Shortly after the last tracks had been laid down on “The Oath” Chris and Nick held a legendary “listening party” at the Coach House not long after which Chris headed back to Northern Ireland where his University Final exams awaited him.
Fawcett / Poustie in early 1994 were in their prime. The Oath of Two Bally Rotters had confirmed F/P’s place as rock geniuses of the highest pedigree. The album had surpassed “Feed The Monkey” once again demonstrating the bands unerring ability to better themselves at every point in their development.
By this time F/P had already assumed legendary status amongst their fans. Both ‘Monkey’ and ‘The Oath’ would go down in the annals of rock history as all time classics. The band was by now becoming accustomed to the tributes and accolades being heaped upon them and were equally comfortable with accepting the responsibility that came with the expectations and were more than keen and confident of continuing to stride boldly forward into new territories. Where others may have been wary and daunted by the responsibility of having to continuously better themselves and explore new themes to F/P it came naturally. For every one trick they had played they believed there to be infinite other ideas available to dabble in and to have a crack at.
Quite simply the idea of having to outdo themselves seemed to F/P to be the easiest thing in the world. The possibilities were endless. All F/P needed was for the inspiration to fall in place and the songs flowed.
Back in Ulster, a fundamental change in Chris’ song writing process occurred at this time, a change that would to this day change the way he composed.
Prior to this change Chris had written about 95% of his music ‘in his head’. In other words he did not use a musical instrument or a tape recorder or a written manuscript to transcribe his music. He stored it in his memory.
The process usually worked something like this. He started to imagine a rhythm or tune in his head. He then wrote down a line or two of lyrics by which he could remember the melody. He then drummed the beat on his knees as he thought out the progression of the song. Structures developed, the verse worked to a chorus and then a second verse was written in the same formation as the first. Lyrics developed as the song played out and bridges etc. were incorporated if and when necessary. The polishing off would very often happen in the studio where new bridges would be written instantaneously with the help of the piano.
The process, due to the constraints of the human brain, had to be a quick one. If the song was not finished in one session there would be the danger of Chris forgetting the whole thing by the time of a second attempt. Chris’ songs were therefore usually at that point completed within about an hour or so. With polished lyrics perhaps taking a further 2 or 3 upgrades.
The process had served Chris very well. But as well as it being a difficult one in terms of memorizing it also had certain limitations.
Although the mind is capable of imagining unique and unorthodox key changes and song-structures it is also likely, for the sake of memory, to make songs fit a certain pattern or structure easily memorable. This is not a bad thing. A memorable song is likely to be a catchy song. However Chris felt that being bound by his brain as an instrument to compose with he was being restricted from entering territories unknown; territories outside of the patterns which would typically form in his head.
And so, sat at a piano in the University, Chris started to compose for the first time in years, on the piano. A couple of the tracks off “Nancy’s” had been written with the aid of the piano, but since then he had consistently used his ‘brain-storming’ method of composing.
And so Chris played out the remaining weeks of his educational career trying to re-engineer his song-writing process. Between a Sunday night session in his local pub “The Derry” and a lunch time session at the piano he came up with the words and music to his first new-formula song “Spinnin’ Round’.
F/P at this stage in their career, after producing two fine, definitive musical statements in “Monkey” and “Oath” felt the need to elaborate further on their next album. Instead of doing a compact classic F/P album they felt it was time to do an album altogether less predictable and more experimental.
What the boys were planning was an album more in the vein of “Nancy’s” than “Oath”. An album that was long, unpredictable, experimental and not necessarily commercial.
Fawcett / Poustie have never been afraid to write music of any genre. Neither have they ever feared writing commercial music. Their philosophy is if it’s good then it will almost certainly be commercial. However, after the huge success of “Oath” and “Monkey” they felt it was time to perhaps do something slightly less in the F/P formula. Whether this would equate to it being less commercial or not the boys did not care. The album they were planning was going to be a masterpiece of grandiose proportions.
The idea of them producing a less commercial album began to appeal to the boys greatly. The idea that somehow they had lost their edge was absurd however F/P felt a desire to be, in a funny kind of way, more dangerous. The attitude that they had was in a way a parody of the attitudes of so many of their heroes at various points in their careers. F/P could never be considered a ‘dangerous’ band; the image was homely rather than raucous. But somewhere inside the boys there grew an urge to do something a little bit more erratic and spontaneous.
