Mr and Mrs Smith and Mr Drake
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox album
| name = Mr & Mrs Smith & Mr Drake
| type = demo
| artist = Mr & Mrs Smith & Mr Drake
| cover = Mr and Mrs Smith and Mr Drake.png
| alt = A black background with "Mr & Mrs Smith & Mr Drake" written in gold text
| caption = Artwork of the original 1984 cassette release
| released = 1984
| recorded = {{Circa}} 1983–1984{{cite AV media notes|title=Mr and Mrs Smith and Mr Drake|others=Mr and Mrs Smith and Mr Drake|year=2004|publisher=All My Eye and Betty Martin Music|type=liner notes|id=AMECD 004}}
| venue =
| studio =
| genre = {{hlist|Medieval|folk{{Cite web |last=Tucker |first=Alexander |author-link=Alexander Tucker (musician) |title=Forgotten Classics: Mr & Mrs Smith and Mr Drake |url=https://www.factmag.com/2014/07/17/forgotten-classics-mr-mrs-smith-and-mr-drake/ |access-date=24 May 2022 |website=Fact|date=17 July 2014 }}}}
| length = 36:44
| label = Alphabet
| producer =
| chronology = The Sea Nymphs
| prev_title =
| prev_year =
| next_title = The Sea Nymphs
| next_year = 1992
| misc =
{{Extra album cover
| header = Alternative cover
| type = demo
| cover = MrAndMrsSmithAndMrDrake.jpg
| border =
| alt =
| caption = 2004 CD reissue
}}
}}
{{Music ratings
|title = Professional ratings
|rev1 = Encyclopedia of Popular Music
|rev1score = {{Rating|3|5}}{{sfn|Larkin|1992|p=93}}
}}
Mr and Mrs Smith and Mr Drake{{efn|Also written Mr & Mrs Smith & Mr Drake or Mr & Mrs Smith and Mr Drake, and variations thereof with full stops after honorifics.{{efn|The front cover of the original cassette spells the title with two ampersands, although the spine does not. Various CDs spell the title with only one initial ampersand, with the disc label sometimes using full stops.}} }} is an album by Cardiacs members Tim Smith, Sarah Smith and William D. Drake. Recorded and released in 1984, it was the trio's only recording to be distributed prior to their 1991 reformation as the Sea Nymphs.{{Cite web |last=Hughes |first=Rob |date=28 November 2016 |title=After seven years away, the Sea Nymphs have come back to life |url=https://www.loudersound.com/features/after-seven-years-away-the-sea-nymphs-have-come-back-to-life |access-date=24 September 2021 |website=Prog}}
The album was initially only available on cassette through the fan club and at concert venues.{{sfn|Bell|2011|p=198}}{{sfn|Jones|2018|p=189}} The first version of the cassette cover is dark with the logo printed in gold; the track list is handwritten.{{cite AV media notes|title=Mr and Mrs Smith and Mr Drake|others=Mr and Mrs Smith and Mr Drake|year=1984|publisher=Alphabet|type=liner notes|id=ALPH 003}} The second version has a purple satin design with a smaller gold logo; the track list is printed in gold. In 2004 it was reissued on CD by All My Eye and Betty Martin Music.{{Cite web|url=http://www.anyware.co.uk/ame/news.html|title=All My Eye And Betty Martin Music|date=5 July 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080705191806/http://www.anyware.co.uk/ame/news.html|access-date=29 December 2021|archive-date=2008-07-05}}
Background
Tim Smith and William D. Drake met in 1983 when Drake was in the band Honour Our Trumpet with musician Little Sue. Smith had taught himself to sight-read music as a teenager and wanted Drake's involvement as he was classically trained. He joined Smith's band Cardiacs as he loved the music he was first provided with.{{Cite web |last=Kitching |first=Sean |date=3 July 2022 |title=The Strange (Parallel) World of… Tim Smith Of Cardiacs |url=https://thequietus.com/articles/31719-tim-smith-cardiacs-strange-world |access-date=3 October 2022 |website=The Quietus}}
Track listing
Adapted from Bandcamp.{{Cite web |url=https://alphabet-business-concern.bandcamp.com/album/mr-and-mrs-smith-and-mr-drake |title=Mr And Mrs Smith And Mr Drake |date=25 March 2018 |access-date=17 June 2022 |publisher=Bandcamp }} All songs written by Tim Smith unless otherwise indicated.
{{Track listing
| all_writing =
| extra_column = Album
| title1 = Little Creations
| length1 = 1:54
| title2 = Camouflage
| length2 = 3:43
| title3 = The Collar
| length3 = 4:17
| writer3 = William D. Drake
| title4 = In a Waiting Room
| length4 = 1:28
| title5 = All the String
| length5 = 1:21
| title6 = Summer Is-a-Coming In
| length6 = 4:06
| writer6 = Drake
| title7 = Too Many Colours
| length7 = 0:32
| title8 = Your Removal of Me
| length8 = 2:33
| title9 = A Treat from Mr Smith
| length9 = 1:43
| title10 = To My Piano from Mr Drake
| length10 = 4:40
| writer10 = Drake
| title11 = Dergo
| length11 = 8:20
| title12 = That's All
| length12 = 2:07
| total_length = 36:44
}}
;Notes
- The lyrics of "To My Piano from Mr Drake" are adapted from "The Garden" by English poet Andrew Marvell.{{Citation needed|date=June 2022}}
- "Summer Is-a-Coming In" is based on the 13th century English round.{{cite web |last1=Mr Spencer |title=Ex-Cardiacs Tunesmith William D. Drake Writes Songs That Are Timeless, Bold and Beautiful |url=https://louderthanwar.com/keyboard-maestro-and-ex-cardiacs-tunesmith-william-d-drake-writes-songs-that-are-timeless-bold-and-beautiful-mr-spencer-admires-the-musical-scenery%E2%80%A6/ |website=Louder Than War |access-date=7 October 2016 |date=2 August 2011}}
Personnel
Adapted from the Mr and Mrs Smith and Mr Drake liner notes.
- Tim Smith – guitars, flute, trumpets, glockensput, Woolworths organ, vocals
- Sarah Smith – clarinets, saxophones, recorders, forks, melodica, vocals
- William D. Drake – piano, television organ, forks, ballroom string machine, vocals
Notes
{{Notelist}}
References
{{Reflist}}
=Sources=
{{Refbegin}}
- {{cite book|last=Bell|first=Adrian|title=Aylesbury Bolton Wolverhampton Hove: A Little Man and 101 Cardiacs Gigs|location=Sullivan County, New York|publisher=Iron Bell Publishing|date=2011|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JuzoclLVSpQC|isbn=978-0-95-687950-9}}
- {{cite book|last=Jones|first=Emily|title=Folk Horror Revival: Harvest Hymns. Volume II
|location=Durham, England|publisher=Folk Horror Revival|date=10 May 2018|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2v1jDwAAQBAJ|isbn=9780244086831}}
- {{cite book|last=Larkin|first=Collin|title=The Virgin Encyclopedia of Eighties Music|location=London, England|edition=1997|publisher=Virgin Books|year=1992|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Hrs7AQAAIAAJ|isbn=9780753501597|author-link=Colin Larkin}}
{{Refend}}
External links
- {{Discogs master|798111}}
{{Cardiacs}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mister and Mrs Smith and Mr Drake}}