Private Parts & Pieces VIII: New England

Last updated
Private Parts & Pieces VIII: New England
Privatepartspieces8 cover.jpg
Studio album by
Anthony Phillips
ReleasedAugust 1992 (1992-08)
RecordedJune 1991–February 1992
StudioVic's Place, Clapham, London
Genre Acoustic
Length64:43
Label Venture
Producer Anthony Phillips
Anthony Phillips chronology
Slow Dance
(1990)		Private Parts & Pieces VIII: New England
(1992)		Sail the World
(1994)

Private Parts & Pieces VIII: New England is a studio album by English multi-instrumentalist and composer Anthony Phillips. It was released in August 1992 on Venture Records as the eighth edition of his Private Parts & Pieces album series.

Contents

The album was reissued in 1995 and 2010, the latter as a double release with Private Parts & Pieces VII: Slow Waves, Soft Stars (1987). In 2016, the album was included in the Private Parts & Pieces V–VIII box set.

Background and recording

By 1990, Phillips had secured a contract with the publishing division of Virgin Records for his film and television work, which also allowed him to release new albums on the label. After the release of Slow Dance (1990), his first for Virgin, Phillips decided to return to his Private Parts & Pieces album series and start work on the eighth instalment. Virgin had started reissuing his back catalogue, and the final group of albums that were put out were the fifth, sixth, and seventh editions of Private Parts & Pieces. Phillips felt the time was right to coincide this with the next edition in the series containing "new material in a similar genre". [1] Phillips had started the series with the aim of releasing "The kind of material you wouldn't consider putting on another kind of album. It wouldn't fit with a fully arranged song or a fully arranged instrumental piece." [1]

Phillips received a small advance for the album, prompting him to dedicate a period of time writing new material to have "something that was wholly new and good and not dredge bits up off the shelf". [1] Writing began in March 1991 while Phillips was visiting Devon and continued in April and May. Phillips described this period as "wonderful", and came up with some "big long six string pieces" which he preferred to keep for a later album, as well as some technical piano compositions. [2] He found, however, that he was putting himself under pressure in coming up with "definitive pieces" in the variety of styles that he was coming up with, such as the instruments themselves and "the kind of intimate song" he wanted. All of which, he later thought, was a mistake as he wanted to produce quality material for his first post-Virgin contract album but encountered wrist trouble from overworking his technique, something that was not the case in his previous Private Parts & Pieces albums. [1]

In June 1991, Phillips had amassed enough material that he was satisfied with and started recording at Vic's Place, a running joke in reference to his home studio in Clapham, south London. [2] It was recorded on 16-track. [1] After recording was put on hold by the month's end, Phillips resumed in November 1991 and worked through until February 1992. [2] By the time recording finished, Phillips had around 100 minutes of finished music. [1]

The album features guest musicians: Martin Robertson, Simon Morris, Paul Clarvis, and Japanese musician Joji Hirota. [2] When it came to "Pieces of Eight" Phillips was unsure how to develop it further, and suggested to Patterson that "some low sounding percussion drumming through it might work", so he brought in Hirota to play the part. [1] The two first worked with each other for the documentary series Rule Britannia in the early 1980s. Phillips met Morris through a mutual friend, and Clarvis was a friend of Robertson's. [1]

Songs

"Sunrise and Seamonsters" was co-written by Phillips and Martin Robertson, who also performs on the album. The pair had worked together on various television music projects, and Robertson would visit Phillips's home and come up with material through jam sessions. [2] It is a track that Phillips thought was "wandering into slightly different territory", and initially wanted to record it with a guitar, saxophone, and percussion. As it developed, he became wary that it was comparable to music from his first album, The Geese & the Ghost (1977). [1]

"Unheard Cry" was developed in 1987. [1] Phillips was inspired to write it after he saw a photograph of an Italian child born with AIDS in the 1980s, at a time when the disease was little understood by the general population and a result, was kept indoors. "It was such a horrendous idea, and the look on this child's face was just so sad and it has just become one of those images that just stays with you". [1]

Design

Phillips originally wanted to name the album Pieces of Eight, but Venture chief Declan Colgan expressed reservations towards it which Phillips appreciated as he had grown accustomed to labels accepting his title suggestions. [1] Upon discussions with illustrator Peter Cross on cover designs, they looked ways of reintroducing a figure with a kit bag that Cross had drawn on the cover for Private Parts & Pieces (1978). In a departure from the norm, Cross had to complete a design before the music was completed and discussions between them about the American War of Independence had the region of New England come up. Colgan later suggested the title of the album and some of the tracks, including "Unheard Cry", and assisted on the album's running order. [1]

