''Arc of a Diver'' is the second solo studio album by singer/multi-instrumentalist

Steve Winwood Stephen Lawrence Winwood (born 12 May 1948) is an English musician, singer, and songwriter whose genres include blue-eyed soul, rhythm and blues, blues rock, and pop rock. Though primarily a keyboard player and vocalist prominent for his disti ...

. Released in 1980, Winwood played all of the instruments on the album. Featuring his first solo hit, "

While You See a Chance "While You See a Chance" is a song performed by Steve Winwood in 1980, written by Winwood and Will Jennings. It was released on his album '' Arc of a Diver'' and peaked at number 7 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in April 1981 and number 68 on the ' ...

" (which peaked at number 7 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in the United States), this was Winwood's breakthrough album as a solo artist. It peaked at number 3 on the ''Billboard'' 200 album chart, establishing him as a commercially viable act. The cover artwork for the album is by Tony Wright. He took inspiration from ''

Jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

'' by

Henri Matisse Henri Émile Benoît Matisse (; 31 December 1869 – 3 November 1954) was a French visual artist, known for both his use of colour and his fluid and original draughtsmanship. He was a draughtsman, printmaker, and sculptor, but is known prima ...

, notably ''VIII: Icarus''.

Recording

The album was recorded at Winwood's Netherturkdonic Studios, built at his farm in Gloucestershire; he played all the instruments, wrote all the music, and produced and engineered it himself.

Critical reception

Reviewing for ''

The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, the ''Voice'' began as a platform for the crea ...

'' in June 1981,

Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most well-known and influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and ...

credited Winwood for

overdubbing Overdubbing (also known as layering) is a technique used in audio recording in which audio tracks that have been pre-recorded are then played back and monitored, while simultaneously recording new, doubled, or augmented tracks onto one or more av ...

all his self-performed instruments, but still found his brand of "British-international groove" more atmospheric than song-oriented and ultimately "lulling". Robert Palmer was more enthusiastic in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', saying that Winwood has transformed himself into a "rock traditionalist" with the album. While highlighting "Dust" and the album's title track as "first-rate lyrics", Palmer said that "Winwood's impressive playing and arranging and utterly distinctive vocals make several of his collaborations with Will Jennings, especially the brooding 'Night Train,' almost as memorable." In a retrospective review for

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

, William Ruhlmann wrote of the album, "Utterly unencumbered by the baggage of his long years in the music business, Winwood reinvents himself as a completely contemporary artist on this outstanding album, leading off with his best solo song, "While You See a Chance."" The album was included in the book ''

1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die ''1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die'' is a musical reference book first published in 2005 by Universe Publishing. Part of the ''1001 Before You Die'' series, it compiles writings and information on albums chosen by a panel of music critics ...

'', and was voted number 455 in the third edition (2000) of

Colin Larkin Colin Larkin (born 1949) is a British writer and entrepreneur. He founded, and was the editor-in-chief of, the ''Encyclopedia of Popular Music'', described by ''The Times'' as "the standard against which all others must be judged". Along wit ...

's ''

All Time Top 1000 Albums ''All Time Top 1000 Albums'' is a book by Colin Larkin, creator and editor of the ''Encyclopedia of Popular Music''. The book was first published by Guinness Publishing in 1994. The list presented is the result of over 200,000 votes cast by the ...

''.

Track listing

All songs written by Steve Winwood and

Will Jennings Wilbur H. "Will" Jennings (born June 27, 1944) is an American lyricist. He is popularly known for writing the lyrics for the songs "Tears in Heaven" and "My Heart Will Go On". He has been inducted into the Songwriter's Hall of Fame and has won s ...

except where noted.

Original release

Side one # "

" – 5:12 # "Arc of a Diver" (Winwood,

Vivian Stanshall Vivian Stanshall (born Victor Anthony Stanshall; 21 March 1943 – 5 March 1995) was an English singer-songwriter, musician, author, poet and wit, best known for his work with the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band, for his exploration of the British upper ...

) – 5:28 # "Second-Hand Woman" (Winwood, George Fleming) – 3:41 # "Slowdown Sundown" – 5:27 Side two # "Spanish Dancer" – 5:58 # "Night Train" – 7:51 # "Dust" (Winwood, Fleming) – 6:20

2012 Deluxe reissue

Tracks 1–7 on disc one, per the 1980 release, with disc two containing bonus tracks. # "Arc of a Diver" dited US single version(Winwood, Stanshall) – 4:16 # "Night Train" nstrumental version– 6:44 # "Spanish Dancer" 010 version– 6:13 # "Arc of a Diver: The Steve Winwood Story" riginally_aired_on_BBC_Radio_2.html" ;"title="BBC_Radio_2.html" ;"title="riginally aired on BBC Radio 2">riginally aired on BBC Radio 2">BBC_Radio_2.html" ;"title="riginally aired on BBC Radio 2">riginally aired on BBC Radio 2– 56:33

Personnel

– lead and backing vocals, Prophet-5, Minimoog, Yamaha CS-80, Hammond B3 organ, Steinway & Sons, Steinway piano, Ovation Guitar Company, Ovation acoustic guitar, Fender Stratocaster electric guitar, Ibanez mandolin, bass,

Multimoog The Multimoog is a monophonic analog synthesizer manufactured by Moog Music from 1978 to 1981. Derived from the earlier Micromoog (internally, it consists of a stock Micromoog circuit board with the extra circuitry on a second board), the Multim ...

(also used for keyboard fretless bass), Hayman and Ludwig drums,

Linn LM-1 The Linn LM-1 Drum Computer is a drum machine manufactured by Linn Electronics and released in 1980. It was the first drum machine to use samples of acoustic drums, and one of the first programmable drum machines. Its designer, the American en ...

programming, percussion, producer, engineer, mixing * John "Nobby" Clarke – additional engineer * John Dent – mastering at The Sound Clinic (London, UK) * Tony Wright – artwork * Fin Costello – photography

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Chart singles

References

External links

''Arc of a Diver''
(

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) at

Radio3Net Radio 3 net is the former ''Radio România Tineret'' (or Radio 3). More than 20,000 albums are stored on Radio 3 net. A few of the prominent features available on the website are "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die ''1001 Albums You Mus ...

(streamed copy where licensed) {{Authority control 1980 albums Steve Winwood albums Island Records albums Albums produced by Steve Winwood Soft rock albums by English artists