''Everybody's Angel'' is the third studio album by

Tanita Tikaram Tanita Tikaram (born 12 August 1969) is a British Pop music, pop/folk music, folk singer-songwriter. She achieved chart success with the singles "Twist in My Sobriety" and "Good Tradition" from her 1988 debut album, ''Ancient Heart''. Backgrou ...

, released in 1991.

Background

Tikaram wrote the majority of the songs that form the album between December 1989-January 1990, just before the release of her second album ''

The Sweet Keeper ''The Sweet Keeper'' is the second studio album by British Pop music, pop/Folk music, folk singer-songwriter Tanita Tikaram, released in 1990. Like her debut album ''Ancient Heart'' (1988), it was produced by Peter Van Hooke and Rod Argent. Thre ...

'', with "Hot Pork Sandwiches" dating far back to 1988. The basic recording of the album took place in June 1990 at

Bearsville Studios Bearsville Sound Studio was an independent residential recording studio founded by Albert Grossman in the Bearsville, New York, Bearsville section of Woodstock, New York. From the late 1960s through the early 2000s, the studios were the site of n ...

Woodstock, New York Woodstock is a Administrative divisions of New York#Town, town in Ulster County, New York, United States, in the northern part of the county, northwest of Kingston, New York, Kingston. It lies within the borders of the Catskill Park. The popula ...

. The same team of musicians that had worked on her previous two albums were brought to play for this one, including

Mark Isham Mark Ware Isham (born September 7, 1951) is an American musician and composer. A trumpeter and keyboardist, Isham works in a variety of genres, including jazz and electronic music, electronic. He is also a prolific and acclaimed composer of Film ...

Helen O'Hara Helen O'Hara (born Helen Bevington; 5 November 1956) is a British musician. She was a member and violinist of Dexys Midnight Runners from 1982 to 1987, including performing on songs such as "Come on Eileen", and in 2021 rejoined the band. Earl ...

and Mark Creswell. Further recordings took place at

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

back in England. As with her previous two albums,

Rod Argent Rodney Terence Argent (born 14 June 1945) is an English musician. In a career spanning more than 50 years, Argent came to prominence in the mid-1960s as the keyboardist, founder and leader of the rock band the Zombies, and went on to form the ba ...

and

Peter van Hooke Peter Van Hooke (born 6 April 1950) is an English rock drummer and producer with over 350 credits to his name. He was the drummer for the English band Mike + The Mechanics (from 1985 to 1995) and also drummed for Van Morrison's band, Headston ...

produced the record, but for the first time Tikaram co-produced the songs as well, a move she said she had not felt confident enough to do on the previous two records. This would be the last time Tikaram collaborated with Argent and van Hooke on production.

Jennifer Warnes Jennifer Jean Warnes (born March 3, 1947) is an American singer and songwriter who has performed as a vocalist on a number of film soundtracks. She has won two Grammy Awards, in 1983 for the Joe Cocker duet " Up Where We Belong", and in 1987 fo ...

, of whom Tikaram had always declared being a fan, and whom Tikaram had met when Warnes attended one of her concerts at The Roxy in 1989, added harmony vocals on two songs on the album, the single " Only the Ones We Love" and "Mud in Any Water". Two songs on the album, "Hot Pork Sandwiches" and " I Love the Heaven's Solo" had previously been released in 1990 in acoustic versions as b-sides to the single " Little Sister Leaving Town".

Release and reception

The album sold moderately well in Europe, but there was an evident decline in sales in comparison with Tikaram's previous albums, and in most territories this was the singer's last album to achieve a chart placing, including the USA. ''Everybody's Angel'' debuted and peaked at #19 in the UK, and achieved similar top 20 placings around Europe, but fell off the charts pretty quickly. In the USA, it peaked at a low #142. Reviews were mixed, but generally found the record more inspired than her second album ''

''. Most of the reviews also noted a strong

Van Morrison Sir George Ivan "Van" Morrison (born 31 August 1945) is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and musician whose recording career started in the 1960s. Morrison's albums have performed well in the UK and Ireland, with more than 40 reaching the UK ...

influence on the sound of the album. Two singles were released off the album. The lead single " Only the Ones We Love", with backup vocals by Jennifer Warnes, did not become a substantial hit and only peaked at #69 in the UK. The second single, a re-recorded " I Love the Heaven's Solo" with a gospel choir, did not chart at all. The album track "Deliver Me" was touted as a possible third single (or US-only single) as it was getting a good response, but no release ever came to be.

Track listing

All tracks composed by Tanita Tikaram #" Only the Ones We Love" #"Deliver Me" #"This Story in Me" #"To Wish This" #"Mud in Any Water" #"Sunface" #"Never Known" #"This Stranger" #"Swear by Me" #"Hot Pork Sandwiches" #"Me in Mind" #"Sometime with Me" #" I Love the Heaven's Solo" #"I'm Going Home"

Charts

Personnel

*Tanita Tikaram – guitar, vocals *David Hayes – bass *

– trumpet, flugelhorn *

– harmony vocals *

– piano, Hammond organ, harmony vocals, string arrangements & conductor *James Archer – violin *Mark Berrow – violin *Mike Brittain – double bass *Richie Buckley – alto & tenor saxophone *David Emanuel – viola *Lyn Fletcher – violin *Wilfred Gibson – violin *Roy Gillard – violin *Jack Glickman – viola *Paul Kegg – cello *Ben Kennard – cello *

Carol Kenyon Carol Kenyon (sometimes spelt Karol; born 1959) is a British singer. She is best known for her vocals on the Heaven 17 hit song "Temptation", which reached number two in the UK Singles Chart in 1983. When the song was re-released as a remix by ...

– harmony vocals *

Katie Kissoon Mac and Katie Kissoon are a pop soul duo, consisting of brother and sister Mac Kissoon (born Gerald Farthing, November 11, 1943, Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago) and Katie Kissoon (born Katherine Farthing, March 11, 1951, Port of Spain). Ea ...

– harmony vocals *Andrew McGee – viola *Jim McLeod – violin *

– violin *Peter Oxer – violin *Anthony Pleeth – cello *

Paul Silverthorne Paul Silverthorne (born 1951 in Cheshire, England) is an English viola soloist and was principal violist of the London Symphony Orchestra and the London Sinfonietta. Biography Silverthorne studied at the Royal Academy of Music with Clarence Myers ...

– viola *Barry Wilde – violin *Mark Creswell – guitar *Martin Robinson – cello

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Everybody'S Angel 1991 albums Tanita Tikaram albums Albums produced by Rod Argent Albums produced by Peter Van Hooke East West Records albums