Over on the Hoffman forum about Crowded House, I’ve just claimed that my favourite album credit of all time is: ‘Produced by Fleetwood Mac (with Special Thanks from the band to Lindsay Buckingham)’. I always wonder how many lawyers arrived at that specific wording. And how much per hour each was paid.
I also like, on Disintegration, ‘Lol Tolhurst: Other Instrument’
‘Mal Evans: Tea & Sympathy’ is gold, obviously.
Any other notables from the sleeve-note aficionadi among us?
Also on Plastic Ono Band (John Lennon), Yoko is credited with “wind”. Also many pseudonyms on Lennon records like Dr Winston O’Boogie. Then there were the Hari Georgeson singers on All Things Must Pass
Iron Maiden often gave a credit / thanks to Ruddles Bitter
And am I correct that they’d often say Up the Irons, with most fans thinking that it referred to Maiden but actually was West Ham?
Correct – that was a second common credit.
Steve Harris often had a West Ham scarf or flag draped over his amp too
They did a signing for the first album at my local, Penny Farthing Records, in Ilford. I called in on the way to a Spurs match and made the mistake of wearing my scarf, which I was soon relieved of by Steve Harris. It was eventually returned by fellow Spurs fan Dave Murray, who also signed it for me, bless him. (I’ve still got the scarf.)
The Motörhead/Girlschool St Valentine’s Day Massacre collaboration came about when Phil ‘Philthy Animal’ Taylor broke his neck. As a result he didn’t play on it and is credited with ‘Insults & Inspiration’.
On Fairport’s Rosie Swarb appears multi-tracked as The Swarbrick Brothers (David, Cyril and Eric using his full name)
On Lovesexy:
“Prince: whatever.”
on a couple of 1970s John Cale albums:
Eno : Eno
Eno is often at the centre of weird credits.
On The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway, he is credited with some “Enossification”.
And on Peter Gabriel’s latest, I/O, he’s responsible for “electric worms” (no, me neither).
While I’ve never seen it credited on paper, I’ve read U2 interviews where he’s referred to ‘MSG insects” – a low volume chattering nature ambience that, as the name suggests, makes everything sound better. Mothers of the Disappeared from the Joshua Tree features them.
On Bowie’s ‘Lodger’ our bald chum pops up again, this time credited for ‘cricket menace’
Bob Dylan, guitar, harmonica, piano and police car
Movies do this as well. The mysterious voice that kicks things off in Field of Dreams is billed simply as “Himself”
There has been some speculation as to who it was ranging from the obvious (Kevin Costner or Ray Liotta) to the more surprising (Ed Harris). The director once said that no-one has ever publicly guessed right. Like the JFK assassination or Tom Cruise’s sexuality I’m only interested because it’s a mystery.
Anyway, as you were…
Credits at the end of Airplane (et al) films make for interesting reading:
“Generally In Charge Of A Lot Of Things”
“Flipper Flapper”
“Foreez … A Jolly Good Fellow”
Another interesting film credit: in the Coen Brothers’ Fargo, “Victim in Field” is said to be played by Prince (represented by the symbol/squiggle he used for a bit). Sadly, this appears to have been just a bit of Coen japery.
On Happy Mondays’ ‘Pills, Thrills and Bellyaches’:
Bez – Bez
Tom Waits plays “chair” on Shore Leave.
The Beat Farmers’ late drummer Country Dick Montana was credited with “Vocals, drums and beer runs”.
Anthony Phillips used to summon up quite a cast for his early albums which, as @bargepole has recently acknowledged, is really a cottage industry. Some were undoubtedly real – Mel Collins, Mike Rutherford, Morris Pert, Mike Giles, John G Perry – but Google fails to show any further activity by a certain Hubert Rinse, though apparently Humbert Ruse was really Rupert Hine (who went on to form Quantum Jump with John G Perry blah-di-blah-di-blah). There was Barge Rabble, Vic Stench and the mysterious Ralph Bernascone whose various credits include sand sculptures, armadillo training and ‘a well chronicled 1957 expedition to the Cape Hiam Islands’. Since knighted, Sir Ralph now posts regularly to a Genesis fan blog. Phillips himself regularly guested on his own albums as ‘The Vicar’.
The credits on a National Health album were often drolly amusing. I can’t be arsed to transcribe them here.
“God” is also credited on many a soul album.
Can’t be arsed? Can’t be arsed?
Poor, very poor…
Well having seen the afterings of the Naked cycle ride in London yesterday I would say that’s a good choice.
(Shudders at the very thought…)
Willie Nelson – Lead Vocals, Trigger