At the River

"At the River" is a song by British duo Groove Armada. It was released as a single in 1997 on 7" vinyl, limited to 500 copies.[2] The song appeared on the duo's debut album Northern Star and again on their second album, Vertigo, released in April 1999.

For the song for voice & piano, S. 214 (K. 6B54), see Charles Ives. For the American hymn, see Shall We Gather at the River?

"At the River"
Single by Groove Armada
from the album Northern Star
Released
  • 1997
  • 26 July 1999 (re-release)
Recorded1997
Genre
Length6:33
Label
Songwriter(s)
  • Cato
  • Findlay
  • Allan Jeffrey
  • Claire Rothrock
  • Milton Yakus
Producer(s)Groove Armada
Groove Armada singles chronology
"At the River"
(1997)		 "I See You Baby"
(1999)
1999 re-release
Cover of the CD single

Production and content

The song was written and produced whilst the duo were staying in a cottage in Ambleside in the Lake District, writing material for their first album.[2]

A sample of Patti Page's "Old Cape Cod" forms the basis of the song: the lines "If you're fond of sand dunes and salty air/Quaint little villages here and there", sung in Page's multi-tracked close-harmony, is repeated throughout the song, with the addition of synthesizer bass and slowed-down drum programming. The band found "Old Cape Cod" when they bought a 1950s compilation album from a bargain bin in a shop in Ambleside for 50p. Tom Findlay suggested that the use of only one section of the song's lyric left the track open to interpretation, "giving it a slightly eerie, melancholy quality", although he admitted that this wasn't by design but because the sampler they were using could only record ten seconds of audio at a time. A blues-style trombone solo inspired by the spiritual song "At the River" was performed by Andy Cato to produce a more chill-out track. According to Cato the only reason he had taken his trombone to the Lake District was because he wanted to practice before an upcoming jazz concert: when he wanted to record the trombone melody, he had to improvise a microphone by swapping around the wires in a speaker from the cottage's Alba hi-fi as the duo didn't have a microphone with them and were staying in a remote location. Cato credited this as giving the recording "a real vintage character".[2]

Release

"At the River" was originally released as a single on 7" vinyl in 1997 in a limited pressing of 500 copies, and appeared on the duo's debut album Northern Star as well as its follow-up, Vertigo, in 1999. Rob da Bank made it his single of the week in DJ Mag: he subsequently handed a copy to Zoe Ball, who started playing it on The Radio 1 Breakfast Show. Although the BBC Radio 1 playlist committee initially believed the song was too slow for radio, support from radio producers and listeners meant that it forced its way into rotation.[2] On 26 July 1999, the single was re-released on 12" and CD. This re-release peaked at number 19 in the UK Singles Chart.[3]

It was used in adverts for Marks & Spencer Food in 2006, and in the films About Time and The Low Down.[4][5]

Track listing

All songs were written by Andy Cato, Tom Findlay, Allan Jeffrey, Claire Rothrock, and Milton Yakus, except where noted.

7" vinyl
Side A
No.TitleLength
1."At the River" 
Side B
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Disco Insert"Tim 'Love' Lee 
12" vinyl
Side A
No.TitleLength
1."At the River (English Riviera Mix)"6:13
2."At the River (Original Version)"6:33
Side B
No.TitleLength
1."At the River (Presence Mix)"5:45
CD
Pepper Records release
No.TitleLength
1."At the River (Radio Edit)"3:14
2."At the River (English Riviera Mix)"6:13
3."At the River (Presence Mix)"5:48
4."At the River (English Riviera Edit)"3:49
Jive Electro release
No.TitleLength
1."At the River (Radio Edit)"3:14
2."At the River (English Riviera Mix)"6:13
3."At the River (Presence Mix)"5:48
4."At the River (English Riviera Edit)"3:49
5."At the River (Original Version)"6:33

Certifications
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI)[6] Silver 200,000

Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

References
  1. "10 years of Groove Armada". Resident Advisor.
  2. Dave, Simpson (20 November 2018). "Groove Armada: how we made At the River". The Guardian. Retrieved 20 November 2018.
  3. "At The River". Official Charts archive. Retrieved 15 April 2019.
  4. richardjshaffer (21 July 2007). "M&S Advert" – via YouTube.
  5. "The Low Down (2000)" – via www.imdb.com.
  6. "British single certifications – Groove Armada – At the river". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 13 June 2018. Select singles in the Format field. Select Silver in the Certification field. Type At the river in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
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