{"product_id":"paul-carrack-the-country-side-of-paul-carrack-volume-1","title":"Paul Carrack - The Country Side Of Paul Carrack - Volume 1","description":"\u003cp\u003eFrom Paul Carrack:\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"I've always wanted to make a country album - A lot of people detect the influences of soul in my music but I've also always loved country - Growing up, I was hungry for any kind of music but I would listen to people like Chet Atkins, The Everly Brothers, Hank Williams and I particularly loved Ray Charles, who is predominantly known for his soul and jazz stuff, but could also sing really great country.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI have an older brother, John, and one Christmas we were given toy guitars, we used to sing along with skiffle, people like Lonnie Donegan and songs like (Hang Down Your Head) Tom Dooley.\u003cbr\u003eWe really loved The Everly Brothers and would try to sing the harmonies.\u003cbr\u003eCathy's Clown was a favourite.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThen in the 80s, when I was in a band with Nick Lowe, touring America on the bus we would always have George Jones and Willie Nelson playing, and people like The Osborne Brothers.\u003cbr\u003eIt just seemed right listening to that when you're on the road in the USA.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOver the years, I've done little bits of country on different albums but then out of the blue, a guy from North Carolina emailed me and said: 'Hi, I'm Steven Wood, I'm a country artist and I'd like to cover your song, Lighten Up Your Mood.\u003cbr\u003eWould that be OK and if so, would you like to maybe play on it or sing a few lines?' I told him I'd always wanted to make a country album and he said: 'Well, why don't we collaborate on something? 'So, that was the beginning of this record.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWe talked a lot about country music and what it means, because it's such a massive subject.\u003cbr\u003eI like the older stuff, the authenticity of it and I didn't want to pick obscure songs for the sake of it.\u003cbr\u003eI wanted familiar songs that I'd always loved with an early 60s-70s vibe so, after some very long conversations we chose tracks by people like George Jones, who's a genius basically, and Merle Haggard, who I love.\u003cbr\u003eWe even do a Hank Snow song, which is one of my favourites, and one of my grandson's too.\u003cbr\u003eAnd of course, we do some Ray Charles and Hank Williams.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWe also included a couple of tracks I'd had a hand in writing that we wanted to try in a country vein.\u003cbr\u003eThere's Love Will Keep Us Alive, which I wrote with Peter Vale and Jim Capaldi and which was a hit for the Eagles.\u003cbr\u003eI've recorded a number of versions but this is a Steven Wood production, which adds something fresh to the song.\u003cbr\u003eAnd then there's In The Cold Light of Day, which I wrote with Chris Difford from Squeeze with his typical dry approach to lyrics.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI have a great respect for Steven and what he does so I basically let him run the show.\u003cbr\u003eHe provided the initial tracks, I laid down vocals and he assembled an amazing band of the best Nashville players to record the live instruments.On a few tracks, Steven added some perfect Nashville style strings at Starstruck Studios with the Nashville String Machine and the arranger, David Shipps.\u003cbr\u003eWe knew what we wanted to do.\u003cbr\u003eWe picked the songs and we did it.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI hope you enjoy listening as much as we enjoyed making it.\"\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"CARRACK UK","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":53206920724807,"sku":"TRI-63185","price":16.99,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0931\/9779\/5655\/files\/31f0efd46dde2d6370f837933239a227.jpg?v=1769376799","url":"https:\/\/towerrecords.ie\/products\/paul-carrack-the-country-side-of-paul-carrack-volume-1","provider":"Tower Records Dublin Ireland","version":"1.0","type":"link"}