All In A Good Corrs

Where next for The Corrs? With a six million-selling album under their collective belts in Talk On Corners and their debut album, Forgiven Not Forgotten, continuing to shift by the container-load in its slipstream, you might be excused for thinking that the group deserve a bit of a rest.
Instead, honeyed words of persuasion from both MTV and their label Warners, convinced them to plunge back into the fray immediately with The Corrs Unplugged. It s the first time an Irish band has done an MTV Unplugged session, a band spokesman told Hot Press. Understandably, it s a distinction that they re proud of, placing them, as it does, in select company even in the international arena.
It s not somethng that was planned, manager John Hughes explains. We were asked to do it and agreed. But it had to be done quickly and so where most people prepare for something like this for months, we had just four days to rehearse. And we ve left it raw because that s the way we wanted it. There s no fixes. No safety nets. This is the real thing.
If it was designed for one purpose alone, the album could already be deemed a success because it demolishes completely any notion that The Corrs can t play or that they re over-reliant on high-gloss studio production and trickery. In fact, if anything, the opening up that was effected between the original American mix of Talk On Corners and the remixes commissioned by Rob Dickens, is taken one step further here: there s more breathing room, and the musician s personalities can shine through.
Among the album s riskier essays is a cover of Philip Lynott s hugely memorable solo cut Old Town . We wanted to include another cover version and there was talk about doing a Beatles song, John Hughes reveals, but everyone does The Beatles and so I suggested doing a Thin Lizzy song, thinking Irish. But it was Andrea who came up with Old Town .
Fiachra Trench, who did the original brass piece was around, and so he rehearsed it with the band and it was magic, hearing that music from nearly 20 years ago come alive again. I knew Philip Lynott and I can tell you, I know he d have loved it.
Old Town isn t the only special Irish flavour to be savoured on The Corrs Unplugged. The inclusion of No Frontiers should be a huge fillip for Jimmy McCarthy, while the album was engineered by Tim Martin and utilises the services of the Irish Film Orchestra, with Fiachra Trench one of Ireland s most under-exposed rock successes again as arranger.
And what of the international dimension? The album is produced by Mitchel Fromm and mixed by Bob Clearmountain and they re real musos, two of the best in the business and they re both full of praise and enthusiasm for what we ve done with this record, says John Hughes. I think this is a great live album that ll still be played in ten years time.
From a strategic perspective, The Corrs Unplugged may prove to be yet another masterstroke. The first single Radio has already been playlisted by BBC Radio 1, indicating that U.K. success is on the cards. But, more importantly, the inevitable MTV support with the video for Radio being taken from the Unplugged show itself is likely to ensure that the band will have stepped up to another plateau in the crucial U.S. market, come their next record.
The current schedule is to have that ready for release sometime during the first three or four months of the year 2000, and already, the word is that some of the biggest heavyweights in the game are in the running as possible producers.
Really, we don t want anything to distract from that, a band spokesman added, but doing the Unplugged thing was a challenge we couldn t resist. But the third album is the big one.

Track By Track

Only When I Sleep : The first single to be taken from their second album Talk On Corners and one of their biggest hits to date. Like most of the arrangements on this album, the live version is looser and more organically textured than the polished and occasionally over-produced studio versions. The soaring string backing here also lends it an epic quality not heard in the original, while the vocal harmonies appear to be stronger and more upfront in the mix. A stirring opening shot.

What Can I Do : Equally humoungous hit and the third single from Talk On Corners, the familiar staccato guitar riff on the intro has been replaced by the string section which sounds even more appropriate in the context. Andrea is in particularly fine voice here as she flexes her tonsils around the complex structure of the melody.

Radio : A new song which will also be the first single release from Unplugged. The acoustic guitar intro faintly recalls the Isley Brothers Harvest For The World (also a hit for The Christians) but that s where any similarities end. With an instantly memorable melody and chorus, it s one of their strongest and most mature songs to date. A sure-fire hit, given the right exposure.

Toss The Feathers : The Corrs penchant for mixing traditional tunes into their live set hasn t always gone down well with the home audience. But it s something they ve done from the very beginning and, as such, is as much a part of their musical background as any other element in their repertoire. Again the live version is more real and present than the version which appeared on their debut album.

Runaway : Arguably The Corrs finest pop creation, this was also their first ever single and the first of their songs to break through, over the airwaves. It was also the first Irish pop song to successfully blend traditional strains with pure pop forms a trend since successfully pursued by others, including B*witched. From the opening fiddle to the dreamy chorus, if The Corrs were to be remembered for nothing else, this will go down not just as their finest moment but as one of pop s most luxurious gems of the late 90s.

Forgiven Not Forgotten : Title track to their first album and the second single to be taken from it, this extremely complex tune demonstrated just how sophisticated The Corrs were right from the beginning. They ve no problem handling the complexities in a live setting either.
At Your Side : Another new song which proves conclusively that The Corrs are capable of turning out consistently gorgeous pop melodies. With minimal backing just piano and guitar it s yet another potential hit.

Little Wing : They came in for quite an amount of stick from certain quarters for having the temerity to record a Jimi Hendrix song. But as the version here demonstrates, it s a perfect vehicle for their instrumental and vocal abilities and not a bad tune at all, in its own right!

No Frontiers : Best known in this country for Mary Black s hit version, The Corrs have been performing this song live for some time now, to ecstatic audience response. The arrangement is not dissimilar to Black s and the song s inclusion on this album, which is sure to be a huge seller, promises to provide his biggest payday ever to its writer Jimmy McCarthy. It will also help to propel him into the international spotlight.

Queen Of Hollywood : From Talk On Corners, this is another sophisticated slow-burner that comes alive afresh in performance.

Old Town : A song that will be forever associated with Philip Lynott and the city of Dublin, this one could prove to be the most controversial with the home audience. The arrangement is similar to Lynott s even the Penny Lane style piccolo trumpet solo, which was composed for the original by Fiachra Trench, is reiterated here, under his arranging guidance. Interestingly, the lyric this boy is crackin up has also been retained in the masculine form. With The Corrs help, this could in time become Philip Lynott s best-known song.

Lough Erin s Shore : Beautiful slow air, which opened their debut album, it builds up from a slow beginning to an epic crescendo. Once again, it underlines just how accomplished the troupe are as musicians.

So Young : Another of their hugely popular singles, this has become something of an anthem for the younger generation of Corrs fans, who have taken the band to heart. Again, it blends Irish airs with pop structures. The version here has the audience clapping and singing along with great gusto.

Everybody Hurts : The REM classic, which The Corrs performed so poignantly on the Late Late Show Omagh Tribute Special, around this time last year. Strangely they didn t play it at their Lansdowne Road show, despite the fact that it had been done on precisely the same stage, 24 hours earlier, by the song s originators or maybe that was why! This should prove popular with US audiences, and could quite conceivably see release as a single.

Dreams : The Fleetwood Mac song which appeared on the album Legacy: A Tribute To Fleetwood Mac s Rumours and which precipitated their breakthrough into rock s premiership. Dreams became a surprise hit in the UK and was added to the re-mixed edition of Talk On Corners. The Corrs version, essentially faithful to the original, is one of their most popular songs in concert, and makes a fitting way to round off an album that confirms The Corrs pedigree and musicianship indisputably. n
The Corrs Unplugged is released by Atlantic on November 12th.