" period for the Waterboys. Most of the live songs on The Live Adventures... had already appeared on the bootlegs A Golden Day (1991) and Born To Be Together (1992). It is the only Waterboys album on which member Guy Chambers appears.
Still Burning is the second solo studio album by Mike Scott, released by Chrysalis in 1997. It followed Scott's 1995 solo debut, Bring 'em All In, and was the last of Scott's solo albums before re-forming The Waterboys in 2000. Photography was provided by Andrew Catlin and Mary Scanlon. Although well-received critically, sales of the album were poor and Scott was subsequently dropped from Chrysalis Records. This led directly to Scott's decision to revive the Waterboys' name in order to achieve wider marketplace exposure. Scott describes the making of and commercial failure of the album in detail in his 2012 autobiography, Adventures of a Waterboy.
Steve Wickham is an Irish musician. Originally from Marino, Dublin, but calling Sligo home, Wickham was a founding member of In Tua Nua and played violin on the classic U2 song "Sunday Bloody Sunday", as well as recordings by Elvis Costello, the Hothouse Flowers, Sinéad O'Connor, and World Party. He is a long-standing member of The Waterboys. Wickham plays both rock and roll and traditional Irish music, and has developed a rock music technique for violin he calls the "fuzz fiddle".
"The Big Music" is a song by British band the Waterboys, released on 2 April 1984 as the lead single from their second studio album A Pagan Place. The song was written and produced by Mike Scott.
"The Whole of the Moon" is a song by Scottish band the Waterboys, released as a single from their album This Is the Sea in October 1985. It is a classic of the band's repertoire and has been consistently played at live shows ever since its release. Written and produced by Mike Scott, the subject of the song has inspired some speculation.
"World Party" is a song by the Scottish-Irish folk rock band The Waterboys, released in 1988 as a track on their fourth studio album Fisherman's Blues. It was written by Mike Scott, Trevor Hutchinson and Karl Wallinger, and produced by Scott. In the United States, the song reached No. 19 on Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart and remained on the chart for six weeks. It also peaked at No. 48 on Billboard's Album Rock Tracks chart.
In a Special Place – The Piano Demos for This Is the Sea is a compilation album by Scottish-Irish folk rock band The Waterboys. It was released in 2011 by Chrysalis and Capitol (US). The album reached No. 196 in the UK Top 200 Albums Chart.
"Don't Bang the Drum" is a song by British band the Waterboys, released as the opening track on their third studio album, This Is the Sea. It was written by Mike Scott and Karl Wallinger, and produced by Scott. The song was released as a single in Germany and was also issued as a 12" promotional vinyl in the United States.
"Rare, Precious and Gone" is a song by Scottish singer-songwriter Mike Scott, released as the second single from his second solo album Still Burning. It was written by Mike Scott, and produced by Scott and Niko Bolas. "Rare, Precious and Gone" reached No. 74 on the UK Singles Chart in February 1998.
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