SOMETIMES (LESTER PIGGOTT)
7" JIM13- Sometimes (Lester Piggott) / America
CAS JIMMC 13- Sometimes (Lester Piggott) / America
12" JIMX 13 - Sometimes (Lester Piggott) / America / Building A Charge
CD JIMCD 13- Sometimes (Lester Piggott) / America / Building A Charge
RELEASED : AUGUST 1993
CHART POSITION : 18
Billed as James comeback single and a return to James folk-rock roots, Sometimes was producer Brian Eno's choice as the first single describing the band's first performance of the song in the studio as one of the highlights of his musical career.
The single was backed with two new tracks. America had been in the James set since the summer of 1992 and the version featured on the single was recorded live using solar power by Greenpeace in September 1992. Building A Charge features an overtly sexual lyric set against a simple musical backing.
Sometimes was seen as something of a renaissance of James by the music press as the general consensus was that James had stepped back from the stadium rock they had been accused of in favour of a more intimate involving sound. Radio 1 had the world exclusive first play of the single a month before the release and soon A-listed it.
The band were out of the country on the US WOMAD tour when the single was released, but had recorded the song for ITV's The Beat show. When the single charted at number 18 in the first week, the band performed the song by satellite from Pittsburgh for Top of the Pops.
The single's video was filmed in the water tank at London's Pinewood studios, scene of many of the sea scenes in James Bond films. James spent the whole day in the water, the band playing their instruments and Tim dancing, singing and acting out the lyrics of the song.
Artwork for the single was provided by Larry's wife Jane.
this limited edition print was given away with the 12" version of the single
REVIEWS
MELODY MAKER
He sounds like Loz Hardy. Or is it Liam O'Maonlai? Either way, it rubs me up the wrong way. But despite myself, something here touches me.
Maybe it's the one chord chiming away metronomically, never changing, like rain on glass. More likely it's the hilarious attempt at Byronic naked-in-the-rain sensualism ("There's a boy leaning against a wall of rain, aerial held high / Calling 'Come on thunder, come on thunder!'")
I'd be lying if I said it was crap
NME
James usually dreary drone is given a leg up by Brian Eno at the controls who does for this band what he did for U2. Eno has obviously heard something miraculous crying to get out of James past releases and on Sometimes he has managed to pry it loose from its prison. This is a great song with a strong sense of dreamy and ambient grooves flowing through it. It shoots images like bullets from a gun and they hit their target every time. A big surprise.