Can You Do Me Good? is the sixth studio album by Del Amitri, released on 8 April 2002 by Mercury / A&M.
The album showcased a radically different sound from which Del Amitri fans had become used to. With five years having elapsed since Some Other Sucker's Parade (1997), Can You Do Me Good? featured a new approach: drum loops, samples and synthesisers were the band's new tools. Though the songs retained their usual melodic characteristics, the overall impression was a very different one.
Theme Guitarist and songwriter Iain Harvie admitted in the run-up to the album's release that the band's record company considered Can You Do Me Good? to be Del Amitri's last chance. "It's a pretty straightforward equation. If we don't sell 300,000 copies of the new album, we're out. It's that simple."Official Del Amitri website , which cites "Del Amitri: We Don't Even Like Ourselves" (5 April 2002), The Independent. With this in mind, many of the album's lyrics seem to convey a tone of finality; the feeling that this is a band's last stand. Song titles like "One More Last Hurrah" and "Last Cheap Shot at the Dream" contribute to this, and "Just Getting By" seems almost to lament a career spent as rock's nearly-men:
Look at me I'm the one who got away The one who could've shone I tried to do my best But I guess your best don't last for long
Look at me Standing with my tattered pride Of toothless little lions We tried to make a difference Do something no one else had tried* Currie, Justin (2002). In Can You Do Me Good? [CD liner notes]. London: Mercury Records.
Even for a lyricist like Justin Currie, whose songs have often dealt with missed opportunities and failure, Can You Do Me Good? is significantly more concerned with these concepts than previous albums.
Track listing
"Just Getting By" is followed by a hidden track: an instrumental excerpt from "The Septic Jubilee" (a song released as a B-side on the "Just Before You Leave" single) which lasts for roughly 2:20. Including the space between the tracks Track 12 appears as 7:35 in length.
Personnel Credits adapted from the album liner notes.
Del Amitri Justin Currie – vocals, bass, acoustic guitar Iain Harvie – guitar, acoustic guitar, programming, backing vocals Kris Dollimore – guitar, acoustic guitar, backing vocals Andy Alston – piano, organ, synthesiser Mark Price – drums, drum loops Additional musicians Matthew Rubano – bass (2, 11) Kevin Bacon (credited as "Big Kev") – bass (5, 6, 8) Rudy Bird – percussion (1, 4, 9) Jonathan Quarmby (credited as "Jonathan")Presumably producer Jonathan Quarmby. – "tingly things" (5, 6) Joe Tomino – drum loop (4) Chris Komer – French horn (9) Chris Elliot – cello sample and trombone (12) Chris Cameron – string arrangements (1, 12) Gavyn Wright – orchestra leader Technical Gordon "Commissioner Gordon" Williams – producer (tracks 2–4, 7, 9–11), additional producer (tracks 1, 12), mixing (tracks 1, 2, 4–9, 11, 12) (at The Headquarters, Teaneck, New Jersey) Pete Smith – producer (tracks 1, 3, 10, 12), mixing (tracks 3, 10) (at Livingston Studios, London) Kevin Bacon – producer (tracks 5, 6, 8) Jonathan Quarmby – producer (tracks 5, 6, 8) Jamie Siegel – engineer (tracks 2–4, 7, 9–11) Ben Darlow – mixing (tracks 3, 10) (at Livingston Studios, Wood Green), additional mixing (track 7) (at Westside Studios, London) Dave Bascombe – mixing (track 5) (at Whitfield Street Studios, London) Stylorouge – design, art direction Jeff Cottenden – photography Kevin Westenberg – photography (Del Amitri portrait)
Notes
External links Official Del Amitri homepage