Carmel (band)

Last updated

Carmel
Origin Manchester, England
Genres Jazz, soul, sophisti-pop
Years active1981–present
Labels London, East West, Secret
Members Carmel McCourt
Jim Paris
Past membersGerry Darby

Carmel are an English jazz/soul group active since the early 1980s. The band consisted of Carmel McCourt, Jim Paris and Gerry Darby.

Contents

History

Carmel was formed in Manchester when two students, Carmel McCourt and Jim Parris got together with drummer Gerry Darby (Parris's cousin). [1] Their debut single, "Storm" reached No. 13 in the UK Independent Chart and they were then signed to London Records. [2] Their second album, The Drum Is Everything (produced by Mike Thorne) drew some praise. Parris and Darby conjured the effect of a full ensemble backing to McCourt's vocals, and alternated between soulful ballads, gospel, blues and jazz. [1] The resulting singles, "Bad Day" and "More, More, More", both went top 25 on the UK Singles Chart.

The following album, The Falling (produced by Brian Eno, Hugh Jones and David Motion) had considerable success in France, achieving gold disc status, and also charted in Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands. "Sally", the first single lifted from the album, sold 200,000 copies in France alone, and led to McCourt featuring in a duet, "J'oublierai ton nom" with French rock singer Johnny Hallyday. With the critical and commercial success awarded to both The Falling and the follow-up album Everybody's Got a Little... Soul, record producers were keen to work with Carmel.

1989 saw the release of Set Me Free, with Brian Eno and Pete Wingfield adding their touches to the material. Jimmy Somerville provided guest vocals on the track "One Fine Day", a song dedicated to Harvey Milk, the first openly gay man to be elected to public office in California, only to be assassinated 10 months later. A five star review in Q described the album as "incendiary".[ citation needed ] and the decade was closed with the 1990 compilation Collected, summing up the band's career to that date.

1992's Good News saw Carmel moving to East West Records with Paris producing. [1] That album was followed by 1995's World's Gone Crazy, [1] with its producers including Carmel McCourt, Jim Parris, Gerry Darby, Julian Mendelsohn and Mike Thorne. A single was released from World's Gone Crazy, the ballad "If You Don't Come Back", an English-language version of "Si tu no vuelves" by the Spanish singer-songwriter and actor, Miguel Bosé. In 1997, Ronnie Scotts provided the venue for their last album for over a decade, Live at Ronnie Scotts, a partial retrospective of their work to date, also containing some previously unreleased material.

Live performance has always been central to Carmel's work and they are successful on the European touring circuit, and have frequently found greater appreciation on the continent than in the UK. The French christened McCourt as the new Edith Piaf,[ citation needed ] and in Italy she won the accolade of best jazz vocalist at the Messina Festival.

During much of the 1990s, the band members were living between Barcelona, Paris and Manchester, and it was hard for them to work together, so they pursued other musical projects. Paris created the band Nzi Dada with Paris-based multimedia artist Xumo Nounjio, and McCourt worked on various projects as a singer, writer and teacher.

The start of the millennium saw them all back in their adopted hometown of Manchester, but Darby decided he no longer wanted to continue. In 2002, Paris and McCourt undertook a tour playing the old material with a nine piece band. This resulted in a 2004 live DVD entitled More, More, More, comprising a full band performance and an interview with McCourt and Parris.

In December 2011, McCourt and Paris released their first studio album in over 15 years. Still working under the name Carmel, they released the album Strictly Piaf, which consisted of 10 reinterpretations of classic and lesser-known songs by Edith Piaf. An initial single from the album was Sous le ciel de Paris before the album was made available via download. The collection later received a full CD release in August 2012 via Secret Records.

As of October 2012, McCourt was set to return to live work with a new band formation, performing Carmel classics as well as material from the Strictly Piaf album. Dates included those at London's Islington Town Hall, Stockton Georgian Theatre, and Manchester Band on The Wall. Of the shows, she said: "It will be wonderful to work with the new musicians. They are all great in their own right and it will be so sweet to hear the many songs that Gerry Darby, Jim Parris and I wrote together in the years spanning the 1980s and the 1990s." [3]

McCourt took the band on a European tour of Germany and Switzerland towards the end of May 2013 and began to start playing some of the new songs she had been writing.

On 25 September 2015, McCourt released her first new single with her new band, the double A-side "Sad Situation"/"Second Wife Blues", on new independent label Kultura Recordings. [4] Both tracks were recorded at Limefield Studio [5] in Middleton and mixed and mastered by Kevin O'Toole.

On 2 June 2018, McCourt played her first live date in four years, playing St. Agnes' Church, Longsight, Manchester, followed by summer dates across the North of England including some festivals.[ citation needed ]

A new album, Wild Country, was released on 25 February 2022 on Secret Records and includes the single "Sad Situation".