As the idea grew it adopted a label. The direction that F/P wanted to head in on the new album was in a ‘twisted’ direction. At this time ‘twisted’ and ‘dangerous’ were two of the boys favourite catch words and the adoption of them both as motivating forces behind the new album seemed to develop naturally.
Not long after Chris had been awarded his degree he headed back to Blighty not with a certificate in his hands as much as with a passion in his spirit. He wanted to get back into the Chester groove and start recording and writing material for the upcoming F/P album.
As Chris was now living back in Chester full time for the first time since moving to Rydal boarding school in 1987 it meant that for the first time in 7 years Fawcett / Poustie had time to spend together as friends and as musical partners.
For this reason there was no impetus to rush-record the new album. This time F/P could record whenever they liked and were not confined by a ticking clock.
It is not certain which songs were recorded first or in fact in which month however it was probably around June time of 1994 when the first songs started being recorded for the album that would eventually became “Captain Parrot” or in full “Captain Parrot’s Twisted Sunday Slippers”.
One of the first songs out of the traps was the Fawcett power rocker “Nowhere Land”. The track was a great first step on the road to achieving the “twisted” vibe. It was nasty, raucous and larger than life with an unholy riff and fist-punching choruses. A definitive opener, the song was recorded with a side one track one slot in mind however as the recording sessions panned out this turned out not to be the case and in the end “Nowhere Land” ended up polishing off side one nicely with a Fawcett bomb blast.
Early in the recording process it already started to become apparent with “Nowhere Land” that the “dangerous” and “Twisted” elements that the boys were keen to introduce were often being battled by less dark forces, or as the forces became known, by ‘Sunday Slippers’. In other words the dangerous was being balanced by a safe homely, radio friendly, altogether less “twisted” sound which the boys at first tried hard to fight back.
The idea of the “Sunday Slippers” came as a direct contrast to the dangerous and the twisted. The derogatory term “Slippers” was used by the band to describe any input to the album that was altogether more comfortable and not in keeping with the “twisted” theme. As the recording sessions progressed several pop-friendly light weight songs and ballads were introduced by the band members and immediately labeled as being “Sunday Slippers”.
Even “Nowhere Land” with its menacing riffs and dynamic choruses ‘suffered’ from an attack of the slippers and Chris was the culprit this time around. Chris’ piano solo on “Nowhere Land” does not fit the song’s vibe at all. The song is nasty, the solo is somewhat frisky and sprightly. This was possibly the first time the slippers crept into the recording sessions and the contrast stands out a mile.
At first Chris was really disappointed by his negative contribution to the “twisted” theme. After all Nick had delivered a corking rocker as promised and Chris had added some kind of syrupy rice pudding to the ingredients. In time however Chris’ resentment of the solo waned. Time is of course the musical judge and what it has eventually decreed with regard to the “Nowhere Land” solo is that it is a classic moment of F/P loopiness. The dangerous theme after all was a little ridiculous. Let’s face it, F/P are more of a friendly force found at the local pub rather than some dangerous metal maniacs. Now the piano solo in “Nowhere Land” seems to be something of a court jester poking fun at the Fawcett molten fury. The pubby tinkle of Poustie’s blues fingers is enough to put a smile on the face of the most dangerous of bruising brutes.
Elsewhere the ‘twisted’ and ‘slippers’ came along from all directions. Chris’ “Spinning Round” another of the earlier tracks to be recorded, started off with a delightful slipperfest of a dainty piano introduction before sliding into a dangerous heartfelt, down-trodden blues. The song was definitely one in keeping with the bands aspirations for the album. “Spinning Round” is not of a commercial formula. It is more akin to seventies rock music tinged with the blues and lengthy solos by both musicians. The song’s lyrics are very much those of the sad and lonely cowboy “Getting tired of sitting here on my own, no company, no sympathy or telephone” however as the song ends the ‘Slipperfest” piano melody reappears with some of the most happy-go-lucky, sunshine-friendly lyrics ever penned; “I see the light shine in your garden of love, and I feel lonely no more.” A true twisted Sunday slipper if ever there were one.
Another of the earlier songs to be recorded was the Fawcett masterpiece “Follow Me Down”. Absolutely not what the boys had in mind when the set out on their dangerous voyage the song is classic formula, good time, radio-friendly F/P rock and roll. To this day Chris often sites “Follow Me Down” as his all time favourite F/P song.
