Bmg Hooks Unreleased Songs From Waterboys

When the Waterboys released Fisherman's Blues in October 1988, it became the biggest-selling album in the British band's history. But the dozen songs featured on the set only scratched the surface of the epic sessions that had produced it.

In the 21/2-plus years taken to record the album, singer/songwriter Mike Scott and his group used 303 days of studio time and 374 reels of two-inch tape. A total of 41 musicians were involved in 13 studios in four countries. In total, the sessions resulted in 159 tracks, of which 60 were eventually mastered.

Now, 13 years on, comes Too Close to Heaven: The Unreleased Fisherman's Blues Sessions, released on RCA in the U.K. and Europe Sept. 24. It features a further 10 songs that have been rescued by Scott from the original sessions.

"When we started recording in January 1986, I had no idea what an epic it would turn into," Scott says. "The music just kept coming, and I lost perspective." He knew that he would eventually go back to the tapes and release more material—although he had no idea it would take him so long. "I was moving house a lot, and it wasn't until 1996 that I got all my stuff, including the tapes, out of storage," he explains. "Then it took me another four or five years to get working on them."

He finally began in January this year. "It was much easier this time around, because I had perspective again. It was pretty obvious which were the classic songs that had to go on the record. It was like sealing long-unfinished business."

Because of the spontaneous way in which the sessions had been recorded, a lot of editing was needed. Scott says, "Some tracks were 20 minutes long—if I didn't have a last verse, the band would just keep playing while I finished writing the song in the studio."

On some of the tracks Scott had to add new vocal parts, because previously he had only recorded rough vocals as a guide. "And I took off some of the loud snare drums and the heavy reverb, which was a very '80s sound. But mostly it hadn't dated, because it was musicians playing together in the studio and getting off on it, and that's a timeless thing."

With Scott in the Waterboys throughout the marathon sessions were fiddle player Steve Wickham, bassist Trevor Hutchinson, and saxophonist Anthony Thistlewaite. Guests on the album included Donal Lunny (bouzouki), Bill Whelan (piano), Charlie Lennon (fiddle), and drummer Jim Keltner.

Scott insists there will not be a Fisherman's Blues Volume Three. "I picked the stuff that was the strongest, because I didn't want people to say they could hear why the songs were left off in the first place. I want them to wonder why we didn't put them out before."

The album's release was part of the deal when the Waterboys signed to BMG/RCA last year. Per Kviman, London-based A&R manager at BMG, says, "Mike made clear from day one he wanted to put this out, and we were very excited to do it. Now he's finished it off properly, it sounds like a classic Waterboys record, with all that magic and chemistry. I don't think they necessarily picked all the best songs first time around. It probably should have been a double-album in the first place."

Scott reformed the Waterboys last year and released A Rock in the Weary Land, the first album under the band's name in seven years. That album gets a U.S. release on Razor & Tie in September. It will be accompanied by tour dates, before the band returns to the U.K. for a fall tour. The U.S. release of Too Close to Heaven will follow next year.