A Pauper in Paradise

A Pauper in Paradise
Studio album by
Gino Vannelli
Released1977
StudioAIR Recording Studios, London, England
EMI Abbey Road Studios, London, England
GenrePop rock
Length40:53
LabelA&M
ProducerGino Vannelli
Joe Vannelli
Gino Vannelli chronology
The Gist of the Gemini
(1976) 		A Pauper in Paradise
(1977) 		Brother to Brother
(1978)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
Rolling Stone Album Guide (1992)[2]

A Pauper in Paradise is the fifth studio album by Italian-Canadian singer Gino Vannelli, released in 1977. It was notable for including contributions by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra on the second side,[3] including a fifteen-minute title track symphony that took Gino five months to write,[4] and which led A&M to offer a warning to Gino to expand his appeal or face rapid declines in album sales that since Powerful People had been a steady 300,000 albums per release.[5]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Gino Vannelli

Side A
No.TitleLength
1."Mardi Gras"3:28
2."Valleys of Valhalla"4:23
3."The Surest Things Can Change"4:36
4."One Night with You"4:19
5."A Song and Dance"3:40
Total length:20:26
Side B
No.TitleLength
1."Black and Blue"4:23
2."A Pauper in Paradise: 1st Movement[a]"4:46
3."A Pauper in Paradise: 2nd Movement[a]"2:39
4."A Pauper in Paradise: 3rd Movement[a]"4:22
5."A Pauper in Paradise: 4th Movement[a]"4:20
Total length:20:27


Detailed personnel

  • Art Direction – Fabio Nicoli, Roland Young (3)
  • Backing Vocals – Jay Stone, Joanie Bartels
  • Backing Vocals, Design, Artwork – Joanne Jayde
  • Drums – Casey Scheuerell
  • Engineer – John Kurlander (tracks: 7 to 10), Norm Kinney
  • Engineer [Assistent] – Steve Prestage
  • Engineer [Re-mix] – Jon Kelly
  • Keyboards – Chris Rhyne
  • Leader – Barry Griffiths (tracks: 7 to 10)
  • Lyrics By, Music By – Gino Vannelli
  • Mastered By – Bernie Grundman
  • Orchestra – The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (tracks: 7 to 10)
  • Orchestrated By, Conductor – Don Sebesky (tracks: 7 to 10)
  • Percussion – Dido* (tracks: 6), John J. Mandel
  • Photography By – Beth Kelly
  • Producer, Arranged By, Keyboards – Joe Vannelli
  • Saxophone – Dick Morrissey
  • Synthesizer, Synthesizer [Bass], Piano, Backing Vocals – Bill Meyers
  • Vocals [Choir] – The John McCarthy Choir (tracks: 7 to 10)
  • Vocals, Producer, Arranged By – Gino Vannelli

Technical personnel

  • Jon Kelly – Remixing
  • Norm Kinney – Engineer
  • John Kurlander – Engineer
  • Steve Prestage – Assistant Engineer
  • Fabio Nicoli – Art Direction
  • Roland Young – Art Direction

Musicians

  • Gino Vannelli – lead vocals
  • Joe Vannelli – Fender Rhodes, piano, programming, synthesizer, synthesizer arrangements, synthesizer string arrangement, backing vocals
  • Bill Meyers – piano, synthesizer, synthesizer bass, backing vocals
  • Nyboma Mwan Dido – bongos, congas
  • Jay Graydon – guitar
  • Casey Scheuerell – drums
  • John J. Mandel – percussion, timbales
  • Chris Rhyne – keyboards, synthesizer bass
  • Royal Philharmonic Orchestra – orchestra on "Black and Blue" and "A Pauper in Paradise"

Technical personnel

  • Jon Kelly – Remixing
  • Norm Kinney – Engineer
  • John Kurlander – Engineer
  • Steve Prestage – Assistant Engineer
  • Fabio Nicoli – Art Direction
  • Roland Young – Art Direction

Charts

Chart (1977) Peak

position

Canada (RPM Magazine)[6] 29
US Billboard 200[7] 33

Notes

  1. ^ a b c d On some issues of the album, the last four tracks were combined into a single track titled “A Pauper in Paradise (In Four Movements)”

References

  1. ^ Bil Carpenter. "A Pauper in Paradise – Gino Vannelli". All Music Group.
  2. ^ DeCurtis, Anthony; George-Warren, Holly and Henke, James; The Rolling Stone Album Guide – Completely New Reviews: Every Essential Album, Every Essential Artist, p. 733 ISBN 0679737294
  3. ^ Perkins, Don (1977-11-25). "Gino Vannelli – A Pauper in Paradise". The Star-Phoenix. Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. p. 6.
  4. ^ Dunkin, Zach (1977-12-06). "Vannelli Repays Public". Indianapolis News. p. 22.
  5. ^ d‘Agostino, John (1991-04-13). "Vannelli: Pop and Soulful". Los Angeles Times. p. F5.
  6. ^ "Gino Vannelli - A Pauper in Paradise" (PDF). RPM. Retrieved 2016-07-31.
  7. ^ "Gino Vannelli Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved October 15, 2021.