John WETTON
&
Geoffrey DOWNES
Icon 3
(2009)
1. Twice The Man I Was 4'42
(John Wetton / Geoffrey Downes)
2. Destiny 5'23
(John Wetton / Geoffrey Downes)
3. Green Lights And Blue Skies 4'25
(John Wetton / Geoffrey Downes)
4. Raven 3'57
(John Wetton / Geoffrey Downes)
5. My Life Is In Your Hands 6'22
(John Wetton / Geoffrey Downes)
6. Sex, Power And Money 4'28
(John Wetton / Geoffrey Downes)
7. Anna's Kiss 4'31
(John Wetton / Geoffrey Downes)
8. Under The Sky 4'54
(John Wetton / Geoffrey Downes / Richard Palmer-James)
9. Don't Go Out Tonight 4'06
(John Wetton / Geoffrey Downes)
10. Never Thought I'd See You Again 5'04
(John Wetton / Geoffrey Downes)
11. Peace In Your Time 5'39
(John Wetton / Geoffrey Downes)
Total Time: 53:31
ICON Is:
John Wetton - Voices, Basses
Geoffrey Downes - Keyboards, Vocoder
Dave Kilminster - Guitars
Pete Riley - Drums
Hugh McDowell - Cello
Very Special Guests:
Anne-Marie Helder - Voice on 'Raven', 'Don't Co Out Tonight', 'Peace in Our Time'
Andreas Vollenweider - Harp on 'Raven' and 'Anna's Kiss'
Produced by John Wetton and Geoffrey Downes for ASIA ICON Ltd. ©2009
Licensed through ASIA ICON LIMITED
Mastered by: Andy Jackson, TUBE MASTERING, London, UK
Management: Martin Darvill
Ably Assisted by Patrizia Cacchio
Design / Artwork: Michael Inns and Karen Gladwell
Public Relations / Media: Ellie Schwartz
Special Thanks To Roland Hyams, WORK HARD PR
All Songs Published: WILLOW SONGS Ltd.
Special Thanks To Serafino, Mario and all at FRONTIERS RECORDS
John Wetton would like To Thank:
Dylan, Beate, me Ma,
Guitars Sstrings, TAKAMINE Guitars,
ROLAND Amplification. BOSS Special FX (and fabulous Eau de Toilette),
EISER Microphones, Rick Nelson,
OB MOOG Taurus, Martin Orford,
Marion Darvill for her divine
fish pie, all at QEDG MANAGEMENT,
Patzi Cacchio, Karen Gladwell,
ayman, Alan Simon, lain Sandoe,
Kimbrough, Hazel and Kate at 21st CENTURY HAIR, Delia, Kinks
and GG, all at FRONTIERS RECORDS, Napoli,
Kim Dancha, DERBY COUNTY FOOTBALL CLUB,
Jeep, Porkers of Stuttgart,
Jack Bruce, Joni Mitchell, johann Sebastian,
Mahler and the constant Horace  .... to Martin Darvill
acumen, enthusiasm, and understanding beyond the call.
Geoffrey Downes Special Thanks go To:
Ail at ROLAND Japan, Dax Kimbrough and all
at EMI America, Johan Chasseur at
PROPELLERHEAD Software, Dave Gallant
and Michael Milbourn, Martine &
Louis Dorey, Jon Kirkman,
Ricky Nelson, Nick Shilton, Randy
at ARTIST RELATIONS USA,
Hund at USE AUDIO, Ben Woolfenden,
Jenny Dorey-Jones, Christina &
Alexandra Steen Downes,
Horace Bachelor, Sean Montgomery, Martyn Hopkins
and the rest of the ROLAND guys
worldwide, Marion Darvill and all at
LISCOMBE PARK, and of course the
mighty Dawers himself.