Track listing

  1. "Aubade"
  2. "Infra Dig"
  3. "Sanctuary"
  4. "La Dolorosa"
  5. "New England Suite (i)"
  6. "New England Suite (ii)"
  7. "New England Suite (iii)"
  8. "Last Goodbyes"
  9. "Sunrise and Sea Monsters"
  10. "Iona"
  11. "Cathedral Woods"
  12. "If I Could Tell You"
  13. "Jaunty Roads"
  14. "Spirals"
  15. "Pieces of Eight (i) – Pressgang"
  16. "Pieces of Eight (ii) – Sargasso"
  17. "Pieces of Eight (iii) – Sea-Shanty"
  18. "In the Maze"
  19. "Unheard Cry"
  20. "Now They've All Gone"

Personnel

Credits taken from the album's 1992 sleeve notes. [2]

Music

Production

Related Research Articles

Tony Banks (musician) British musician and multi-instrumentalist

Anthony George Banks is an English musician, songwriter and film composer primarily known as the keyboardist and founding member of the rock band Genesis. Banks is also a prolific solo artist, releasing six solo albums that range through progressive rock, pop, and classical music.

Anthony Phillips British musician

Anthony Edwin Phillips is an English musician, songwriter, producer and singer who gained prominence as the original lead guitarist of the rock band Genesis, from 1967 to 1970. After Phillips recorded From Genesis to Revelation and Trespass with the band, he left in July 1970 and learned to play more instruments, before he began a solo career.

<i>Trespass</i> (album) 1970 studio album by Genesis

Trespass is the second studio album by the English rock band Genesis. It was released in October 1970 on Charisma Records, and is their last album with guitarist Anthony Phillips and their only one with drummer John Mayhew.

Peter Cross is a British illustrator. His style features lifelike drawings of British wildlife, in cartoon-like situations. Ostensibly produced for children, they include sufficient visual puns to be of interest to adults. He first worked as a technical illustrator for Hawker Siddeley and also illustrated album sleeves, not least for guitarist Anthony Phillips and over 200 designs in the popular Harbottle Hamster range of greetings cards for Gordon Fraser.

<i>Private Parts and Pieces VI: Ivory Moon</i> 1986 studio album by Anthony Phillips

Private Parts and Pieces VI: Ivory Moon is the eleventh studio album by English multi-instrumentalist and composer Anthony Phillips. It was released in January 1986 by Passport Records in the United States and Canada as the sixth instalment in his Private Parts & Pieces album series featuring tracks that were not included on his full studio releases. Ivory Moon features solely piano pieces written between 1971 and 1985, and recorded in August 1985. It is Phillips's first album that does not feature his guitar work.

<i>1984</i> (Anthony Phillips album) 1981 studio album by Anthony Phillips

1984 is the sixth studio album by English musician and composer Anthony Phillips, released in June 1981 on RCA Records. The album marks a change in musical style for Phillips as it is synthesiser-oriented compared to most of his previous albums which focused on more folk and acoustic music. After the music had been recorded, Phillips named the album after George Orwell's dystopian novel Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949).

<i>The Geese & the Ghost</i> 1977 studio album by Anthony Phillips

The Geese & the Ghost is the first studio album by English musician and songwriter Anthony Phillips, released in March 1977 on Hit & Run Music in the United Kingdom and Passport Records in the United States. It was originally intended to be an album by Phillips and his former Genesis bandmate Mike Rutherford, but Rutherford's difficulty in devoting time to the project ended the idea. The album reached number 191 on the Billboard 200.

<i>Wise After the Event</i> 1978 studio album by Anthony Phillips

Wise After the Event is the second studio album by English musician and composer Anthony Phillips, released in May 1978 on Arista Records in the United Kingdom and in June 1978 on Passport Records in the United States. After promoting his previous album The Geese & the Ghost (1977), Phillips began to prepare material for a new album. It remains his only album that features himself on lead vocals on each track.

<i>Sides</i> (Anthony Phillips album) 1979 studio album by Anthony Phillips

Sides is the fourth studio album by English musician and composer Anthony Phillips. It was released in April 1979 by Arista Records in the United Kingdom and in June 1979 on Passport Records in the United States. After completing Private Parts & Pieces (1978), an album of home recordings that Phillips had recorded years before but remained unreleased, Phillips returned to making a commercial record. The UK release saw the first 5,000 copies of Sides packaged with a Collectors Album edition of Private Parts & Pieces.

<i>Private Parts & Pieces</i> 1978 studio album by Anthony Phillips

Private Parts & Pieces is the third studio album by English musician and composer Anthony Phillips. It was released in November 1978 by Passport Records in the United States, and in April 1979 by Arista Records in the United Kingdom. Unlike his previous two releases, the album is a collection of demos, out-takes, and previously unreleased material rather than an explicit attempt at a commercial album.