Discography

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eva Cassidy</span> American singer (1963–1996)

Eva Marie Cassidy was an American singer and musician known for her interpretations of jazz, folk, and blues music, sung with a powerful, emotive soprano voice. In 1992, she released her first album, The Other Side, a set of duets with go-go musician Chuck Brown, followed by the 1996 live solo album titled Live at Blues Alley. Although she had been honored by the Washington Area Music Association, she was virtually unknown outside her native Washington, D.C., at the time of her death from melanoma at the age of 33 in 1996.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jimmy Eat World</span> American rock band

Jimmy Eat World is an American rock band formed in 1993 in Mesa, Arizona. The band is composed of lead vocalist and lead guitarist Jim Adkins, rhythm guitarist and backing vocalist Tom Linton, bassist Rick Burch, and drummer Zach Lind. They have released 10 studio albums, the last nine featuring the current line-up.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Mayall</span> English blues musician (born 1933)

John Mayall is an English blues and rock singer and musician whose career spans over sixty years. In the 1960s, he formed John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers, a band that has counted among its members some of the most famous blues and blues rock musicians.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jim Croce</span> American singer-songwriter (1943–1973)

James Joseph Croce was an American folk and rock singer-songwriter. Between 1966 and 1973, he released five studio albums and numerous singles. During this period, Croce took a series of odd jobs to pay bills while he continued to write, record, and perform concerts. After Croce formed a partnership with songwriter and guitarist Maury Muehleisen in the early 1970s, his fortunes turned. Croce's breakthrough came in 1972, his third album, You Don't Mess Around with Jim, produced three charting singles, including "Time in a Bottle", which reached No. 1 after Croce died. The follow-up album, Life and Times, included the song "Bad, Bad Leroy Brown", which was the only No. 1 hit he had during his lifetime.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jack Bruce</span> Scottish musician (1943–2014)

John Symon Asher Bruce was a Scottish musician. He gained popularity as the primary lead vocalist and ‍bassist ‍of rock band Cream. After the group disbanded in 1968, he pursued a solo career and also played with several bands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zoot Sims</span> American jazz saxophonist

John Haley "Zoot" Sims was an American jazz saxophonist, playing mainly tenor but also alto saxophone. He first gained attention in the "Four Brothers" sax section of Woody Herman's big band, afterward enjoying a long solo career, often in partnership with fellow saxmen Gerry Mulligan and Al Cohn.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gerry Mulligan</span> American jazz musician (1927–1996)

Gerald Joseph Mulligan, also known as Jeru, was an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, composer and arranger. Though primarily known as one of the leading jazz baritone saxophonists—playing the instrument with a light and airy tone in the era of cool jazz—Mulligan was also a significant arranger working with Claude Thornhill, Miles Davis, Stan Kenton, and others. His piano-less quartet of the early 1950s with trumpeter Chet Baker is still regarded as one of the best cool jazz ensembles. Mulligan was also a skilled pianist and played several other reed instruments. Several of his compositions including "Walkin' Shoes" and "Five Brothers", have become standards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jimmy Witherspoon</span> American jump blues singer

James Witherspoon was an American jump blues singer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James (band)</span> English rock band

James are an English rock band from Manchester, who were formed in 1982. They had popularity throughout the 1990s, with four top 10s on the UK Singles Chart and nine top 10s on the UK Albums Chart. The band's best-known singles include "Come Home", "Sit Down", "She's a Star" and "Laid", which also became a hit on American college radio.

<i>The Unforgettable Fire</i> 1984 album by U2

The Unforgettable Fire is the fourth studio album by Irish rock band U2. It was produced by Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois, and released on 1 October 1984 by Island Records. The band wanted to pursue a new musical direction following the harder-hitting rock of their previous album, War (1983). As a result, they employed Eno and Lanois to produce and assist in their experimentation with a more ambient sound. The resulting change in direction was at the time the band's most dramatic. The album's title is a reference to "The Unforgettable Fire", an art exhibit about the atomic bombing of Hiroshima.

