Gold Mother

James released their second studio album Strip-mine in September 1988, through Sire and Blanco y Negro Records.[1] While making it, two of Sire's popular acts (the Housemartins and the Smiths) had broken up, and were anticipating James to be their next breakthrough artist.[2] The album had been delayed from release by Sire on eight different occasions, and was remixed at the insistence of the band's manager Eliot Rashman.[2][3] Two months after its release, the band left Sire.[4] Drummer Gavan Whelan was asked to leave the band in December 1988.[5][6] By the following month, the band were auditioning for a replacement.[7] During these auditions, the band came up with several new songs through improvisations.[6]

They released the live album One Man Clapping in March 1989 as a joint venture between their own label One Man Clapping and Rough Trade Records. Its release was promoted with a UK tour, which introduced two new members to the public, drummer David Baynton-Power and violinist/guitarist Saul Davies.[8] Baynton-Power was sceptical about joining the band as he had been previously conned out of money; Davies was found by guitarist Larry Gott at the Band on the Wall venue in Manchester.[9][10] Davies said Baynton-Power's playing was "more muscular and more direct", versus Whelan's "more skittery and odd" style.[10] After the tour, the band recorded and released "Sit Down" as a single in June 1989.[11][12] Mark Hunter was brought into the session to add an improvised keyboard part to the track, and soon became a member of the band.[6]

A UK tour was undertaken to promote "Sit Down" in June 1989.[13] Potential success for the song was halted to due to the music video being banned by the Musicians' Union.[14] Happy with the success of One Man Clapping, Rough Trade founder Geoff Travis agreed to fund the band's next studio album.[3] Following this, the band recorded Gold Mother over the course of two months with frontman Tim Booth, Gott, bassist Jim Glennie, and Nick Garside serving as producers.[15][16] The sessions were held at Out of the Blue in Manchester, and The Windings in Wrexham, Wales.[16] Booth wanted re-record "Sit Down" during the sessions in a faster form, similar to how the band was playing it live.[17] The album was mixed at Square One in Bury; Tim Palmer remixed "How Was It for You".[16]

Musically, the sound of Gold Mother has been described as arena rock,[18] and indie rock,[19] compared to the likes of U2 and the Waterboys.[18] John Slater played additional percussion on "Come Home" and "You Can't Tell How Much Suffering (On a Face That's Always Smiling)". Booth's girlfriend and the band's manager Martine McDonagh sung backing vocals on "Hang On" and "Crescendo", while Inspiral Carpets contributed backing vocals on "Gold Mother". Vinny Corrigan played saxophone on "Gold Mother".[16]

"Come Home" was written in an hour, and is based around Booth's separation from McDonagh, with whom Booth had a son.[15][20] Booth said they had written the song accidentally, as they were trying to play "Sit Down"; it features a house-esque piano riff.[21][22] "Government Walls" talks about the 1989 secrets act, and the case against Peter Wright.[23] "God Only Knows" is an attack against people that think they are speaking for God.[24] The track includes a sample of a preacher, who later threatened to sue the band.[25] "You Can't Tell How Much Suffering (On a Face That's Always Smiling)" discusses emotional restraint and British stoicism.[24][26]

The Stone Roses-indebted "How Was It for You" talks about consuming alcohol and doing drugs to avoid sexual guilt, and is followed "Hang On", which showcases the band's softer pop side.[24][27] The title-track "Gold Mother" is about women finding courage after child birth, and the birth of his son Ben.[19][24] Booth originally wrote it about Margaret Thatcher and greed, but changed topics after his girlfriend had given birth. In spite of this, he retained some lyrics from its first incarnation as he helt they were still relevant.[22] It was edited together from two separate improvisations, and later given overdubs.[28] "Gold Mother" is bookended by two ballads, "Walking the Ghost" and "Top of the World".[27] The baggy track "Lose Control" was written by Booth at night about an insomniac being burdened by fear and doubt.[21]

In September 1989, James headlined a benefit for the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament.[29] Two months later, "Come Home" was released as the album's lead single, with "Promised Land" and "Slow Right Down" as extra tracks.[11] It was promoted with a month-long tour of the UK; trumpeter Andy Diagram of the Diagram Brothers joined the band for this stint.[15][30] The song's success was hampered due to Music Week misprinting their top 100 singles, resulting in a loss of airplay and opportunities to appear on TV.[31] Gold Mother was planned for release in February 1990;[15] around this time, the band were in talks to sign with Phonogram.[32] While this was occurring, Rough Trade was struggling with insolvency issues.[33] Travis expected the band to sell around 20,000 copies, and in response, they asked to be released from their contract from Rough Trade.[3] The band wanted a label that had the ambition to sell more copies than Travis' estimation, and eventually signed with Phonogram sublabel Fontana Records, who cleared their £50,000 debt to Sire.[3][33]

