Short Cut Draw Blood


Short Cut Draw Blood is the third studio album by the British musician Jim Capaldi, released by Island Records in 1975. It marked a major turning point in Capaldi's career: it was his first album recorded after the breakup of Traffic, and more importantly it was his commercial breakthrough. While Capaldi's first two solo albums had been moderately successful in the United States, Short Cut Draw Blood entered the charts in several other countries for the first time. This was particularly evident in his native United Kingdom; the single "It's All Up to You" at number 27, released a year before the album, became his first top 40 hit there, only to be overshadowed the following year by his cover of "Love Hurts", which went all the way to number 4.
The title of the album was conceived by co-producer Chris Blackwell.

Background

The song "Boy with a Problem" was written about former Traffic bandmate Chris Wood, whose self-destructive tendencies were a cause of increasing concern for Capaldi. The song features Paul Kossoff on guitar.

Reception

Rolling Stone called the album "still uneven" and "unfocused" but a promising step forward from his first solo work. Their review approved of both the session musicians and the arrangements, but criticized Capaldi's lyrics as "simply absurd" or "rather embarrassingly sentimental", being at his best only on the cover of "Love Hurts", where "he brings a sense of pain very different from Roy Orbison's original."
AllMusic's retrospective review was more satisfied with the variety of styles, commenting "dipping into a wide range of musical styles, there is something for everyone on Short Cut Draw Blood", and saying the album is even better than his first. On the contrary, Classic Rock review lamented "too much disjointed dabbling and lack of cohesion" on "several cuts, sounding awkwardly like below-par leftovers from the previous album."

Track listing

All tracks composed by Jim Capaldi, except where indicated.
;Side one
  1. "Goodbye Love"
  2. * Jim Capaldi - vocals, drum machine
  3. * Ray Allen - saxophone
  4. * Steve Winwood - guitar, organ, piano, bass
  5. * Remi Kabaka - percussion
  6. * Rebop Kwaku Baah - percussion
  7. "It's All Up to You"
  8. * Jim Capaldi - drums, vocals, percussion
  9. * Jess Roden - guitar
  10. * John "Rabbit" Bundrick - piano, clavinet
  11. * Phil Chen - bass
  12. * Harry Robinson - string arrangements
  13. "Love Hurts"
  14. * Jim Capaldi - vocals
  15. * Chris Spedding - guitar
  16. * Steve Winwood - piano
  17. * Jean Roussel - electric piano, minimoog
  18. * Rosko Gee - bass
  19. * Gerry Conway - drums
  20. * Ray Allen - percussion
  21. * Harry Robinson - string arrangements
  22. "Johnny Too Bad"
  23. * Jim Capaldi - vocals
  24. * Ray Allen - saxophone
  25. * Muscle Shoals Horns - horns
  26. * Pete Carr - lead guitar
  27. * Jimmy Johnson - rhythm guitar, horn arrangements
  28. * Peter Yarrow - acoustic guitar
  29. * Barry Beckett - piano, organ
  30. * David Hood - bass
  31. * Roger Hawkins - drums, spoons
  32. * Rebop Kwaku Baah - percussion
  33. * Remi Kabaka - percussion
  34. "Short Cut Draw Blood"
  35. * Jim Capaldi - vocals, percussion
  36. * Pete Carr - lead guitar
  37. * Chris Spedding - rhythm guitar
  38. * Jimmy Johnson - electric guitar
  39. * Barry Beckett - piano
  40. * David Hood - bass
  41. * Roger Hawkins - drums
  42. * Rebop Kwaku Baah - percussion
;Side two
  1. "Living on a Marble"
  2. * Jim Capaldi - vocals, percussion
  3. * Chris Spedding - lead guitar
  4. * Jimmy Johnson - rhythm guitar
  5. * Pete Carr - acoustic guitar
  6. * Barry Beckett - piano
  7. * Steve Winwood - bass
  8. * Roger Hawkins - drums
  9. "Boy with a Problem"
  10. * Jim Capaldi - vocals
  11. * Paul Kossoff - lead guitar
  12. * Jimmy Johnson - rhythm guitar
  13. * Pete Carr - acoustic guitar
  14. * Steve Winwood - synthesizer
  15. * Barry Beckett - piano
  16. * David Hood - bass
  17. * Roger Hawkins - drums
  18. * Rebop Kwaku Baah - percussion
  19. * Harry Robinson - string arrangements
  20. "Keep On Trying"
  21. * Jim Capaldi - vocals
  22. * Ray Allen - saxophone
  23. * Rico Rodriguez - trombone
  24. * Phil - guitar
  25. * Steve Winwood - piano, organ
  26. * Rosko Gee - bass
  27. * Remi Kabaka - drums
  28. * Rebop Kwaku Baah - percussion
  29. "Seagull"
  30. * Jim Capaldi - vocals
  31. * Steve Winwood - acoustic guitar, Mellotron, harpsichord
  32. * Chris Wood - flute
  33. * Remi Kabaka - percussion
One further track from the sessions, "Sugar Honey", was released as a b-side. Aside from Jim Capaldi on vocals, the performing personnel on the track are not known.

2012 Reissue

In March 2012 Raven an Australian label reissued Short Cut Draw Blood along with The Contender as a 2 for 1 CD release with 8 bonus tracks, all of them previously released recordings: "Tricky Dicky Rides Again", "Sugar Honey", "If You Think You Know How to Love Me", "Good Night & Good Morning", "Talkin' Bout My Baby", "Still Talkin'", "Goodbye My Love", "Baby You're Not My Problem". The second disc included all the tracks from both the UK The Contender and its USA counterpart Daughter of the Night. The reissue was remastered by Warren Barnett and featured a booklet that discussed the making of both albums.