Shane MacGowan Had Recorded A Final Album
Shane MacGowan finished a final album before his death with Irish band Cronin, according to The Irish Sun.
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Frontman Johnny Cronin said: “Shane was ill but he wanted to keep working… We are beyond devastated to lose our friend, the only consolation we have is that Shane had finished all his vocals for this record.”
The late Pogues frontman asked the brothers to help with the album seven years ago. In the new interview, Cronin revealed that, along with new MacGowan original songs, the sessions include a rendition of traditional ballad Wild Mountain Thyme and a musical reading of WB Yeats Down By The Sally Gardens.
Cronin went on: “Shane came up with some beautiful songs as well as [recording] some cover versions. We spent seven years working on this with Shane, and he brought in people like Spider Stacey and Jem Finer to play on some of the songs as well as Waterboys fiddle player Steve Wickham and musical duo Foster and Allen.
“Shane wanted this record out, so it will come out. But it’s not something we are thinking about right now.”
Cronin revealed that he and his brother and bandmate Mick last saw Shane on Sunday at his home in Dublin. “Shane was very weak but smiling and still able to have the craic. We sat at his bedside and reminisced… “It’s a best friend gone, someone we not only collaborated with as a musician and artist but a friend through the years.”
“We shared so many adventures… We got to know Shane well over the years. So much is being written about him, but people might not know that Shane loved westerns, was mad about clothes, loved the novelist Graham Greene and the Italian painter Caravaggio. And when I say he was mad about clothes, Shane was a mod. He was one of the earliest fans of The Jam and there are pictures of Shane dressed as a Mod.”
“I recorded his vocals and I can tell you Shane still had a fine voice right to the end. He would be blasting his way though vocal takes and amazing everybody with his energy. Nearly taking the roof off the studio. He was brimming with ideas too.”
“Shane told us Anarchy In the UK wasn’t recorded on Pro Tools. The Sex Pistols didn’t use Pro Tools, nor did The Beatles need computers to record Abbey Road.
“Shane only wanted live takes of all the songs and insisted all his own vocals were done live with no clearing up of the mistakes.”