I Can See Your House from Here

I Can See Your House from Here
I Can See Your House from Here
Studio album by Camel
Released	October 1979
Recorded	1979
Studio	Farmyard Studios, Little Chalfont, England
Genre	Progressive rock
Length	46:04
Label	Gama/Decca
Producer	Rupert Hine
Camel chronology

I Can See Your House from Here is the seventh studio album by English progressive rock band Camel. Released in 1979, a new line up was introduced with founding members Andrew Latimer (guitar) and Andy Ward (drums) joined by bassist Colin Bass (to replace Richard Sinclair) and keyboardists Jan Schelhaas (who joined in 1978 for the Breathless tour) and Kit Watkins (ex-Happy The Man) who both replaced founding member Peter Bardens. At one point, the album was going to be called Endangered Species.^[3]^[4]

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	^[1]
Classic Rock	^[2]

Recording

Work started on the album in summer 1979, collaborating with producer Rupert Hine, at the Farmyard Studios in Little Chalfont. The process also took place in an Elizabethan country house, a residential recording studio that suited the band well. The orchestral overdubs were added at London's AIR Studios. Mel Collins (who also worked with Caravan) contributed to the band's sound on the saxophone, while Phil Collins was chosen to play percussion. Andy Latimer was pleased with the end product, saying Hine "was great fun to work with, he was really up and zappy. I enjoyed making that record. We did it rather quickly and it wasn't a lengthy production."

The album was released in October 1979. It spent three weeks in the chart in late October and early November, reaching No. 45. An accompanying single was planned, but shelved. Instead a maxi single containing an edited version of Andy Latimer and Kit Watkins "Remote Romance" was backed with "Rainbow's End" from Breathless (1978) and a Camel / Mick Glossop production of "Tell Me", first released on Rain Dances (1977). It did not reach the charts. The single "Your Love is Stranger than Mine" / "Neon Magic" followed in February 1980.

Cover artwork

The cover image is based on a joke that was somewhat popular at the time, in which Jesus, while hanging up on the Cross dying, calls out for his disciple Peter to come to him, who does so with great difficulty. The punchline is that Jesus merely wants to tell Peter, "I can see your house from here."^[5]

It also pays homage to the 1951 painting Christ of Saint John of the Cross by Salvador Dalí.

Tour

The world tour began on 8 October at The Dome, Brighton, England, following France, Germany, Sweden, Norway, Belgium, Spain, Portugal and ended on 29 January 1980 in Koseinenkin Hall of Tokyo, Japan.

Track listing

All credits adapted from the original releases.^[6]

Side one
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Notes^[7]	Length
1.	"Wait"	Andrew Latimer, John McBurnie	Personnel: Andrew Latimer – guitar, backing vocals Kit Watkins – Yamaha electric grand and Rhodes electric pianos, Hammond C3 organ, Solina and Moog synthesizers Jan Schelhaas – Yamaha electric grand piano, Yamaha CS-80, Prophet-5 and Moog synthesizers Colin Bass – bass, lead vocals Andy Ward – drums	5:02
2.	"Your Love Is Stranger Than Mine"	Colin Bass, Latimer, Jan Schelhaas, Andy Ward	Personnel: Andrew Latimer – guitar, backing vocals Kit Watkins – Prophet-5 synthesizer Jan Schelhaas – Yamaha electric grand piano, Minimoog Colin Bass – bass, lead vocals Andy Ward – drums Mel Collins – alto saxophone	3:26
3.	"Eye of the Storm^{[nb 1]}"	Kit Watkins	Personnel: Andrew Latimer – guitar Kit Watkins – Hohner Clavinet, flute, Solina and Moog synthesizers Colin Bass – fretless Wal bass Andy Ward – drums, massed marching military snares	3:52
4.	"Who We Are"	Latimer	Personnel: Andrew Latimer – guitar, lead vocals, flute, autoharp Kit Watkins – Solina and Moog synthesizers Jan Schelhaas – grand piano Colin Bass – bass, backing vocals Andy Ward – drums Simon Jeffes – orchestral arrangements	7:52

