For a long time, Peter Gabriel had the idea of some kind of song swap project. A few years ago he mentioned Another Tongue as a possible album, where other singers would sing his songs. In 2009 he began recording of what would eventually become Scratch My Back / And I'll Scratch Yours - an album in two parts: Peter covers songs by twelve artists, who would then cover a Gabriel track themselves on the second album.
After a very popular interpretation of The Magnetic Fields' The Book Of Love, Peter decided to produce a whole album with an orchestra, but without guitars or drums. Thirteen songs were recorded for Scratch My Back, among them also a new version of The Book Of Love ...
Besides the twelve regular tracks on that record, a further song was used as a bonus track for the special edition of the album ...
Special versions of the album tracks are also part of the bonus disc of the Special Edition (or can be found on a promo single) ...
Between March and May 2010, Peter went out on tour with his New Blood Orchestra. Peter and his orchestra presented the whole Scratch My Back record as well as selected favorites of his solo career in orchestra style. These tracks were eventually recorded as studio versions in the upcoming twelve months (with the exception of Sledgehammer, which was only performed as an introduction snippet up until the first Berlin show. The studio recordings began in June - immediately after the concerts in spring. And there was obviously also time left over for non-album activities ...
The recordings for the New Blood album were interrupted by a second part of the tour from mid-September to the beginning of October. Here they used the concert (in excess length) in the venerable amphitheatre in Verona for a recording directed by Peter's daughter Anna Gabriel. This resulted in two films, Scratch My Back Live in Verona (with the first half of the concert) and Taking The Pulse Live In Verona (with the second half), which were only shown for the first time over three years later...
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Heroes [live 2010]* The Boy In The Bubble [live 2010]* Mirrorball [live 2010]* Flume [live 2010]* Listening Wind [live 2010]* The Power Of The Heart [live 2010]* My Body Is A Cage [live 2010]* The Book Of Love [live 2010]* I Think It's Going To Rain Today [live 2010]* Après Moi [live 2010]* Philadelphia [live 2010]* Street Spirit (Fade Out) [live 2010]* Digging In The Dirt [live 2010]** The Drop [live 2010]** Signal To Noise [live 2010]** Downside Up [live 2010]** Darkness [live 2010]** Mercy Street [live 2010]** Blood Of Eden [live 2010]** The Rhythm Of The Heat [live 2010]** Washing Of The Water [live 2010]** Intruder [live 2010]** Red Rain [live 2010]** Solsbury Hill [live 2010]** In Your Eyes [live 2010]** Don't Give Up [live 2010]** The Nest That Sailed The Sky [live 2010]** Performance location: Anfiteatro Arena/Verona Produced by: Dawn Christy/Nylon Films, Ben Findley (audio mix) Performed by: Peter Gabriel & The New Blood Orchestra *First official release: February 2014 - Peter Gabriel Scratch My Back Live In Verona (IT Websream?//RAI5) *Best available source: Peter Gabriel Scratch My Back Live In Verona (HD video stream//vimeo.com/realworldrecords) **First official release: 1st June 2014 - Peter Gabriel Taking The Pulse Live In Verona (US TV Broadcast//AXS TV) **Best available source: Peter Gabriel Taking The Pulse Live In Verona (HD video stream//vimeo.com/realworldrecords) |
Work on the New Blood album entered the next round in October, which also included two unscheduled contributions...
In March 2011, Peter played two shows with his New Blood Orchestra in London, which were filmed for a DVD / Blu-ray release. Among the tracks was also Biko, which did not have an orchestral arrangement up to that point ...
For the 60th anniversary of Amnesty International in 2021, the live version of Biko was instrumentally reworked...
The recording sessions for the New Blood album were eventually finished during the summer of 2011...
Further tracks of these sessions, which were not used for the album, somehow managed to find a home of their own - or not ...
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Blood Of Eden [New Blood version] Best available source: same |
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The Drop [New Blood version] Best available source: -- |
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Lead A Normal Life [New Blood version] Best available source: -- |
Besides countless instrumental versions, quite a few edits or slower versions were released ..
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Blood Of Eden [New Blood version instrumental excerpt] Best available source: same |
The New Blood tour took Peter in June 2011 to North America and in November to Central- and South America. Part of the set was now also Secret World, whose orchestra arrangement was created after the studio recordings for New Blood. In spring 2012, Peter played some additional gigs in Europe, bevore the three-year-run of his orchestra project came to an end. Peter would eventually concentrate on new songs for a new album. And on other stuff, as always ...
Multi-Artist-Album from 2000, with Elisabeth Frazer, Richie Havens, Paul Buchanan, Neneh Cherry and larla Lionáird. Gabriel himself sings on four.
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