The first single off “Captain Parrot” “Follow Me Down” demonstrates how easily at this time Nick could craft a simple but totally effective rock and roll song. There is no complexity to the track however it seems to say more than any other F/P song what the band is and what kind of music they play best. Although he never sees it himself Fawcett proves himself as a wordsmith of the highest rank on “Follow..” penning simple lines that smile so happily they bring a tear to the eye. This is the good time. This is a song to play in your car when the sun is shining. The line “You know that if you want me to be I’ll be your shooting star, but stay the way you are” is a brilliantly subtle, utterly heartfelt and beautiful compliment to the subject of Fawcett’s wooing. In real life you could imagine how difficult it would be to express such a great compliment in thousands of words as Mr. F manages in that one, utterly simple line.
Musically the song demonstrates the vintage F/P sound. Very bluesy and very happy at the same time there is no other band that has ever sounded the same. When you hear “Follow…” you hear what people call the distinctive F/P sound. Plenty of great moments of soloing adorn the song and also one of the most brilliant moments of musical integration that the band has ever captured on record. At the start of Fawcett’s guitar solo both the twangy guitar and the bluesy piano intertwine perfectly and evoke the sound of a combined musical instrument being played by a single musician. Quite an exquisite moment for fans of F/P musical interplay.
The verses are inquisitive, the pre-choruses extremely uplifting and the choruses sheer bliss powdered with a sprinkling of Poustie’s magic fingers. Finally the song enters a friendly instrumental dual as both musicians take it in turn to demonstrate their genius at simple blues solos closing out a quite wonderful song.
One of the most memorable and remarkable days in the making of the album was the day that spawned the two most exquisitely “twisted” songs on the album.
On a splendidly sunny summers day at the Coach House the boys set themselves the formidable challenge of writing a ‘twisted’ song each in the space of an hour !! And so Fawcett took his sunburst Les Paul to one room whilst Chris sat at the piano in another as they both set about writing 2 of the nastiest pieces of art ever unleashed. To say they succeeded is an understatement. In the space of just 60 minutes there emanated 2 top notch F/P classics.
What emerged from Chris’s evidently warped mind was the monstrous rocker “The Nurse Said….” The theme of this twisted song is that of a battered and mutilated man lying hospitalized in bed in an emergency ward surrounded by a surgeon, an ugly matron and an encouragingly attractive nurse.
The song starts with a jumpy piano riff complimented by a horrible, shrieking strain of a guitar scratch as Fawcett brilliantly runs his guitar pick down the neck of the Les Paul to create a superbly ominous and thrilling effect. As the piano riff continues Fawcett leaves the nasty guitar shredding technique behind and cranks in some excellently propelling chunky chords.
Straight after the intro ends the verses chop in from a completely different angle and bring forth a weird key change that throws the song into a bizarre and eerie verse with Chris singing frighteningly manic and uncontrollable lyrics. The verses creep along step by step, very haunting and ghastly. One of the most deliciously gruesome lines “Think my leg’s been torn off” leads into a screamy pre-chorus “Have I come to some harm, should I raise the alarm” ushering in the chorus. The chorus is big and blustering, “There’s a doctor on the left of me a surgeon on the right the nurse beside my bed says ‘it’ll be alright’”. Although the song is dangerous the words are so silly that it is always teetering on the comic brink.
The chorus is actually in 2 halves the second half of which swings away from the manic and into an altogether more positive and cheery direction with the encouraging advise “If I smile, I might last a while” ! In fact the second half on the chorus is a definite Sunday slipper thrown into the middle of the nightmare to add to the ridiculous comedy of it all.
Elsewhere there is a stunning piano solo, Chris’ best since the “Feed The Monkey” album heralding a return of his best widdles and speedy blues-based diddles. In fact it was probably his best solo to date at that point.
Following the piano solo the song appears to end when all that is left is the pulsating pound of the victim’s heart beat played by Chris on the ivories. As the patient’s pulse appears to have stopped the chorus suddenly and frighteningly jumps back in at full fury as if the victim rises from the dead in the scariest moment of a horror movie. It’s a classic piece of tension building musicianship that adds a brilliant twist to an already incredible song.
Nick also puts in a stellar performance on his awesome, scary but oh-too-short solo shredding like a man possessed. Before rounding off the song there is a gorgeous, slowed down 2nd chorus with exquisite high rise Fawcett guitar beams overplaying some superb Poustie histrionic vocals. An absolute dynamo of a rocker packing the biggest and best Poustie punch since “Fairway”.
