I Often Dream of Trains

I Often Dream of Trains
Studio album by
Robyn Hitchcock
ReleasedSeptember 1984
Recorded1984
StudioSmithsound Recording, Ledbury, Herefordshire
GenrePsychedelic folk, psychedelic rock
LabelMidnight Music
ProducerRobyn Hitchcock
Robyn Hitchcock chronology
Groovy Decay
(1982) 		I Often Dream of Trains
(1984) 		Fegmania!
(1985)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
Chicago Sun-Times[2]
Chicago Tribune[3]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[4]

I Often Dream of Trains is the third album by Robyn Hitchcock, released in 1984. It is Hitchcock's first acoustic-based album.[5]

After the break-up of The Soft Boys, Hitchcock recorded two solo albums — 1981's Black Snake Diamond Role and 1982's poorly received Groovy Decay — before hitting an artistic slump mitigated only by some collaborations with Captain Sensible. Hitchcock worked odd jobs, including a stint as a gardener and a journalist.[6] Hitchcock felt compelled to return to music after listening to Wading Through a Ventilator, a 1984 EP that compiles The Soft Boys' early singles. He wanted to make a fully solo album that, he would later comment, "only I could be blamed for".[5]

The album was recorded in the space of a few days under the working title Crystal Branches (taken from a line in the song "Winter Love", not originally included in the track listing). Hitchcock contributes vocals, acoustic and electric guitar and piano.[5]

The vinyl album was fourteen tracks, bookended by the piano-based instrumental "Nocturne". In 1986, the album was reissued on CD with tracks taken from Hitchcock's recent B-sides. A later CD edition saw yet more extras thrown in, all of which were demos of tracks originally included, bringing the listing to a total of twenty-four tracks. A third CD edition dropped the previous demo bonus tracks, along with "Mellow Together", but added more unreleased songs.

In 2009 a live recording titled I Often Dream of Trains in New York was released by Yep Roc, recorded at a 2008 concert at which Hitchcock performed almost every song from I Often Dream of Trains, as well as other songs from the era and one contemporary song.[7]

  1. ^ Deming, Mark. "I Often Dream of Trains – Robyn Hitchcock". AllMusic. Retrieved 8 January 2018.
  2. ^ DeRogatis, Jim (5 February 1995). "Robyn Hitchcock, 'Black Snake Diamond Role,'; 'Gravy Deco,'; 'I Often Dream of Trains' (Rhino)". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved 8 January 2018.
  3. ^ Kot, Greg (23 February 1992). "Rating The Robyn Hitchcock Solo And Group Releases". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 8 January 2018.
  4. ^ Considine, J. D. (2004). "Robyn Hitchcock". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Simon & Schuster. pp. 378–380. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
  5. ^ a b c Holdship, Bill (March 1986). "Robyn Hitchcock: God Walks Among Us". Creem. Retrieved 11 June 2019.
  6. ^ Azerrad, Michael. "Robyn Hitchcock in Nowhere-Land: I Often Dream of Trains in New York". Rocksbackpages. Retrieved 11 June 2019.
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference exclaim was invoked but never defined (see the help page).