<i>Private Parts & Pieces II: Back to the Pavilion</i> 1980 studio album by Anthony Phillips

Private Parts & Pieces II: Back to the Pavilion is the fifth studio album by English musician and composer Anthony Phillips, released in April 1980 on Passport Records in the United States and Canada. It is the second instalment in his Private Parts & Pieces album series of previously recorded pieces that had been parts of or intended for other projects. Back to the Pavilion includes tracks recorded for Wise After the Event (1978), music during his time as a member of Genesis, and those commissioned as part of an aborted project to set Macbeth to music. It features musical contributions from Andy McCulloch and his former Genesis bandmate Mike Rutherford.

<i>Private Parts and Pieces IV: A Catch at the Tables</i> 1984 studio album by Anthony Phillips

Private Parts and Pieces IV: A Catch at the Tables is the ninth studio album by English multi-instrumentalist and composer Anthony Phillips. It was released in April 1984 by Passport Records as the fourth instalment to his generic album series, Private Parts & Pieces. A release in the United Kingdom followed in 1990 by Virgin Records.

"It's No Game" is a song written by English musician David Bowie for his 1980 album Scary Monsters , featuring lead guitar played by Robert Fripp. The song is split into two parts, opening and closing the album. "(No. 1)" is musically sinister, featuring Bowie screaming lyrics and Japanese narration provided by actress Michi Hirota. "(No. 2)", a stark contrast to "(No. 1)", is much calmer, which Bowie's biographers symbolise as Bowie facing the same situation in "(No. 1)", but after the album's duration.

<i>Field Day</i> (Anthony Phillips album) 2005 studio album by Anthony Phillips

Field Day is a studio double album by English multi-instrumentalist and composer Anthony Phillips, released in October 2005 by Blueprint Records.

<i>Invisible Men</i> 1983 studio album by Anthony Phillips

Invisible Men is the eighth studio album by English multi-instrumentalist and composer Anthony Phillips. It was released in October 1983 by Passport Records in the United States and in April 1984 by Street Tunes in the United Kingdom. After he released his Private Parts & Pieces III: Antiques, the third instalment in his generic album series, Phillips started work on his next full studio album. Phillips was pressured by his US label Passport Records to deliver more radio friendly songs, and produced Invisible Men as a collaborative effort with musician and songwriter Richard Scott.

<i>Archive Collection Volume II</i> 2004 compilation album by Anthony Phillips

Archive Collection Volume II is the second vault release from Anthony Phillips, following Archive Collection Volume I in 1998. Compiled by Anthony Phillips and Jonathan Dann, it is a 2 CD selection of previously unreleased pieces and variations recorded from 1971 to 1988.

<i>Private Parts and Pieces III: Antiques</i> 1982 studio album by Anthony Phillips

Private Parts & Pieces III: Antiques is the seventh studio album by English multi-instrumentalist and composer Anthony Phillips. It was released in March 1982 by Passport Records in the United States and in October 1982 by RCA International in the United Kingdom as the third instalment to his Private Parts & Pieces album series. After releasing his full studio album 1984 (1981), Phillips entered a collaboration with Argentine musician Enrique Berro Garcia who he first met in 1978.

<i>Divertimento for Chamber Orchestra after Keyboard Pieces by Couperin</i>

The Divertimento for Chamber Orchestra after Keyboard Pieces by Couperin, Op. 86 is an orchestral suite composed by Richard Strauss published in 1942 which consists of eight movements, each one based on a selection of pieces from François Couperin's Pièces de Clavecin written for the solo harpsichord over the period 1713 to 1730.

<i>Slow Dance</i> (Anthony Phillips album) 1990 studio album by Anthony Phillips

Slow Dance is a studio album by English musician and songwriter Anthony Phillips, released in September 1990 on Virgin Records. It is a 50-minute instrumental suite divided into two parts. The music was composed by Phillips and performed by himself with additional musicians.

<i>Private Parts & Pieces VII: Slow Waves, Soft Stars</i> 1987 studio album by Anthony Phillips

Private Parts & Pieces VII: Slow Waves, Soft Stars is the twelfth studio album by English multi-instrumentalist and composer Anthony Phillips. It was released in August 1987 in the United States by Audion Recording as the seventh instalment in his Private Parts & Pieces album series. The album sees Phillips explore ambient and new-age music with synthesisers and guitars.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Hewitt, Alan. ""Searise & sunmonsters" – An alcohically inspired interview with Ant about his latest album – Private Parts & Pieces VIII: New England". The Waiting Room Online. Retrieved 24 October 2018.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Private Parts & Pieces VIII: New England". Anthony Phillips. Venture Records. 1992. CDVE 913.CS1 maint: others (link)
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.