As if that was not enough nastiness for one day Fawcett dug deep into his bejeweled chest and brandished the golden gem of lunacy that is the song “Captain Parrot”.
“Captain Parrot” is an absolutely corking rock adventure. The song is a demented tale of a fearsome and loony pirate who “Strikes fears into all his foes” with his swash-buckling cutlass-wielding antics. He runs a ship of dangerous naves who travel the world reeking havoc and basically causing lots of trouble. But the hilarious twist in the tale of the song is that this fearsome brute of a pirate is actually a big soft cuddly chap at heart as Fawcett reveals his secret in the brilliantly witty line “There’s a wave of hands of hooves of paws of wings and of flippers as he sits in his comfy white chair wearing his Sunday Slippers” !!! The image is simply hilariously absurd. And what Fawcett has summed up in this loony line is a perfect parody of the band’s “Twisted” mission which they embarked upon as they set sail on the journey of writing the album. Fawcett’s genius in parodying the band’s faltering crusade in this way is in many ways staggeringly poignant and superbly accomplished with a single line. Fawcett proves himself to be not only a hilarious story teller but also a sharp and pervasive satirist.
The song itself is quite breathtaking. The riff is pure pirate music. Somehow Fawcett manages to conjure up the perfect buccaneering riff that sways and rocks like a mighty pirate ship itself bobbing up and down on the high seas. Talking of which, as well as the captain himself another character is introduced in this song “One-eyed Jake” who also resurfaces later in F/P folklore on the track “The High Seas of Rock’n’Roll” from the band’s 1999 release “Lessons in Samuvian Dance Technique”.
The vibe is thrilling and adventurous and the music exemplifies the theme magnificently. It is an epic movie-score of a song that brings to life the ship, its colourful characters and the swash-buckling nonsense of it all. The point at which the captain is revealed as the slipper-wearing softy he is, is such a great revelation that the listener is almost lured into feeling sorry for the legendary loon. Following the captain’s expose is a truly fantastic piece of musical brilliance from Nick and Chris. The song suddenly stops, as if stunned by the shocking revelation before Nick continues along with a take-it-down guitar break before Chris rejoins him and the band kicks back into action with an exceptional groove that simply clicks ! The feeling evoked is really one of shear shock before the band recovers its bearings, picks up its instruments and slots back into their perfect musical groove. This is a groove the boys have developed after years of experience of playing together. The moment is sensational.
Fawcett comes up trumps with a typically vicious frenzy of a saber rattling solo that has the listener on the edge of the seat. Then a final finale of a huge banner waving chorus sees the mighty ship sale off into the distance, glorious and victorious as the curtain falls. Total, utter stupendous revelry !
But it was becoming more and more obvious that wherever there was danger, slippers were not far behind. And “Captain Parrot” certainly has its fair share of the fluffy comfortable pink variety.
Probably the worst culprit was Poustie’s sweetly-sweetly ballad “Manila Bay”. This song would have made the captain’s toes curl in his size 11 fluffies. The melody is sweet, the words are slushy and the whole ambience is warm, mellow and romantic. It does not stand out as one of Chris’ best ballads but neither is it that bad. The highlight of the song is probably the delicate piano solo which is pure cream on the cake.
Another ballad on offer, and probably a better one was Poustie’s “If It Was Just You and Me”. Just the title inspires cozy images of nights by the fire warming up in dressing gown and slippers. But the song is catchy and poppy and deserved of a place on the album for sure. The song was written prior to the release of “Monkey” but only just made the starting blocks in time for consideration of a spot on “Parrot”. In that respect the catchy and slipper-friendly approach is understandable. The song was from the happy go lucky days.
The final slipper at the bedside was Fawcett’s excellent ballad “Paperback Sundays”. The song is a very high quality piece of songwriting that has been somewhat tarnished by the dismissal of the slipper faction on the album.
“Paperback” is built around some wonderful guitar melodies and gentle cascades of piano. The lyrics are comforting and romantic without being sappy in a way that they are on “IIWJY&M”. When Fawcett sings “You know my favourite times are the hours I spend with you from Saturday night to Paperback Sundays” the listener can’t help empathizing. This is an authentic ballad not a Strawberry Sundae.
