Back on the Chain Gang

"Back on the Chain Gang" was recorded after James Honeyman-Scott, the Pretenders guitarist, died of a drug overdose at the age of 25 on June 16, 1982. This came two days after the Pretenders fired their longtime bassist Pete Farndon because of his drug problem. On July 20, 1982, the band began recording the song at AIR Studios in London. At that time, only two Pretenders were left: singer-songwriter Chrissie Hynde, who was about three months pregnant with her first daughter, and drummer Martin Chambers. Other musicians were hired to fill out the session: lead guitarist Billy Bremner of Rockpile, guitarist Robbie McIntosh, and bassist Tony Butler who was already at the studio for a Big Country recording project. The producer was Chris Thomas who was familiar to the band from his integral role in making the Pretenders' earlier records, using Bill Price as his engineer, but for this session Steve Churchyard replaced Price because Price was committed to another AIR project at Wessex Sound Studios.[3]

Most of the song was recorded quickly with the band placed close together in the studio, arranged as if performing live, with Chambers' drums up on a riser. Small loudspeakers were aimed at the musicians from behind Chambers to reinforce the sound of selected drums such as the snare. Bremner's featured guitar solo was performed in one take. Later, alone in the studio as was her preference, Hynde performed her main vocal line with three or four overdubs dropped in to fix minor imperfections. She then recorded her own backing vocals. Finally, the rest of the backing vocals were performed by Chambers and Butler, along with the chain-gang chant. The sound of clanging hammers was made by banging various metal pieces together, especially the 25-pound (11 kg) weights that the studio used as ballast for large boom stands. This effect was performed by studio assistant Jeremy Allom.[3] The recording of extra parts for the song and the final mixing process continued for several days after initial recording began.[3]

Hynde wrote "Back on the Chain Gang" as a memorial to Honeyman-Scott and she dedicated it to him.[3] The song was written during the strained relationship that Chrissie Hynde had with Ray Davies (of the Kinks) and was recorded when she was about three months pregnant with their daughter. Their on-and-off relationship ended half a year later.

In a 2009 interview series In The Studio with Redbeard, Hynde said:

“In the early days we were full of enthusiasm and we wanted the same things … and everything was going well … it seemed too easy … I was with someone I was in love with … then I got pregnant.”[4]

She goes on to describe working on "Back on the Chain Gang" with Honeyman-Scott. Then just a month before the song was recorded, the Pretenders fired bass player Pete Farndon. Then, within days, lead guitarist Honeyman-Scott died of an accidental drug overdose. Farndon would also die of a drug overdose within several months.

“… two days later Jimmy’s dead … really suddenly, it went from everything to nothing … I was traumatized at the loss of my two best friends … I had to get on with replacing two members of the band — to replace my best friends …”[4]

"Back on the Chain Gang" took on deeper meaning for Hynde, with the tragic death of her friend and the urgent pressure to find new band members to complete the upcoming album.

“I dedicated [the song] to [Jimmy] in some ways … Jimmy was a big admirer of Billy Bremner … when we had to record "Back on the Chain Gang" — well, I knew that Billy and Robbie were who Jimmy would have wanted to get in, so I didn’t need to think about it.”[4]

The hammering sounds and the chain-gang chant heard during the chorus of the song echoes the earlier production of Sam Cooke's song "Chain Gang", released in 1960.[5]

The music video, their first after Honeyman-Scott's death and Farndon's firing in 1982, featured Hynde and Chambers, the only two remaining Pretenders at that time.

The video begins with shots of people jumping in the sky, before dissolving into a shot of people walking across a bridge in London presumably to work in the city; Chambers is among the crowd, as Hynde watches him from the railing. She proceeds to follow him around. Chambers arrives at a building and walks into a supposed office; as soon as he walks off-screen; Hynde enters and as she walks further, the "office" dissolves as a backdrop to people uncontrollably using pickaxes to excavate desert ruins, as if they were prisoners. Hynde walks across the ruins and observes the many people caught up in the activity; she sees that Chambers is one of them. The shots of the people jumping intercut at various points of the video. The ending of the video returns to the shot of people walking across the bridge; before fading into another shot of people jumping.

In an interview with Guitar World in 1992, George Harrison claimed that "Back on the Chain Gang" uses a chord that he had "invented" and incorporated into the Beatles song "I Want to Tell You": "That's an E7 with an F on top, and I'm really proud of that because I invented that chord... There's only been one other song, to my knowledge, where somebody copped that chord – Chrissie Hynde and the Pretenders on 'Back on the Chain Gang.'"[6] However, the chord Harrison describes is widely known as E7-9 and is a standard use of harmony in many genres. And the chord that Harrison referred to in "Back On the Chain Gang" as being identical to the aforementioned chord in "I Want to Tell You" is actually a different chord (A7+5).

In 1995, the American singer Selena recorded a Spanish-language song, "Fotos y recuerdos", using the melody of "Back on the Chain Gang".

In November 2018, the English singer Morrissey released a video cover version, which was soon followed by a vinyl single release.[7]

• Chrissie Hynde – lead and backing vocals, guitar
• Martin Chambers – drums, backing vocals
• Billy Bremner – lead guitar
• Robbie McIntosh - rhythm guitar
• Tony Butler – bass, backing vocals
• Jeremy Allom – hammer effect

• Lyrics to Back on the Chain Gang
• Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics