''Mr and Mrs Smith and Mr Drake'' is an album by English

psychedelic folk Psychedelic folk (sometimes acid folk or freak folk) is a loosely defined form of psychedelia that originated in the 1960s. It retains the largely acoustic instrumentation of folk, but adds musical elements common to psychedelic music. Chara ...

band the Sea Nymphs. Recorded and released in 1984 under the name Mr and Mrs Smith and Mr Drake, it was the band's only recording to be distributed prior to their 1991 reformation. The band is a side project of

Cardiacs Cardiacs are an English rock band formed in Kingston upon Thames by Tim Smith (lead guitar and vocals) and his brother Jim (bass, backing vocals) in 1977 under the name Cardiac Arrest. The band's sound fused circus, baroque pop and medieval mu ...

, composed of core members

Tim Smith Tim, Timothy or Timmy Smith may refer to: Musicians * T. V. Smith (born 1956), British singer and songwriter *Tim Smith (Cardiacs) (1961–2020), English singer-songwriter and frontman of Cardiacs *Timmy Trumpet (born 1982), Australian DJ and prod ...

, Sarah Smith and

William D. Drake William Derek Drake (born 7 February 1962) is an English musician, keyboardist, pianist, composer and singer-songwriter. He is best known as a former member of the cult English rock band Cardiacs, whom he played with for nine years between 1983 ...

. The album was initially only available on cassette through the fan club and at concert venues. The first version of the cassette cover is dark with the logo printed in gold; the track list is handwritten. The second version has a purple satin design with a smaller gold logo; the track list is printed in gold. In 2004 it was

reissued In the music industry, a reissue (also re-release, repackage or re-edition) is the release of an album or single which has been released at least once before, sometimes with alterations or additions. Reasons for reissue New audio formats Rec ...

on CD by All My Eye and Betty Martin Music.

Background

and

met in 1983 when Drake was in the band Honour Our Trumpet with musician Little Sue. Smith had taught himself to sight-read music as a teenager and wanted Drake's involvement as he was classically-trained. He joined Smith's band

as he loved the music he was first provided with.

Track listing

Adapted from Bandcamp. All songs written by

unless otherwise indicated. ;Notes * The lyrics of "To My Piano from Mr Drake" are adapted from "The Garden" by English poet

Andrew Marvell Andrew Marvell (; 31 March 1621 – 16 August 1678) was an English metaphysical poet, satirist and politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1659 and 1678. During the Commonwealth period he was a colleague and friend ...

. * "Summer Is-a-Coming In" is based on the 13th century English round.

Personnel

Adapted from the ''Mr and Mrs Smith and Mr Drake'' liner notes. *

– guitars, flute, trumpets, glockensput, Woolworths organ, vocals * Sarah Smith – clarinets, saxophones, recorders,

forks In cutlery or kitchenware, a fork (from la, furca 'pitchfork') is a utensil, now usually made of metal, whose long handle terminates in a head that branches into several narrow and often slightly curved tines with which one can spear foods ei ...

melodica The melodica is a handheld free-reed instrument similar to a pump organ or harmonica. It features a musical keyboard on top, and is played by blowing air through a mouthpiece that fits into a hole in the side of the instrument. The keyboard usual ...

, vocals *

– piano, television organ, forks, ballroom string machine, vocals

Notes

References

Sources

* * *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mister and Mrs Smith and Mr Drake The Sea Nymphs (band) albums 1984 albums