On my journey through southern England to cross the River Severn and on to Wales, I pass through
some beautiful countryside, by a handful of sturdy, ancient settlements. Winchester, Salisbury (including
the breathtaking Stonehenge), Bath and Raglan are all on my way, and atmosphere of each is a delight to
behold. Castles and Cathedrals that have witnessed multiple millennia. The spectacular Severn Bridge, which divides England and Wales, is a must-see if you are visiting the British Isles. It's a serial must-see if you are making an Icon (or an Asia) record. My home is on the south coast of England, Geoff Downes lives in rural South Wales, so for our writing, and pre-production purposes, we divide our time between the two venues - initially at the old piano at my house - the same one we wrote our first adventure in 1981 - then, as we progress, in Geoff's space pod, hi-tech studio in the shadow of a castle overloo a lush Welsh valley It's just the two of us - we swap musical ideas, think of concepts, ask ourselves f; deep questions, cook lunch, eat lunch, chew the fat about myriad topics - politics, religion, music, hist TV, football, women - in fact anything that concerns us. Like being at a small, private pub with a really g friend - without alcohol. It matters not how topical a subject is, but whether there is any mileage in carving a song out of it. These afternoons are not without humour, of course - it is an essential part of our make-up, and our work can be tremendous fun at times. We commenced work on Icon 3 in June 2008 - this is the third in a series of Icon offerings, the last of a trilogy fin our minds,anyway). There may be more, but n< this format. However, in the final debate, our record-buyers will make up their own minds about whii their own favourite, but I could not tell you which is mine - or indeed, which of the eighty-plus songs we have written together is my favourite. Mr. Rosenberg, my accountant of 30 years, has strong opinions on that, but to me they all have their place in our history and catalogue, because they absolutely reflect the character, moods and opinions of their creators. They contain a large helping of both of us. joni Mitchell said 'Songs are like tattoos'. That is a wonderful observation, especially from a songwriter - once the song is created, it cannot be erased, only nurtured. It is there, for better or worse, like it or not, with all its imperfections. A chance meeting at a lunchtime restaurant, nestling in the Rive Gauche of the Seine, while I was working on 'Excalibur' in Paris last year, led to Andreas Vollenweider's participation, providing the utterly gorgeous harp track to our sexually vampiric 'Raven', and you'll find Geoff's acid-soaked Ibizencan extravaganza 'Green Lights & Blue Skies'. I brought a couple of ideas from my back pocket - the meiody to 'Peace in Our Time' had been in my mind at the time of a rehearsal with Bill Bruford and Rick Wakeman in 1976, and 'Sex, Power and Money' was a title that I'd tossed around with Harry Parress and Curt Cuomo in Los Angeles in 1991, while preparing material for 'Battle Lines'. 'Don't Go Out Tonight' was also a hangover from our late 80s excursions. For anyone interested in how we write, it's still a mystery to me, and there is never 100% /0% ratio on any of our songs. He who originates the idea generally has the ball to run with, and makes some of the big decisions, but the other supports fully, and contributes a great deal -conceptually, lyrically, and musically.
I saw Pete Riley play in Berlin some years ago, and fresh from his stints with two of my other fav keyboard players - Emerson and Hensley - he has graced this CD with his immaculately punctuality, and will be with us while touring also.
Geoff and I had a brilliant sunny al fresco Saturday lunch in the terminally q
town square in late May last year, where we made our plans to begin work on Icon III. About two weeks later we met at my house, at the old piano, and I have a piece of notepaper from that day with I I ideas penned on it. They are the same 11 ideas - 7 months, and a great deal of work, later - that you hold in your hand now. For the longest time my Muse did not deign to put in an appearance, but suddenly put in a tornado of a visit at 3 a.m. while I was staying with Dylan and his mother in Munich, Germany. I know when I am wakened at that time, I have to leap out of bed and find pen and paper, because Erato will not dally, and in the morning I won't remember even the most rudimentary vestige of what knowledge was given to me. That's part of the deal, the lyric in question was Twice the Man I Was', and it was the first of many lyrics scribbled in strange places. As we developed our material for this album, we decided to make a change in our personnel for this, the last of the trilogy. When I worked with David Kilminster many years ago in Qango, I was emotionally and spiritually unavailable, and the opportunity for us to clear away any wreckage from the past was thankfully grasped immediately by both of us. Dave has a wealth of talent and technique, and his delightful solos are a joy to experience in their devilish musicality. Strangely enough, when Geoff and I returned to the concert hall in the Slovakian capital the afternoon of our preparatory lunch, I thought 1 had found our female vocalist, because she was singing in the park at a rock festival, she sounded just the ket, but that was not to be. Our salvation came in the form of Anne-Marie Helder who proved not only a fantastic singer, but amazingly simpatica, and who just also happens to be a Gemini! Connoisseurs of our recorded history will once again be rewarded with the unique cello of Mr. McDowell on Icon 3. Hugh is. of course, an integral part of the astral furniture in the Wetton/Downes firmament, and without him, it simply wouldn't be Icon.
So, seven months have passed since our first talk regarding, and decision to proceed with, this project, and now it is an entity. All of the musical contributions have been outstanding, and Steve Rispin, our tireless engineer, deserves a medal for putting up with the two curmudgeons who make his life such a joy by creating over 188 tracks of music on one song. The number of trips to Liscombe Park are now beyond counting, that is where our studio is, and our management hub, Martin's nerve centre, which handles all things Icon and Asia. Expect more activity this year, as we plan to tour extensively in the coming months from Moscow to Mainz, Manhattan to, oh, somewhere near you. A huge 'Grazie' to our Italian record company, Frontiers, with whom we've developed a sound relationship. In the days of global recession, it's an honour to be making records with such gentle men. The sleeve may be of interest to some of you. There was no immediate candidate for title track, and we were constantly referring to the record as '3'. We had noticed the similarity between the Aum' symbol and the third digit, so after discussions with Martin and our A.D. and barefoot hippy photographer, Mike Inns, we all agreed that its meaning as an all-encompassing supreme being, of spirituality (not organised religion) made it an obvious choice for the symbol representing this, the multi faceted and non-specific musical genre that we call 'Icon'. Please enjoy irresponsibly.
- John Wetton, New Forest -
Jauary 21st, 2009.
Offical Websites:
www.johnwetton.com
Website and information: Kim and Drew Dancha
Geoffrey Downes Official Website:
www.geoffdownes.com
Engineered and Mixed: Steve Rispin @ LISCOMBE PARK, Buckinghamshire, England, October 2008 - January 2009
All Music and Words Written by John Wetton and Geoff Downes
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