"Dry Land" is a 1975 song written by Joan Armatrading and Pam Nestor. It was released as an album track on ''

Back to the Night ''Back to the Night'' is the second studio album by the British singer-songwriter Joan Armatrading. The album was released in April 1975 by A&M Records (AMLH 68305). Musical background Musically, the album shows a development of the mood of A ...

'' in May 1975 and then as a single (AMS 7205) on 28 November 1975. The song has a simple arrangement, with a solo vocal, a number of choral-style backing vocals, an acoustic piano, and a

Moog synthesizer The Moog synthesizer is a modular synthesizer developed by the American engineer Robert Moog. Moog debuted it in 1964, and Moog's company R. A. Moog Co. (later known as Moog Music) produced numerous models from 1965 to 1981, and again from 20 ...

. All of these were performed by Armatrading herself, with the exception of the Moog, which was played by her producer, Pete Gage.

History

"Dry Land" was originally released on Armatrading's second studio album ''

'' in May 1975. (A&M Records). The song was recorded at

Basing Street Studios Basing Street Studios was a recording studio in a former 17th century chapel at 8–10 Basing Street, in Notting Hill, London, England. Originally established in 1969 as Island Studios by Chris Blackwell, the founder of Island Records, the studi ...

in Notting Hill, London, now known as Sarm West Studios. It is generally believed that Armatrading wrote the music for the song and Nestor wrote the lyrics, though this is not clear cut. At the time of the song's composition, Armatrading and Nestor were engaged in writing many songs together, eventually writing over a hundred of them, and both of them wrote music and lyrics, played piano, and sang. At the time of the recording of ''Back to the Night'', the album's producer, Pete Gage, remarked: "as soon as I heard Pam Nestor play – there's one number, it was the blueprint for Dry Land, there's no doubt about it, Joan had actually learnt bits and pieces of Pam's piano playing". The song was said to be Gage's favourite track from the album, and he described it as "a very sensitive number". After its release as an album track and single, "Dry Land" was re-released on several collections of Armatrading's work: ''Live at the Bijou Cafe'', (1977); ''Love and Affection'', (1996); ''Love and Affection: Joan Armatrading Classics 1975–1983'' (2003); and ''Joan Armatrading: Gold'' (2005). "Dry Land" was a favourite of DJ

John Peel John Robert Parker Ravenscroft (30 August 1939 – 25 October 2004), known professionally as John Peel, was an English disc jockey (DJ) and radio presenter. He was the longest-serving of the original BBC Radio 1 DJs, broadcasting regularly fr ...

and appears on the compilation album ''Kat's Karavan: The History Of John Peel On The Radio''.

Covers

The song was covered by Irish singer

Freddie White Freddie White (born September 1951 in Cobh, Ireland) is an Irish singer-songwriter. Biography Born in Cobh, County Cork, Ireland into a musical family, by the age of thirteen White was playing in school bands and by seventeen playing professio ...

and released on his album ''Do You Do'' in 1981.Dry Land , Freddie White
. Bandcamp. Retrieved 17 May 2015.

References

* Sleeve notes: Back to the Night, 1975, A & M Records (AMLH 68305) * Mayes, Sean (1990). ''Joan Armatrading – A Biography (unauthorised)''. Weidenfeld and Nicolson. .

External links

"Dry Land" lyrics from Joan Armatrading's official website
{{authority control 1975 singles Joan Armatrading songs Songs written by Joan Armatrading 1975 songs A&M Records singles