![]() In a 2009 interview series In the Studio with Redbeard, Hynde said: "In the early days we were full of enthusiasm and we wanted the same things … and everything was going well … it seemed too easy … I was with someone I was in love with … then I got pregnant." Their on-and-off relationship ended half a year later. ![]() The song was written during the strained relationship that Chrissie Hynde had with Ray Davies (of the Kinks) and was recorded when she was about three months pregnant with their daughter. Hynde wrote "Back on the Chain Gang" as a memorial to Honeyman-Scott. The recording of extra parts for the song and the final mixing process continued for several days after initial recording began. This effect was performed by studio assistant Jeremy Allom. The sound of clanging hammers was made by banging various metal pieces together, especially the 25-pound (11 kg) weights that the studio used as ballast for large boom stands. Finally, the rest of the backing vocals were performed by Chambers and Butler, along with the chain-gang chant. She then recorded her own backing vocals. Later, alone in the studio as was her preference, Hynde performed her main vocal line with three or four overdubs dropped in to fix minor imperfections. ![]() Bremner's featured guitar solo was performed in one take. Small loudspeakers were aimed at the musicians from behind Chambers to reinforce the sound of selected drums such as the snare. Most of the song was recorded quickly with the band placed close together in the studio, arranged as if performing live, with Chambers' drums up on a riser. The producer was Chris Thomas who was familiar to the band from his integral role in making the Pretenders' earlier records, using Bill Price as his engineer, but for this session Steve Churchyard replaced Price because Price was committed to another AIR project at Wessex Sound Studios. ![]() Other musicians were hired to fill out the session: lead guitarist Billy Bremner of Rockpile, guitarist Robbie McIntosh, and bassist Tony Butler who was already at the studio for a Big Country recording project. Chambers commented on the song in a 1983 interview, "We had rehearsed it a lot with Jimmy, and thought it would make a pretty good single". At that time, only two Pretenders were left: singer-songwriter Chrissie Hynde, who was about three months pregnant with her first daughter, and drummer Martin Chambers. On July 20, 1982, the band began recording the song at AIR Studios in London. This came two days after the Pretenders fired their longtime bassist Pete Farndon because of his drug problem. "Back on the Chain Gang" was recorded after James Honeyman-Scott, the Pretenders guitarist, died of a drug overdose at the age of 25 on June 16, 1982. The single's flip side, " My City Was Gone", later became a substantial hit in the U.S., with lyrics about Ohio. 4 on Billboard's Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart and No. 5 on the Hot 100, becoming the band's biggest hit in the U.S. "Back on the Chain Gang" entered the Billboard charts in early October 1982, then reached No. The song also was released on The King of Comedy soundtrack album in March 1983 and later was included on the Pretenders' next album, Learning to Crawl, in January 1984. " Back on the Chain Gang" is a song written by Chrissie Hynde and originally recorded by her band the Pretenders, and released as a single by Sire Records in September 1982.
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