Photo by Dina Regine
Dionne Warwick and Burt Bacharach. Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazelwood. Certain pairings of singer and songwriter produce especially magical results.
So it is with Hillary Bratton, whose new album, Tears On My Pillow But The Rest Of The Bed’s Ok, is dedicated entirely to the songs of Barry Reynolds. Reynolds is best known for the songs he’s written for Marianne Faithfull, as well as Grace Jones, Antony & the Johnsons, and many more.
“I wanted to make an album, but it was Barry’s songs that were the impetus,” said Bratton. “I wanted to share these songs that I had fallen in love with and for people to know what a great songwriter he is. It’s the only album comprised entirely of his songs”.
Drummer Anton Fier, best known as the founder of the indie supergroup the Golden Palmoninos, produced and played on half of the songs in New York. Tony Berg (Andrew Bird, Blake Mills) produced the other half in Los Angeles. The record was mixed by Bob Clearmountain and features performances by pianist Patrick Warren (Bob Dylan), bassist Sebastian Steinberg (Fiona Apple), drummer Michael Urbano (Paul Westerberg) and on guitar, Reynolds himself.
We could have picked any number of songs from this gorgeous LP, but “Back On The Starting Line” was a stand-out.
“This is one of the songs that I recorded with Anton Fier in New York,” Bratton told The Big Takeover. “We started with a very rough demo that Barry had sent a while back. I fell in love with the song immediately, it has a great melody with interesting chord changes. I had gotten used to singing it with just guitar — but the song came alive with Anton’s arrangement and the gifted musicians that he works with, which on this song was JIm Compilongo, Grey McMurray and Tony Scherr on guitars; Tony on bass as well, Irwin Fisch on keyboards and Anton on drums.
“Like so many of Barry’s songs, the lyrics are a bit mysterious with beautiful imagery but there’s an edge to it,” she continued. “There’s always something a little cutting in his songs.”
I have a dream that’s been recurring
Where I’m standing on a bridge
And a boat passes beneath me
And you’re lying on the deck
There’s a flower in your left hand and a bible in your right
Your skin is pale and lovely as you drift into the night
“It’s like Ophelia floating down the river,” said Bratton. “It then goes on to describe a turbulent relationship that gets patched together physically but at a point where you’re too tired to keep the cycle and the drama going. I think the title is quite different from what you would expect the song to be.”
Do yourself a favor today and surrender to this song. You’ll be glad you did.
