Avonmore (album)

Avonmore is the fifteenth studio album by English singer Bryan Ferry, released on 17 November 2014 by BMG Rights Management.^[6]

Avonmore
Studio album by Bryan Ferry
Released	17 November 2014
Studio	Studio One (Olympia, London) 4th Street Recording (Santa Monica, California) Saltlands (Brooklyn, New York)
Genre	Art pop sophisti-pop
Length	43:21
Label	BMG Rights Management
Producer	Bryan Ferry Rhett Davies Johnson Somerset Todd Terje
Bryan Ferry chronology
The Jazz Age (2012) Avonmore (2014) Bitter-Sweet (2018)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	^[1]
The Guardian	^[2]
Pitchfork	6.7/10^[3]
PopMatters	8/10^[4]
Rolling Stone	^[5]

Background

The album was named after the location of Ferry's studio in London where it was recorded.^[7] The album was announced on 23 September 2014 with a preview of the song "Loop De Li".^[8] The album was produced by Ferry with long-term collaborator Rhett Davies, who has produced several albums for Ferry and Roxy Music. The album also features Ferry regulars such as Fonzi Thornton, Nile Rodgers, Marcus Miller, and Johnny Marr (who co-wrote the track "Soldier of Fortune"). The album includes two cover versions, a rendition of Stephen Sondheim's "Send in the Clowns" and a version of "Johnny and Mary", originally by Robert Palmer. The latter track was a collaboration with the Norwegian DJ/producer Todd Terje and first appeared on Terje's album It's Album Time which was released earlier in 2014.

Avonmore peaked at number 19 on the UK Albums Chart, and number 72 on the US Billboard 200.

Critical reception

Reception of the album was generally positive. In a four-out-of-five-stars review, AllMusic critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine wrote that "this is Ferry's prime, a moment when his legacy was intact but yet to be preserved in amber" and that the album "consciously evokes this distinct period, sometimes sighing into the exquisite ennui of Avalon but usually favouring the fine tailoring of Boys and Girls, a record where every sequenced rhythm, keyboard, and guitar line blended into an alluring urbane pulse" and that "the songs are what makes this record something more than a fling".^[9] PopMatters critic John Paul wrote that the album "functions as a well-deserved victory lap for both Ferry and those he’s assembled, triumphantly returning to relevance and reminding listeners he’s been doing this since the '70s. It's just taken this long for the mainstream to catch up with where he's been all along".^[10] Writer T. Cole Rachel from Pitchfork was less positive, giving the album 6.7 out of 10, writing that the album, in places, "flounders when the music, which routinely flirts with a kind of adult contemporary smoothness, leans over into blandness" and stating that "Ferry's well-documented good taste is both an asset and possibly a curse" and concluding that the record is "a fine addition to Bryan Ferry's oeuvre, if not necessarily a terribly challenging one".^[11]

Special edition

On 29 October 2015, Ferry announced the release of the a special edition package of Avonmore, containing the album on vinyl and CD, along with a 48-page book of photos by photographer Matthew Becker.^[12]

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"Loop De Li"	Bryan Ferry	Ferry, Rhett Davies, Johnson Somerset	4:18
2.	"Midnight Train"	Ferry	Ferry, Davies, Somerset	3:49
3.	"Soldier of Fortune"	Ferry, Johnny Marr	Ferry, Davies	4:25
4.	"Driving Me Wild"	Ferry	Ferry, Davies	3:37
5.	"A Special Kind of Guy"	Ferry	Ferry, Davies	3:14
6.	"Avonmore"	Ferry, Oliver Thompson	Ferry, Davies	5:13
7.	"Lost"	Ferry	Ferry, Davies	2:47
8.	"One Night Stand"	Ferry	Ferry, Davies, Somerset	5:05
9.	"Send in the Clowns"	Stephen Sondheim	Ferry, Davies	4:02
10.	"Johnny and Mary"	Robert Palmer	Todd Terje	6:47
Total length:				43:15

Personnel

"Loop De Li" Bryan Ferry – vocals, keyboards Neil Hubbard, Steve Jones, Johnny Marr, Nile Rodgers, Oliver Thompson and David Williams – guitars Marcus Miller – bass Tara Ferry – drums John Moody – oboe Richard White – saxophone Bobbie Gordon, Hannah Khemoh, Laura Mann, Emily Panic, Jodie Scantlebury and Fonzi Thornton – backing vocals "Midnight Train" Bryan Ferry – vocals, keyboards Neil Hubbard, Steve Jones, Johnny Marr, Nile Rodgers, Jacob Quistgaard, Chris Spedding, Jeff Thall, Oliver Thompson and David Williams – guitars Marcus Miller and Guy Pratt – bass Tara Ferry and Andy Newmark – drums Fonzi Thornton – backing vocals "Soldier of Fortune" Bryan Ferry – vocals, keyboards Paul Beard – keyboards Neil Hubbard, Steve Jones and Johnny Marr – guitars Marcus Miller – bass Tara Ferry – drums Iain Dixon, Robert Fowler and Richard White – saxophones Fonzi Thornton – backing vocals "Driving Me Wild" Bryan Ferry – vocals, keyboards Neil Hubbard, Johnny Marr, Nile Rodgers and Oliver Thompson – guitars Marcus Miller and Guy Pratt – bass Tara Ferry – drums Cherisse Osei – percussion Richard White – saxophone Fonzi Thornton – backing vocals "A Special Kind of Guy" Bryan Ferry – vocals, keyboards Neil Hubbard, Steve Jones and Nile Rodgers – guitars Marcus Miller and Guy Pratt – bass Tara Ferry – drums Fonzi Thornton – backing vocals

