The Blame

Description

The Blame, sub-titled Songs from the Kendrick & Stevenson mime and music production, is a cassette-only album by the British singer and songwriter Graham Kendrick, released on Kingsway Music Ltd. in 1983. The album was recorded at Pollen Studios in Bishop Wilton, North Yorkshire, England. Mixed by John Pantry. Arranged by Chris Norton who also provided keyboards/synthesizers. The Blame was the last album of songs Graham released as a straight recording artist. All subsequent work by Kendrick has been in a worship context.

The cassette was specially recorded for the touring production of a music and mime presentation by Graham and mime artist Geoffrey Stevenson. The 14 date UK tour began on 4th October 1983 at Leeds Grammar School. In an interview with Buzz magazine in May 1984 Graham notes that The Blame album was his own personal project and was designed to give people something to remind them of the concert; “Before the tour, Chris Norton and myself went into a local studio with a bank of synthesisers and an acoustic guitar and did the whole thing out of our own finances. The tape was never made into an album due to budget constraints, also we felt we wanted to keep it linked in with the live performance.”

It appeared only once in the Buzz magazine music charts, at number 8 in April 1984, and was reviewed in the March 1984 issue: “Although synth man Chris Norton has to work hard to cover the deficiences of the recording budget, this is still another compelling collection of songs.” The tour was covered in the April 1984 issue of Buzz, reviewing the concert at the Angel Centre, Tonbridge 6/2/1984: “The Blame takes as its central theme man’s habit of trying to escape from reality – and so avoid responsibility for his own actions, and the state of the world by blaming others.” Songs mentioned in the review were: “No Alibi”, “Song and Dance Man”, “Wish I Could Cry”, and “Goodbye to the Night”, as well as “Hollywood Hacks” and “Love Come Down” from the previous year’s Nightwatch tour.

The album track “No Alibi” was later covered by Sheila Walsh on her 1984-album, Triumph in the Air, while “Shadows” was re-recorded by Kendrick for his 2010-album The Acoustic Gospels.

Cassette tracklist:

Side One
A1. “Repeat To Fade” (For you the mystery)
A2. “Song And Dance Man” (People say that he’s seen better days)
A3. “Early Warnings” (In the air and all around me)
A4. “No Alibi” (Checkout girl)
A5. “Wish I Could Cry” (Another bad day at the world)

Side Two
B1. “Softer Than Sound” (They give me information)
B2. “Shadows” (The blame)
B3. “Via Dolorosa”
B4. “The Cross” (I feel so cold)
B5. “Goodbye To The Night” (O what a morning)