Where Angels Fear to Tread (Mink DeVille album)
Encyclopedia
Where Angels Fear to Tread, issued in 1983, is the fifth album
by the rock
band Mink DeVille
. It was the second album Mink DeVille recorded for Atlantic Records
, and Atlantic brought in two in-house producers, Howard Albert and Ron Albert
, to produce the album.
Mink DeVille as a rock group had effectively ceased to exist as a band; only lead singer Willy DeVille
remained from the original band. For this album, Willy DeVille reached deeper into his Latin
roots, even recording a salsa
number, "Demasiado Corazon." A single, “Each Word’s a Beat of My Heart,” reached number 89 on the Billboard Hot 100
charts. Two percussionists from the Latin
dance
/disco
band Foxy
, Richie Puente and Joe Galdo, played on the album. A recording of "Stand by Me
" was made at this session and released on a 7-inch single along with “Demasiado Corazon” and “Are You Lonely Tonight?”
said about the album, “This uncluttered and uncomplicated tribute to DeVille's chosen forebears — Sam Cooke
, Phil Spector
, the Drifters
, Joe Tex
, James Brown
— also includes forays into Spanish Harlem
and other wondrously nostalgic time warps. DeVille's songwriting and singing have returned to top strength, and the record burns with sincerity and warmth. Simply, elegantly excellent.”
Allmusic said about Where Angels Fear to Tread, “DeVille and his band were burning through the pages of rock and R&B
history (there are a couple of doo wop
- and New Orleans-flavored cuts as well) with raw swagger and astonishing musicianship. Why they didn't catch and George Thorogood
and Southside Johnny
(briefly) did is a mystery that will be up to '80s historians to figure out.”
Background singers Margaret Reynolds and Beverly Champion had sung with KC and the Sunshine Band
and in 1985 would, under the name Margaret Reynolds and Girlfriends, record the Dubwise 12-inch single "Three Steps from True Love."
Willy DeVille recorded "The Moonlight Let Me Down" a second time in 1996 for a CD single. The single included a radio version and extended version of the song as well as "Ballad of the Hoodlum Priest" (from DeVille's Loup Garou
album).
The album’s title comes from the Johnny Mercer
song “Fools Rush In (Where Angels Fear to Tread)
,” not from the novel by that title
written by E. M. Forster
.
Album
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
by the rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
band Mink DeVille
Mink DeVille
Mink DeVille was a rock band known for its association with early punk rock bands at New York’s CBGB nightclub and for being a showcase for the music of Willy DeVille. The band recorded six albums in the years 1977 to 1985. Except for frontman Willy DeVille, the original members of the band played...
. It was the second album Mink DeVille recorded for Atlantic Records
Atlantic Records
Atlantic Records is an American record label best known for its many recordings of rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and jazz...
, and Atlantic brought in two in-house producers, Howard Albert and Ron Albert
The Albert Brothers
The Albert Brothers are two recording engineer brothers, Ron Albert and Howard Albert, who are best known for their work on various recordings at Criteria Studios in Miami, Florida, founded and owned by Mack Emerman...
, to produce the album.
Mink DeVille as a rock group had effectively ceased to exist as a band; only lead singer Willy DeVille
Willy DeVille
Willy DeVille was an American singer and songwriter. During his thirty-five year career, first with his band Mink DeVille and later on his own, Deville created original songs rooted in traditional American musical styles. He worked with collaborators from across the spectrum of contemporary...
remained from the original band. For this album, Willy DeVille reached deeper into his Latin
Latin American music
Latin American music, found within Central and South America, is a series of musical styles and genres that mixes influences from Spanish, African and indigenous sources, that has recently become very famous in the US.-Argentina:...
roots, even recording a salsa
Salsa music
Salsa music is a genre of music, generally defined as a modern style of playing Cuban Son, Son Montuno, and Guaracha with touches from other genres of music...
number, "Demasiado Corazon." A single, “Each Word’s a Beat of My Heart,” reached number 89 on the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
charts. Two percussionists from the Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
dance
Dance music
Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole musical piece or part of a larger musical arrangement...
/disco
Disco
Disco is a genre of dance music. Disco acts charted high during the mid-1970s, and the genre's popularity peaked during the late 1970s. It had its roots in clubs that catered to African American, gay, psychedelic, and other communities in New York City and Philadelphia during the late 1960s and...
band Foxy
Foxy (band)
Foxy is a Latin Dance/disco group formed in 1976 in Miami, Florida.The group consisted of vocalist-guitarist Ish "Angel" Ledesma , percussionist Richard "Richie" Puente, keyboardist Charlie Murciano, bass guitarist Arnold Paseiro and drummer Joe Galdo...
, Richie Puente and Joe Galdo, played on the album. A recording of "Stand by Me
Stand by Me (song)
"Stand by Me" is the title of a song originally performed by Ben E. King and written by King, Jerry Leiber, and Mike Stoller, based on the spiritual "Lord Stand by Me,", plus two lines rooted in Psalms 46:2-3...
