The Cranberries Official Webpage has updated with news straight from Fergal, and it’s all very positive. Pay attention to the slight modifications to the info given from the RTE interview.
Fergal writes, “We are back in Dublin recording the second half of the Album. We have most of the songs completed, there are just a few bits of backing vocal and percussion to be done before we start mixing. We ended up recording seven songs and yesterday we did a cover of an Elvis number called “In The Ghetto”. They all turned out better than we were expecting, and to be honest I’m blown away (goosebump-city), although now we have the awkward situation of having to choose which songs go on and which stay off the record. Not an easy decision!!
“It’s been great working with Steve again, everyone has been in great spirits and really positive, which makes recording go so much smoother.So, it’s off to London next week to mix and then we have to decide which songs are going to be singles and start choosing video directors! The album is still scheduled to come out in October this year!”
Fergal goes on to say that the band will be doing promotional work until Christmas this year, a great strategy in my opinion. This includes TV interviews, small performances, radio and magazine interviews, etc. Dolores has complained in past interviews that Universal handled the marketing of “Bury the Hatchet” terribly, to which I can only agree 100%. Then, in January 2002 the Cranberries will begin the full-scale world tour that for at least a year and a half, until about mid-2003. Wow.
The official confirmation of “In the Ghetto” comes as little suprise. The Cranberries first played the track live for the BBC Radio 1 Network in the UK, hosted by Simon Mayo in March 1999. Dolores was anxiously peppered with questions to reveal exactly which Elvis title they would be performing. Once revealed though, Dolores gives a nugget of sentiment about the track and the band’s decision to cover the song. Here we’ve got an exclusive excerpt from the audio interview:
Mayo: “Now, you’ve promised that you’re going to be doing this Elvis song, so people have guessed, ‘Heartbreak Hotel’ ?”
O’Riordan: “No…”
Mayo: “‘Way Down’?” O’Riordan: “Nope.”
Mayo: “‘Blue Suede Shoes’?” O’Riordan: “Nope.”
Mayo: “‘American Trilogy’?”
O’Riordan: “Nope.”
Mayo: “‘Crying in the Chapel’?”
O’Riordan: “No, that’s a nice one though.”
Mayo: “Let’s go with ‘Suspicous Minds’?”
O’Riordan: “No, [but] I like that one too”
Mayo: “So… what’s it gonna be then?”
O’Riordan: “It’s gonna be… ‘In the Ghetto’.”
Mayo: “From 1968. So, why, of all the Elvis tunes did you pick that one? Is it an old-time favorite or what?”
O’Riordan: “Yeah, I really like it, I mean I like it ’cause it’s quite acoustic and stuff, and I also love the lyrics, you know, the storyboard.”
Mayo: “So here we go, never ever… you haven’t done this live before, have you? Is this a special for us?”
O’Riordan: “No, no, we just kinda did it for this. Yeah, we got it together actually, the day before yesterday, we went to the rehersal room and slapped it together at the last minute, but it sounds actually pretty good ’cause it’s fresh, you know?”
Mayo: (to another person in the room) “So, tonight Matthew, you’re going to be Elvie Presley” (all laugh) “So here we go then, The Cranberries doing ‘In the Ghetto’.”
Since then, The Cranberries played the song again last November at Dublin’s Vicar Street, where they debuted two other new songs, “Analyse” and “Time is Ticking Out”. The renewal of the song was more than a covert hint at its inclusion. The full Radio 1 interview and performance is available for trading in the Trading Section. (Link no longer available)
Partial Source: Official International Homepage
