ARCHIVE
BRYAN FERRY
Retrospective: Selected Recordings 1973–2023
The thrill of it all: a varied, enlightening selection from half a century of sophisticated, sometimes sublime pop.
By Allan Jones
REISSUES | COMPS | BOXSETS | LOST RECORDINGS
BMG
“Love me madly again”
JANUARY1977. Bryan Ferry is in Oxford Street’s Air Studios, rushing to finish his new solo album, In Your Mind. With a release date looming and tour already booked, Ferry is still fussing over this mix and that, presently in a huddle with co-producer Steve Nye, plainly agonising over the new vocal he’s just recorded for a track called “Night Operator”, which from the production booth earlier had sounded nigh on perfect.
Ferry is now suggesting subtle shifts in the mix, possibly imperceptible sonic adjustments that he nevertheless thinks are essential. Nye starts another remix of a track he’s possibly been remixing since the sun dial first came into fashion. For Ferry, this is merely the ruthless pursuit of perfection. For everyone else in the room, it’s like he simply can’t make up his mind about anything – how does he ever get anything done? – and evidence therefore of a reputation for dally and indecision that soon attaches itself to most parts of his life. Chris Difford from Squeeze, for instance, who in peculiar circumstances actually managed Ferry at one point in the mid-’90s, tells a story about Ferry daily turning up to recording sessions and spending entire mornings dreamily preoccupied with where to go for lunch, the studio clock ticking, tape machines ready to roll, musicians waiting for a cue, Ferry at the mixing desk, like he was waiting for someone to bring him the wine list and a menu. It may be a source of wonder to many that he ever amassed enough material for a boxset like Retrospective, 81 tracks over five CDs, covering 50 years of sometimes extraordinary music.