Thought this was telling...Walter brought enough to a song or project as a producer that he would have been within his rights to request a songwriter's credit. I also thought it was telling that for the particular song discussed here, King in a Catholic Style off of the 1985 China Crisis album Flaunt the Imperfection, the thing that Walter—renowned guitar and bass player—brought was a keyboard riff to really tie the song together. Easy for me to forget that Walter was no slouch on keys, and did the majority of his composing, both solo and with SD, on a keyboard/piano.
This is great..and its a terrific glimpse of the relationship they had with Walter.
Don't know how I missed this original post back in August, but what a great tribute to Walter; very insightful...and humorous (the guy's way of storytelling reminds me of Paul McCartney, not surprisingly, both are from Liverpool).
These forums are a veritable treasure trove.Full of gems.
Walter spoke as often of the China Crisis projects almost more than any other non SD experience … within the limits that his pantomath nature allowed, anyway. All of his stories about his times with them were warm, most of them hilarious, and it was obvious he held his work with them and their personal relationships with great affection and pride.
Many of the stories seemed to be leavened with the indignity--For Walter anyway--of working in the “dreary, gray, slit your wrists” UK for rather long periods of time, including over at least one Christmas season. He praised everyone plus families for making him feel at home, but there were still some cultural glitches. I seem to recall Walter telling me that they didn't work on Christmas day — fair enough even for Walter— but when he mentioned plans for the very next day's work, he received a shocked silence, astonished looks, and the explanation that no one works on Boxing Day! Apparently this was more sacrosanct a holiday then Xmas itself. He reports it might have been weeks before all the fellows regarded him as an okay bloke once again
I also recall a few tales of several slow rolling car wrecks — was a plate-glass window somehow involved? -- and maybe a not so slow rolling one— copious amounts of ETOH consumed, and heaps of laughs. He loved their humor and their Northern sensibilities. Walter clearly cherished these guys and his time with them, and it's obvious how much he respected their talents.
Sometime during the later SD touring years, shortly before one of the Liverpool gigs, Walter and Garry corresponded by email and made plans — overly hopeful it turned out — to get together. I can't recall if they could only manage some phone contact, a backstage hallo, or a painfully short visit; I think it was a hit-and-run show when we had to skedaddle right after the gig—but Garry told Walter he was working on some new things and Walter as always was interested to hear it and hear about it.
This tribute from the stage would've meant a lot to him. And I'm sure he could've added a few embellishments to the story himself.
[Edit: I may well have more to say, if folks are interested, about the rather unique position CC held in Walter's musical mind and heart -- which he revealed in a few concrete examples]
apparently the guy in the plaid shirt isn't hearing the same Rapure WB is...
That's a great backstory there D-Mod. It makes me think that Walter must have been somewhat riled when the record company decided to use a different producer's work on most of the Diary of a Hollow Horse album. I know it always bothered me! It was very sweet when a few years ago they released an expanded version of the record that included all of Walter's versions. Of course they sounded WAY superior to the other guy's work LOL.
I think I had this photo because Gary had sent it to Walter sometime during their 00's communications....
thx
Edit: on second thought, I haven't rifled through all of w's CD collection on Maui yet... probably should check there first....
D-Mod thanks for that fabulous back story.
At the risk of sounding terribly unpatriotic, WB's description of the UK literally made me laugh out loud
It's still the same.!!.
We note that the next album was recorded in Maui. 😎 Somebody learned their lesson..
Me too ! It made me laugh about the U.K, although we did have a Summer last year and I think the one before that was 1976 !! ;-)
You know, before a few bad citizens brought up a no-no topic,---which may will be deleted before long--- I was wondering if somebody (not Me) could get in touch with one of the CC guys--they're still active these days-- gigging, Facebook I think etc ---and give them the link to this discussion so that they can see how they are appreciated ...and hopefully even add a few observations of their own! (I'm particularly interested to know if that car crash story, the one that ran into the face of some building, was fictional)...etc.
