THE POGUES – IF I SHOULD FALL FROM GRACE LP – Nr MINT A1/B1 UK 1988 ORIG IRISH SHANE MacGOWAN

The Pogues – If I Should Fall From Grace With God
(Pogue Mahone Records  1988  NYR1)
Matrix No’s: A1/B1 – UK Pressing

Sleeve in Nr MINT condition
– still in original shrinkwrap
Inner Sleeve in Nr MINT condition

Vinyl in Nr MINT condition
(there are some light surface marks visible on the vinyl when held up to the light but they don’t affect the sound quality)

The Pogues were a Celtic punk band formed in 1982 and fronted by Shane MacGowan. The band was founded in Kings Cross, London, as Pogue Mahone—the anglicisation of the Irish póg mo thóin, meaning “kiss my arse”. The band reached international prominence in the 1980s and early 1990s, recording several hit albums and singles. MacGowan left the band in 1991 due to drinking problems but the band continued first with Joe Strummer and then with Spider Stacy on vocals before breaking up in 1996. The Pogues reformed in late 2001, and played regularly across the UK and Ireland and on the US East Coast, until dissolving again in 2014. The group did not record any new material during this second incarnation.

Their politically tinged music was informed by MacGowan and Stacy’s punk backgrounds, yet used traditional Irish instruments such as the tin whistle, banjo, cittern, mandolin and accordion.

The Pogues have influenced many bands throughout the years, such as Flogging Molly and Dropkick Murphys.

If I Should Fall from Grace with God is a 1988 album by The Pogues. It reached number 3 in the UK album charts.

Previous Pogues albums had focused on an Irish folk/punk rock hybrid. On If I Should Fall from Grace with God, jazz, Spanish folk and Middle Eastern folk were added to the mix. The addition of Spanish and Middle Eastern sounds was a sign of things to come; on 1990’s Hell’s Ditch these would become more prominent. On this album, however, it was very much Irish folk to the fore, especially on songs such as the title track, “Bottle of Smoke”, “Lullaby of London”, “Sit Down by the Fire”, and the rendition of the traditional jig “The Lark in the Morning” as the coda to “Turkish Song of the Damned”. These songs were more typical of earlier Pogues albums, mostly fast and heavily textured. The album was also the first by the band to utilize a complete drum kit.

Also prominent were the ballads “Thousands Are Sailing”, “The Broad Majestic Shannon”, and the Christmas hit, “Fairytale of New York”, a duet with Kirsty MacColl. “Streets of Sorrow/Birmingham Six” showed the political side to their music, the first part being about the Troubles in Northern Ireland, and the second half about the Birmingham Six and the Guildford Four, two groups of men wrongly imprisoned for terrorism offences and held in jail. The song also makes a passing reference to the Loughgall Martyrs with the line “while over in Ireland eight more men lay dead, kicked down and shot in the back of the head”.

The album marked the most substantial line-up change to date for The Pogues, as it was the first full-length album on which multi-instrumentalist Terry Woods and bassist Darryl Hunt appear. It also marked the departure of one of the original members, bassist Cait O’Riordan.

The alternative album cover is a collage of faked photos of the group’s members, in which their faces have been superimposed onto a shot of Irish author James Joyce. The picture of Joyce appears fourth from the left.

Due to time restriction of a vinyl LP the two tracks “South Australia” and “The Battle March Medley” have been omitted and can be found only on the CD release.

Reception

If I Should Fall from Grace with God was well received by critics. Kurt Loder of Rolling Stone stated “obviously the Pogues can do it all. And it sounds as if they’ve only just begun.” Robert Christgau gave the album a B+ and said that “neither pop nor rock nor disco crossover stays these groghounds from the swift accomplishment of their appointed rounds.” Allmusic has since awarded the album four and a half out of five stars and its reviewer, Mark Deming, called it “the best album the Pogues would ever make.”

In 2006, Q magazine placed the album at #37 in its list of “40 Best Albums of the ’80s”.

Track listing

1. “If I Should Fall from Grace with God” (Shane MacGowan) – 2:20
2. “Turkish Song of the Damned” (MacGowan, Jem Finer) – 3:27
3. “Bottle of Smoke” (MacGowan, Finer) – 2:47
4. “Fairytale of New York” (MacGowan, Finer) – 4:36
5. “Metropolis” – 2:50 (Finer)
6. “Thousands Are Sailing” (Phil Chevron) – 5:28
7. “Fiesta” (MacGowan, Finer) – 4:13
8. “Medley: The Recruiting Sergeant/The Rocky Road to Dublin/The Galway Races” (Traditional) – 4:03
9. “Streets of Sorrow/Birmingham Six” (MacGowan, Terry Woods) – 4:39
10. “Lullaby of London” (MacGowan) – 3:32
11. “Sit Down by the Fire” (MacGowan) – 2:18
12. “The Broad Majestic Shannon” (MacGowan) – 2:55
13. “Worms” (Traditional) – 1:01

Personnel

• Shane MacGowan – vocals, guitar
• Spider Stacy – tin whistle, vocals
• James Fearnley – accordion, piano, mandolin, dulcimer, guitar, cello, percussion
• Jem Finer – banjo, saxophone
• Andrew Ranken – drums, vocals
• Philip Chevron – guitar, mandolin
• Darryl Hunt – bass, percussion, vocals
• Terry Woods – cittern lute, concertina, strings, banjo, dulcimer, guitar, vocals
• Ron Kavana – banjo, spoons, mandolin
• Kirsty MacColl – vocals on “Fairytale Of New York”
• Siobhan Sheahan – harp
• Brian Clarke – alto saxophone
• Joe Cashman – tenor saxophone
• Paul Taylor – trombone
• Chris Lee – trumpet
• Eli Thompson – trumpet