''Beautiful Dreams'' is the twelfth album by British-Irish singer-songwriter

Chris de Burgh Christopher John Davison (born 15 October 1948), known professionally as Chris de Burgh ( ), is a British-Irish singer-songwriter and musician. He started out as an art rock performer but subsequently started writing more pop-oriented material ...

, released in 1995. It is a collection of songs recorded with a full orchestra. It includes a mix of his own songs from previous albums, three new songs and three cover versions.

Track listing

All tracks composed by Chris de Burgh; except where indicated.

Bonus track listing

"In Love Forever", "I'm Not Crying Over You" and "One More Mile to Go" were three new songs written for this album. "Girl" is missing on compact cassette. "This is the album I've always wanted to make; a live studio recording of personal favourites, old classics and new songs, with full orchestra and choir. It was recorded in London over a period of eight days (instead of the usual three-four months) in July '95, and to sing each track surrounded by an orchestra, without the benefit of the safety-net of modern technology, was immensely exciting - everything in one take, the way it used to be!"

Personnel

* Chris de Burgh – vocals *

Peter Oxendale Peter Oxendale (born ) is an English forensic musicologist and an expert witness on copyright infringement in music. He was involved as an expert in the notable Blurred Lines lawsuit. He was a keyboardist in the glam rock bands Sparks and Jet an ...

– acoustic piano, musical director * Dave "Clem" Clempson – acoustic guitar, electric guitars *

John Themis John Themis is an Australian-born musician, songwriter and record producer, best known for his long-term work with Boy George and Culture Club, collaborating on many of their songs and albums since the 1990s. He also worked on ''Taboo'', a musi ...

– acoustic guitar, guitar soloist *

John Giblin John Giblin (26 February 1952 – 14 May 2023) was a Scottish musician who worked as an acoustic and electric bass player spanning jazz, classical, rock, folk, and avant-garde music. He was a member of Simple Minds from 1985 to 1988, and w ...

– bass guitar * Ian Thomas – drums * Miles Bould – percussion *

Nick Ingman Nicholas Ingman (born 29 April 1948) is an English arranger, composer and conductor in the commercial music field. His collaborators include Paul McCartney, Mick Jagger, Björk, and the British X-factor. Born and educated in London, Ingman move ...

– arrangements and conductor (1, 2, 5, 7–13) *

Richard Hewson Richard Anthony Hewson (born 17 November 1943) is an English producer, arranger, conductor and multi-instrumentalist, who created the studio group RAH Band. Career Hewson began in the late 1960s as an arranger, and worked with musicians such ...

– arrangements and conductor (3, 4, 6) *

The London Session Orchestra The London Session Orchestra was a film, TV, and pop orchestra based in London. It was founded in 1993 and led by Gavyn Wright and is known for its work on movies such as ''Run Lola Run'' (1998) ''V for Vendetta'' (2005), and '' Mission: Impossibl ...

– orchestra *

Gavyn Wright Gavyn Wright is a British violinist and orchestra leader with the London Session Orchestra and Penguin Cafe Orchestra. He is best known for his orchestral arrangements on pop productions (including Elton John, Simply Red, Bush, Mecano, ...

– orchestra leader * GWALIA – Welsh Male Voice Choir

Production

* Produced by Chris de Burgh * Recorded by Ben Darlow and Mike Ross at Whitfield Street Recording Studios (London, England). * Mixed by Ben Darlow at Nomis Studios (London, England). * Art Direction and Design – Mike Ross * Photography – Richard Haughton * Cover Painting – Fletcher Sibthorp * Cover Typography – Richard Carroll * Management – Kenny Thomson

Concert video release

In September 2005, de Burgh performed a concert at the

Symphony Hall, Birmingham Symphony Hall is a 2,262-seat concert venue in Birmingham, England. It was officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II on 12 June 1991, although it had been in use since 15 April 1991. It is home to the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and hos ...

; a 90-minute VHS video of this concert was released as ''Beautiful Dreams Live''. The first half of this concert saw de Burgh perform a solo set of songs from throughout his career. The second half was a performance of tracks from the ''Beautiful Dreams'' album, with a full orchestra. It was later released on DVD with bonus behind the scenes footage and music videos.

Video track listing

Solo set * "Carry On" * "Here Is Your Paradise" * "Transmission Ends" * "The Head and the Heart" * "Spanish Train" * "This Weight on Me" * "The Simple Truth" * "The Last Time I Cried" * "Borderline" * "Oh, My Brave Hearts" * "Don't Pay the Ferryman" ''Beautiful Dreams'' set * "Missing You" * "Carry Me (Like a Fire in Your Heart)" * "Discovery" * "In Love Forever" * "The Lady in Red" * "In Dreams" * "I'm Not Crying Over You" * "Always on My Mind" * "Say Goodbye to It All" * "One More Mile to Go" * "The Snows of New York" Note: The tracks "Girl" and "Shine On" from the ''Beautiful Dreams'' album are not included in the video but may have been performed at the concert.

References

{{Authority control Chris de Burgh albums Albums produced by Rupert Hine 1995 live albums A&M Records live albums