The guitar solo on “Paperback” is also quite brilliant. In fact it probably rates amongst Fawcett’s very best. Unusually for Fawcett the solo is clearly a written one that melds in well with the many melodic cascades that permeate the entire song. It is almost Old-worldy in character the kind of tune you would have expected to have been danced by children at a village folk dance hundreds of years ago. It’s definitely not your typical in-yer-face Fawcett ball-buster it is something entirely from another of the man’s many dimensions.
As well as the folk dance there is a curious sea-shanty that pops up in “Sundays” perhaps inspired again by thoughts of the Captain. I am not sure of the relevance of the shanty to the rest of the song but just when Fawcett starts “Blow wind blow fill up the sails lets go, mothers and fathers and sisters and brothers join hands” you can’t help feeling that you are back in the sea-faring days of yesteryear surrounded again by dancing children !
The combination is curious but enchanting, dreamy and fascinating. The Old-world feel demonstrates again that when he turns his hand to it Fawcett can come up with the goods in whatever flavour he so desires. “Paperback” is an F/P song like no other. It lives by itself isolated by time and distance from any other song in the catalog. For that reason alone and for the reason that’s it’s pretty damn good, you’ve got to forgive it for being another slipper in the captains cabin. The song is not entirely all fluffy and pink because towards the end the Fawcett hormones get the better of him and the song gets a little wild and heavy as the vocals start reaching fever pitch and the tasty lick-fest of an unleashed Les Paul comes cruising into town complete with widdles and many a diddle. You’ve got to love it when the red-blooded Les Paul starts burning holes in slippers.
Following the Old-world slush of “Paperback Sundays” Poustie reaches into his twisted bag of tricks and pulls out a raunchy Cheap Trick inspired cock-rocker of the old school. “Appetite” is more structured than Chris’ older cock stock but it nonetheless delivers plenty of innuendo and sauce.
In fact “Appetite” is quite unique on Captain Parrot as being the band’s sole stab at the innuendo lark. As such it is quite refreshing in it’s frankness. It also acts as a reminder of how far F/P had traveled since the days of “Nancy’s Tea Party” and “Magic Bowler Hat Ride”, albums where tongue-in-cheek sleaze was one of the few lyrical guarantees on the menu.
Musically the song is a very accomplished pop-rocker that shows Poustie gathering together many of the lessons learnt on earlier songs like “I Need Your Love” and “Please Don’t Go” and bringing them a step forward and adding more subtle direction changes and colourings. Instrumentally however the song is not delivered to its full potential. Chris’ singing is poor and the guitar and piano interplay pretty uninspired. The tempo is too fast and there is little soul or expression in the instrumentation. That said, the 2 softer passages of the song “Don’t you know it’s never gonna be the same” are quite a contrast. The musicianship here is excellent. The guitar is expressive and the vocals better delivered. All in all it’s a pretty good song that fails to deliver a major punch. Probably only a C+ this time for Chris.
“Blue Skies” was the second song up in the albums track listing. It is definitely not a twisted song and verges very close to being a slipper without being a ballad. It is again yet another Fawcett gem. This time, much in the same way as “Living In Paradise” it is a good-time, pick-you-up feel-good song. It is a pure ray of sunshine which would have fit comfortably on the “Monkey” album. It is a brilliantly commercial and catchy song that pulls all the right punches and flicks all the right switches.
Obviously at this time Nick had good-time commercial rockers sprouting out of his fingers. The feel is light weight but there is enough guitar strumming to keep it on the rock’n’roll right track. The lyrics are absolutely wonderfully uplifting and fresh. Fawcett’s romantic and happy outlook bursts from the song with references to singing birds and flowers a-plenty. One of the most memorably lush lines follows the piano solo “When you laze in the sunshine on a Sunday afternoon and the whole world is feeling so good”….simple but beautiful.
Solo-wise the song is stamped by a typical Fawcett rock’n’roller without too many surprises and another excellent Poustie melodic tune that brings a whole new delicate theme to the song before the great commercial riff strums back in for one last ride on the fun-time journey through the skies. Vintage 1994 Fawcett feel good factor 10.
