ROCK FOLEY

Rip It Up, Issue 46, 1 May 1981, Page 8

ROCK FOLEY

Mark Phillips

Last year, Ellen Foley visited Auckland to promote her album Night Out. The record stamped her as hot property, and while she was here she told us that she would like to "sing on the next Clash album," although she had never seen or met the band. Several months later, Cashbox noted that Mick Jones and Ellen Foley were holidaying in the Bahamas. A quick

glance at the credits of her second album, Spirit of St Louis, shows that Jones contributed more than just good advice.

Speaking on the phone from New York, she sounds rather tired. "The Clash were in New York recording and I was able to watch. The way-they worked really fascinated me. It was like a lot of people would come around and get very excited about something. It all seemed so spontaneous. Later on I found that in Mick's mind there was always a definite idea, and that Joe absolutely toils over everything. I suggested that maybe we could do something together, and they agreed. It all just developed from there."

As things progressed, it was decided that Jones would produce. Was Foley worried about giving away complete control? "I really trust his skill and instinct, so it wasn't a matter of control, more of co-operation. I thought I learned a lot, but I gave a lot too." Where did the songs come from?

"Mick and I chose the songs. He and Joe wrote six of them especially for me. The rest are made up of one of my own, two oldies by Edith Piaf and Aretha Franklin and several by Tymon Dogg. Tymon's a friend of Joe's. We ran into him in New York last spring, loitering on a street corner. I found him a really fascinating person and I was just amazed by his songs. He has a truly unusual voice and an absolutely manic violin style."

Whatever happened to the songs Foley wrote last year with Fred Goodman? "On reflection, they just didn't seem to fit. Fred is doing demos with them now. I'd like other people to record them because they are good songs. To me it's like they came from another time." The first album, Night Out was produced by lan Hunter and recorded in the States. This time, it was done at London's Wessex Studios. How did the recording of St Louis compare to the previous album? "It was all much faster. It took about a month divided into two periods. It was also far less casual. Although there was a lot of tension, it was all positive. I found people in London have a far higher level of creativity than people in the States. We used Mick, Joe, Topper and Tymon, as well as Davey Payne, Norman WattRoy, Mickey Gallagher and Johnny Turnbull. Bill Price engineered." Is the album aimed at the British market? "No. I wouldn't say it was aimed at any specific market. It has a British sound because of where it was done and who did

it. It has changed my sound though. In the past, the production was very big. Night Out followed a successful sixties formula, because it was what we thought would work best. What I'm doing now centres much more on my voice. I see it as a modern style of cabaret. All about a singer, a performer telling stories, and particularly about a woman. It's given me more of an understanding about what I want from myself." Where did the album title come from? "I come from St Louis. The name of Charles Lindbergh's plane was Spirit of St Louis. To me, making trans-Atlantic crossings had a lot to do with making the album." Has working with other people's bands left her high and dry w'hen it comes to live work? "Definitely. That's exactly where I am now. I have to wait and see what happens with the record. It's all other people's plans and I don't really agree with it. At the moment I don't even have one show lined up. In fact I really don't know what I'm going to do next."