Amnesia (album)
Encyclopedia
Amnesia is an album
by Richard Thompson, recorded and released in 1988.
After Across a Crowded Room
and Daring Adventures
had not troubled the compilers of hit parades, Polydor declined their option to renew their contract with Thompson. Thompson's then manager Gary Stamler negotiated a deal with Capitol Records
and Thompson cut his first album for his new label in 1988.
This was a good time for Thompson to be at Capitol. The label was managed by Hale Milgrim at the time and Milgrim was a fan of Thompson and his work. Thus Capitol invested more money and effort into promoting Thompson than had been the case in the past and with other labels.
Mitchell Froom
was retained as producer, and the album was again recorded in Los Angeles with American session musicians providing most of the backing. Thompson still used British players to lend specifically British touches to some songs. In particular long-time collaborators John Kirkpatrick, Aly Bain
and Philip Pickett
are used, and members of the Fairey Engineering Band provide a brass backing to I Still Dream that owes more to the Salvation Army
than it does to Memphis or any other American centre of music.
Album
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
by Richard Thompson, recorded and released in 1988.
After Across a Crowded Room
Across a Crowded Room
Across a Crowded Room is an album by Richard Thompson released in 1985.In 1984 Thompson's management negotiated a contract with Polydor which gave him some financial security for the first time in over a decade. Across A Crowded Room was the first album recorded under this new contract...
and Daring Adventures
Daring Adventures
Daring Adventures is an album by Richard Thompson, released in 1986.After sales of his 1985 release Across a Crowded Room had not met expectations, Thompson was under pressure from his record label to deliver with his next album....
had not troubled the compilers of hit parades, Polydor declined their option to renew their contract with Thompson. Thompson's then manager Gary Stamler negotiated a deal with Capitol Records
Capitol Records
Capitol Records is a major United States based record label, formerly located in Los Angeles, but operating in New York City as part of Capitol Music Group. Its former headquarters building, the Capitol Tower, is a major landmark near the corner of Hollywood and Vine...
and Thompson cut his first album for his new label in 1988.
This was a good time for Thompson to be at Capitol. The label was managed by Hale Milgrim at the time and Milgrim was a fan of Thompson and his work. Thus Capitol invested more money and effort into promoting Thompson than had been the case in the past and with other labels.
Mitchell Froom
Mitchell Froom
-Career:Froom began his career as a keyboard player in Sonoma County, California. The band Crossfire featured two keyboards players; Mitchell on one side of the stage and brother David on the other with Gary Pihl on guitar...
was retained as producer, and the album was again recorded in Los Angeles with American session musicians providing most of the backing. Thompson still used British players to lend specifically British touches to some songs. In particular long-time collaborators John Kirkpatrick, Aly Bain
Aly Bain
Aly Bain MBE is a Shetland fiddler who learned his instrument from the old-time master Tom Anderson. Bain is now considered one of the finest fiddlers in the Scottish tradition. In the early days of his career he formed part of the band The Humblebums with two other ‘unknowns’ Gerry Rafferty and...
and Philip Pickett
Philip Pickett
Philip Pickett is an English musician, recorder player and director of early music ensembles, notably The New London Consort.- Student days :...
are used, and members of the Fairey Engineering Band provide a brass backing to I Still Dream that owes more to the Salvation Army
Salvation Army
The Salvation Army is a Protestant Christian church known for its thrift stores and charity work. It is an international movement that currently works in over a hundred countries....
than it does to Memphis or any other American centre of music.
Reception
The album was well received by the music press, and sales, whilst not stellar, were boosted by Capitol's commitment to promoting artist and album.Track listing
All songs written by Richard Thompson- "Turning of the Tide" 2:55
- "Gypsy Love Songs" 6:14
- "Reckless Kind" 4:23
- "Jerusalem on the Jukebox" 4:08
- "I Still Dream" 5:09
- "Don't Tempt Me" 3:35
- "Yankee, Go Home" 3:05
- "Can't Win" 5:28
- "Waltzing's for Dreamers" 4:06
- "Pharaoh" 4:24
Personnel
- Richard Thompson - guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
, vocalsSingingSinging is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
, mandolinMandolinA mandolin is a musical instrument in the lute family . It descends from the mandore, a soprano member of the lute family. The mandolin soundboard comes in many shapes—but generally round or teardrop-shaped, sometimes with scrolls or other projections. A mandolin may have f-holes, or a single...
