''Beam of Light'' is the second studio album from Dutch singer

Patricia Paay Patricia Anglaia Margareth Paaij (born 7 April 1949), best known as Patricia Paay, is a Dutch singer, radio host, glamour model and television personality. In the Netherlands, she is well known for her musical career, which spans over four deca ...

, which was released by EMI in 1975.

Background

In 1975, Paay returned to working as a solo artist after spending two years as the lead singer of the Dutch music band Heart, who were signed to the EMI-Bovema label. When they disbanded in 1975, Paay remained signed to EMI to relaunch her solo career, whereas the rest of Heart signed to Ariola under the new name Limousine. Paay soon went to England to record ''Beam of Light'' at

Abbey Road Studios Abbey Road Studios (formerly EMI Recording Studios) is a recording studio at 3 Abbey Road, St John's Wood, City of Westminster, London, England. It was established in November 1931 by the Gramophone Company, a predecessor of British music c ...

, with

Steve Harley Steve Harley (born Stephen Malcolm Ronald Nice; 27 February 1951) is an English singer and songwriter, best known as frontman of the rock group Cockney Rebel, with whom he still tours, albeit with frequent and significant personnel changes. Ea ...

as the producer, who at the time was in a relationship with Paay's sister,

Yvonne Keeley Yvonne Keeley (born Yvonne Paaij, 6 September 1952) is a Dutch pop music singer. She is the sister of Patricia Paay. She began her career as a session singer in the music industry in London. She was the girlfriend of Steve Harley of Steve Har ...

. The album was recorded with contributions from members of Cockney Rebel, primarily Jim Cregan on guitar and Duncan Mackay on keyboards. Bassist George Ford and drummer Stuart Elliott play on three tracks, while others feature Herbie Flowers on bass and Tony Newman on drums. In addition to producing the album, Harley had Paay record a version of Cockney Rebel's 1973 song "

Sebastian Sebastian may refer to: People * Sebastian (name), including a list of persons with the name Arts, entertainment, and media Films and television * ''Sebastian'' (1968 film), British spy film * ''Sebastian'' (1995 film), Swedish drama film ...

", as well as one of his newly penned songs, "Understand". Steve Harley and Cockney Rebel also recorded their "Understand" during the summer of 1975 for their fourth studio album '' Timeless Flight''. Paay contributes backing vocals on Cockney Rebel's recording of the track.

Release

''Beam of Light'' was released in the Netherlands and Germany in 1975, and in the UK in 1976. " Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window" was released as the album's first single in the UK, the Netherlands and Belgium in 1975. "Children Come Home" was released as the second and final single in the Netherlands only in 1976. When the album and its singles did not generate commercial success, Paay opted to adopt a disco-orientated sound and would go on to achieve chart success in the Netherlands. In 2006, EMI released ''Beam of Light'' for the first time on CD, as part of a four-album set together with Paay's other EMI albums ''The Lady Is a Champ'' (1977), ''Malibu Touch'' (1978) and ''Playmate'' (1981).

Critical reception

On its release in the UK, Alan Harris of the ''Burton Observer & Chronicle'' praised the album as "excellent" and a "fine package", with Paay presenting herself as a "strong vocal talent". He wrote, "Paay's voice is clear and sweet, yet powerful, enabling her to sail majestically through tracks such as Bob Dylan's 'Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window', Led Zeppelin's 'Stairway to Heaven' and Ian Samwell's 'Love Where Are You Now That I Need You'." Harris added that Harley had produced the album "with a high degree of skill", leaving "one ithvisions of a female Harley droning through the nine tracks". He described "Understand" as "classy", "Sebastian" as "haunting" and "Tiger and a Lion" as the album's only disappointing track. Ramsay Smith of the ''

Aberdeen Evening Express The ''Evening Express'' is a daily local newspaper serving the city of Aberdeen, Scotland. History It was first published in November 1879. It was a tabloid during the 1930s to the 1950s until it resumed as a broadsheet in November 1958, six da ...

'' was critical of the release, writing, "This album should be in mint condition well into the 21st century. The only good moments on it (and there aren't many) belong to Harley who produced it – though I'm not sure why he bothered."

Track listing

Personnel

* Jim Cregan – guitars (tracks 1–7, 9), backing vocals (tracks 3, 6, 9) * Duncan Mackay – keyboards (tracks 1–7, 9) * Herbie Flowers – bass (tracks 1–2, 4–5, 7) * George Ford – bass (tracks 3, 6, 9), backing vocals (tracks 3, 6, 9) * Tony Newman – drums (tracks 1–2, 4–5, 7) * Stuart Elliott – drums (tracks 3, 6, 9) *

– backing vocals (tracks 3, 6, 9) *

Barry St. John Eliza Janet Thomson (November 1943 – 24 July 2020), who recorded as Barry St. John, was a Scottish female singer who had a No. 47 hit in the UK Singles Chart in December 1965 with "Come Away Melinda". It was her only solo chart success. Biog ...

– backing vocals (tracks 3, 6, 9) *

Andrew Powell Andrew Powell (born 18 April 1949) is an English musical composer, arranger and performer, born of Welsh parents. He himself moved to Wales in 2003. Early life Powell was born Surrey, England. He began piano lessons at the age of four and late ...

– arranger (track 8) Production *

– producer * Tony Clark – engineer Other * Peter Shepherd – sleeve design

References

{{Authority control 1975 debut albums EMI Records albums