Paul Carrack - The Country Side of Paul Carrack, Vol. 1 (2025)

I've always wanted to make a country album - A lot of people detect the influences of soul in my music but I've also always loved country - Growing up, I was hungry for any kind of music but I would listen to people like Chet Atkins, The Everly Brothers, Hank Williams and I particularly loved Ray Charles, who is predominantly known for his soul and jazz stuff, but could also sing really great country.
I have an older brother, John, and one Christmas we were given toy guitars, we used to sing along with skiffle, people like Lonnie Donegan and songs like (Hang Down Your Head) Tom Dooley. We really loved The Everly Brothers and would try to sing the harmonies. Cathy's Clown was a favourite.
Then in the 80s, when I was in a band with Nick Lowe, touring America on the bus we would always have George Jones and Willie Nelson playing, and people like The Osborne Brothers. It just seemed right listening to that when you're on the road in the USA.
Over the years, I've done little bits of country on different albums but then out of the blue, a guy from North Carolina emailed me and said: 'Hi, I'm Steven Wood, I'm a country artist and I'd like to cover your song, Lighten Up Your Mood. Would that be OK and if so, would you like to maybe play on it or sing a few lines?' I told him I'd always wanted to make a country album and he said: 'Well, why don't we collaborate on something? 'So, that was the beginning of this record.
We talked a lot about country music and what it means, because it's such a massive subject. I like the older stuff, the authenticity of it and I didn't want to pick obscure songs for the sake of it. I wanted familiar songs that I'd always loved with an early 60s-70s vibe so, after some very long conversations we chose tracks by people like George Jones, who's a genius basically, and Merle Haggard, who I love. We even do a Hank Snow song, which is one of my favourites, and one of my grandson's too. And of course, we do some Ray Charles and Hank Williams.
We also included a couple of tracks I'd had a hand in writing that we wanted to try in a country vein. There's Love Will Keep Us Alive, which I wrote with Peter Vale and Jim Capaldi and which was a hit for the Eagles. I've recorded a number of versions but this is a Steven Wood production, which adds something fresh to the song. And then there's In The Cold Light of Day, which I wrote with Chris Difford from Squeeze with his typical dry approach to lyrics.
I have a great respect for Steven and what he does so I basically let him run the show. He provided the initial tracks, I laid down vocals and he assembled an amazing band of the best Nashville players to record the live instruments.On a few tracks, Steven added some perfect Nashville style strings at Starstruck Studios with the Nashville String Machine and the arranger, David Shipps. We knew what we wanted to do. We picked the songs and we did it.
I hope you enjoy listening as much as we enjoyed making it.

TRACKLIST

1. Paul Carrack - Sea of Heartbreak
2. Paul Carrack - Take Me
3. Paul Carrack - Love Will Keep Us Alive
4. Paul Carrack - Heartaches by the Number
5. Paul Carrack - Shelly’s Winter Love
6. Paul Carrack - Cold Light of Day
7. Paul Carrack - It Don't Hurt Anymore
8. Paul Carrack - Take These Chains from My Heart
9. Paul Carrack - I Saw the Light
10. Paul Carrack - My Baby's Gone