"Avonmore" Bryan Ferry – vocals, keyboards Neil Hubbard, Steve Jones, Johnny Marr, Nile Rodgers and Oliver Thompson – guitars Flea, Guy Pratt and Paul Turner – bass Tara Ferry and Cherisse Osei – drums Frank Ricotti – percussions Richard White – alto saxophone "Lost" Bryan Ferry – vocals, keyboards Neil Hubbard and Mark Knopfler – guitars Neil Jason – bass Tara Ferry, Andy Newmark and Cherisse Osei – drums "One Night Stand" Bryan Ferry – vocals, keyboards Paul Beard – keyboards Neil Hubbard, Steve Jones, Johnny Marr, Nile Rodgers, Jacob Quistgaard, Chris Spedding, Jeff Thall, Oliver Thompson and David Williams – guitars Marcus Miller – bass Tara Ferry – drums Maceo Parker – alto saxophone Sewuse Abwa, Michelle John, Hannah Khemoh, Ronnie Spector and Shar White – backing vocals "Send in the Clowns" Bryan Ferry – vocals, string arrangements Colin Good – acoustic piano, string arrangements Johnny Marr – guitars Marcus Miller – bass Chris Laurence and Tom Wheatley – double bass Tara Ferry and Cherisse Osei - drums Frank Ricotti – percussions Richard White – alto saxophone Enrico Tomasso – trumpet "Johnny and Mary" Bryan Ferry – vocals, acoustic piano Todd Terje – synthesizers, programming Oliver Thompson – guitars Cherisse Osei – drums Hanne Hukkelberg – backing vocals

Technical

• Chris Mullings – engineer
• Pete Wells – engineer
• Simon Willey – engineer
• Tim Roe – additional engineer
• Mark Knight – assistant engineer
• Craig Silvey – mixing
• Eduardo Paz – mix assistant
• Adam Ayan – mastering at Gateway Mastering (Portland, Maine)
• Isaac Ferry – executive producer
• Tara Ferry – executive producer

Artwork

• Johnny Dewe Mathews – cover photography
• Neil Kirk – inner sleeve photography
• Michael Knight – design
• Jono Patrick – digital artwork
• Richard White – liner notes

Charts

Chart performance for Avonmore

Chart (2014)	Peak position
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)^[13]	34
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)^[14]	29
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)^[15]	43
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)^[16]	47
French Albums (SNEP)^[17]	63
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)^[18]	23
Irish Albums (IRMA)^[19]	47
Italian Albums (FIMI)^[20]	71
Japanese Albums (Oricon)^[21]	86
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)^[22]	16
Scottish Albums (OCC)^[23]	19
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)^[24]	19
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)^[25]	37
UK Albums (OCC)^[26]	19
US Billboard 200^[27]	72
US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)^[28]	18

References

1. AllMusic review
2. The Guardian (review)
3. Pitchfork Media review
4. "188229-bryan-ferry-avonmore, PopMatters". 26 January 2021.
5. Rolling Stone review
6. Bryan Ferry Official Site (Avonmore)
7. Bryan Ferry on Later... with Jools Holland. BBC Television. (7 November 2014)
8. YouTube (Bryan Ferry - "Loop De Li")
9. Allmusic review
10. "188229-bryan-ferry-avonmore, PopMatters". 26 January 2021.
11. Pitchfork Media review
12. "Avonmore Deluxe Edition". Roxy Music. Retrieved 15 December 2015.
13. "Austriancharts.at – Bryan Ferry – Avonmore" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 25 February 2022.
14. "Ultratop.be – Bryan Ferry – Avonmore" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 25 February 2022.
15. "Ultratop.be – Bryan Ferry – Avonmore" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved 25 February 2022.
16. "Dutchcharts.nl – Bryan Ferry – Avonmore" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 25 February 2022.
17. "Lescharts.com – Bryan Ferry – Avonmore". Hung Medien. Retrieved 10 December 2014.
18. "Offiziellecharts.de – Bryan Ferry – Avonmore" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 2 December 2014.
19. "Irish-charts.com – Discography Bryan Ferry". Hung Medien. Retrieved 25 February 2022.
20. "Italiancharts.com – Bryan Ferry – Avonmore". Hung Medien. Retrieved 25 February 2022.
21. アヴォンモア | ブライアン・フェリー [Avonmore | Bryan Ferry] (in Japanese). Oricon. from the original on 25 February 2022. Retrieved 25 February 2022.
22. "Norwegiancharts.com – Bryan Ferry – Avonmore". Hung Medien. Retrieved 25 February 2022.
23. "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 25 February 2022.
24. "Swedishcharts.com – Bryan Ferry – Avonmore". Hung Medien. Retrieved 27 November 2014.
25. "Swisscharts.com – Bryan Ferry – Avonmore". Hung Medien. Retrieved 25 February 2022.
26. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 25 February 2022.
27. "Bryan Ferry Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 30 November 2014.
28. "Bryan Ferry Chart History (Top Rock Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 25 February 2022.