''Hard Times'' is the fifth album by singer, songwriter and pianist
Peter Skellern (1947–2017)) released in 1975 on the
Island Records
Island Records is a multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded in 1959 by Chris Blackwell, Graeme Goodall, and Leslie Kong in Jamaica, and was eventually sold to PolyGram in 1989. Island and A&M Records, anoth ...
label. Despite much radio airplay, "Hard Times" failed as a single and the LP slipped into decades of obscurity. As a result of this commercial failure, Skellern changed record companies again, signing with
Phonogram under their
Mercury
Mercury commonly refers to:
* Mercury (planet), the nearest planet to the Sun
* Mercury (element), a metallic chemical element with the symbol Hg
* Mercury (mythology), a Roman god
Mercury or The Mercury may also refer to:
Companies
* Merc ...
subsidiary and immediately enjoying a minor hit with a cover of "
Love Is the Sweetest Thing".
[skellernhardtimes.blogspot.co.uk/
] This album has now been officially re-issued on CD by Mint Audio Records on the 3 cd set, The Complete Island & Mercury Recordings.
Track listing
All tracks written by Peter Skellern except "Make Love, Not War" written by John Burrows, John Harding and Peter Skellern.
Side 1
#"Hard Times”
#"I Guess You Wish You’d Gone Home"
#"Baby What a Fool I’ve Been”
#"Down in the Cellar"
#”Goodbye, America Keep You Well”
Side 2
#"Snake Bite"
#"Make Love, Not War” (From the musical revue ''Loud Reports'')
#"A Capella”
#"Let’s Sleep Late"
#"And Then You’ll Fall"
Personnel
*Peter Skellern - vocals, acoustic and electric piano, percussion, organ and Moog
*Rob Townsend - drums
*George Ford - bass guitar
*
Mick Green, Brian Alterman - guitar
*
Chris Karan - tablas
*Andrew Price Jackman - string arrangements
*
Madeline Bell, Joy Yates, Joanne Williams - backing vocals
*
George Harrison
George Harrison (25 February 1943 – 29 November 2001) was an English musician and singer-songwriter who achieved international fame as the lead guitarist of the Beatles. Sometimes called "the quiet Beatle", Harrison embraced Indian c ...
- guitar on "Make Love Not War"
Production
*Producer: Meyer Shagaloff by arrangement with Johnny Stirling for Pendulum Music Ltd
*Engineer: Trevor Vallis
*Tape operators: Dave & Vaughan
*Recorded at:
Mayfair Sound Studios
*Cover illustration:
Tony Wright
*Album design: Eckford Stimpson
References
{{Authority control
1975 albums
Island Records albums
Peter Skellern albums