Daring Adventures
Encyclopedia
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.
The first Thompson album to be recorded in the USA, Daring Adventures is a marked departure from its predecessors with a slicker, more commercial sound and backing provided by American session players. It marked the start of a controversial five-album collaboration between Thompson and new producer Mitchell Froom
that was regarded, in some quarters, to have "Americanised" and commercialised Thompson's style and sound. The album is variously seen as a sell-out under pressure from a record company, or as an attempt to reach a wider audience.
With songs like "A Bone Through Her Nose", "Baby Talk" and "Valerie", the album also marked a shift in Thompson's songwriting away from the seemingly personal and towards the character portraits for which he has since become renowned. "Al Bowlly
's in Heaven" and "How Will I Ever Be Simple Again" are two of Thompson's best loved songs and concert staples, the latter is also one of the more frequently covered Thompson songs.
After sales of his 1985 release 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...
had not met expectations, Thompson was under pressure from his record label to deliver with his next album.
The first Thompson album to be recorded in the USA, Daring Adventures is a marked departure from its predecessors with a slicker, more commercial sound and backing provided by American session players. It marked the start of a controversial five-album collaboration between Thompson and new producer 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...
that was regarded, in some quarters, to have "Americanised" and commercialised Thompson's style and sound. The album is variously seen as a sell-out under pressure from a record company, or as an attempt to reach a wider audience.
With songs like "A Bone Through Her Nose", "Baby Talk" and "Valerie", the album also marked a shift in Thompson's songwriting away from the seemingly personal and towards the character portraits for which he has since become renowned. "Al Bowlly
Al Bowlly
Albert Allick Bowlly was a Southern-African singer, songwriter, composer and band leader, who became a popular Jazz crooner during the 1930s in the United Kingdom and later, in the United States of America. He recorded more than 1,000 records between 1927 and 1941...
's in Heaven" and "How Will I Ever Be Simple Again" are two of Thompson's best loved songs and concert staples, the latter is also one of the more frequently covered Thompson songs.
Track listing
All songs written by Richard Thompson- "A Bone Through Her Nose"
- "Valerie"
- "Missie How You Let Me Down"
- "Dead Man's Handle"
- "Long Dead Love"
- "Lover's Lane"
- "Nearly In Love"
- "Jennie"
- "Baby Talk"
- "Cash Down, Never Never"
- "How Will I Ever Be Simple Again"
- "Al Bowlly's in Heaven"
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...
, vocals, 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...
, dulcimerAppalachian dulcimerThe Appalachian dulcimer is a fretted string instrument of the zither family, typically with three or four strings. It is native to the Appalachian region of the United States...
, thereminThereminThe theremin , originally known as the aetherphone/etherophone, thereminophone or termenvox/thereminvox is an early electronic musical instrument controlled without discernible physical contact from the player. It is named after its Russian inventor, Professor Léon Theremin, who patented the device... - 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...
- keyboardsKeyboard instrumentA keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
, theremin - 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....
, 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... - 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...
- drumDrumThe drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments, which is technically classified as the membranophones. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a shell and struck, either directly with the player's hands, or with a...
s - 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...
- drums - 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...
and 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....
, concertinaConcertinaA concertina is a free-reed musical instrument, like the various accordions and the harmonica. It has a bellows and buttons typically on both ends of it. When pressed, the buttons travel in the same direction as the bellows, unlike accordion buttons which travel perpendicularly to it... - 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,...
, crumhornCrumhornThe crumhorn is a musical instrument of the woodwind family, most commonly used during the Renaissance period. In modern times, there has been a revival of interest in Early Music, and crumhorns are being played again....
, 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...
and symphony. - Chuck Fleming - fiddleFiddleThe term fiddle may refer to any bowed string musical instrument, most often the violin. It is also a colloquial term for the instrument used by players in all genres, including classical music...
- Brian Taylor, Tony Goddard, David Horn, Ian Peters - brassBrass instrumentA brass instrument is a musical instrument whose sound is produced by sympathetic vibration of air in a tubular resonator in sympathy with the vibration of the player's lips...