The Waterboys (album)

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The Waterboys
The Waterboys cover
Studio album by The Waterboys
Released July 1983
Recorded December 1981 - November 1982
Genre Rock
Length 43:36
Label Ensign Records, Chrysalis Records
Producer(s) Mike Scott, Karl Wallinger
Professional reviews
The Waterboys chronology
The Waterboys
(1983)		 A Pagan Place
(1984)


This eponymously named debut album from The Waterboys was recorded in two studio sessions in December 1981 and November 1982. All Music Guide describes the sound of the album as "part Van Morrison, part U2"[1].

The album cover is a photograph of lead singer Mike Scott by Panny Charrington and designed by Stephanie Nash. The Waterboys logo appears in the white box in the upper right-hand corner of the album cover. The symbol, which symbolizes water, would continue to be used throughout the band's history. It was designed by Stephanie Nash of Island Records[2].

Contents

[edit] Production history

In 1981 Mike Scott was working in the punk rock band Funhouse, who had recently changed their name from Another Pretty Face. Signed to the record label Ensign Records, the group had moved to London to record their music. Scott had been unsatisfied with the group's sound, which he described as "similar to a jumbo jet flying on one engine"[3], and in December of 1981 decided to use Redshop Studio to record some of his own songs solo, after prompting from Ensign Records to consider a solo career[4]. With the help of a drum machine, Scott sang, played the piano and guitar on each of ten tracks. Three recordings from this studio demo session would eventually make their way onto the first Waterboys album, "December", "Gala" and "The Three Day Man". The quality of the session convinced Scott to leave Funhouse.

In spite of his label's advice, Scott instead began forming a new band to work with. He recruited Anthony Thistlethwaite for the new project, which would soon become The Waterboys. Thistlethwaite and Scott had worked together earlier on a Nikki Sudden album. Thistlethwaite brought in a friend of his, Kevin Wilkinson, as a drummer. Sudden describes the events as Scott "stealing" the two away, but notes that Scott could afford to pay Thistlethwaite and Wilkinson, whereas Sudden could not[5]. The last of the founding members, Karl Wallinger joined the group after answering an advertisement in Sounds magazine. The group recorded some demo tracks in November of 1982 at Farmyard Studio in Little Chalfont.

Ensign flew the group to New York to record an album with Patti Smith's guitarist, Lenny Kaye, as the producer. The recording session went poorly, and the material was not released in favour of recordings from the two major demo sessions[3]. After two single releases of "A Girl Called Johnny" in March 1983, The Waterboys was released that July (see 1983 in music).

A remastered version of the album with a number of extra tracks was released on April 23, 2002 by Capitol Records.

[edit] Songs

"A Girl Called Johnny" had been released both as a seven inch and as a twelve inch single in March of 1983, preceding the album by four months. The song, a tribute to Patti Smith, "narrowly failed" to become a hit[6]. The B-side on the seven-inch was "The Late Train to Heaven", the "Rockfield mix" of which was eventually released on a re-issue of A Pagan Place, the group's next album. The twelve-inch contained "Ready for the Monkey House", the Another Pretty Face song "Out of Control" and an acoustic version of "Somebody Might Wave Back", the last of which would appear in a full studio version on A Pagan Place.

"December" was also released as a single (for the Christmas season) in both seven-inch and twelve-inch formats, with similar commercial results. The seven-inch's B-side was "Where are You Now When I Need You?", while the twelve-inch included an alternate recording of "The Three Day Man" and "Red Army Blues", a song that would be included on A Pagan Place.

An extended live version of "Savage Earth Heart", a song which had eventually become a "live show stopper"[3] was re-released as a B-side on the single for "Is She Conscious?" from A Rock in the Weary Land.

[edit] Track listing

All songs written by Mike Scott, unless otherwise noted.

[edit] Mike Scott solo demo recording session

Only the first three tracks of this recording session at Redshop Studio made it onto the final album. The rest of the album is made up of the founding members' recording session at Farmyard Studio.

  1. "December"
  2. "Gala"
  3. "The Three Day Man"
  4. "That's Not Enough"
  5. "Let It Loose"
  6. "Whatever Happened to The West"
  7. "My Darkest Hour"
  8. "Bury My Heart"
  9. "Death Song Of The Sioux Parts One & Two"
  10. "Dog Dream" (lyrics by Patti Smith)[3]

[edit] Original album release

The original vinyl LP had eight tracks.

  1. "December"
  2. "A Girl Called Johnny"
  3. "The Three Day Man"
  4. "Gala"
  5. "I Will Not Follow"
  6. "It Should Have Been You"
  7. "The Girl in the Swing"
  8. "Savage Earth Heart"

[edit] Re-release track list

The 2002 re-release contained additional songs, from the original demo recordings, single releases, and other early Waterboys work.

  1. "December" – 6:48
  2. "A Girl Called Johnny" – 3:57
  3. "The Three Day Man" – 4:08
  4. "Gala" (Unedited) – 9:31
  5. "Where are You Now When I Need You?" – 5:06
  6. "I Will Not Follow" – 5:18
  7. "It Should Have Been You" – 4:30
  8. "The Girl in the Swing" – 4:27
  9. "Savage Earth Heart" – 6:40
  10. "Something Fantastic" – 3:12
  11. "Ready for the Monkeyhouse" – 3:59
  12. "Another Kind of Circus" – 4:05
  13. "A Boy in Black Leather" – 7:04
  14. "December" (Original 8-track mix) – 6:49
  15. "Jack of Diamonds" – 0:50

[edit] Personnel

[edit] Notes and References

  1. ^ All Music Guide review. Retrieved on October 22, 2005.
  2. ^ FAQ. mikescottwaterboys. Retrieved on October 28, 2005.
  3. ^ a b c d Peter Anderson. Mike Scott/Waterboys biography. Record Collector magazine. Retrieved on March 25, 2007.
  4. ^ Scott, Mike (2002). "Recording Notes", The Waterboys. EMI, 2. 
  5. ^ Nikki Sudden. A Few Mike Scott stories. Excerpts from Nikki Sudden's Autobiography. Retrieved on October 23, 2005.
  6. ^ MUZE UK. Waterboys (The) Biography. Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Retrieved on October 22, 2005.

[edit] External links

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