Spanish Train and Other Stories
| Spanish Train and Other Stories | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by Chris de Burgh | ||||
| Released | 1 November 1975 | |||
| Recorded | Ramport and Scorpio Studios | |||
| Genre | Rock | |||
| Length | 43:28 | |||
| Label | A&M | |||
| Producer | Robin Geoffrey Cable | |||
| Chris de Burgh chronology | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   [1] |
Spanish Train and Other Stories is the second album by Chris de Burgh, released by A&M Records in 1975.
Track listing
- "Spanish Train" – 5:00
- "Lonely Sky" – 3:52
- "This Song For You" – 4:14
- "Patricia the Stripper" – 3:30
- "A Spaceman Came Travelling" – 5:10
- "I'm Going Home" – 3:34
- "The Painter" – 4:20
- "Old Friend" – 3:40
- "The Tower" – 5:22
- "Just Another Poor Boy" – 4:46
All songs written by Chris de Burgh.
Personnel
- Chris de Burgh – acoustic guitars, lead and all backing vocals, piano on The Tower and This Song For You
- Barry de Souza – drums
- Ray Glynn – electric guitars
- Lennox Laington – percussion
- Tony Hymas – keyboards
- Tony Reeves – bass, string bass on A Spaceman Came Travelling
- Phillip Goodhand-Tait – harmonium
- Chris Laurence – string bass
- Ken Freeman – string synthesizer
- Chris Mercer – sax on The Painter
- Mick Eves – sax on The Painter
Other credits
- The Strings, Choir, Recorders and Ocarinas on The Tower and Lonely Sky were arranged by Robert Kirby who also arranged the brass for Old Friend and This Song For You.
- David Hentschel arranged and performed synthesizer on A Spaceman Came Travelling.
- Richard Hewson arranged the strings and brass for Just Another Poor Boy and Spanish Train.
- Mixed at Scorpio and AIR Studios.
- Engineered by Robin Geoffrey Cable, assisted by Mark Dobson, Ian Major, and John Kelly.
- Front and Back Illustrations: Bill Imhoff
- Inside Photography: Clive Arrowsmith
- Art Direction: Fabio Nicoli
- Design: Junie Osaki
Chart positions
| Date | Position | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| 31 August 1985 | 48 | New Entry |
| 7 September 1985 | 37 | Highest & Final Entry |
Controversy
The title track is a story about a train carrying the souls of the dead to the Underworld. Jesus and Lucifer are playing Poker - gambling with the souls. Lucifer cheats and wins the game. The song finishes with the stanza:
"Far away, in some recess,
as for the Lord - he's just doing his best."
The Lord and the Devil are now playing Chess.
The Devil still cheats and wins more souls,
The song was deemed blasphemous in South Africa, and a ban was ordered. A&M records sued to get the ban overturned - the suit was eventually successful. However, while the suit was in progress, A&M released the album under the title "Lonely Sky and Other Stories" (without "Spanish Train"). This album is considered a collector's item today - copies are extremely rare. Perversely, the ban only applied to the LP record, so the cassette issue of Spanish Train was always freely available.