One Good Reason (album)

One Good Reason is the third solo studio album by the English singer-songwriter Paul Carrack, then a member of the supergroup Mike + The Mechanics. It was originally released in November 1987, on the label Chrysalis, five years after his previous album, Suburban Voodoo. In the interim between solo albums, Carrack had been a member of Nick Lowe and his Cowboy Outfit, which issued two albums in 1984 and 1985, and joined Mike + The Mechanics for their 1985 self-titled debut.

One Good Reason
Studio album by
ReleasedNovember 1987
Recordedsound recorders Los Angeles late 1986 - March 1987
Genre
Length39:13
LabelChrysalis
ProducerChristopher Neil
Paul Carrack chronology
Suburban Voodoo
(1982)
One Good Reason
(1987)
Groove Approved
(1989)

Mike + The Mechanics drummer Peter Van Hooke and songwriter and record producer Christopher Neil also appear on the album, serving in the same roles they did for the Mechanics. The album includes two of Carrack's highest charting solo hits in the US, "Don't Shed a Tear" (which became a Top 10 hit, peaking at No. 9) and "One Good Reason" (which peaked at No. 28).[1]

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[2]
Trouser Press(mixed)[3]

Jim Green of Trouser Press was not entirely enthusiastic about the album, writing: "Half of One Good Reason is decent-to-good, and the rest is mediocre-to-poor....it's got more radio-music slickness than Carrack's had in years, but at the cost of some identity." Green notes that "It did yield a genuine not-bad pop hit ("Don't Shed a Tear")."

AllMusic's Mike DeGagne retrospectively calls "Don't Shed a Tear" "the album's highlight, bolstered by its subtle, laid-back groove with a stop and start tempo which comes across as unique to a certain extent." But he castigated the rest of the record, saying that "while the songs are well-written lyrically, they're dispensed rather half-heartedly from a musical standpoint" and "It's apparent in tracks like 'Fire With Fire' and 'Give Me a Chance' that Paul Carrack has reached the point of pop pedestrianism."[2]

In addition to "Don't Shed A Tear", three additional singles charted from the album, including a cover of the Jackie DeShannon classic, "When You Walk in the Room". The album's title track, another one of these singles, also cracked the Top 30 on the US chart.

Track listing

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."One Good Reason"Paul Carrack, Chris Difford3:19
2."When You Walk in the Room"Jackie DeShannon3:31
3."Button Off My Shirt"Billy Livsey, Graham Lyle3:46
4."Give Me a Chance"Carrack4:51
5."Double It Up"Carrack, Nick Lowe3:44
6."Don't Shed a Tear"Eddie Schwartz, Rob Friedman4:55
7."Fire with Fire"Carrack, Christopher Neil3:59
8."Here I Am"Mike Duke, Huey Lewis, Andre Pessis4:00
9."Collrane"Carrack, Neil4:40
10."(Do I Figure) In Your Life"Pete Dello2:16

Personnel

Credits are adapted from the album's liner notes.[4]

Production

  • Producer – Christopher Neil
  • Engineers – Simon Hurrell and Pete Woodroffe
  • Recorded at Comforts Place (Lingfield, Surrey, UK).
  • Mixed at The Farm (Surrey, UK).
  • Art Direction – Peter Corriston
  • Design – Mark Cozza
  • Photography – Brian Griffin

References

  1. Paul Carrack USA chart history, Billboard.com. Retrieved December 16, 2011.
  2. allmusic review
  3. Green, Jim. "Paul Carrack's albums". Trouser Press. Retrieved 20 March 2018.
  4. One Good Reason liner notes. Chrysalis Records. 1987.
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