Goodbye Jumbo
	Produced by Karl Wallinger
	Released on April 1990
	UK CHART POSITION #36 . . . US CHART POSITION #73
	Find it at GEMM
F2 21654 cover [high resolution scan]

A fter the revolution, Karl Wallinger apparently mellowed. He also gave up Dylan in favor of Lennonism, cynicism for cockeyed optimism. So where Private Revolution wore you down, Goodbye Jumbo lifts you up. It shows Wallinger expanding his appeal with some Princely funk (“Show Me to the Top”), soul (“Ain’t Gonna Come Till I’m Ready”) and even a ballad (“Love Street”). I’m tempted to compare it all to Todd Rundgren’s great American songbook, Something/Anything, or John Lennon’s Imagine, but Jumbo is smaller than that. It won’t change your world; it will expand it with songs like “Way Down Now,” “God On My Side” and “Put the Message in the Box.” The rest of the songs provide good company, just the sort of thing to take on a long drive. One reference point that keeps coming back to me is The The’s Soul Mining. In part that’s because of the modern, streamlined sound, in part because both are driven by the same fearful hopefulness. Wallinger prays for a rosy future even as he buries a black present. And he wasn’t preaching hate anymore (“Hawaiian Island World,” “Ship of Fools”) but love. I think it’s what people call maturity. The result is the work of a far more accessible artist. The world didn’t needed another kid grown fat on the moonpies of Bob Dylan and John Lennon telling us how rotten we really were. Private Revolution wanted to change the world. Here, Wallinger only wants to change himself. A good definition of maturity if ever there was.

F2 21654 back cover	F2 21654 lyric sleeve

TRACK LISTING

1. IS IT TOO LATE    4:24
2. WAY DOWN NOW    3:49
3. WHEN THE RAINBOW COMES    4:58
4. PUT THE MESSAGE IN THE BOX    4:16
5. AIN'T GONNA COME TILL I'M READY    5:05
6. AND I FELL BACK ALONE    3:57
7. TAKE IT UP    4:37
8. GOD ON MY SIDE    4:14
9. SHOW ME TO THE TOP    5:15
10. LOVE STREET    4:21
11. SWEET SOUL DREAM    4:39
12. THANK YOU WORLD    3:47
    
    All songs written by Karl Wallinger unless noted

CREDITS

KARL WALLINGER -- vocals, guitars, etc., engineer, design
GUY CHAMBERS -- synth, sampler, sampled drums, backwards piano, acoustic piano, harmonium
Jerod -- acoustic guitar (1)
Roy Morgan -- tambourine (2)
Sinead O'Connor -- backing vocals (11)
Sophia Ramos -- backing vocals (3)
Martyn Swain -- bass (10)
Jeff Trott -- slide guitar, elctric guitar, 12 string acoustic guitar
Chris Whitten -- drums (2,5)
Steve Wickham -- violin (7)
Joe Blaney -- additional engineering
Eddie Durdey -- elephant's ears
Steve Wallace -- photography
Michael Nash Associates -- design

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