Jonesy - Sudden Prayers Make God Jump
Trevor
and John went back into the studio to start recording ‘Sudden
Prayers Make God Jump’. They were rejoined by Bernie Hagley (electric saxes and flute), Dave Potts (drums)
and Ken Elliott (keyboards).
Rob Simons (Jonesy sound-engineer and long-time friend) recalls: "
Sudden Prayers really knocked me out! I know that Trevor was really happy - he felt this was the
first album to encapsulate the essence of Jonesy and that's exactly how it felt
for me. I'd liked all sorts of bits of the previous three albums but this was
the first album that, as a whole, totally grabbed me. I regularly visited them and
stayed overnight in the studios and I felt that I'd witnessed the birth of a really
important album!"
Only a select
few (for example Fred Dellar of Mojo magazine) were aware of the 4th album.  – an
He has been quoted as
describing ‘Sudden Prayers’ as ‘…one
of the great undiscovered albums of all time!’
However, before the 4th album could be mastered, Ray Thomas
(The Moody Blues) made Trevor and John an ‘offer they couldn’t refuse’. They
put their own album on hold for an intended 2 years but, after the Moody’s,
they decided to work independently as producers and to not release the ‘Sudden
Prayers’ album.
Trevor has always loved the album: "I
feel that this was the first time since Chaos and Co. where
John and I pulled totally in the same direction. I think
that’s
why it’s so strong. I was absolutely delighted with
the emotions captured in the recordings and very disappointed
that
John didn’t share my enthusiasm – in fact, for
nearly 30 years he was very critical of the album and didn’t
bother to keep a copy. I was delighted when, two or three years
ago, he rang to say that he'd been converted and asked
me to send him the tapes. I explained that I was reluctant
to send the master tapes in the post as there was no other
copy, to which he said he'd be happy with a decent cassette
copy. I agreed to this but, because of my workload, forgot to copy it.
John emailed my son Toby to "remind his old man" to send the cassette
copy and Toby, dutifully, did just that (in fact I still have a copy of the emails).
John's version of the album was pressed
up from
this cassette and, while I think his technical team have
done a
great job, it worries me that it’s not, of course, the
same quality as master tape. Moreover, it was an unfinished
version."
Track 1: Inside the Dark Room - Lead vocal: Trevor (Gypsy)
Track 2: City Song - Lead vocal: John
Track 3: Bad Dreams - Lead vocal: Trevor (Gypsy)
Track 4: Lights of Change - Lead vocal: Trevor (Gypsy)
Track 5: Old Gentlemans Relief - Lead vocal: Trevor (Gypsy)
Track 6: Anthem - Lead Vocal: Trevor
Track 7: Hey Jude (Bonus Track) - Lead vocal: Trevor (Gypsy)
Recording Engineer (1974): Tony Taverner (Escape Studios)
Producer (1974): Trevor and John Evan-Jones
Mastering Engineer (2006): Jon Stiles & Joe Watson
Mastering Producer (2006): Trevor Jones
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