Walking Back Home

by Ricky Ross

Overview

'For all these years I've told stories. Sometimes these days I also tell them on the radio. I've met some amazing people and their stories need told too. The first time Deacon Blue ever played Wembley Arena I started to introduce a song only to hear, "Get on with it" shouted from Row Z. We proceeded with the song, but I often thought I'd quite like to finish that story.'

In 1986, Ricky Ross started a full-time career in music, which has lasted for over 35 years. His earlier working life was spent in youth work and teaching in his home city of Dundee, and his adopted home of Glasgow. It was in these two cities where he spent his formative years learning how to write and play songs.

Having always written about the people and places who've made an impact on his life, it's no surprise that this is how he has approached Walking Back Home, his first ever memoir, which takes the reader on a journey from Ricky's childhood to the rollercoaster of leading his band to top of the charts and their break-up, his solo career and Deacon Blue's recent renaissance.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781472289292
Publisher:	Headline Book Publishing, Limited
Publication date:	08/04/2022
Sold by:	Hachette Digital, Inc.
Format:	eBook
File size:	11 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Ricky Ross formed Deacon Blue over 30 years ago, and 2022 sees the 35th anniversary of the release of their debut album, Raintown. A string of bestsellers followed it.

Ricky presents a number of radio shows including BBC Radio Scotland's Americana music show Another Country (for which he has won two Sony awards and a CMA International Trophy in 2015) and Sunday Morning With, as well as Ricky Ross's New Tradition for BBC Radio 2.

Table of Contents

Introduction xi

Part 1 I Am a Child

1 Whistlin' Past the Graveyard 3

2 I Never Told My Parents I Went to the Regal 10

3 The Spanish Doll 14

4 I Remember the Night My Grandfather Died 18

5 Last Night I Dreamed of Henry Thomas 23

6 Bob McKechnie 32

7 The Traveller 36

8 There Was a Guy Two Streets Round From Us Who'd Been Stabbed in the Leg 51

9 My Mother's Middle Names 55

Part 2 One Thing Leads to Another

10 You Write One Song 67

11 Cockburn Street 72

12 Back Here in Beano Land 78

13 How Do You Spell Protestants? 95

14 When Will You Make My Telephone Ring? 109

15 How Is He? 124

Part 3 London Comes Alive

16 Raintown 133

17 A Short Tour of Some London Recording Studios 145

18 Springsteen 150

Part 4 You Can Have It All

19 Paris 165

20 I Intend to Shoot Each Member of the Band Individually 178

21 The Final 197

22 Glasgow 207

23 Isn't That Our Jeffrey? 216

24 Mr Love, the Piano Tuner 221

Part 5 Wandering the World

25 Brazil 229

26 The Further North You Go 234

27 Nashville 240

28 A Wedding on the Bay 254

29 To Africa 263

Part 6 Let's Live Our First Few Lives All Over Again

30 The Second Coming 279

31 The Guisers 288

32 Surprised by Joy 292

33 The City of Love 299

34 Coda 303

Postscript: January 2022 307

Acknowledgements 313

Index 315