, hammer dulcimerHammered dulcimerThe hammered dulcimer is a stringed musical instrument with the strings stretched over a trapezoidal sounding board. Typically, the hammered dulcimer is set on a stand, at an angle, before the musician, who holds small mallet hammers in each hand to strike the strings... - Mitchell FroomMitchell Froom-Career:Froom began his career as a keyboard player in Sonoma County, California. The band Crossfire featured two keyboards players; Mitchell on one side of the stage and brother David on the other with Gary Pihl on guitar...
- portative organPortative organA portative organ is a small pipe organ that consists of one rank of flue pipes, sometimes arranged in two rows, to be played while strapped to the performer at a right angle...
, regalRegal (musical instrument)The regal was a small portable organ, furnished with beating reeds and having two bellows. The instrument enjoyed its greatest popularity during the Renaissance. The name was also sometimes given to the reed stops of a pipe organ, and more especially the vox humana stop.The sound of the regal was...
, ChamberlinChamberlinThe Chamberlin is an electro-mechanical keyboard instrument that was a precursor to the Mellotron. It was developed and patented by Iowa, Wisconsin inventor Harry Chamberlin from 1949 to 1956, when the first model was introduced. Various models and versions of these Chamberlin music instruments...
, stereophonic OptiganOptiganThe Optigan was an electronic keyboard instrument designed for the consumer market. The name stems from the instrument's reliance on pre-recorded optical soundtracks to reproduce sound...
, electric harpElectric harpLike electric guitars, electric harps are based on their acoustic originals. There are both solid-body and hollow body electro-acoustic models available...
, organOrgan (music)The organ , is a keyboard instrument of one or more divisions, each played with its own keyboard operated either with the hands or with the feet. The organ is a relatively old musical instrument in the Western musical tradition, dating from the time of Ctesibius of Alexandria who is credited with...
, producer - Jerry ScheffJerry ScheffJerry Obern Scheff is an American bassist, perhaps best known for his work with Elvis Presley in the early 1970s as a member of his TCB Band and his work on The Doors' final recordings....
- bass guitarBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
on 1, 2, 4, 5, 7, & 10 - Tony LevinTony LevinTony Levin is an American progressive rock musician, specializing in bass guitar, Chapman stick and upright bass ....
- bass guitarBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
, stickChapman StickThe Chapman Stick is an electric musical instrument devised by Emmett Chapman in the early 1970s. A member of the guitar family, the Chapman Stick usually has ten or twelve individually tuned strings and has been used on music recordings to play bass lines, melody lines, chords or textures...
on 3, 6, & 8 - Mickey CurryMickey CurryMichael Timothy Curry is an American drummer. He is best known for his long-term collaboration with the singer-songwriter Bryan Adams, although he has also worked with Hall & Oates, Cher, Tina Turner, Alice Cooper, David Bowie, Elvis Costello, Sam Phillips, Tom Waits, The Cult, Steve Jones and...
- drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
on 2, 3, 6, 7, 8 - Jim KeltnerJim KeltnerJames Lee "Jim" Keltner is an American drummer known primarily for his session work. He has contributed to the work of many well-known artists...
- drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
on 1, 4, 5, 10 - Alex AcuñaAlex AcuñaAlejandro Neciosup Acuña aka Alex Acuña is a Peruvian drummer and percussionist, in the Afro-Cuban jazz style.Born in Pativilca, Peru, Acuña played in local bands from the age of ten, and moved to Lima as a teenager. At the age of eighteen he joined the band of Perez Prado, and in 1967 he moved...
- percussionPercussion instrumentA percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration... - Christine CollisterChristine CollisterChristine Collister is a Manx folk, blues and jazz singer-songwriter. She was born and grew up on the Isle of Man and first came to public attention in 1986 as the singer of the theme song for the BBC's television adaptation of Fay Weldon's book The Life and Loves of a She-Devil.Prior to this, in...