" was made at this session and released on a 7-inch single along with “Demasiado Corazon” and “Are You Lonely Tonight?”
Reviews
Trouser PressTrouser Press
Trouser Press was a rock and roll magazine started in New York in 1974 as a mimeographed fanzine by editor/publisher Ira Robbins, fellow Who fan Dave Schulps and Karen Rose under the name "Trans-Oceanic Trouser Press" ...
said about the album, “This uncluttered and uncomplicated tribute to DeVille's chosen forebears — Sam Cooke
Sam Cooke
Samuel Cook, , better known under the stage name Sam Cooke, was an American gospel, R&B, soul, and pop singer, songwriter, and entrepreneur. He is considered to be one of the pioneers and founders of soul music. He is commonly known as the King of Soul for his distinctive vocal abilities and...
, Phil Spector
Phil Spector
Phillip Harvey "Phil" Spector is an American record producer and songwriter, later known for his conviction in the murder of actress Lana Clarkson....
, the Drifters
The Drifters
The Drifters are a long-lived American doo-wop and R&B/soul vocal group with a peak in popularity from 1953 to 1963, though several splinter Drifters continue to perform today. They were originally formed to serve as Clyde McPhatter's backing group in 1953...
, Joe Tex
Joe Tex
Joseph Arrington, Jr. , better known as "Joe Tex", was an American Southern soul singer-songwriter, most popular during the 1960s and 1970s...
, James Brown
James Brown
James Joseph Brown was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and recording artist. He is the originator of Funk and is recognized as a major figure in the 20th century popular music for both his vocals and dancing. He has been referred to as "The Godfather of Soul," "Mr...
— also includes forays into Spanish Harlem
Spanish Harlem (song)
"Spanish Harlem" is a song released by Ben E. King in 1960 on Atco Records, written by Jerry Leiber and Phil Spector and produced by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller...
and other wondrously nostalgic time warps. DeVille's songwriting and singing have returned to top strength, and the record burns with sincerity and warmth. Simply, elegantly excellent.”
Allmusic said about Where Angels Fear to Tread, “DeVille and his band were burning through the pages of rock and R&B
Rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a...
history (there are a couple of doo wop
Doo-wop
The name Doo-wop is given to a style of vocal-based rhythm and blues music that developed in African American communities in the 1940s and achieved mainstream popularity in the 1950s and early 1960s. It emerged from New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, Baltimore, Newark, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati and...
- and New Orleans-flavored cuts as well) with raw swagger and astonishing musicianship. Why they didn't catch and George Thorogood
George Thorogood
George Thorogood is an American blues rock vocalist/guitarist from Wilmington, Delaware, United States, known for his hit song "Bad to the Bone" as well as for covers of blues standards such as Hank Williams' "Move It On Over" and John Lee Hooker's "House Rent Boogie/One Bourbon, One Scotch, One...
and Southside Johnny
Southside Johnny
Southside Johnny is an American singer-songwriter, who usually fronts his band Southside Johnny & The Asbury Jukes.-Early days:...
(briefly) did is a mystery that will be up to '80s historians to figure out.”
Other information
Boris Kinberg, a percussionist in The Mink DeVille Band, considered "Lilly's Daddy's Cadillac" one of the best songs Willy DeVille ever wrote. "It's a brilliant song. It’s a mini-film. In a three-minute song you have an hour and a half movie. It’s about drug deal gone bad."Background singers Margaret Reynolds and Beverly Champion had sung with KC and the Sunshine Band
KC and the Sunshine Band
KC and the Sunshine Band is an American musical group. Founded in 1973 in Miami, Florida, their style has included funk, R&B, and disco. Their most well known songs include the disco hits "That's the Way ", " Shake Your Booty", "I'm Your Boogie Man", "Keep It Comin' Love", "Get Down Tonight", "Give...
and in 1985 would, under the name Margaret Reynolds and Girlfriends, record the Dubwise 12-inch single "Three Steps from True Love."
Willy DeVille recorded "The Moonlight Let Me Down" a second time in 1996 for a CD single. The single included a radio version and extended version of the song as well as "Ballad of the Hoodlum Priest" (from DeVille's Loup Garou
Loup Garou
Loup Garou is an album released in 1995 by Willy DeVille. First released in Europe in 1995 on the EastWest label, it was released the following year in the United States on the Discovery label...
album).
The album’s title comes from the Johnny Mercer
Johnny Mercer
John Herndon "Johnny" Mercer was an American lyricist, songwriter and singer. He is best known as a lyricist, but he also composed music. He was also a popular singer who recorded his own songs as well as those written by others...
song “Fools Rush In (Where Angels Fear to Tread)
Fools Rush In (Where Angels Fear to Tread)
"Fools Rush In" is a popular song. The lyrics were written by Johnny Mercer with music by Rube Bloom. The major hits at the time of introduction were Glenn Miller with Ray Eberle and Tommy Dorsey with Frank Sinatra. It was also recorded by Billy Eckstine...
