"DTMA" Download Booklet

EDSS 1030 PA DTMA booklet 9/1/09 10:28 Page 2 EDSS 1030 The Songs Of PETE ATKIN&CLIVE JAMES 20 1 EDSS 1030 PA DTMA booklet 9/1/09 10:28 Page 4 Driving Through Mythical PA: What turned out to be my first LP on Project co-ordination – Val Jennings Fontana, Beware Of The Beautiful CD package – Jools at Mac Concept America Stranger, was recorded originally as demos CD mastering – Alchemy for the publishers Essex Music. Its Ephemera courtesy of the collections of Philips 6308 070, 1971. Re-issued on RCA commercial release had a lot to do with the Pete Atkin and Clive James SF 8386 in 1973 in a re-designed sleeve. enthusiasm of Kenny Everett, and it CD front cover main photo and strapline photo – received enough positive attention for Sophie Baker Essex to be interested in having me make Huge thanks – Pete Atkin, Clive James, another one. Simon Platz, Steve Birkill, Ronen Guha By now (1970) I was sharing a flat in and Caroline Cook Swiss Cottage with a bunch of other For everything (and we mean everything) relating to newcomers to London including Clive, who Pete Atkin’s works, visit www.peteatkin.com, but rented a room as his weekday London make sure you’ve got plenty of time to spend! writing base, so he and I had plenty of Then of course, you’ll want to visit regular contact for the to-and-fro of writing www.clivejames.com songs. We already had more than enough songs ready and waiting for a new album, Pete Atkin’s albums on the with more always on the go. For the new LP there was a big Edsel label: enough budget to allow me to use a bigger Beware Of The Beautiful Stranger…plus studio and more musicians, not big enough [EDSS 1029] to go mad – or even mildly eccentric in an Driving Through Mythical America endearing rock-and-roll kind of a way – but [EDSS 1030] big enough to make a difference to the A King At Nightfall…plus + The Road Lyrics – Clive James sound and feel of the recording, enough, Of Silk [2 CD] [EDSD 2028] Music and arrangements – Pete Atkin with luck, to make it sound more Secret Drinker + Live Libel Conducted by like a ‘proper’ record and less like a [2 CD] [EDSD 2029] Don Fraser set of demos. That first album had Visit www.demonmusicgroup.co.uk for the Produced by Don Paul been, accidentally and necessarily, Edsel catalogue and the many other fine labels that Engineered by all acoustic, and I’d since begun to make up the Demon Music Group. Roger Quested build up a bit of a following playing Tracks 1 – 11 licensed by Fly Records. Fly Records is a Recorded at Studio 1, acoustically mainly in folk clubs, so I division of Onward Music Ltd. p 2009 Onward Music Ltd Morgan Studios, did wonder idly if this might be my under licence to Demon Music Group Ltd. © 2009 Onward Willesden, London Bob-Dylan-goes-electric moment, Music Ltd/Demon Music Group Ltd. Track 12 issued under licence from Pete Atkin. Track 12 p & © 1969 Pete Atkin. NW10, in March 1971 but the truth is I don’t think anyone Marketed by Edsel Records, a division of the Demon Music 2 Original album design was that bothered, what with me Group Ltd, London, W1W 7TL. The Demon Music Group is by Pat Doyle not actually being Bob Dylan and all. a 2 entertain company. Manufactured in the EU. 2 19 EDSS 1030 PA DTMA booklet 9/1/09 10:28 Page 6 11. Lady Of A Day 2.34 It couldn’t happen to a nicer guy Most of this 1970s albums, it’s always been the one A nicer girl, my lady of a day album was I’ve had the most enquiries about in all Recorded on 11th March 1971 recorded ‘as live’, the years of its unavailability. Maybe it’s Pete Atkin – vocals, piano, acoustic guitar Through screens of memory you leave me Smile on the screen behind i.e. with me something to do with these particular Chris Spedding – electric guitar singing and songs, or maybe it’s something to do Herbie Flowers – bass guitar And then the screen behind the screen behind the screen playing and all the with the terrific playing from a brilliant Kenny Clare – drums musicians, set of session musicians. Dennis Clift – trumpet But nothing alters what has been Nor do my eyes deceive me including the Leon Calvert – trumpet brass, etc., CJ: Despite the title, I don’t think that And so goodbye, my lady of a night Dai Davies – trombone playing in the Now let your head be clear and now your any of my lyrics for the songs on this Jim Wortley – bass trombone studio at the