Chris’ final song on the album “Cryin’ Out” which is the album’s swan song is something of a disappointment. It is not a slipper, neither is it twisted. It is bland and vague. It is definitely not without its merits. It is quite an unusual song in that it doesn’t really sound at all like Fawcett / Poustie or anyone else in particular. The lyrical message in “Cryin’ Out” is a slightly lame attempt at philosophy but without being deep or profound in any sense. Definitely F/P are not your typical purveyors of philosophy but the words here are less inspired than you would expect on the last song of such a monumentally brilliant album. Also Chris’ delivery is strangely vacant, as if his thoughts and mind are somewhere entirely different. The song should probably have been left off the album altogether. From a historical perspective it is however an interesting addition to the album as it is the oldest F/P song ever written. The music to the song dates as far back as the late 1970s or very early 1980s when Chris started first writing songs on the family piano. For that reason it is a curious oddity that provides a strange end to an album you would have predicted would end with a big bang or fanfare of some kind. As it is “Captain Parrot” ends with a wishy-washy song that runs over you like lukewarm water. Weird.
Slot in an inconspicuous position at the start of side 2 sandwiched between the blues of “Spinning Round” and the mush of “Manila Bay” is the greatest song ever recorded. Yes. “If I Was a Poet”.
“Poet” is a huge 13 minutes and 1 second of glorious symphonious adventure. It is a song unlike any other. It is more like a classical composition than a rock song. It can not be compared to other epics as it leaves them far behind. When you listen to “Poet” you are quite simply embraced and taken on a long and wonderful journey into a different plateau of consciousness.
If “Mayor of Boracay” was Fawcett’s first stab at a masterpiece then this song is the master and “Boracay” the simple, basic and humble apprentice. “Boracay” was a song whereas “Poet” is a symphony. Nothing less.
Somehow it belittles “Poet” to put it on an album at all. This song deserves better than a position on a disc. It certainly should not share the same living space as weak mortals such as “Manila Bay”. “Poet” should be an entity within itself. It is strong enough to be an album all by itself. It is a concerto. A festival. A season. A life cycle. A food chain all of its own. An Independent, living breathing, thriving colony of music !
Yet “Poet” humbly resides on side 2 track 2 of Fawcett / Poustie’s 5th album. That ladies and gentlemen is merely the address of the palace. You follow the road to the second side. You stop of at track 2 and after bowing graciously at the gates you come face to face with the song that is called “If I Was a Poet”.
The song starts with a mild lulling of a plucked but humming guitar that is then joined effortlessly and smoothly by a grand piano. A gentle introduction.
Then, similarly restrained, the song proper begins with a thoughtful and melancholy verse. Not sparkling, not overplayed. Just steady, pensive and meditative. Fawcett then joins with the first line and song title “If I Was a Poet would you let me run my fingers through your mind”. This line of questioning runs over the verse as a pondering, reflective theme. The verse runs into a chorus “I’m dreaming Of holding the world in my hands” and then returns to the pensive, questioning verse again and then through to the second chorus.
It is at this point that the song escapes from the foundations of the verse/chorus tradition of song writing and really begins to venture forth on an unbelievable and captivating journey.
Following the second chorus a piano solo creeps in and joins the song. The solo is absolutely regal. It is nothing like any other solo ever played by Poustie. It is royal and legendary, evocative, mythical and dreamy at the same time adding a real grandiose theme to the dreamy curiosity of the main body of the song thus far.
As the piano solo ends the song takes a completely new twist. Away from the regal and mythical and into the worldly and sentimental “Smoking in a café in Paris” sings Nick meditatively “3 a.m. on the dial, she left me ‘bout an hour ago, without a smile”. At this the song and the imagery swiftly transform to a sad, reflective smoky Parisian street café.
Then the stream of consciousness somewhere along the line begins to come together and have meaning as the “If I Was Poet” lyric is reintroduced in a faster more frustrated burst before the calm and tranquility of the Paris café resumes again for a second run through. This time the café theme turns slightly darker and colder “A vision old and lined….Hands keep on ticking as I face oblivion” as though the contemplative man in the café is searching frustratedly for a destiny, for an answer in his peaceful and meditative surrounding. The frantic “If I Was a Poet” burst returns again and then ushers in a new passage “Dark clouds over our head” as the song really starts to turn heavy and brooding with an impending doom lurking thick in the atmosphere.
The impending storm is fended off temporally by a second piano solo. This time round the piano solo is more bluesy, more confused and confrontational. The solo seems to reflect the agitation of the pondering man sat in the café.
