Personnel: Sting (vocals, bass); Dominic Miller (guitar); B.J. Cole (pedal steel); Katherine Tickell (fiddle, Northumbrian pipes); Branford Marsalis (saxophone); Gerry Richardson (Hammond organ); Kenny Kirkland (keyboards); Vinnie Colaiuta (drums); Monica Reed, Shirley Lewis, Lance Ellington, Tony Walters, The East London Gospel Choir (background vocals).
The Memphis Horns: Andrew Love (saxophone); Wayne Jackson (trumpet).
"Let Your Soul Be Your Pilot" was nominated for a 1997 Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance. MERCURY FALLING was nominated for a 1997 Grammy for Best Pop Album.
Personnel: Sting (vocals, bass guitar); The East London Gospel Choir, Tony Walters, Lance Ellington, Shirley Lewis (vocals); Dominic Miller (guitar); Andrew Love, Branford Marsalis (saxophone); Wayne Jackson (trumpet); Kenny Kirkland (keyboards); Vinnie Colaiuta (drums); Kathryn Tickell (background vocals).
Recording information: Lake House.
Since striking out on his own with a cadre of jazz musicians on 1985's THE DREAM OF THE BLUE TURTLES, Sting's nomadic wanderings in search of new musical challenges have been a hallmark of all his solo work. MERCURY FALLING continues in this vein, skipping between genres and musical locales. The appearence of The Memphis Horns on "You Still Touch Me" allows Sting to tap into the Stax/Volt spirit, complete with Dominic Miller's Steve Cropper-like phrasing and some of the ex-Police-man's most soulful singing to date. French lyrics are the only anomaly on the bossa-nova beat of "La Belle Dame Sans Regrets," which brings to mind Antonio Carlos Jobim's arrangements, while the combination of the East London Gospel Choir and Branford Marsalis' restrained playing add a pious atmosphere to "Let Your Soul Be Your Pilot."
The Englishman's greatest leap is into the heart of Nashville with a song about divorce and child custody. B.J. Cole's pedal steel and drummer Vinnie Colaiuta's clip-clop beat add a tear-in-my-beer authenticity to "I'm So Happy I Can't Stop Crying," bringing Sting as close to the Grand Ole Opry as he's likely to get.
Professional Reviews
Rolling Stone (3/21/96, p.96) - 3 Stars (out of 5) - "...On MERCURY FALLS, Sting manages to stay true to his pensive nature while injecting healthy doses of levity into the mix..."
Entertainment Weekly (3/15/96, pp.60-63) - "...MERCURY FALLING is as first-rate a piece of craftsmanship as its predecessors. If anything, it's tauter, more shipshape, and richer in hooks--the closest thing yet to Sting's pure pop album..." - Rating: A-
Musician (5/96, p.95) - "...Deep into his introspective troubadour mode, Sting wails of lost loves, assorted heartbreaks and bitter twists of fate....Strip away the narratives and you discover that his starkly arranged instrumental passages...could stand on their own..."