,” not from the novel by that title
Where Angels Fear to Tread
Where Angels Fear to Tread is a novel by E. M. Forster, originally entitled Monteriano. The title comes from a line in Alexander Pope's An Essay on Criticism: "For fools rush in where angels fear to tread"....
written by E. M. Forster
E. M. Forster
Edward Morgan Forster OM, CH was an English novelist, short story writer, essayist and librettist. He is known best for his ironic and well-plotted novels examining class difference and hypocrisy in early 20th-century British society...
.
Track listing
Unless otherwise noted, all songs by Willy DeVille.- “Each Word's a Beat of My Heart" - 3:24
- “River of Tears” – 3:18
- “Demasiado Corazon (Too Much Heart)” - 3:33
- “Lilly's Daddy's Cadillac” - 2:52
- “Around the Corner” (Carl SigmanCarl SigmanCarl Sigman was an American songwriter.-Biography:Born in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, New York, Sigman graduated from law school and passed his Bar exams to practice in the state of New York...
, Ezio Leoni, Vito Pallazicini) - 2:30 - “Pick Up the Pieces” - 3:20
- “Love's Got a Hold on Me” - 4:33
- “Keep Your Monkey Away from My Door” - 3:08
- “Are You Lonely Tonight?” - 3:00
- “The Moonlight Let Me Down” - 5:23
Personnel
- Ricky Borgia – guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
, background vocals - The C Lord C – background vocalsBacking vocalistA backing vocalist or backing singer is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists...
- Beverly Champion – background vocals
- Louis Cortelezzi – alto saxAlto saxophoneThe alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments invented by Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in 1841. It is smaller than the tenor but larger than the soprano, and is the type most used in classical compositions...
, baritone saxBaritone saxophoneThe baritone saxophone, often called "bari sax" , is one of the largest and lowest pitched members of the saxophone family. It was invented by Adolphe Sax. The baritone is distinguished from smaller sizes of saxophone by the extra loop near its mouthpiece...
, tenor saxTenor saxophoneThe tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor, with the alto, are the two most common types of saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B, and written as a transposing instrument in the treble... - Willy DeVilleWilly DeVilleWilly DeVille was an American singer and songwriter. During his thirty-five year career, first with his band Mink DeVille and later on his own, Deville created original songs rooted in traditional American musical styles. He worked with collaborators from across the spectrum of contemporary...
– vocalsSingingSinging is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
, guitar, background vocals - Joe Galdo – drums, percussion
- Kenny Margolis – pianoPianoThe piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
, organOrgan (music)The organ , is a keyboard instrument of one or more divisions, each played with its own keyboard operated either with the hands or with the feet. The organ is a relatively old musical instrument in the Western musical tradition, dating from the time of Ctesibius of Alexandria who is credited with...
, accordionAccordionThe accordion is a box-shaped musical instrument of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone family, sometimes referred to as a squeezebox. A person who plays the accordion is called an accordionist....
, synthesizerSynthesizerA synthesizer is an electronic instrument capable of producing sounds by generating electrical signals of different frequencies. These electrical signals are played through a loudspeaker or set of headphones... - Richie Puente – percussion
- Margaret Reynolds – background vocals
- Joey Vasta – guitar
- Fred Wickstrom – percussion, timpaniTimpaniTimpani, or kettledrums, are musical instruments in the percussion family. A type of drum, they consist of a skin called a head stretched over a large bowl traditionally made of copper. They are played by striking the head with a specialized drum stick called a timpani stick or timpani mallet...
Production
- Ron AlbertThe Albert BrothersThe Albert Brothers are two recording engineer brothers, Ron Albert and Howard Albert, who are best known for their work on various recordings at Criteria Studios in Miami, Florida, founded and owned by Mack Emerman...
- producerRecord producerA record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
, mixingAudio mixing (recorded music)In audio recording, audio mixing is the process by which multiple recorded sounds are combined into one or more channels, most commonly two-channel stereo. In the process, the source signals' level, frequency content, dynamics, and panoramic position are manipulated and effects such as reverb may... - Howard AlbertThe Albert BrothersThe Albert Brothers are two recording engineer brothers, Ron Albert and Howard Albert, who are best known for their work on various recordings at Criteria Studios in Miami, Florida, founded and owned by Mack Emerman...
- producer, mixing - Jay Berman - photographyPhotographyPhotography is the art, science and practice of creating durable images by recording light or other electromagnetic radiation, either electronically by means of an image sensor or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film...
- Willy DeVille - associate producer
- Joseph Fontana - executive producer
- Mike Fuller - masteringAudio masteringMastering, a form of audio post-production, is the process of preparing and transferring recorded audio from a source containing the final mix to a data storage device ; the source from which all copies will be produced...
- Patrice Carroll Levinsohn - assistant producer
- Louis Ragusa - executive producer