Hard Times (Peter Skellern album)

Hard Times is the fifth album by singer, songwriter and pianist Peter Skellern (1947–2017)[1]) released in 1975 on the Island Records label. Despite much radio airplay, "Hard Times" failed as a single and the LP slipped into decades of obscurity. As a result of this commercial failure, Skellern changed record companies again, signing with Phonogram under their Mercury subsidiary and immediately enjoying a minor hit with a cover of "Love Is the Sweetest Thing".[2] This album has now been officially re-issued on CD by Mint Audio Records on the 3 cd set, The Complete Island & Mercury Recordings.

Hard Times
Studio album by
Released1975
GenrePop
LabelIsland
ProducerMeyer Shagaloff
Peter Skellern chronology
Hold On to Love
(1975)
Hard Times
(1975)
Kissing in the Cactus
(1977)

Track listing

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All tracks written by Peter Skellern except "Make Love, Not War" written by John Burrows, John Harding and Peter Skellern.

Side 1

  1. "Hard Times”
  2. "I Guess You Wish You’d Gone Home"
  3. "Baby What a Fool I’ve Been”
  4. "Down in the Cellar"
  5. ”Goodbye, America Keep You Well”

Side 2

  1. "Snake Bite"
  2. "Make Love, Not War” (From the musical revue Loud Reports)
  3. "A Capella”
  4. "Let’s Sleep Late"
  5. "And Then You’ll Fall"

Personnel

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  • Peter Skellern - vocals, acoustic and electric piano, percussion, organ and Moog
  • Rob Townsend - drums
  • George Ford - bass guitar
  • Mick Green, Brian Alterman - guitar
  • Chris Karan - tablas
  • Andrew Price Jackman - string arrangements
  • Madeline Bell, Joy Yates, Joanne Williams - backing vocals
  • George Harrison - guitar on "Make Love Not War"

Production

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  • Producer: Meyer Shagaloff by arrangement with Johnny Stirling for Pendulum Music Ltd
  • Engineer: Trevor Vallis
  • Tape operators: Dave & Vaughan
  • Recorded at: Mayfair Sound Studios
  • Cover illustration: Tony Wright
  • Album design: Eckford Stimpson

References

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  1. ^ allmusic.com/artist/peter-skellern-mn0000687269/biography retrieved 16/01/2014
  2. ^ skellernhardtimes.blogspot.co.uk/