Side two
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Notes^[7]	Length
1.	"Survival"	Latimer	Personnel: Simon Jeffes – orchestral arrangements Gavin Wright – leader of the orchestra	1:12
2.	"Hymn to Her"	Latimer, Schelhaas	Personnel: Andrew Latimer – guitar, lead vocals, flute, autoharp Kit Watkins – Hohner Clavinet, Hammond C3 organ, Solina and Moog synthesizers Jan Schelhaas – grand piano Colin Bass – bass, backing vocals Andy Ward – drums	5:37
3.	"Neon Magic"	Latimer, Vivienne McAuliffe, Schelhaas	Personnel: Andrew Latimer – guitar, lead vocals Kit Watkins – Hammond C3 organ, Yamaha CS-80 and Solina synthesizers Jan Schelhaas – Yamaha electric grand piano, Solina, Yamaha CS-80 and Moog synthesizers Colin Bass – bass Andy Ward – drums	4:39
4.	"Remote Romance"	Latimer, Watkins	Personnel: Andrew Latimer – guitar Kit Watkins – Hohner Clavinet, Yamaha CS-80 and Moog synthesizers, EMS sequencer Jan Schelhaas – EMS sequencer Andy Ward – drums, percussion, loops	4:07
5.	"Ice"	Latimer	Personnel: Andrew Latimer – guitar Kit Watkins – Yamaha electric grand and Rhodes electric pianos, Hammond C3 organ, Solina and Moog synthesizers Jan Schelhaas – grand piano Colin Bass – bass Andy Ward – drums	10:17

2009 Expanded & Remastered Edition
No.	Title	Length
10.	"Remote Romance" (Single version)	4:02
11.	"Ice" (Live 1981)	7:15

Personnel

Camel

Andrew Latimer – guitars, flute, backing vocals; autoharp on "Who We Are"; lead vocals on "Who We Are", "Hymn to Her" and "Neon Magic"
Colin Bass – bass, backing vocals; lead vocals on "Wait" and "Your Love Is Stranger Than Mine"
Kit Watkins – Hammond C3 organ, Solina synthesizer, Yamaha electric grand piano, Rhodes electric piano, Moog synthesizer, Minimoog, Hohner Clavinet, Prophet-5, Yamaha CS-80, EMS Sequencer, flute
Jan Schelhaas – Yamaha CS-80, Yamaha electric grand piano, grand piano, Prophet-5, Moog synthesizer, Minimoog, EMS Sequencer
Andy Ward – drums, percussion

Additional musicians

Mel Collins – alto saxophone on "Your Love Is Stranger Than Mine"
Phil Collins – percussion
Rupert Hine – backing vocals
Simon Jeffes – orchestral arrangements on "Who We Are" and "Survival"

Charts

Chart (1979)	Peak position
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)^[8]	18
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)^[9]	36
UK Albums (OCC)^[10]	45

References

^ Plichta, Matthew. "Camel – I Can See Your House from Here (1979) album review at AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved 3 September 2009.
^ Lawson, Dom (March 2010). "Camel – Reissues". Classic Rock. No. 142. p. 94.
^ John Tracy's liner notes on I Can See Your House from Here album's Decca 1989 CD edition
^ Camel – I Can See Your House from Here (1979) album review at www.rajaz.co.uk Archived 18 May 2013 at the Wayback Machine
^ "Camel Discography and FAQ – in Jokes".
^ Camel – I Can See Your House from Here (1979) album releases & credits at Discogs.com
^ ^a ^b Camel – I Can See Your House from Here (1979) album releases & credits at Discogs.com
^ "Norwegiancharts.com – Camel – I Can See Your House from Here". Hung Medien. Retrieved 30 October 2023.
^ "Swedishcharts.com – Camel – I Can See Your House from Here". Hung Medien. Retrieved 30 October 2023.
^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 30 October 2023.

Notes

^ This was an updated version of a track that Watkins had played with his previous band Happy the Man.

External links

Camel – I Can See Your House from Here (1979) album review by Matthew Plichta, credits & releases at AllMusic
"Camel – I Can See Your House from Here (1979) album releases & credits at Discogs.com". Discogs. Retrieved 3 September 2009.
Camel – I Can See Your House from Here (1979) album review by Shachar Sagui, credits & user reviews at SputnikMusic.com
Camel – I Can See Your House from Here (1979) album to be listened as stream at Play.Spotify.com

[AMG-1] Plichta, Matthew. "Camel – I Can See Your House from Here (1979) album review at AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved 3 September 2009.

[classic-2] Lawson, Dom (March 2010). "Camel – Reissues". Classic Rock. No. 142. p. 94.

[John_Tracy-3] John Tracy's liner notes on I Can See Your House from Here album's Decca 1989 CD edition

[4] Camel – I Can See Your House from Here (1979) album review at www.rajaz.co.uk Archived 18 May 2013 at the Wayback Machine

[5] "Camel Discography and FAQ – in Jokes".

[6] Camel – I Can See Your House from Here (1979) album releases & credits at Discogs.com

[test1-7] Camel – I Can See Your House from Here (1979) album releases & credits at Discogs.com

[ac_Norway_Camel-9] "Norwegiancharts.com – Camel – I Can See Your House from Here". Hung Medien. Retrieved 30 October 2023.

[ac_Sweden_Camel-10] "Swedishcharts.com – Camel – I Can See Your House from Here". Hung Medien. Retrieved 30 October 2023.

[ac_UK2_-11] "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 30 October 2023.

[8] This was an updated version of a track that Watkins had played with his previous band Happy the Man.

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