album were aimed at an American Richard Ihnatowicz – clarinet smile bright As hour by day by week by month by year same time, audience. They were aimed at what PA: This one’s a bit unusual harmonically, You dim but never wholly disappear instead of people elsewhere thought of America. at least in the accompanying chords. They’re On the curving path away from my delight overdubbing Partly because of the continuing all based, for what little it’s worth, on a some of them Vietnam disaster, America was in the whole-tone scale, i.e. F, G, A, B, D flat, and Bonus demo later. I think the news every day. Although Pete had E flat. I was just messing about really and I idea appealed to briefly toured the US with the Oxford liked the kind of uncertain, spacey, un- 12. Practical Man 2.31 me (probably something about ‘feel’), but I and Cambridge Shakespeare Company, I joined-up feeling which that gave. And the Recorded at City of London Recording Studio, seem to remember that doing it had quite a myself still hadn’t been there. But the shiny, unsentimental brass seemed right too. Osborn Street, London EC1 on 3rd February bit to do with cost: it was a way of avoiding imagery, far from feeling second-hand, 1969 seemed to be to CJ: The word “gay” was still available to those extra sessions of expensive be happening all be used without gender-based overtones in Pete Atkin – vocal, guitar studio time. around me. Later those days. Autres temps, autres moeurs, Steve Cook – bass It did mean I had to be well on I realised that PA: prepared, with full arrangements as we used to say at the milk bar across In common with most of the demos we were living from Kogarah railway station. Live long appended to “Beware Of The Beautiful worked out beforehand, parts written out and everything. There wasn’t time through the enough and your vocabulary will date you, Stranger”, this track comes from my second opening stages of but if you try to fix it up the repairs might privately pressed LP “The Party’s Moving to teach the musicians the songs and spend studio time working out what to what we now look more conspicuous than the damage. On” from 1969. Again I should apologise know as the “There’s a bar in far Mumbai…” for the sound quality because the original do. It wasn’t a huge orchestra, but the line-up was big enough, especially with global media And so goodbye, my lady of a day reel-to-reel tapes disappeared a long time hegemony and ago and this copy has been taken from one the horns, to need some kind of a Now let your step be long and now your laugh conductor in the studio, which couldn’t the 24-hour news be gay of the very few vinyl copies I can still lay cycle. hands on. be me if I was also going to be singing It’s only right that everything went wrong and playing, so Don Fraser came in to Pete Atkin and It couldn’t happen any other way All songs published by Onward Music Ltd, bring a bit of experience to that role. Clive James, 18 A thousand miles east, the lovers say except tracks 1, 2, 3 and 9 published by Although as far as I know the November/ 3 It’s written in the sky with stars that lead away Westminster Music Ltd. finished LP sold least well of all my December 2008 18 3 EDSS 1030 PA DTMA booklet 9/1/09 10:28 Page 8 1. Sunlight Gate 3.47 Having played a classical guitar was a late, last flowering of my surrealist There’s a grand piano in the back of my Jag’ exclusively on Beware Of The Beautiful phase, whereas the waiters on the flaming Recorded on 11th March 1971 So I sang my song to the practical man Stranger, I’d now acquired a steel-string swords were just a stroke of Pete Atkin – vocals, acoustic guitar It sounded bad but she couldn’t hear jumbo, a Gibson SJN, to be my workhorse phantasmagorical comedy. But I would And the silent lights of town went streaming Chris Spedding – electric guitar guitar, which it remained for the next 25 hope to get the interrogation down to earth Herbie Flowers – bass guitar As if the car was a turtle dreaming years or so. But early in this first session I by pointing out that if the story line is The night was sad and she was nowhere near Kenny Clare – drums broke a string, and – I can hardly believe simple and strong enough then it can bear Dennis Clift – trumpet this now – I had brought no spares with any amount of rhetorical flash.

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