Don't Cry For Me
This was around the mid 90’s when I was hanging out a lot with Gerry Crowley the A&R man for Ritz Records in London. Gerry introduced me to Tony Hiller, a multi million selling songwriter & producer most renowned for creating “Brotherhood of Man” – we wrote this song the same afternoon that we met for the first time in Tony’s London apartment. Having Russ Ballard produce it really added something special to the track. That’s Russ whistling on the intro – I can’t whistle to save my life!
The One (November Day)
Killarney 1998 the Irish Music Rights Organisation put on a songwriting workshop in a nice hotel. This was the result of my collaboration with the Irish singer/songwriter Celine Carroll. Gareth O’Callaghan played it daily for weeks on his 2FM radio show and declared that he’d been “inundated with requests and enquiries”….the song is now signed to the publishing company of Guy Fletcher OBE – Commercial Arts Limited in London…hopefully Guy will make it fly.
The Corner
This is like an old friend now. Written not about me but actually about an old friend. Sally Oldfield once recorded a nice version of this but never released it. Sang it on TV in Ireland a few times including the Gerry Kelly Live show on UTV Belfast….it’s been recorded by several other people but……we live in hope. Billy Farrell and Anto Drennan again on production and guitars.
Solitary Sun
I remember scribbling these lyrics down in the back of a taxi in New York sometime in 2001. Didn’t really know what I was talking about, but it sometimes gives me an eerie feeling now. The melody had come to me before in one of those early morning, half awake/half asleep states.
Something Inside So Strong
A great song by the great Labi Siffre, a writer and musician I hugely admire. Tried to interpret it more in my own folky pop style with the help of the multi talented Irish session man Dick Farrelly. To this day I absolutely love Dick’s acoustic guitar, bottle neck solo on this…just beautifully felt and played.
Where Is The Light
Some kind of spiritual journey with no real destination…Dick Farrelly’s swirling guitar figures really helped to take the song out there into the ether. I remember having a port and brandy in the pub in Abbey Street, Dublin before putting the vocal down…the bartender looked at me kind of funny…must have been early or something!
Too Late
Another oldie written at university – at the time I was obsessed with the Byrds and their jangly guitar riffs, often in the key of D and played on 12 String Rickenbackers…I think this was my attempt at writing one of those.
Sky Horses
Wrote this melody high on a hill in South Africa, but it wasn’t until years later that Padraic O’Beirn and I worked on the lyrics together in Dublin. Some great bass lines here from Dublin’s Paul Byrne & that is guitarist Dick Farrelly helping the horses to fly with his pedal guitar figures.
Falling From A Satellite
A very old song written in some kind of altered state when I was a Law student at Hull University. This recording was later in Dublin & shows off the fine chops of Irish man Aengus Devine on piano.
Always (Spirit of Love)
Possibly the most sophisticated chord progression I ever managed to dig up, just as I was learning piano. Strings arrangement here is by Billy Farrell and guitars by Anto Drennan, the guys who ended up producing for the Corrs and having lots of other, much deserved success. Wonderful musicians both.
Morning Has Broken
Tim sings Morning Has Broken, live.
The One (November Day)
Tim sings The One (November Day), live
Whatever Will Be (J. Vincent Edwards)
One of my collaborations with my old pal J. Vincent Edwards, star of the original HAIR musical and writer of amongst other things the huge hit “Right Back Where We Started From” -fantastic singer, but above all an old and very close friend, who has helped and advised me an awful lot over the years. This was written around his keyboard in Barnes, South West London one afternoon. I later took it to Italy and it would be covered by the household name Italian artist, Francesco Baccini….now there’s another story! Good end result though.
Quand'e' che mi dici si (Francesco Baccini)
This is Baccini’s Italian version of “Whatever Will Be” which achieved substantial sales and huge airplay in Italy. It also became popular with Italian rock guitar enthusiasts thanks to a fine, rip-roaring solo by one of Italy’s top axe-men Andrea Braido. This is the number referred to in the copyright story which you can read here.