Finally the frantic “If I Was A Poet” phase returns again, faster, louder wilder and more frustrated than ever. It is clear that the mounting frustration is about to reach its peak.
Then, with an explosion of wild and blustering widdles and diddles the third piano solo is a crescendo of unconformity. A scream for freedom. A letting loose. An escape.
After the solo the song is left in desolated tatters. It has been devastated. As if the calm following a storm. As if the sullen silence after a chilling scream.
Then out of silence cometh rock. A heavy guitar riff starts raging as Nick starts singing “Dawn is breaking in another town” and the feeling is now more positive, more upbeat, active and confident. With the emerging confidence returns a raunchy rock’n’roll ego “If I had an exhibition of all my sins” !
The recovery of the man then summons the return of the original chorus theme “I’m Dreaming of holding the world in my hands”. Once again the dreamer is back but this time he is in control.
In control Fawcett then strides into his first guitar solo. The confidence is high as the solo develops and is accompanied by some seriously bluesy rock’n’roll boogie woogie from Poustie as Fawcett starts cranking on some long overdue guitar diddles. And then suddenly the euphoria starts to hit overdrive.
With a sexual urge and passion a rocket launching run of power chords getting stronger and faster reach climax point and the solo literally orgasms ! Total unadulterated rock and roll !
Then in the aftermath the groove changes completely again and we are in Jazz land. “Floating around the word” lulls Fawcett in a soft and sensual voice “My feet on a magic carpet floating round the world” and hallucinatory images envelop the jazz groove.
Then there is a completely bizarre and very psychedelic jazz instrumental break where both piano and guitar do weird and funky mind-bending tricks of their own ! These are followed by a cool funky guitar solo and a hip jazzy new-age piano solo ! The instrumentation by both musicians is astonishing in its effortless virtuosity !
Following the psychedelic passage the original verse and line of questioning reappears adding a welcome and comforting home-coming to a song that has traveled so far and to such bizarre extremes already that the listener is exhausted and eager to cling onto familiarity.
A final “Dreaming” chorus runs through comforting and triumphant before an ending passage begins. The ending passage is grandiose and aptly magnificent, bold and brilliant. Then just as the song builds up to its final grand finale the curtain is pulled away swiftly and a quick riff ends the song in a flash of smoke.
Earth-shattering stuff !
“Poet” in many ways is too big for an album. It is bigger than the whole of “Captain Parrot” somehow yet it humbly resides there. A life of its own. It would have probably been a much more apt way to finish the album than the dull “Cryin’ Out” but then again that would have been too predicable.
And so the album was complete. Or was it ? Shortly after Nick and Chris had finished the album they decided that they should make room for one more co-penned song. So they sat at their respective seats in the Coach House studio and started to write.
They had done this before with little success on the track “Extravaganza”, which had been an attempt to re-cook the “We Rock’n’Roll” ingredients.
This time they wanted to write something more in line with the direction they wanted the new album to go in. Something more ‘old fashioned’, something Tommy Bolin might have written in the late ‘60’s and early ‘70s. And what they started to concoct was one of the tastiest tracks in F/P history.
“Colorado Pip’s” clocking in at a mighty 7 minutes, was the last song written and recorded on “Captain Parrot”. The music was written in about an hour or two, in a single afternoon sitting. The song was a perfect musical combo. Unquestionably the most democratic example of a true F/P co-penned track.
Chris came up with high piano lick of the initial riff the second chord of which was Fawcett’s, the main verse was likewise an F/P combination, several of the choppy sub-riffs preceding and following the chorus were Chris’ and the chorus was predominantly Fawcett with the third chord thrown in by Poustie for good measure. It was a perfect example of a song duel-penned. Later in the song Fawcett added the “Train is coming” bridge and Poustie added the funky section that Fawcett solos over.
As the music was being written the boys were throwing in some lyrics. They were aware that their friend, Vanessa Green (sister of Lawton) would be arriving at the Coach House soon and they were eager for her to sing part of, if not all of the song. With this in mind, the idea of doing something along the Tommy Bolin / Zephyr / Candice Givens line sprung to mind as did the “Colorado” concept for the title; Tommy Bolin having once recorded an album with female vocalist extrordinaire Candy Givens called “Going Back to Colorado”.
Chris suggested Colorado Pips as the title and Nick came up with the classic chorus melody and line “I’m a Colorado Girl” and Chris the accompanying “Will you let me be your lucky guy”.
