''Back and Fourth'' is a 1978 album by English

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

band

Lindisfarne Lindisfarne, also called Holy Island, is a tidal island off the northeast coast of England, which constitutes the civil parish of Holy Island in Northumberland. Holy Island has a recorded history from the 6th century AD; it was an important ...

. Released in nine countries on three record labels, it reached position 22 on the UK album charts and contained the successful single "Run for Home".

Production

The album was produced by

Gus Dudgeon Angus Boyd "Gus" Dudgeon (30 September 1942 – 21 July 2002) was an English record producer, who oversaw many of Elton John's most acclaimed recordings, including his commercial breakthrough, "Your Song". Their collaboration led to seven US No ...

and recorded between February and April 1978. It was the first album to feature the reformed original Lindisfarne lineup after they had broken up in 1973, hence the

pun A pun, also known as paronomasia, is a form of word play that exploits multiple meanings of a term, or of similar-sounding words, for an intended humorous or rhetorical effect. These ambiguities can arise from the intentional use of homophoni ...

in the title that, although it was Lindisfarne's sixth studio album, the band was "back" on their fourth album with the original lineup. The album cover is the band's first to show

, the island off the coast of

Northumberland Northumberland () is a county in Northern England, one of two counties in England which border with Scotland. Notable landmarks in the county include Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Hadrian's Wall and Hexham Abbey. It is bordered by land on ...

after which the band was named.

Lindisfarne Castle Lindisfarne Castle is a 16th-century castle located on Holy Island, near Berwick-upon-Tweed, Northumberland, England, much altered by Sir Edwin Lutyens in 1901. The island is accessible from the mainland at low tide by means of a causeway. His ...

can be seen at sunrise.

Music

''AllMusic'' stated that the album's sound is "rooted in midtempo

Release, chart performance and reception

''Back and Fourth'' was released in June 1978 in the UK by

Mercury Records Mercury Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group. It had significant success as an independent operation in the 1940s and 1950s. Smash Records and Fontana Records were sub labels of Mercury. In the United States, it is ...

. It spent eleven weeks on the UK album charts, reaching the highest position of No. 22, with a total of three weeks in the top 25. It was also released in eight other countries around the world on three different record labels. Although it was a chart success, the album has not received entirely positive reviews. Bruce Eder of

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 ...

retrospectively gave the album just two stars out of five, stating that it "isn't really that good a record, lacking the imagination and spirit of experimentation that highlighted their early albums". However, he did praise "Run For Home" as "Alan Hull's best song to date". Allmusic - Back and Fourth > Overview/ref>

Singles

Three tracks from the album were released as singles. The first, "Run For Home", was released a few weeks before the album. It proved very popular, reaching No. 10 during a 15-week stint in the UK charts. It also became the band's first hit in the USA, reaching #33. The arrangement features a prominent

cor anglais The cor anglais (, or original ; plural: ''cors anglais''), or English horn in North America, is a double-reed woodwind instrument in the oboe family. It is approximately one and a half times the length of an oboe, making it essentially an alto ...

. The second, "Juke Box Gypsy", was less successful. It was released in October 1978 and spent four weeks in the charts, peaking at #56. A third track, "Warm Feeling", was released in early 1979 but failed to chart.

Track listing

:All tracks credited to Alan Hull except where indicated # "Juke Box Gypsy" - 2:23 # "Warm Feeling" (Ray Jackson, Charlie Harcourt) - 4:05 # "Woman" - 3:26 # "Only Alone" - 3:44 # "Run For Home" - 4:21 # "Kings Cross Blues" (Ray Jackson, Charlie Harcourt) - 3:45 # "Get Wise" - 3:08 # "You And Me" - 3:05 # "Marshall Riley's Army" - 3:39 # "Angels at Eleven" - 2:55 # "Make Me Want To Stay" - 3:55 The U.S. edition of the album featured the same songs, but in a different running order.

Charts

Personnel

Lindisfarne *

Alan Hull James Alan Hull (20 February 1945 – 17 November 1995) was an English singer-songwriter and founding member of the Tyneside folk rock band Lindisfarne. Career Hull was born at 68 Sutton's Dwellings, Adelaide Terrace, Benwell, Newcastle upon Tyn ...

- vocals, acoustic guitar, piano * Ray Jackson - vocals, mandolin, percussion, harmonica *

Rod Clements Roderick Parry Clements (born 17 November 1947 in North Shields, Northumberland) is a British guitarist, singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. He formed the folk-rock band Lindisfarne with Alan Hull in 1970, and wrote "Meet Me on the Co ...

- fretless bass, fiddle *

Simon Cowe Simon Cowe (1 April 1948 – 30 September 2015) was an English guitarist and multi-instrumentalist most noted as a member of the folk-rock group Lindisfarne from their original formation in 1970 until 1973, and then again from 1978 to his depart ...

- lead, acoustic and 12-string guitars, mandolin, banjo, vocals *Ray Laidlaw - drums, percussion ;Technical *Bruce Baxter - string arrangement *Dave Charles, Pat Moran, Phil Dunne, Stuart Epps - engineer *Alan Schmidt - design concept, art direction *Richard Haughton - cover photography

Certifications

References

{{Authority control 1978 albums Lindisfarne (band) albums Albums produced by Gus Dudgeon Mercury Records albums Atco Records albums