Born Sandy Devotional
Encyclopedia
Born Sandy Devotional was an album by The Triffids
, released in March 1986
. The cover photo shows the now West Australian city of Mandurah
back in 1961. All the songs on the album were written by David McComb
. The album was recorded at Mark Angelo Studios in London
in August 1985 and mixed at Amazon Studios in Liverpool
in September 1985.
Born Sandy Devotional reached No. 37 on the Australian Album Charts and No. 18 on the Swedish Album Charts in 1986.
On 12 June 2006 Domino Records released a re-mastered edition including 8 bonus tracks and the video for "Wide Open Road". The bonus tracks were selected by Graham Lee
. The album was re-mastered from the original analogue recordings in Melbourne in February 2006. A limited edition also released by Domino Records containing a 40-page booklet with copies of the hand written lyrics for the ten songs, taken from David McComb's original notebooks (which differ slightly from the actual words sung) and notes and photographs about the making of the album.
The re-mastered edition of Born Sandy Devotional reached No. 39 on the Belgium Album Charts in July 2006.
On 11 August 2007 SBS in Australia aired a 1 hour documentary on the Triffids and Born Sandy Devotional as the 1980s representative of their Great Australian Albums series. In October 2010, it was listed at No. 5 in the book, 100 Best Australian Albums
.
The Triffids
The Triffids were a seminal Australian alternative rock and pop band formed in Perth, Western Australia, in May 1978 with charismatic, David McComb as singer-songwriter, guitarist, bass guitarist and keyboardist. They achieved negligible success in Australia, but greater success in the U.K...
, released in March 1986
1986 in music
This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1986.-January-June:*January 23 – The first induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame takes place...
. The cover photo shows the now West Australian city of Mandurah
Mandurah, Western Australia
Mandurah is the second-largest city in Western Australia and is located approximately south of the state capital, Perth.The city attracts a large number of tourists, including many international visitors...
back in 1961. All the songs on the album were written by David McComb
David McComb
David Richard McComb was an Australian rock musician. He was the singer-songwriter of the Australian band, The Triffids.-Early years in Perth:...
. The album was recorded at Mark Angelo Studios in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
in August 1985 and mixed at Amazon Studios in Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
in September 1985.
When we finished Born Sandy Devotional I knew it was the best thing we’d ever done, there was no question about it. The writing was much more autobiographical than anything I’d done before, I felt quite close to the subject matter. I found myself almost following the idea of fidelity as a complete all-consuming faith, to give you some sort of direction or something.
And ‘Born Sandy Devotional’? It was the name of a song which didn’t make it onto the record which is about someone called Sandy… I like titles like those, they’re just a law unto themselves and they have a feeling unto themselves.
Born Sandy Devotional is the culmination of our efforts trying to capture our more considered lyrical approach with a physical intensity… well not really, but that will have to do. David McComb -
Born Sandy Devotional reached No. 37 on the Australian Album Charts and No. 18 on the Swedish Album Charts in 1986.
On 12 June 2006 Domino Records released a re-mastered edition including 8 bonus tracks and the video for "Wide Open Road". The bonus tracks were selected by Graham Lee
Graham Lee (Australian musician)
Graham Lee is an Australian rock musician and record producer, best known as the steel guitar player of the 1980s band The Triffids, where he was nicknamed 'Evil Graham Lee'....
. The album was re-mastered from the original analogue recordings in Melbourne in February 2006. A limited edition also released by Domino Records containing a 40-page booklet with copies of the hand written lyrics for the ten songs, taken from David McComb's original notebooks (which differ slightly from the actual words sung) and notes and photographs about the making of the album.
The re-mastered edition of Born Sandy Devotional reached No. 39 on the Belgium Album Charts in July 2006.
On 11 August 2007 SBS in Australia aired a 1 hour documentary on the Triffids and Born Sandy Devotional as the 1980s representative of their Great Australian Albums series. In October 2010, it was listed at No. 5 in the book, 100 Best Australian Albums
100 Best Australian Albums
100 Best Australian Albums is a compendium of rock and pop albums of the past 50 years as compiled by music journalists Toby Creswell, Craig Mathieson and John O'Donnell. The book was published on 25 October 2010 by Hardie Grant Books...
.
Original edition
All songs written by David McComb.- "The Seabirds" - 3:20
- "Estuary Bed" - 4:49
- "Chicken Killer" - 3:51
- "Tarrilup Bridge" - 3:21
- "Lonely Stretch" - 5:02
- "Wide Open Road" - 4:08
- "Life of Crime" - 4:24
- "Personal Things" - 2:57
- "Stolen Property" - 6:47
- "Tender Is the Night (The Long Fidelity)" - 3:53
Remastered edition
- "The 107" - 3:28 : Recorded on an early four track cassette Portastudio in November 1984 and mixed at Greg Wadley's Spill Studios in January 2006. "The 107" and "When A aMan Turns Bad" run into each other on the original recording, probably accidentally, and have been deliberately left this way on the remastered edition.
- "Whan a Man Turns Bad" - 4:35
- "Of the Plaza" - 2:40 : Was originally recorded as a solo vocal version on a 1984 cassette labelled New Songs. According to the album liner notes it appeared once in an early list of possible songs for Born Sandy Devotional.