"How Was It for You" was released as a single on 30 April 1990, with "Lazy", "Undertaker", live versions of "Whoops" and "Hymn from a Village", and remixes of "How Was It For You" as extra tracks.[11][34] The music video for "How Was It for You" was directed by Swivel, and sees Booth singing underwater.[35][36] Gold Mother was eventually released on 4 June, through Fontana Records.[37] The Japanese release included "Lazy" as an extra track between "Crescendo" and "How Was It for You".[38] Following this, the band embarked on the World Cup Tour in the UK, which saw dates organised around the England team's matches in the World Cup.[34][39] A remix of "Come Home", done by Flood, was released as a single on 25 June 1990, with "Dreaming Up Tomorrow", "Fire Away", live versions of "Stutter" and "Come Home", and remixes of "Come Home" and "Gold Mother" as extra tracks.[11][40] One of the "Come Home" remixes sampled "Skullduggery", a track from the band's debut studio album Stutter (1986).[41]

The band appeared at Glastonbury Festival, and supported David Bowie and the Cure at separate one-off shows.[36][42] Following this, they embarked on a promotional press tour in the United States.[42] "Lose Control", produced by Flood, was released as a single on 26 November 1990, with a cover of the Velvet Underground's "Sunday Morning" (1966) and "Out to Get You" as extra tracks.[11][43][44] The band performed the song on The Word.[41] In December 1990, the band played a handful of UK shows, including two at the G-Mex Centre in their hometown of Manchester.[21][45] After this, they closed the year with a series of shows in Russia.[43] The re-recorded version of "Sit Down", produced by Gil Norton, was released as a single on 18 March 1991, with "Tonight" and a live version of "Sit Down" as extra tracks.[11][46] The music video for "Sit Down" was directed by Gavin Taylor.[35] The label wanted the track to follow-up the Flood mix of "Come Home", however, the band wanted to release new material instead, opting for "Lose Control".[14]

On 15 April 1991, the band's first video album Come Home Live was released, filmed at the December 1990 Manchester shows.[46][47] Gold Mother was re-released in May 1991. "Come Home", "Crescendo", and "Hang On" were replaced by the Flood mix of "Come Home", "Lose Control", and "Sit Down".[1] Fans were able to swap their original copies for the reissues at Our Price stores.[48] The album was released in the US in July 1991 under the name James, with the addition of "Sit Down" and "Lose Control".[49] In August, the band headlined Reading Festival.[50]

A remix of "Sit Down", done by Apollo 440, was released as a single in 1998.[11] The Flood mix of "Come Home", "Sit Down", "Lose Control", and "How Was It for You" were included on the band's first and fourth compilation albums The Best Of (1998) and Fresh as a Daisy – The Singles (2007).[51][52] "Sit Down", "Gold Mother", and a remix of "Lose Control" were included on the band's third compilation album The Collection (2004).[53]

The music videos for "How Was It for You", "Come Home, "Lose Control", and "Sit Down" were included on the career-spanning box set The Gathering Sound (2012), alongside demos of "Sit Down" and "How Was It for You", and Come Home Live on DVD.[54] Gold Mother was reissued on CD in 2001, with the 1991 track listing, alongside the addition of "Crescendo", "Hang On", a remix of "Come Home", and live versions of "Lose Control" and "Sit Down". Gold Mother was re-pressed on vinyl in 2017, with the 1991 track listing, alongside the inclusion of "Crescendo", "Hang On", and the version of "Come Home" that was replaced on the re-issue.[1]

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[18]
The Great Rock Discography	8/10[55]
NME	8/10[56]
Q	[27]
Sounds	[57]
ZigZag	9/10[22]

Gold Mother was met with generally positive reviews from music critics. ZigZag writer David Giles called the album the band's "finest collection of songs" since Stutter, adding that the they "may be slightly less adventurous melodically" than their earlier work, "but age certainly hasn't dampened their ardour."[22] Simon Williams of NME wrote that Gold Mother was "a bold, brazenly confident fulfillment of promises made" by the band's early tracks: "a multi-tiered extravaganza of organically upbeat intuition which challenges and chills with one hand and comforts with the other."[56]

AllMusic reviewer Stephen Thomas Erlewine noted that while "a few of the tracks captured the sprawling, epic splendor that James wished to achieve," the band had "difficulty writing convincing material, and they aren't nearly as interesting as they were when they concentrated on jangling folk-pop [as seen in their early releases]."[18] Sounds' Sam King said the album sees the band's "inherent wariness surface amid some of their most and ... least satisfying moments to date." He explained that the majority of Gold Mother "fails to live up to ... [the] heady standards" of the first few tracks, as it showcases "misjudged pre-'90s indie drivel."[57] Martin Aston of Q wrote that the album "bears all the signs of intelligence and sensitivity, but it's still not the totally rewarding album James are capable of mining."[27]

Gold Mother was placed by NME and Melody Maker at number 5 and 47, respectively, on their album of the year lists.[58][59] The original release of Gold Mother reached number 16 in the UK, while the 1991 re-released peaked at number 2.[60][61] "Come Home" initially charted at number 84, while the Flood mix peaked at number 32.[61][62] "How Was It for You" peaked at number 32, "Lose Control" peaked at number 38, and "Sit Down" peaked at number 2.[61] Gold Mother was later certified gold in the UK, and "Sit Down" was certified platinum.[63][64]

All tracks composed by Tim Booth, Jim Glennie, and Larry Gott, except "Top of the World" and "Sit Down" by Booth, Glennie, Gott, and Gavan Whelan.[65]

Personnel per booklet.[16][44]

• Gold Mother at YouTube (streamed copy where licensed)