Chris de Burgh – People of the World

In 2007, Chris de Burgh was asked to record his song The Words ‘I Love You’ with an Iranian group; The Arian Band. This was the first time there had been a collaboration between a Western artist and an Iranian group since the Islamic Revolution of 1979, and the song was released in 2008, becoming a major hit.

Subsequent to the release, Chris visited Tehran to explore the idea of a series of concerts in Iran, and he and his team were extremely impressed by the encouragement and support from the Iranians that they encountered. However, the dramatic and repressive changes since the elections of 2009 made it impossible for Chris de Burgh and his Management to even consider such a project, for the foreseeable future.

Chris de Burgh has now recorded a brand new song “People of the World” which will be released as a free download on 20th June 2010, exclusively on his website www.cdeb.com to celebrate the life of a young Iranian woman, Neda Agha-Soltan, who was shot and killed during a demonstration in Tehran on 20th June 2009.

Neda was an aspiring singer and musician who was not politically active. Chris explains;

"On June 20th 2009, during a demonstration in Tehran against what many felt was a fraudulent election result, a young woman called Neda Agha-Soltan was targeted and shot to death by a sniper. An innocent bystander, and some distance away from the protest, her dying moments were filmed and seen by millions around the world.  In Persian, her name means "voice," "calling" and "divine message," and she has become a powerful and iconic symbol for those who struggle against brutality and repression, seeking only freedom and truth. Neda, this song is for you."          

“People of the World” will also feature on Chris’s new album “Moonfleet & Other Stories” to be released later this year.

The 13 ‘covers’ on ‘Footsteps’ represent a personal and candid appraisal by Chris of songs which have influenced and affected the way he has crafted his musical imprint. Chris selected the songs by applying three critical principles: he had to love them, have sung them many times before – and, perhaps most relevantly, they had to have inspired him.

“Listening to the great songwriters was the inspiration for me to try and become a good songwriter myself,” he says. “I’m talking about the likes of Lennon & McCartney and Bob Dylan; people as good as that just don’t seem to exist any more. I learned my trade, my craft, almost at the feet of the Great Masters. And that is my musical journey. Those songs are my footsteps.”

Two new pieces, ‘First Steps’ and ‘Footsteps’, explain in greater depth his musical journey, his dreams and aspirations, and his sense of achievement from hopeful beginnings to the success of today. Chris says the process of short-listing the songs for inclusion on the album was an involved one. “There were hundreds and hundreds of titles, which all got narrowed down to the ones I recorded. They are all, in my opinion, great songs – and each one has a resonance with me for a very particular reason. “When I was growing up in my father’s castle/hotel, I would sing a lot of these songs, to the guests including ‘The Long And Winding Road’, ‘Sealed With A Kiss’, ‘Where Have All The Flowes Gone?’, ‘All Along The Watchtower’... and “American Pie’‘Corinna, Corinna’ is a song I frequently sing at my soundcheck, as is ‘The Last Thing On My Mind’. ‘Polly Von’, the song by Peter, Paul and Mary, is one that, probably, gave me some indications about writing story songs.

‘Spanish Train’, ‘The Tower’...many of those songs from my early days owe something to ‘Polly Von’.”

“I like to wear a song like I’m wearing a coat and wanted to fit into each one of these songs,” Chris explains, “and a lot of them are singer’s songs - they really stretch the singer - but we made the album very quickly. It was all recorded live in the studio, with me singing together with the orchestra or the band. It took us eight days – and that’s including all of the vocals and all of the backing vocals. All in all, it was a real pleasure, a complete thrill.”

Tracklisting

1	First Steps *	9	We Can Work It Out
2	Turn, Turn, Turn	10	All Along The Watchtower
3	The Long And Winding Road	11	Corrina Corrina
4	Africa	12	Rhythm Of The Rain / Crying In The Rain **
5	Without You	13	Polly Von
6	Where Have All The Flowers Gone?	14	American Pie
7	Sealed With A Kiss	15	The Last Thing On My Mind
8	Blackbird	16	Footsteps *

* Brand New Original Track / ** Bonus track for UK release (never before released)

Chris’s hordes of fans will be pleased to know that he will be performing 6 UK dates this year, as follows::