- "White Shawl" - 1:08 : Was also found on the same cassette as the previous track.
- "Convent Walls" - 4:04 : A song that appeared in early track lists for Born Sandy Devotional but was eventually relegated to B side status. Recorded in Albert Studios in Sydney, 1985 with Margaret Labi guesting on backing vocals.
- "Time of Weakness" - 3:12 : This song, according to the album liner notes, was a part of Born Sandy Devotional until a very late stage, where it got bumped for the track, "Personal Things", as there was an issue with the running time or length of the LP. This version of the song was recorded live by Mitch Jones on 23 November 1985 at the Graphic Arts Club in Sydney and mixed by Rob Muir in Perth.
- "Born Sandy Devotional" - 5:07 : This version has been reworked, as it only ever appeared as a truncated version on the album, In The PinesIn the Pines (album)In The Pines is an album by The Triffids, released in August, 1986 and reached No. 69 on the Australian Album Charts.The album was recorded in a woolshed on a remote Western Australian farming property, owned by the McCombs' parents, on an eight-track machine for a grand total of $1190 In The Pines...
. - "Wish to See No More" - 1:59 : This is another song that was listed for inclusion on Born Sandy Devotional and also for In the PinesIn the Pines (album)In The Pines is an album by The Triffids, released in August, 1986 and reached No. 69 on the Australian Album Charts.The album was recorded in a woolshed on a remote Western Australian farming property, owned by the McCombs' parents, on an eight-track machine for a grand total of $1190 In The Pines...
but was not included on either. - "Tender Is the Night (The Long Fidelity) Alt. vers." - 3:40 : Was recorded on the same cassette as the first two songs, "The 107" and "When a Man Turns Bad", with McComb and Birt singing this as a duet.
- "Wide Open Road" - video track
The Triffids
- David McCombDavid McCombDavid Richard McComb was an Australian rock musician. He was the singer-songwriter of the Australian band, The Triffids.-Early years in Perth:...
- vocalsSingingSinging is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
, guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
, keyboardsKeyboard instrumentA keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments... - "Evil" Graham LeeGraham Lee (Australian musician)Graham Lee is an Australian rock musician and record producer, best known as the steel guitar player of the 1980s band The Triffids, where he was nicknamed 'Evil Graham Lee'....
- pedal and lap steel guitarSteel guitarSteel guitar is a type of guitar or the method of playing the instrument. Developed in Hawaii in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, a steel guitar is usually positioned horizontally; strings are plucked with one hand, while the other hand changes the pitch of one or more strings with the use... - Martyn Casey - bass guitarBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
- Jill BirtJill BirtJill Birt is an Australian rock musician and architect, best known as the keyboardist of the 1980s band The Triffids.-Early years:Jillian Birt was born in Tambellup, where she attended Tambellup Primary School. She attended Methodist Ladies College in Perth, as a boarder...
- vocals, keyboards - Robert McComb - violinViolinThe violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
, guitar, backing vocalsBacking vocalistA backing vocalist or backing singer is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists... - Alsy MacDonaldAlsy MacDonaldAlan MacDonald is an Australian rock musician and lawyer, best known as the drummer of the 1980s band The Triffids, where he performed under his nickname 'Alsy'....
- drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
, backing vocals
Additional musicians
- Sally Collins - backing vocals
- Fay Brown - backing vocals
- Adam Peters - cello, keyboards, piano
- Chris Abrahams - piano, vibraphone
- Lesley Wynne - viola
Reviews
"All the other rock is howling around, picking the sand out of its eyes, and The Triffids, on this hurricane form, make it look like a swarm of legless lizards. They've evidently taken their time, but unleash their true masterpiece when their nearest rivals clog their own arteries with pomp and frigid pretentiousness. Leaving a note on the fridge, The Triffids cap their climax with a lyrical wall and a mercurial lacing of melody.
Tapping out their oaths in rich words and cured kisses of harmony, they stampede back with the best, most brilliantly brusque LP of the year so far. They make the human verb rain thunder and it's almost a miracle."
Sounds - John Wilde
"After years of getting there, The Triffids have at last delivered what they've long promised: Born Sandy Devotional is a masterpiece....
Music, after all, expresses that which lies beyond words; and this is music of an order to be taken seriously...
Born Sandy Devotional boldly reoccupies the territory rock has abandoned in its retreat into self obsession, and so throws down the challenge to the rest of the field. Have you the imagination to accept?"
NMENMEThe New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...
- Mat Snow
"At last somebody's released Born Sandy Devotional, which was finished nearly a year ago but has been bouncing around between dithering record companies ever since. God knows why because it's a classic, 10 songs of love and life in a hostile sub-tropical landscape. David McComb wrote the lot and it's a substantial achievement. His lyrics display real writer's insight, and mould imperceptibly to his unhurried melodies....
In The Seabirds, he explores a drowning love affair in a song so vivid it resembles a short story with pictures.
I'll have worn my copy out soon. What more can I tell you?"
Melody MakerMelody MakerMelody Maker, published in the United Kingdom, was, according to its publisher IPC Media, the world's oldest weekly music newspaper. It was founded in 1926 as a magazine targeted at musicians; in 2000 it was merged into "long-standing rival" New Musical Express.-1950s–1960s:Originally the Melody...
- Adam Sweeting