Footsteps - Special Edition
Footsteps - Special Edition
by Chris de Burgh
Label: Ferryman Productions Ltd, Starwatch
Year Released: 2009
Catalogue number: ---
Radio single: The Bells Of Christmas
Click here for the original version of this album!
Tracks:
Comments:
Chris de Burgh’s current album ‘Footsteps’ is being repackaged as a special edition – with bonus tracks – for Christmas.
Having entered the UK charts at No.4 on release in April and following six months in the Top 20 of the German album countdown, the new version of ‘Footsteps’ includes two additional songs on the new UK format and three in Europe.
Joining the 13 ‘covers’ on the original UK album are ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ and ‘The Bells Of Christmas’, a completely new original composition by Chris. Elsewhere in Europe, the album will also now include ‘Rhythm Of The Rain/Crying In The Rain’ (previously available only the UK release as a ‘bonus’ track).
“It’s always been a great favourite of mine,” says Chris of ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’. “Although it comes from the musical ‘Carousel’, it’s more associated nowadays with football – and with Liverpool FC, in particular. For many people, it’s more important in some ways than a national anthem. I’ve always loved this song and recording it was the realisation of a life-time’s dream.”
‘The Bells Of Christmas’ nods towards one of Chris’s biggest, most enduring hits. “For many years, ‘A Spaceman Came Travelling’ has been played at Christmas,” he explains, “and I thought I’d write another song like it and try to make it into an evergreen, or a standard. Based on a Charles Dickens theme, the song is about looking after those who may be lonely at Christmas and those who have perhaps forgotten that Christmas is always vibrant in the eyes of a child. We’re all big children, even when we grow up, and Christmas is a magical time. I’m also suggesting that perhaps the spirit of goodwill we find at that time of year can emanate and permeate all over the world. Maybe the spirit of peace and goodwill could touch everybody.”
In order to win a place on ‘Footsteps’, Chris selected the songs he recorded by applying three critical principles: he had to love them, have sung them many times before – and, perhaps most relevantly, they had to have inspired him.
As a result, and by any measure, the material on ‘Footsteps’ represents a deeply personal and candid appraisal by Chris of songs which have influenced and affected the way he has crafted his own particular musical imprint.
There is little doubt that these songs and songwriters provided solid cornerstones for him to build upon. Equally, there is no attempt by Chris to disguise, in his selection, the creative models and ideals he aspired to – and still does.
“Listening to the great songwriters was the inspiration for me to try and become a good songwriter myself,” he readily admits. “I’m talking about the likes of Lennon & McCartney and Bob Dylan; people as good as that just don’t seem to exist any more. I learned my trade, my craft, almost at the feet of the Great Masters. And that is my musical journey. Those songs are my footsteps.”
Two self-penned pieces, ‘First Steps’ and ‘Footsteps’, explain in greater depth his musical journey, his dreams and aspirations, and his sense of achievement from hopeful beginnings to the success of today.
Chris feels that the process of paying homage to his influences may be far from over. “I have to stress that nailing it down to just the songs recorded was extremely difficult. There are so many other great writers; Jackson Browne and Paul Simon, to name but two. However, I didn’t believe that certain songs would work on this record. So I might come back with longer footsteps, another time...”