“So Ashamed” is a song by English singer and songwriter Dennis Conoley, released by Pye Records as a non-album single on 19 September 1975. It was written by Conoley and was produced by Steve Harley.
Background
Harley first became aware of Dennis Conoley through his limousine chauffeur on Cockney Rebel’s March–April 1975 UK tour promoting The Best Years of Our Lives. The chauffeur happened to be Conoley’s father and he had quietly put one of his son’s demo tapes into the limousine’s cassette player for Harley to find. Upon hearing the tape, Harley liked the song and asked his driver who the singer was. A meeting between Harley and Conoley was subsequently arranged and the pair decided to record together, with Harley producing Conoley’s debut single for Pye Records. The recording sessions at Red Bus Studios in London produced two Conoley originals: “So Ashamed” and “Don’t Ever Leave Me”.
Speaking of his experience working with Harley, Conoley told Music Week in 1975, “He’s one of those professional guys who carries a complete picture in his head about how individual aspects of a recording will fit together. Usually when I’d been in the studio before, I’d confidently throw ideas around, making suggestions to the producer or engineers, but you just can’t do that with a guy like Harley.” He continued to the North-West Evening Mail, “He took the whole thing over and the results are amazing. I’m completely knocked out with the way the sessions went.” Conoley also told Music Week, “I’d been just a piano player but going in the studios with Harley meant finding out about a lot of other keyboard instruments. He gave me a clavinet to play, which was strange. The feel of the instrument is so different. I like to play the moog, too, which is quite easy – just a matter of finding a nice sound and playing around until it’s bent to your needs.”
Critical reception
Upon its release, Bob Eborall of the North-Western Evening Mail described “So Ashamed” as a “powerful and perceptive love song that grows on you with each play and could spell sucess for the new entertainer whose voice is unusual”. Peter Douglas of the Runcorn Guardian called it a “perceptive love song” and noted that Conoley’s “voice is unusual and notes are retained without a quiver of doubt”.
Track listing
7-inch single (UK)
- “So Ashamed” – 3:41
- “Don’t Ever Leave Me” – 3:21
Personnel
- Dennis Conoley – vocals
Production
- Steve Harley – producer
