"Sweet Illusion" is a song written and recorded by
Junior Campbell
Junior Campbell (born William Campbell Jnr, 31 May 1947) is a Scottish composer, songwriter and musician. He was a founding member, lead guitarist, piano player, and singer with the Scottish band Marmalade and co-wrote and produced some of th ...
in April 1973 as a follow up single to "
Hallelujah Freedom
"Hallelujah Freedom" is a song written and recorded by Junior Campbell in September 1972.
The recording took place at Decca Studio 2 in London in September 1972 and featured Campbell on lead vocal, piano, guitar & electric piano, with Ray Duffy o ...
", which had seen success in the
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...
at the end of the previous year.
The recording took place at
Decca Studio 2 in London and featured Campbell on lead vocal, piano, guitar & electric piano, with Ray Duffy on drums and percussion, Rick West of
The Tremeloes
The Tremeloes are an English beat group founded in 1958 in Dagenham, England. They initially found success in the British Invasion era with lead singer Brian Poole, scoring a UK chart-topper in 1963 with "Do You Love Me". After Poole's departu ...
on bass, and
Pete Zorn
Pete Zorn (29 May 1950 – 19 April 2016) was an American multi-instrumentalist who was a longstanding member of Richard Thompson's backing band. He was also a member of Steeleye Span, The Albion Band, and Driver 67.
Career
As a member of Tho ...
on flute.
The backing vocals were performed by Ruby James,
Irene Chanter
Irene Chanter is a British singer best known for her career as a member of the Chanter Sisters and for her work as a session singer, working with a number of musicians in the 1970s and 1980s.
Irene Chanter has worked with Elton John, Long John Ba ...
and Campbell. The recording was engineered by John Burns - Decca staff engineer. The orchestral accompaniment consisted of 12 violins, 4 violas, 4 celli, (
Strings
String or strings may refer to:
*String (structure), a long flexible structure made from threads twisted together, which is used to tie, bind, or hang other objects
Arts, entertainment, and media Films
* ''Strings'' (1991 film), a Canadian anim ...
) and 3 trumpets, 2 tenor trombones and 1 bass trombone (
brass
Brass is an alloy of copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn), in proportions which can be varied to achieve different mechanical, electrical, and chemical properties. It is a substitutional alloy: atoms of the two constituents may replace each other with ...
). The arrangement was by Campbell himself.
"Sweet Illusion" was released on 27 April 1973 on
Deram DM 387 entering the UK Singles Chart on 2 June 1973. The record spent nine weeks on the chart reaching number 15 position.
References
*Roberts, David. ''Guinness Book of British Hit Singles & Albums''. Guinness World Records Limited. 20th revised edition. (Jun 2007). {{ISBN, 1-904994-10-5
* Liner notes ''Second Time Around'' - 2001 -
Sanctuary Records
Sanctuary Records Group Limited was a record label based in the United Kingdom and is as of 2013 a subsidiary of BMG Rights Management solely for reissues. Until June 2007, it was the largest independent record label in the UK and the largest m ...
CMDDD 398
1973 songs
Songs written by Junior Campbell
Deram Records singles
1973 singles