- backing vocals - Clive GregsonClive GregsonClive Gregson is an English singer/songwriter, musician and record producer. He has toured in bands, provided backup for well-known musicians, and written songs that have been covered by Kim Carnes, Norma Waterson and Nanci Griffith.-Solo:At the end of 1984 Gregson released his first solo record,...
- backing vocals - John Kirkpatrick - accordionAccordionThe accordion is a box-shaped musical instrument of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone family, sometimes referred to as a squeezebox. A person who plays the accordion is called an accordionist....
, anglo-concertina, bass vocals - Philip PickettPhilip PickettPhilip Pickett is an English musician, recorder player and director of early music ensembles, notably The New London Consort.- Student days :...
- shawmShawmThe shawm was a medieval and Renaissance musical instrument of the woodwind family made in Europe from the 12th century until the 17th century. It was developed from the oriental zurna and is the predecessor of the modern oboe. The body of the shawm was usually turned from a single piece of wood,...
, recorderRecorderThe recorder is a woodwind musical instrument of the family known as fipple flutes or internal duct flutes—whistle-like instruments which include the tin whistle. The recorder is end-blown and the mouth of the instrument is constricted by a wooden plug, known as a block or fipple...
, curtal, peking that, bass racket - Aly BainAly BainAly Bain MBE is a Shetland fiddler who learned his instrument from the old-time master Tom Anderson. Bain is now considered one of the finest fiddlers in the Scottish tradition. In the early days of his career he formed part of the band The Humblebums with two other ‘unknowns’ Gerry Rafferty and...
- fiddle - Brian Taylor - cornetCornetThe cornet is a brass instrument very similar to the trumpet, distinguished by its conical bore, compact shape, and mellower tone quality. The most common cornet is a transposing instrument in B. It is not related to the renaissance and early baroque cornett or cornetto.-History:The cornet was...
- Tony Goddard - cornet
- David Horn - tenor hornAlto hornThe alto horn is a brass instrument pitched in E...
- Ian Peters - euphoniumEuphoniumThe euphonium is a conical-bore, tenor-voiced brass instrument. It derives its name from the Greek word euphonos, meaning "well-sounding" or "sweet-voiced"...
- Fred TackettFred TackettFred Tackett, an American native of Arkansas, is an accomplished songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. Originally a session player on guitar, mandolin, and trumpet, he is best known for his longevity as a member of the band Little Feat....
- guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with... - Frances Kelly - baroque harpHarpThe harp is a multi-stringed instrument which has the plane of its strings positioned perpendicularly to the soundboard. Organologically, it is in the general category of chordophones and has its own sub category . All harps have a neck, resonator and strings...
- Danny ThompsonDanny ThompsonDaniel Henry Edward 'Danny' Thompson is an English multi-instrumentalist best known as a double bassist and businessman...
- double bassDouble bassThe double bass, also called the string bass, upright bass, standup bass or contrabass, is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra, with strings usually tuned to E1, A1, D2 and G2... - Alistair Anderson - northumbrian pipesNorthumbrian smallpipesThe Northumbrian smallpipes are bellows-blown bagpipes from the North East of England.In a survey of the bagpipes in the Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford University, the organologist Anthony Baines wrote: It is perhaps the most civilized of the bagpipes, making no attempt to go farther than the...
- Tchad BlakeTchad BlakeTchad Blake is an American record producer, audio engineer, mixer and musician.He has worked with numerous artists and musicians, including State Radio, Apartment 26, Elvis Costello, Peter Gabriel, Pearl Jam, Tom Waits, Richard Thompson, Brazilian Girls, Sheryl Crow, November 2nd, Travis, Marike...
– recordist - Mike Kloster – 2nd engineer
- Ted Patterson – 2nd engineer
- Bob LudwigBob LudwigBob Ludwig is an American mastering engineer.He is a well known and respected figure within the music industry. His name is credited on the covers of albums released across the world, and he has won numerous awards....
– masteringMaster recordingA multitrack recording master tape, disk or computer files on which productions are developed for later mixing, is known as the multi-track master, while the tape, disk or computer files holding a mix is called a mixed master.It is standard practice to make a copy of a master recording, known as...