<i>Laid</i> (album) 1993 album by British rock band James

Laid is the fifth studio album by British rock band James. It was released on 27 September 1993 through Fontana Records. The album's sound, which is "stripped-down" as compared to their prior releases, was inspired by their recent experience touring as supporting act to Neil Young. Enlisting Brian Eno as producer, James recorded for six weeks at The Windings in Wrexham, Wales, and Real World Studios in Box, Wiltshire. The sessions also resulted in the experimental sixth studio album Wah Wah (1994). Laid is a folk and pop rock album that was reminiscent of their earlier releases with its atmosphere and minimal arrangements.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Madeleine Peyroux</span> American jazz musician

Madeleine Peyroux is an American jazz singer and songwriter who began her career as a teenager on the streets of Paris. She sang vintage jazz and blues songs before finding mainstream success in 2004 when her album Careless Love sold half a million copies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barry Goldberg</span> Musical artist

Barry Joseph Goldberg is an American blues and rock keyboardist, songwriter, and record producer. Goldberg has co-produced albums by Percy Sledge, Charlie Musselwhite, James Cotton, and the Textones, plus Bob Dylan's version of Curtis Mayfield's "People Get Ready".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Denny Laine</span> British rock musician

Denny Laine is an English musician, singer, and songwriter, known as a founder of two major rock bands: The Moody Blues, with whom he played from 1964 to 1966, and Wings, with whom he played from 1971 to 1981. Laine has worked with a variety of artists and groups over a six-decade career, and continues to record and perform as a solo artist. In 2018, Laine was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of The Moody Blues.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mel Collins</span> British musician

Melvyn Desmond Collins is a British saxophonist, flautist and session musician.

<i>Wah Wah</i> (album) 1994 studio album by James

Wah Wah is the sixth studio album by the Manchester-based English indie rock band James. After the success of their fourth album, Seven (1992), the band entered Real World Studios, Box, Wiltshire, to record their fifth album Laid in early 1993 with producer Brian Eno, with whom the group had longed to work. Prior to recording Laid, Eno observed the band's jam sessions at their Manchester rehearsal room, and considered these improvised pieces to be as important to the band's music as their eventually crafted songs. He requested to the group that whilst they were recording Laid, they would also concurrently record an album of their improvisations which Eno and, by Eno's request, second producer Markus Dravs would produce in a secondary studio in the Real World complex. Each composition started off with the band's improvisation being recorded, which Dravs would then edit, generally alone whilst James and Eno were recording Laid. Eno and Dravs would take a "promising" part of a recording and then mixed them only once. Tim Booth's desire to re-record some of his vocals caused friction in the studio.

Carmel McCourt is an English singer, best known as the lead vocalist for her eponymous band Carmel, with bassist Jim Paris and drummer Gerry Darby.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Call It Stormy Monday (But Tuesday Is Just as Bad)</span> Blues standard written by T-Bone Walker

"Call It Stormy Monday (But Tuesday Is Just as Bad)" (commonly referred to as "Stormy Monday") is a song written and recorded by American blues electric guitar pioneer T-Bone Walker. It is a slow twelve-bar blues performed in the West Coast blues-style that features Walker's smooth, plaintive vocal and distinctive guitar work. As well as becoming a record chart hit in 1948, it inspired B.B. King and others to take up the electric guitar. "Stormy Monday" became Walker's best-known and most-recorded song.

<i>Rory Gallagher</i> (album) 1971 studio album by Rory Gallagher

Rory Gallagher is the debut solo album by Irish blues rock musician Rory Gallagher, released in 1971. It marked his departure from the first band he formed, Taste. After disbanding Taste, Gallagher auditioned some of the best musicians available at the time. Noel Redding and Mitch Mitchell, the bassist and drummer for the Jimi Hendrix Experience, were among those considered for the new combo. He decided on two Belfast musicians, drummer Wilgar Campbell and bass guitarist Gerry McAvoy, to be the core of his new power trio band.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alex Chilton</span> American songwriter, guitarist, singer & producer

William Alexander Chilton was an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer best known as the lead singer of the Box Tops and Big Star. Chilton's early commercial success in the 1960s as a teen vocalist for the Box Tops was never repeated in later years with Big Star and in his subsequent indie music solo career on small labels, but he drew an intense following among indie and alternative rock musicians. He is frequently cited as a seminal influence by influential rock artists and bands, some of whose testimonials appeared in the 2012 documentary Big Star: Nothing Can Hurt Me.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Colin Larkin, ed. (1997). The Virgin Encyclopedia of Popular Music (Concise ed.). Virgin Books. pp. 226/7. ISBN   1-85227-745-9.
  2. Lazell, Barry (1997). Indie Hits 1980–1989'. Cherry Red Books. ISBN   0-9517206-9-4.
  3. Wrawby born Carmel McCourt makes comeback 30 years after becoming pop star Archived 7 June 2013 at the Wayback Machine . This is Scunthorpe (16 August 2012). Retrieved on 2013-02-14.
  4. "Second Wife Blues - Single by Carmel on iTunes". iTunes. Retrieved 27 September 2015.
  5. "Welcome to Limefield". www.limefieldstudio.co.uk. Retrieved 27 September 2015.