Shamrock Diaries

Shamrock Diaries is the seventh studio album by British singer-songwriter Chris Rea, released in May 1985. This album represents the beginning of a creative and commercial zenith for Rea. Shamrock Diaries was a huge seller in Europe, reaching the top 20 in several countries including Ireland, West Germany, Czechoslovakia, Sweden and the United Kingdom, and spent forty two weeks in the Dutch charts, peaking at No. 3. The album was also successful in Australia, where it charted in the top 50. "Stainsby Girls" became Rea's first Top 30 single since 1978's "Fool If You Think It's Over". In 1988, Magnet Records was taken over by Warner Bros. Records, who re-released Shamrock Diaries with a significantly remixed version of "Josephine". The original version was used in the 2019 deluxe re-issue of the album.

Composition

Rea wrote the material during a protracted stay in Ireland. In a fresh interview for the sleeve notes in the deluxe version of the album (2019), he recalls how Dublin "reminded me so much of my home town.... Middlesbrough back then was about 65% Irish... And half my family are from Ireland." The two most popular tracks from the album were written for members of Rea's family. "Chisel Hill" refers to a house Rea bought in the vicinity of Roseberry Topping, which lies just south of Middlesbrough, and has a distinctive half-cone shaped summit. "You're looking back at yourself", he said, "remembering what you thought was going to happen, and then what actually happened... I definitely should have stayed in Chisel Hill, without a doubt!" ==Cover versions==

Cover versions

The track "Stone" was covered by the Law on their self-titled album, with Rea on guitar. In 2007 German guitarist Axel Rudi Pell made a metal cover of the same track for his album Diamonds Unlocked, his version featured Johnny Gioeli on vocals. In 2000, "Josephine" was sampled by Superfunk for their song "Lucky Star", with Ron Carroll, although the samples come from another (shorter) version of the song, rather than the original album version. Irish folk singer Dolores Keane covered "One Golden Rule" on her 1989 album Lion in a Cage. In 2024, demos from Swedish singer Frida's second English language solo album, Shine leaked on the internet, and one of these demos was "Love Turns to Lies". ==Track listing==

Track listing

All songs by Chris Rea • "Steel River" – 6:15 • "Stainsby Girls" – 3:51 • "Chisel Hill" – 4:03 • "Josephine" – 4:26 (3:56 in later pressings) • "One Golden Rule" – 4:29 • "All Summer Long" – 4:09 • "Stone" – 4:23 • "Shamrock Diaries" – 4:55 • "Love Turns to Lies" – 4:11 • "Hired Gun" – 8:03 ==Singles==

Singles

• "Stainsby Girls" b/w "And When She Smiles", "Sunrise", "Dancing Shoes", "September Blue" • "Josephine" b/w "Josephine (Remix)", "Everytime It Rains" == Personnel ==

Personnel

Musicians • Chris Rea – vocals, organ, synthesizers, guitars, slide guitar • Kevin Leach – keyboards, grand piano, Rhodes • Max Middleton – keyboards, grand piano, Rhodes • Robert Ahwai – additional rhythm guitars • Simon Nicol – additional rhythm guitars • Eoghan O'Neill – bass • Dave Mattacks – drums • Adrian Rea – drums • Martin Ditcham – percussion • Mel Collins – saxophone • Annie Whitehead – trombone • The Sultanas (Ian Barnett, Donnie Hilstad, Jesse Lortz and Kimberly Morrison) – backing vocals Production • Chris Rea – producer • David Richards – producer, engineer • Barry Hammond – engineer • Bil Smith – cover artwork • Derek Ridgers – photography ==Charts==

Source: Wikipedia ↗

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