Vanessa came in time to witness Fawcett / Poustie record the musical track to the song. A track that was not the easiest thing they have ever played and one which they pulled off to perfection considering they were under pressure to take Vanessa down to the pub.
Later in the evening having refreshed themselves in the Red Lion all three sat composing lyrics back at the Coach House. Chris, sat alone in the kitchen and finished his in a matter of minutes whereas Nick and particularly Vanessa were having a hard time with theirs.
The idea of the song had been agreed upon and each of the three verses would be written and sung by one of the threesome.
Coming together to share a cigarette in the doorway to the gardens Chris joined Nick and Vanessa and together they wrote Vanessa’s verse. So although Vanessa did write a portion of the lyrics in her verse of the song she did not receive credit on the album sleeve as F/P deemed her contribution too minimal to merit a credit. They have however always given her credit in interviews.
With the music recorded and lyrics written F/P persuaded Vanessa to make her recording debut as vocalist on the third verse of “Colorado Pips”.
To her credit Vanessa did a tremendous job and Fawcett and Poustie were very pleased with how the experiment turned out. So much so that they decided to use “Colorado Pips” as the album opener. It was far from the usual F/P song-writing formula and a perfect experimental and fresh start to the new album. And so there it was. True to their wishes F/P had concocted a huge, untamed, unpredictable animal of an album. It is an album in many ways that demonstrates just how diverse and experimental the band could be and also how tight and commercial they could likewise be.
But, the million dollar question is asked, did they better “The Oath” ?
For most people it’s a close call. The compact structure of “The Oath” with no fillers and a tasty album sleeve make it a fans favourite. But really “Captain Parrot” went places that F/P had never been before. It was a journey through time and space. It was a voyage. An expedition to the highest peaks of musical genius and beyond.
Yes “Captain Parrot” is better than “The Oath”. To sum up the last three albums you could describe “Monkey” as a capsulated ambience, “Oath” as a statement of genius and “Parrot” as a dangerous journey.
“Captain Parrot” had failings. More failings than “The Oath”, but somehow a journey can never be accomplished without learning and struggling with failure. The contrast between the slippers and the twisteds and the endless endeavour for something better and wilder and less conventional made “Captain Parrot” an album of sheer energy and passion. A real work of art complete with splotches and blotches.
Perhaps the album could live without “Manila Bay” but maybe not. Maybe the sweet piano solo in Manila Bay was just another ingredient that needed to be thrown into the pot to make it the right balance.
The album was packaged in a sleeve which did a certain amount of justice to the album. The front cover has a picture of Nick and Chris dressed in silly jungle bandanas and sitting either side of a toy parrot set in a bed of leaves and flowers. It was very silly and tacky but colourful and aptly ludicrous. It is however a cover that has never assumed the legendary status of the classic covers of “The Oath” and “Monkey”.
In terms of individual input “Captain Parrot” was definitely an album that Nick absolutely excelled in. His song titles say it all “Blue Skies”, “Paperback Sundays”, “Follow Me Down”, “Nowhere Land”, “If I Was a Poet”, and “Captain Parrot”. All are classics and all have a distinct sound and vibe to them. A plethora of colours and adventures and passion and soul and experience and heartache went into Nick’s collection. Also his guitar work was impeccable and not only that…he also gave Chris plenty of scope for great piano solos within his songs. “Poet” for example boasts no less than 4 piano solos !
Chris’ contribution was perhaps not as altogether brilliant as Nick’s. Some of Chris’ input worked really well, like on the classic “The Nurse Said….” but elsewhere he failed to deliver in equally huge strides as his sparring partner. Solo-wise Poustie put in his finest album to date bar none. His blues roots were in the forefront for the first time in a long time and he had several stupendous solos most notably on “If I Was a Poet” but also on most of the album tracks. This was one album where Chris excelled as a player more than as a writer.
And so they had finished recording 3 monumental albums in the space of about 9 months ! An average of almost one song per week !! It was time for F/P to take a well earned break.
They were finding that music held no barriers. As either partner grew the other partner learnt. Their energy level was astonishing and their creative level simply breathtaking.
“Captain Parrot” was F/P at their peak. In the summer of their most prolific ever year they had recorded an album, their 5th in succession to better its predecessor.
But as the world basked in the music it was becoming evident that the clock was ticking and that time for Fawcett / Poustie was slowly running out.