(They wouldn't have to register...they could mail their content to one of the Mods and we could post what ever is approved to share)
The link to this discussion /page is:
https://www.walterbeckermedia.com/forum/brill-bldg-becker/china-crisis-king-in-a-catholic-style/p-1/dl-5de66fc5c8e20f00172a3670-5de3cdf35a29d3009939d9cb-4
PAGE ALERT: please note this page now randomly displays the "Load More Replies" entry at various also random points on the page. It sucks big time. We were going to ask how to get rid of it. In the meantime, remember to expand those if you don't want to miss any posts.
I'll see them at the end of January.
will that be in Evanston? Have fun.
I also don't yet have Gary Daly's solo CD, which I've heard is pretty great.
I guess it may be time for me to get back to listing to music again, eh what? 😕
[Edit: sure enough, an extensive search seems to indicate it's already sold it's run...and it was only just released! Man that burns me..you WANNA give the artist your money, and end up paying some pimply kid in his Omaha basement.....}
Interesting discussion for sure. Here's a comparison between the demo of the title track that the band brought to Hawaii and the final product:
Demo:
Final album cut:
those self-produced demos are great...
Further, for those interested in what difference a producer makes, here is the single Saint Saviour Square as produced by Mike Thorne:
and produced by Walter:
Ditto for the Mike Thorne produced All My Prayers:
And the WB version:
Wait just one mother fucking minute Matthew-----Am I correct in inferring that you have this re-issue CD? Or did you grab all these from YouTube? I hope for the sake of our friendship it is the latter. Nobody puts baby in the corner ! 😡
Of course I can't offer you any trade enticements since you pretty much have all the most valuable stuff already.. Actually, not quite true; I know how to hold out as well!! 😜
wow - lots to say about all this.. But I just had a huge laugh listening to Thorne's All My Prayers, then 10 seconds into WB's intro I said
"There they are! THE PUSHES"!!
Thanks Matt.
These comparisons really do speak for themselves.
I guess it's the result of what happens to music in the hands of,as D-Mod describes,a "sonic connoisseur ".
uh oh;----psue, I think that means you read the catalog introductionI 😣. I was extremely unhappy with that piece and only allowed its inclusion at the last minute.... And was rather hoping most people would just pass it by
--------------------
Note: I moved the balance of my lengthy and maudlin reply to the 3rd page of "the Walter Becker Auction" page, along with several responses relating to the tangent. That now clears up this CC page to stay a bit more on topic.
Hmmmmm, I'll check to see if I lost something,
Pro Tip; check all of those
-- Load More Comments-- lines as well
Hi D,
Thank you for your time and effort, glad that you were able to find what you did. Whatever happened to the other comments will just have to remain a mystery.. Hope this wasn't too much of a problem for you ! I hope that you are enjoying the Holiday ! You are in my heart.. Lary
When I saw Steely Dan play for the first time at The Liverpool Pops , Aintree Liverpool in 2007, the guys from China Crisis were in the audience, and Walter gave a shout out to them
I remember that --- and the nice ovation for them. Not certain of this, but I don't believe they were "active" in those years (although they have in recent years become something of a touring juggernaut) and I thought: even now, these boys are really loved around these parts. And their following today seems as strong as ever. I believe there was a whole year when they toured "album nights" for Flaunt...
[Edit: BTW, Jim McKay is slated to see them later this month -- Hoops, I hope you come by with a review...]
|I know there's been a few China Crisis reissues with expanded versions; anyone know if Diary of a Hollow Horse (complete with the Becker versions) will be re-released?
Frank: It already was, in 2013. See above in this thread for discussion on this.
Thanks. I thought - hoped - it was going to be re-re-issued as part of the campaign that saw the re-release of Flaunt the Imperfection so I could get it for a reasonable price. There seems to be quite a bit of their stuff that you have pay over the odds for (as an example, I'm listening to their rather good Autumn in the Neighbourhood right now - mp3 only, alas). Having aid that, next time they're in my neighbourhood, I'm there.
Ah well. They are appearing this year but with Kim Wilde as the headliner. Don't know how that works. I'll be sitting that one out.