East Side Story — Squeeze (1981)
I was looking at the credits on Squeeze’s East Side Story because I wanted to know who produced it. Elvis Costello and Roger Béchirian, it turns out. But that’s not what stopped me.
The keyboards. The credits say keyboards and vocals: Paul Carrack. I knew the name vaguely — he sang “How Long” with Ace in the mid-’70s, that bassline-driven song that still gets played on classic rock radio. But I didn’t know he’d played on this record. He replaced Jools Holland in Squeeze, sang lead on “Tempted,” and then left after one album.
So I looked up Paul Carrack. Then I started finding him everywhere in my collection.
The Roxy Music Connection
Paul Carrack played synthesizer, organ, and piano on three Roxy Music albums: Manifesto (1979), Flesh + Blood (1980), and Avalon (1982). I own all three. After Ace broke up in 1977, Carrack worked as a session musician, and Roxy Music was one of his first major gigs. Bryan Ferry brought him in to play keyboards, and Carrack stayed through the Avalon sessions — the album that produced “More Than This” and “Take a Chance with Me.”
The Smiths
In 1984, Carrack played keyboards on The Smiths’ self-titled debut album. According to the credits, he appears on the album alongside Johnny Marr, Morrissey, and Andy Rourke. I’ve listened to that record many times. I never noticed his name in the liner notes.
The Pretenders
Carrack played piano on The Pretenders’ Learning to Crawl (1983) — the album with “Middle of the Road” and “2000 Miles.” That’s the record Chrissie Hynde made after the deaths of guitarist James Honeyman-Scott and bassist Pete Farndon. Carrack stepped in to play piano during a period when the band was reassembling itself.
Mike + The Mechanics
In 1985, Mike Rutherford of Genesis contacted Carrack and asked him to join a new side project. That project became Mike + The Mechanics. Carrack sang lead on “Silent Running (On Dangerous Ground)” (1985), “The Living Years” (1988) — which reached number one in the US — and “Over My Shoulder” (1995).
I have Mike + The Mechanics albums. I knew “The Living Years.” I didn’t know it was the same person who sang “Tempted.”
Elton John
Carrack played organ on Elton John’s Made in England (1995) and The Big Picture (1997). In 1997, he also played organ on the single “Something About the Way You Look Tonight,” which was coupled with “Candle in the Wind 1997” — the best-selling single of all time. Carrack’s organ is on the A-side that most people have forgotten about.
Ringo Starr and Eric Clapton
Carrack toured with Ringo Starr’s All-Starr Band in 2003, performing “How Long,” “Tempted,” and “The Living Years” on stage. From 2013 to 2019, he toured with Eric Clapton, playing Hammond organ and singing.
Both Starr and Clapton are well-represented in my collection. The same musician who played on my Smiths records and my Roxy Music records also played live with my Ringo Starr records and my Eric Clapton records.
What I Didn’t Know
I’ve owned Squeeze’s East Side Story, Roxy Music’s Avalon, The Smiths’ debut, The Pretenders’ Learning to Crawl, Mike + The Mechanics’ Living Years, and albums by Elton John, Ringo Starr, and Eric Clapton for years. I never once connected the same name across all of them.
Paul Carrack is the kind of musician who disappears into other people’s records. He sang on records that sold millions and played keyboards on albums that defined genres, but his own name never quite stuck. The BBC called him “The Man with the Golden Voice.” Record Collector wrote that “if vocal talent equalled financial success, Paul Carrack would be a bigger name than legends such as Phil Collins or Elton John.”
I have records by all of them. The voice connecting them is one I never noticed.
Album: East Side Story — Squeeze (1981, A&M Records) Also referenced: Avalon — Roxy Music (1982, E.G./Warner Bros.); The Smiths — The Smiths (1984, Rough Trade); Learning to Crawl — The Pretenders (1983, Sire); Living Years — Mike + The Mechanics (1988, Atlantic); Made in England — Elton John (1995, Rocket/Island)
Sources: Discogs — East Side Story credits Wikipedia — Paul Carrack Wikipedia — East Side Story (Squeeze album)